Clearing The Crease Podcast
Hockey’s best podcast featuring Mike Commodore Andrew Raycroft and hosted by James Cybulski.
Clearing The Crease Podcast
MIKE COMMODORE GOES OFF ON MIKE BABCOCK HIRING... CTC 85
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On today's CTC episode we address the elephant in the room... Mike Babcock likely being hired by the Edmonton Oilers.
End of the day, Mike Babcock is a bully. He thinks everybody is showing up to the rink to watch him. It's a power play for him. That's why he picks on rookies. That's why he didn't let oh hey, oh Mike Madano, ha ha. Hockey Hall of Famer. You think you're gonna get the 1,500 games? No, I'm gonna scratch you. He gets off on shit like that.
SPEAKER_00Clearing the crease. Powered by Ozoon.com. How's your week, homie?
SPEAKER_02You know, oh, we're getting right to it this week, huh? You know what? I had a real good looking week. I woke up Monday morning. I'm like, man, this is gonna be a really good week for me. I'm gonna go to game five, Kane's nights, and then I'm going to see my buddies from the Edmonton area to go play Gamble Sands on a nice little boys golf trip. And then I turn on and I'm listening to the radio, and I'm like, did I just hear Babcock's name? What's that doing on the radio, NHL Radio? And then sure as shit, within 30 minutes, my phone's exploding and it's been exploding all day, people, or not all day, all week, sorry, with Babs. So uh yeah, uh I'm still gonna enjoy my week. I'm not gonna let Babs ruin that, but uh it has been a little bit of a buzzkill to kick the week off. Thank you for asking, C-Ball.
SPEAKER_00Well, we just wanted to, we just needed to do a quick wellness check before we dive in completely. Hi, everybody. I'm Sabalski, he's Razor. That's Kami. He's got something to say here in just a quick moment. This is the Clearing the Crease podcast. And just a quick reminder: if you're enjoying the show and all the content that we bring you regularly, and more and more of you continue to find us, and we thank you. So if you're just joining us here, if you're new to the party, welcome. Come on board. The water's warm. Make sure you're liking and subscribing to our YouTube channel. Leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify, and make sure you're following along, whether it's YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, or wherever else you are finding us because the Clearing the Creek podcast is powered by Ozun.com. Well played. The road to the Stanley Cup is open, 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 right through this Stanley Cup final, and it's been a banger from right now until the cup beyond the draft free agency next season. It's all happening. Make your power play and score big with Ozun. Well played. Razor, how are you? I mean, we've just been waiting for this. And you know what? We had the gift horse with Dylan Larkin that has not stopped all week either here. So we got there's some things to talk about today.
SPEAKER_01No, the hockey world is uh it's turning into uh football, it feels like the NFL, where it just always continually goes on and on and on. And there's a story all the time, and uh, I guess that's good for the league, and it's been good for everybody in media talking heads like ourselves. And uh Dylan Larkin has a long way to go. I think there's still a lot more meat on that bone, and of course, the the the fillet mignon of of the Mike Babcock story that that we have here. And and I really I I gotta say, like, I first of course I think the entire hockey world, which is uh for me, I felt bad, but for everybody else, the first thing everyone thought of was Kami when Mike Babcock's came up. Like it's really incredible, like it felt like that's how it's happened. But I uh I I I felt for you, Kami, because I know that the like what else are you gonna say? This has already been said everything, the whole thing, and now he's back in the mix. And it's it's really it's really hard to imagine. And I'm I'm fascinated what the oil, like I'll take it a bit of a different way first, and let I'll let you go next, Colin. But I'm just really interested if the juice is worth the squeeze here for the Edmonton Oilers, and if there hasn't already been enough in the last two days to be questioning whether we need a defensive coach with that much of a structure and that much of a winning recipe that badly. There isn't anyone else that we could get because this has not just for commie, but for everybody taking on a life of its own and and everybody's taking positions already. And the guy hasn't even been hired yet. So what what is this gonna look like on a four-game losing streak or the first day of training camp or the like the first time he yells at someone on the like I just have a lot of questions and I I completely respect the desperation that the Edmonton Oilers have at this point in their franchise to get Connor McDavid a win a Stanley Cup to keep him here, but I'm very curious how this plays out if they go forward with this and if this is really truly the right way to go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, I don't even know where to start. It's been a long week. You know, I it it is. I mean, my phone was blowing up, and