2FC 1.28: Ending on a High Note

The Blues may have missed the playoffs, but they didn’t go quietly. St. Louis closes out the season with three huge wins and a surge of scoring, giving us plenty to be excited about heading into the offseason. We break down what clicked, who showed out, and what this momentum could mean moving forward.

Then, it’s time to shift gears — playoff hockey is here. We run through our full bracket, share our predictions, and get into the matchups we’re most excited (and nervous) about across the league.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome back, blues fans. Wow, what a season it's been. Not gonna lie, got a little dusty leaving Enterprise the other night and was a little dusty watching the Mammoth Game. It's been an up and down season. We had a really good last week of the season, and it just got me thinking, if only we could have played this way the whole year, what would that have done for us? But beggars can't be choosers. It was, I think, a season full of learning, a lot of ups and downs, to say the least, and I think that the growth that this team has made this year has been amazing. So I am excited to talk about these last couple of games and kind of like so From the Lou to the league.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

We've got you covered. This is two for chirping. Gals from the Lou watching all 32. It's hockey talk with flavor. You're welcome. So Alyssa and I had our last game of the year together on Monday. We went to Blues versus Wild. It's like a weird day where Alyssa and I were gonna go from my office, and you know, I'm not gonna tell you how all that went down, but I think there's a lot that goes with that. Yeah, there was a lot of transportation and weird things happening. I made like a side quest home to take care of some stuff earlier in the afternoon-ish. And I know I get in the car, I answer the phone, she sounds like she is in tears. She sounds like she has wrecked her car. Like I was convinced she had wrecked her car. I thought she was actually crying, and she wasn't. She was just devastated that The Wild had announced that Quinn Hughes and others weren't gonna be playing in that game. It's fine. I mean, it is quite disappointing, but you know, we won, so I can't be that disappointed in hindsight.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

So in hindsight, said about this. Um they had announced that they had a lot of of their players sitting due to load management. Boo, load management. What is this, the NBA? And I mean, like, I understand it, however, like I was mad because so I didn't get to see the game against the Canucks earlier in the year due to some teaching engagements. I had to do parent-teacher conferences, so I didn't get to see Quinn Hughes then. And he by the time he was traded to Minnesota, we had played Minnesota already, and I was like, okay, well, there's still one more time for me to get to see, of course, last two games of the season, three games of the season, and I didn't get to, but this was a game. Um, not gonna lie to you, I got a little worried because we were like losing. No, we were winning.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yeah, Pureco gets that first goal, and then after that, I you're right, it felt like we were gonna lose this game. And I was like, about halfway through the game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

I was like, we were playing Iowa Wild, like their their minor league team, like we'd be losing this game. And they had played Gustavson in that high caliber goalie. Um, and okay, well, like what is gonna be doing um this night, I believe. I do believe. And some of these goals I was looking at, I was like, these are not goals that I'm used to Joel Hofer letting in. Um you get Nick Felino on the board who he scored, it was like a big hoopla, and I and I was like, is this like a milestone goal or something? But we kind of came to the conclusion that we think that this was his first goal as a wild member, which is crazy to think there was a whole hoopla.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Like that's the that's a great way to describe it. Someone went and grabbed the puck, which was great, but it was like they had just scored in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Like they felt it was like the goal of a lifetime, and I was like, okay, something's happening here, and I don't know what it is, but like it's it's weird. It's weird.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

It was uh it was definitely if that's what it was.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Because I do like the Felino brothers. I'm a fan.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

I do like the Felino brothers probably are the more uh liked brothers in the league. There's there's a lot of them, but they're pretty liked to say back-to-back brothers.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Put the Kachuk brothers at the bottom, unless you're oh 100%.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Yeah. Um, but this is the first game where we get to see scoring from more than just Jimmy Snugrood and Robert Thomas. So Resultant Pariko get on the board. Uh Otto Stenberg, which was great to see. I have loved Otto this season. I thought that he is here, I which I love. We see Pavel Bucnevich get on the board, which you know that in the past couple of games he's had had a struggle of just finding the back of the net to that potential that we know of Bucnevich. Theo Linstein gets his second goal of the year. It was a it was a beautiful goal. I and assisted by Druin and Dvorsky. That that line is just something to talk about right now. And the thing that I love about Lindstein is that he has been such a a solid pair with Pereco this year. I thought that besides Broberg and Mayu, I thought that those two playing together was really nice. And I thought I I didn't feel uncomfortable watching Linstein make plays. Now, was I looking at him like, oh, he's making some rookie mistakes? Yes, there was plenty for him to grow on this year. However, his play that grew it just grew so much from when he came up to when they sent him back down to help make the push for the uh Springfield Thunderbirds to make the playoffs. You could just tell that his confidence, him and and Otto Stenberg, they're confident. Totally.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

And I think with we talk about this a lot with young players, sometimes it's not like being really impressive and standing out in a positive way. It's just making sure you don't stand out in a bad way a ton. He wasn't a liability the majority of the time when he was on on the ice. Like you said, he did make some some mistakes while him and Lindsteam have been paired that um they've been talking about how much he's communicating with Lindstein between every single shift, communicating not just with Lindstein, but with everyone and talking about what they could do better. But Colton Braiko, he played for Team Canada, he's one of the best at what he does. And so a a rookie to be able to come in and and keep up and not you know, it I felt like Preiko played some of his best hockey this year paired with Lindstein, so just really nice to see that from them and really impressed, honestly, with all of the Stenberg. Yes, you know, Dvorski had ups and downs all year and kind of finished the year on a high point, I think. Youth that we've seen is is really promising. And I didn't I I forget that Stenberg and Dvorski are such like good friends or like know each other so well. I think it's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

They were they were drafted the same year, correct?

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Yeah, and there's a video of Dvorski, like so Dvorsky goes higher. We pick Dorsky first, and so not first overall, but before Stenberg, and he's like back backstage kind of thing. And they on the TV screen, it's Stenberg putting on like his blues jersey, and he's like, Oh my gosh, that's crazy! Like, I know him. Wow, that is so cool. And like I I've known him a long time. I remember thinking it's such a cool moment, and I just completely forgot. You know, Jimmy Snuggard, we talk about these players that come out of the NCAA and come straight to the NHL, how sound and how well suited they are to play for that transition period. Stenberg and Dvorsky did that a little bit more traditional prop, you know, kind of