and look, it's it's nobody's fault but my own. I never had visions of this, like visions of this 10 years ago. Now, I hate Mike Babcock, he's a scumbag, he's a terrible human being. I hope he rots in hell. I hate to do it, there's no question about that. In saying that, I also didn't see a decade later when his name comes up, my phone's just and like, you know, I'm not pissed about it now. Like, like seven, eight, when it when this all started, like, like this guy, like this guy, his name would literally ruin my day. And when somebody like tried to defend him, like I would like legit get pissed off, and it would take all my self-control to lot lose it. And then you get some people that like, you know, at the end of the day, this is sports. Like, I understand it, like this is entertainment, it's sports, but it's also for a long time it was the way I made my living. I mean, it was, you know, it's not who like who I was, but it was like it was a big part of my life, you know. I think some people like thought it was kind of funny that I got railroaded. And I'm like, hey, dude, that wasn't funny at the time. Now, we're we're I'm not bitter anymore. The life goes on. I I honestly really could care less, but this guy's a documented bully. He's a documented predator. All you gotta do is type his name in. Uh the pr so we just went through like the league, and a bunch of these guys just had to go to a funeral that was too early a couple days ago for Claude Lemieux. And the league likes pumping, you know, mental health is important to us and the PA and the Edmonton Oil. Well, mental health, and it's mental health month, and mental health is important, and call somebody. I don't want to hear, if this goes through and Mike Babcock gets hired and is the new head coach for the Edmonton Oilers, I don't want to hear another word about how important mental health is for us when you literally just pave the way, clear the way for Mike Babcock to get another opportunity in the NHL and put him in another position of power where he can abuse people. Now, the other thing is, well, well, the players signed off on it. It must be okay. They're fine with it. Oh, the players signed off with it. Oh, okay. Let's I'm assuming some of them did. Okay, who signed off on it? So, well, his kid just got hired in Brantford, which is owned by the Hymans. Zach played for him. I'm assuming Hyman had a good experience. Connor McDavid signed off on it. Lee Andreisidel signed off on it. Those aren't the guys that Mike Babcock is going to abuse. Mike Babcock has done some dumb things. He's not an idiot. He's not gonna waltz into Edmonton and start abusing Connor McDavid. He's not that dumb. He's not an idiot. He's aren't those aren't the people that have to worry about Mike Babcock. Mike Babcock's gonna treat those guys great. Treat them like gold. It's the third and fourth liners, it's the five to seven D-men, it's the rookies, it's the medical staff, it's the training staff, it's the arena staff, it's those kinds of people that are gonna get abused. So I don't want to hear it. And then you got the got people that are like, well, he's in a different place now. He's changed. Are you shitting me? Like three years ago or a few summers ago, whatever the year was where Victor or Hovlin won the P the FedEx Cup. God, that was such a fun weekend for me when he got gassed. But whatever summer that was, a couple years ago, like he said all this stuff. He's he he like I said, he's not stupid. He's got a psychology degree from DeGrill or McGill, sorry. Like he can screw with people, psychological war for warfare, and he's good at it. He's gonna tell you what you want to hear. Like he'll just keep saying, yeah, oh well, I've changed and I and this and that. We just went through this in Columbus. He did the same thing with the blue jackets and then didn't make it to training camp. Got canned before training camp started, made them look stupid. Now, for some reason, they thanked him and they paid him four million dollars out of the eight, which to me is like I don't understand. But like this guy isn't changing. Like, go through clips and try and find a clip of like Mike Babcock like actually taking accountability for something and actually apologizing. It doesn't exist because he doesn't think he's ever done anything wrong. So why the hell is he gonna change? He's not. Like, I just it's mind-bogging. If you want to hire the guy, if if the Evanton Oilers come out and say, you know what, Mike Babcock is our answer, and we don't care about his past, all we care about is the fact that he's won before. That's what matters to us, okay. I I can't argue with that. If if that's what you want to do, then do it. But don't come out and say you're hiring him and he's changed, a different person, and all this bullshit, and tell me mental health matters and you care and this and that. I don't want to hear the bullshit. Like it's to be honest, it's a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00Just own it that this is about winning, essentially, is what you're saying. Don't don't get me don't give me he's changed. This is just about desperation to win.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this is what we think we have to do to win.
SPEAKER_01Oh, and and that that we we that almost has to come from Connor and Leon, too, doesn't it? On some like I think so.
SPEAKER_00Like Connor almost has to like this is the third move, right, Razor?
SPEAKER_01Do those guys have to call Johan Franson? And do they have to call Mike Medano? And they have to call Mitch Marner, and like that's and and that's why the PA is so involved in this, right? Because to Tommy's point, the PA is is in place to protect the bottom 500 guys, 600 guys in the league. The 100 guys are fine, they're complete, like they can walk on water in that league, fell. Everybody who's out there listening. They're fine. The top 150 guys do whatever the hell they want to do in this league all the time. Always have, always will, not a big deal. But the rest of us, the other 550, the other 600 know that and we're okay with it. But we also need the union to protect us in some ways. And that's that's where that accountability will be very interesting to hear. The top guys who are vouching for this, will they have to go to bat for the the misjudgments of this guy in previous past because these articles are gonna keep popping up. I've seen the Johan Franson thing pop up nine times. I've I forgot about him sitting out Mike Madano, who is one of those top 100 guys of all time, literally not letting him play 1500 games in the National Hockey League. Like, just it's so simple, but that I don't know, like that bot that one bothers me as much as any of the other stuff that's gone on. Like, I can't imagine doing that to a guy. But, anyways, um it's just very interesting how this accountability is going to be be dispersed and be communicated to all of us because there is there's a lot there.
SPEAKER_02Well, and it's and look, like the Marner one and and the Mike Madano and the Johan Franzen, and those are the ones that grab the headline. Those are the ones you can Google. Like, yeah, there that's the tip of the iceberg. There's a bunch of abuse, decades of abuse that have gone on with people you've never heard about, right? Like the the guys we're just talking about, the third, fourth liners, the five to seven defensemen, the people that work at the arena, people like that. Where none of these stories ever come to light. And Babs just power trip abuses these people relentlessly, but we're we're never gonna hear about it. These are just the big ones you hear about. And some people be like, well, you know, fans are like, well, you know, the fourth liners don't matter, and five blah blah. Okay, well then go try and win a Stanley Cup this year with two lines, 4D, and a goalie. Go do that then. If it doesn't matter, so it's I think it's a total black mark against. I mean, I'm thinking a lot. This is just me guessing, I have no idea. I'm guessing Zach Hyman's name is all over this, and he's involved big time in that. That this is my guess. Just taking that his junior team hired Babs' son, and you know, he he obviously played for Babs and now he's on the Oilers. But like, I I do think personally, I think it's a black mark against these guys, whoever their leadership group. I mean, it's Connor, it's Leon, it's Zach Hyman. I don't know if our boy Boosh is in there or not, but whatever. You know, those guys, like, I think it's a black mark because in a way it's just I don't care. Like, well, it I mean, I understand the list is short if you're looking, like somebody brought up a good point yesterday. Well, you know, we want somebody that's won. The list is short. Like, I get that, okay, but I'm like, dude, this guy hasn't coached in years. There's been a lot go on, and like, how mismanaged has this been by the Oilers? Like, since they got booted out of the playoffs, it's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00Well, and the fact that, hey, and how about this story happening right now in the middle of a Stanley Cup final that is doing bonanza numbers in the United States? Obviously, not a much different story in Canada, but like this is this is a huge hit. Uh, we all thought this was gonna be a ratings disaster. It's been a massive windfall so far. Yeah, and and all of a sudden now the NHL is having to stick handle through this story in the middle of the Stanley Cup final.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it is too bad. And you're right, Seaball. Like, I'm having people come up to me in Scottsdale that, you know, I don't even know at the gym at the golf course. You know, I know a couple guys at the golf people that don't usually pay a whole lot of attention to hockey are coming up to me and they're like, man, that game was unreal last night. How about that comeback? This series is great. Like, and it's for people that don't, they're just getting into it. So, yeah, the the timing is unfortunate. This whole offseason for the Oilers has been a catastrophe. Like, I think you know, the whole the whole thing with coaches in general, and this isn't an Edmonton Oilers thing, this is a league thing. On like how we've gotten to like, yeah, like other than your odd exception, your Rod Brindemores, your John Cooper, you know, guys like that. It's like these guys get like two, three years, and it seems like you're you're gonzo if it doesn't work. And I'm looking at him like, man, this Knoblock, he's been there for three years, he's gone to the finals twice for Christ's sakes. You just sign him to an extension in October, and then you mess up wanting to talk to Cassidy, and so now you got to can him, and then it's like the Vegas, like Vegas won't let you talk to him until after the playoffs. I guess that's not a for sure thing, but my question would be like, has there ever been a world where a team has been like, no, you can't talk to him ever? Like, I I don't know. I don't think so, but like, why wouldn't you like why wouldn't you wait a week until the playoffs or whatever, five days?
SPEAKER_00It's not like there's a lineup, there's not like there's an urgency.
SPEAKER_02There's no lineup for Babs. There's no lineup for Babs. Nobody even mentioned his name.
SPEAKER_01No one was gonna touch. No one was gonna touch this.
SPEAKER_02No, nobody was touching this, and you couldn't wait to uh we can't wait. Babs is our guy. It's like what I I just I I just don't a lot of this I don't get. Wow, and it is infusion.
SPEAKER_00Can I can I just throw this? Can I just throw this uh for a moment? I was talking to a player who who spent some time under Babs, and Cammy, like ultimately in the history of sports, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, hockey, you name it, boxing, um you know, there are a lot of people that have done some rehe reprehensible things off the ice or off the plane that have come back for less. And and and one player said to me, rotten human being, but yes, that good a coach. This is why, and you guys ask, is the juice worth the squeeze? There are people that hate this guy everywhere that played under him, but will all testify to say, I hate this guy more than anything, but he's the best coach I've ever had.
SPEAKER_02You could sell you could sell me on that 10 years ago. You could have sold me on that on on the club before the Columbus Blue Jacket thing. I I was one of those people saying that. Now he's the best coach I've ever had. No. But I I've always said to this day, you know, it comes up. I mean, that's partly by the way. But you said it before, right? You've said this before. I've said it before. I've I've I've never sat here and like lied and been like, man, the guy is a totally useless human being, doesn't know hockey. Like, no, I I haven't said that. He does know hockey, he knows how to run a practice. Like, I will say that. He's he's just a scumbag human being. He's a bad person. He's a bully. At the end of the day, Mike Babcock is a bully. He thinks everybody is showing up to the rink to watch him. It's a power play for him. That's why he picks on rookies. That's why he didn't let oh hey, oh, Mike Medano, huh? Hockey Hall of Famer. You think you're gonna get to 1,500 games? No, I'm gonna scratch you. He gets off on shit like that. So, like you can I I agree with that before the Columbus stuff. Then he took the job in Columbus. There was his opportunity. Here you go. Here's your gateway back into the league. And he couldn't even make it to training camp. He's going through guys, and and oh well, the the phones wasn't a big deal, and you know, it was for a collabor. I don't want to hear that bullshit. Yeah, for the for the you know, God rest his soul, the Johnny Goodrose of the world. I'm sure it was a very pleasant conversation. Oh, you know, can I see a picture of your kids? I'm doing this collage. It wasn't pleasant for Adam Fantilly, it wasn't pleasure uh like pleasurable, or it wasn't you know well intended for people that he thinks he has power over. Like that's the thing that I just people I don't know if they they don't want to see it, or I just don't get it. Like, how is this guy worth it? Oh how is this guy worth it?
SPEAKER_01I don't question that's and the phone thing wasn't a big deal, but anyways, let's move on.
SPEAKER_00Yes, shall we? Okay, well, to that we add a gift horse given to us last episode uh regarding Dylan Larkin. I thought you guys were on fire in terms of your perspectives on that. To move this forward here with this conversation, story comes out that Dylan Larkin uh has shared with the wings a three-team list that I feel like every American all-star player has their like no trade with a no trade would have their three teams. Uh actually, no, fair two at least two of the three, but Florida is Edmonton one of them? Not anymore.
SPEAKER_02Now that Babs is maybe getting hired, I'm sure he put Edmonton on the list.
SPEAKER_00Uh but Florida, Vegas, and actually uh Minnesota. And when you look at the stars, so uh a lot of these, and these a lot of these teams are littered with you know American players who won gold medals. Uh, so what what are your thoughts on those three teams and giving a list like that when you have a no movement clause? You've asked out, and one thing that really popped up in our YouTube chat uh from the last episode, a few people said, you know, players should have their no trade clauses removed if they ask out. So I'm curious what you make of that list and you know, well played or not.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's comical, right? Absolutely comical to go in there and say three these three teams, that's it. Um man, oh man. Like you, you're now you're putting yourself in a position where you're showing up day one of training camp. Like that, that's the reality. Like, because Stevie's gonna say, listen, that's this ain't gonna happen. That's a good point. You can only go to three places, so you're gonna feel the brunt of training camp day one with that C on your jersey, no having everyone know that you want out. Uh, because you can't do business that way. The the Detroit Red Wings missing the playoffs 10 years in a row. Steve Iserman getting smoked on our YouTube channel, on our Instagram channel, by half or 20% of the people saying he's mismanaged everything. Well, what do you think it's gonna look like if he only deals with three teams for Dylan Larkin? You're gonna get a third round pick and a prospect that's 10th in the in the pipeline for that at that point. So um fascinating. Just uh just another part of the story that that for me really doesn't you know doesn't look great on the player when you go in. There and have that leak out as well. That it's only three teams, and it's only those three teams of all things, too. I mean, it's the most obvious thing in the world. So, and then to just to jump in lastly, that that idea of the no move clause being revoked or being changed if you ask for a trade is interesting. I don't know how you legally put it in a contract. Like there's probably because you could get around by saying I want to trade or like do you have to formally write I want to trade on a piece of paper? Like, I don't know how that works, but it does that does make sense from a 500-foot view. I just don't know how you would do it logistically. But but when I saw that, I was like, yeah, that actually probably should be the case. You would think that the guy getting traded or wanting to be traded would have common sense with that, but obviously that's not the case in the NHL anymore.
SPEAKER_02It's I'll be honest, I've been a little occupied with my with my babs blowing up on my phone. So I haven't seen a whole lot of things.
SPEAKER_00What a break for Dylan Larkin then here, commie.
SPEAKER_02You know what? I my I was this came up. I was chatting with we were watching the game last night with somebody who who knows uh Steve. And um I would say I mean that the list is laughable. Yeah, I want to yeah, we all we all want to go to those teams right now. That that sounds awesome. But uh I think now we're never gonna hear a word about it, I don't think, uh, because Steve he he he keeps it tight. I mean, we can't even interview, we can't have anybody from the Red Wings on our podcast unless like Steve o'cays it. Steve likes to play, he keeps it tight, and that's that's great, that's fine. Like, I think behind closed doors, this has potential to get ugly.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, it's easy.
SPEAKER_02Like, yeah, like real ugly behind closed doors. So, yeah, I never thought about the day one of training camping. Yeah, that's captain of the team shows up to camp. I mean, obviously, you gotta show up, right? You want to get you know your contract starting, the year starting. It could be yeah, it could be some fireworks behind closed doors in Detroit.
SPEAKER_00You've seen examples of this though, where management gets handcuffed. I uh Steve Eserman, this is a different, different personality, but I remember when Ryan Kessler won it out of Vancouver, he basically gave them the option with his no trade. He gave the option of I want Anaheim or Chicago, right? So you're already now trying to make a move with one hand tied behind your back as a manager. That didn't play out very well at all. But I I feel like Steve Eiserman's going to handle this much differently and willing to dig in if need be. So yeah, this is fascinating. Training camp, I would not be surprised at all. Um man. Okay, let me hit a couple of ones uh quickly here. Razor, these are more for you, but commie, I also want to get your perspective on another one here. Uh, number one, Razor. Uh, the goalie change in the middle of the Stanley Cup final, as we record this, there's a lot of moving parts. This series has been fantastic, but Freddie Anderson out after going 15 straight, might have been in contention for the con Smythe and like completely out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, the healthy scratch thing's crazy. Um, is it a reset possible? Yeah, no, and and and Rod said it, and and you know, they're still leaning into the fact that we could see Freddie again in the series. I don't I don't understand how that could happen. But uh, you know, I I I had my concerns about it going in. I did. Uh I knew the record, of course, and shit, you know, you brought up Dryden and Cheavers and Freddie Anderson, and I wasn't ready to lean into that in any way whatsoever. Um I, you know, uh and I watching game one, I I would have made the move after game one, guys. I really would have. And and you know, I I text some people. Vegas was different. Vegas is is different than what they've already seen, and Freddie looked a little outmatched in his ability to move. He's an older guy, he plays a certain way. When everything's easy in front of him, he's very good. He's not gonna give up a soft goal for you, he's gonna play the puck well, he manages the game extremely well at his age. But Vegas was cooking, and and you could see he was he was a little bit in trouble, and and that's happened, and now you got Bussy in there, and I don't see how you'd go back, and and it just feels like he gives them a bit of a better opportunity with athleticism. He's got his his warts as well, but it had to have been done. Rod had to make the move and it paid off in game four. And um, we'll see the rest of the series.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, for me, that was the thing with uh, you know, for me with Freddie Anderson, what I've heard about him, and like nice guy, really good goalie. He's had a wonderful career. There's no question about that. But you know, I but I did hear kind of when push comes to shove and things get hard, if he doesn't feel perfect, yeah, Freddie could be out. So um, you know, he's done a great job up to this point, or up to this series, I guess. But um yeah, I mean, I think Bussi's look yeah, like I said, he's not perfect. He looked looked pretty good to me, and uh he looks big in there moving around. So yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's not like Rod, I will say Rod's been this through this before. Now, maybe not so much as a coach in the Stanley Cup Finals, but he he was, you know, when we went into if he's if he's you know leaning back on experiences from the past and experiences that happened to him. You know, we went through this a little bit with Carolina as well in 2006 with Gerber and Ward and back to Gerber and back to Ward. And and so hopefully that makes Roddy a little more comfortable and making his moves. But um, yeah, it's Freddie hung in there for a long time, but it's they need they need to be.
SPEAKER_00I think even the Canes fans think it it was it was the right time to make this change. Uh speaking of the Canes, 20-year anniversary coming up in a week or so here for you, Collie, uh, since you won your Stanley Cup.
SPEAKER_01Give us Collie, give it to us. What's happening this week?
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm getting on a plane in uh three hours and 15 minutes. Oh boy. You know, I this I mean I'll tell you what, this is I like to be honest to our listeners, this is my dedication to the canes. You know, with the canes, canes only wanted to book me on Delta. Well, Delta doesn't fly direct, and I need to get back here on Friday. So my dedication to the canes, I got my Amex out and I booked my own flights. So I'm coming out there on my own dime. Uh be out game five. I'm not sure. I guess I mean I'm cranking that horn at some point. I don't know what time.
SPEAKER_01Oh god, crank away. I can't wait to watch you crank that thing.
SPEAKER_02I gotta be honest, I'm I'm kind of a little nervous.
SPEAKER_00Just pretend, just pretend it's uh Fabcock's neck, right? You just ring it and you're ringing it and just crank it.
SPEAKER_02Left or right shoulder, Tommy. I think I gotta go. I don't know. Good question. My right shoulder ain't great, I gotta be honest. Uh I don't know. Probably, I guess when push comes to shove, I'll go with the right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we record now. This this episode is probably dropping after game five.
SPEAKER_01You're watching after.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you're watching this, so we'll get the full blow-by-blow. Yeah, we'll get the behind-the-scenes story coming up for game five on this one. Uh, but commie, I wanted to mention uh, real quick thought. Uh Peter Laviolette, you won a Stanley Cup with him in 2006. He's now back behind the bench with your boy Holland here. I mean, this is the commie club here in Los Angeles now. Um why didn't the Oilers hire Peter? Yeah. That would have been a great story.
SPEAKER_01That's exactly what they're doing. It's the same guy. Structure, discipline, nice guy, great guy, perfect.
SPEAKER_02He doesn't, yeah, he doesn't abuse his players. There you go. Um, I think it's great. I didn't know if Steve, I saw Peter in December. You know, I haven't seen much of Peter over the last 20 years, but always got along really good with Peter. I think he's a great guy. He's had an incredible career. I don't think he you obviously won with us, and he's taken three teams total or four to the finals. Three, three or four. Philadelphia, Nashville, Nashville, Carolina, Carolina. What about Philly?
SPEAKER_01You said Philly. It was Philly. Not the Rangers. He wasn't there for the Rangers, right? Who AV was the Rangers? Oh, is it with the Rangers?
SPEAKER_00Uh going back a decade ago. No, wasn't Laviolette. Laviolette wasn't there with the Rangers going to the cup final.
SPEAKER_01Or you said Philly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, we had Philly. Philly, Nashville, and Carolina. There's three. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Carolina, Nashville, Philly. What's the other one? Okay, maybe not. Anyway, whatever. Three or four. Um, so he's had an I don't think he's super thrilled on how it ended for him. Uh, so this is awesome that he gets another chance. Going to my boy Ken. Yeah. Um, so I think it's a good hire. I think it's a great hire for LA. And um I'm sure he's thrilled. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, I I got none. I have you won't hear me say a bad word about Peter Labi alone.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Razor, quick one for you. Uh, what do you make as your former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, looking at interviewing Joe Pavelski? I mean, this one came out of left field for people, and Patrick Waugh getting consideration as well. Your hero and a guy, uh, what are your contemporaries?
SPEAKER_01A guy I play golf with, yeah, figure it out. Um, I uh I I I I don't know yet because there's so many names. It feels like it feels like they've literally talked to every single person in the hockey world other than the three of us. And and Kami might be next, uh especially after this after this week, just to stir the pot. Um so but but Pavalski, like these guys are all great hockey minds. Pavalski feel like now that his name's coming up, feels like he's everybody's coming to bat. He's a coach, he's a coach, he's a you know, these guys are starting to get in the mix. Um so I'll I'll I'll wait to hear when they really have people in town, but but to go off the reservation with a Pavalski would be very interesting, especially as the Babcocks, the Laviolettes, the Cassidys, the Burubis are trying to get recycled. The leaves are going the other way, and it feels like it's probably a pretty good point in their career or their organization to do so.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Uh, time for our fan question of the week. We're gonna get don't puck it up here in a moment as well. But fan question of the week, this one goes to uh this is coming from Joe's trunk. Uh remember, if you have a question, use the hashtag ask CTC. But uh Joe obviously spent some time in Columbus here, Cami, because he says we loved having commie in Columbus. So uh Oh, well, that's nice. I don't hear that very often. Thank you. Yeah, I like Columbus too. Looks like Joe's trunk and Scott Housen are the two people that really liked having Kami in Columbus. Um okay. You can check out last week's episode if you missed that. Okay, question for Razor. Everybody always dumping on D-Men and goalies in Edmonton. Could it be the style of play? Offense first. Seems like the D-zone doesn't get enough timely help with forwards. Thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's the it's the full structure, no question about it. There's there's no doubt. I would probably add one or two of those defensemen that he spoke about getting criticized about the offense that they try and provide too often. Uh, that is well documented here on this show. The moosh bombs that we get at both ends of the ice are probably a big part of that. So that listen, there's it's not uh it's not a secret that they're going after defensive, tight-minded people. Now, I'm wondering that the only thing to it is like that there were times and they went to the finals two years in a row, game six and game seven. They played defense within that time. When Knobloch was, I'm sure, was harping on defense. It wasn't like Knobloch went in there and just said, you guys do whatever you want. I'm sure he was trying to invest in that structure. So, so yes, they they get unfairly criticized, certainly the goaltenders, um, certainly some of the D at different times, but I'm also wondering whether that even matters and and if you can actually get someone in there to actually make them play defense or if that's just what they are.
SPEAKER_00You want to lead on that one, Kami, or you feel good?
SPEAKER_02I feel very good about what Razor just said there. Hockey's a team game. Yeah, he's it's a team game. You need it, you need help from everybody. If you're back, if I'm a defenseman back there, a defenseman and goalie, and we got no help from the forwards, and those forwards are high wheeling it up around the blue line and coming down, and I mean it's pretty tough to defend. So, yeah, you need help from everybody. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Uh time for don't puck it up. Uh, my don't puck it up this week, gentlemen. It's the Oilers. You know, for I and I'm gonna draw from a couple of old classic movies here for a second. For for many hockey fans, it is inconceivable to hire Mike Babcock going back to the Princess Bride. Now, but if you're making this much noise in the middle of the Stanley Cup final, then it is clearly happening. This is clearly a done deal at this point in time. And Connor is signed off on this, and Leon has signed off on this, and I can almost hear it now with Babcock rolling into Edmonton, channeling his inner Wyatt Herp from Tombstone. You know that scene with Kurt Russell where he says, You called on the thunder. Well, now you got it. You tell him I'm coming, and hell's coming with me. You hear hell's coming with me. That is bad like Babcock essentially. And so, Eulers, if you're that desperate and this is what you wanted, don't pocket up now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well I will touch on that too, because it's been all that's been on my mind for the last yeah. Look, okay, it's my last chance for I don't know how the the the process works exactly. I don't know whether it's the NHL or the NHL PA or a combination of both. Don't puck this up. Hockey's in a good place. We don't need help the Oilers out. Don't let them don't let them make this mistake. Actually show me let's see some actions where mental health actually matters to you and you're gonna do something about it. Don't let this bully Mike Babcock back into the game. He's had enough chances, he's made plenty of money. It's not like you're denying this guy a way to make a living. There's other options out there, and he's done incredibly well for himself. Don't puck this up, NHL, NHLPA. Gas this before it even starts and get this guy out.
SPEAKER_01All right, I'll bring the levitivity to the end of the show here. Thank God. I'm here for you. Don't puck it up, commie, and crank that siren with all that you got. Give it to everybody in Carolina, the fro. I can't wait to see how you bring that back. I know we're gonna talk about that. That's gonna be a big part of the next show of the the fro, from where it's at now to where you get to it, because I I heard you have some plans on that. I'm trying. I know. So I can't. I am concerned about that. So crank that siren, Collie. Don't puck it up. All right, all right. I'm gonna try not to let you down, Razor.
SPEAKER_00I wish I oh I wish I could find there's a picture I found the other day, Kami, that I I totally want a t-shirt of. And it's just you riding. Oh, it's it's this one right here. The beer on the beer. Yeah, it's the beer. It's you on the beer. It's literally the best. It's literally the beer. It's just the best.
SPEAKER_02Like just an appearance. I didn't sleep much before that, fellas.
SPEAKER_00That was great. But just the hands.
SPEAKER_01I can actually see your eyes through the sunglasses that you hadn't slept for five days prior to that.
SPEAKER_02That was the that was the next morning, right after we won. Let our editors. I don't think I went to bed. And kind of a funny thing about that, we showed up, we had a picture before. I'm like, oh my god, I feel terrible. Put these glasses on, we do our parade around the arena or whatever. It was fine. And uh, I get in the back of like the it was I was in the back of like a Daisy Duke Jeep, and I'm like, man, I need to get a couple in me here just to get back to neutral. I feel terrible. So I went out there with like six beers in my, you know, in my hands or whatever, put them down. We're doing a lap or two of the arena. And I uh this is a thumbs up to the Keynes fans. I crushed beers as fast as I could, and at the end of that parade, I still had six beers at my feet. That's how many beers the Keynes fans were just firing at me. I was catching them. It was like not quite stone cold, smashing them together, but I would just bury them, throw them. I didn't even get a chance. I think I think I had cracked my first. Let me take that back. I had five beers at my feet because the first one I I chugged was mine, and then after that, there were just endless beers coming in. Yeah, that was that was a hell of a that was a hell of a morning. There's no question about that.
SPEAKER_00And that's the bottom line. Because commie said so. Yeah, that's right. All right, and just a quick reminder, everybody, remember to like and subscribe on YouTube for more clearing the crease content powered by ozo.com. Follow along, Apple, Spotify, X, Instagram, TikTok, because the road to the Stanley Cup, it's cooking right now, and the clearest route to winning big is the play on Ozoun. 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 Ozoun. Well played. He's Razor, he's Kami. I'm Sabalski. Make sure you're telling your friend to spread the word. The Clearing the Crease podcast is where it's at. And we'll talk to you next week, right here on the Clearing the Crease podcast, powered by Ozoun.com. Well played.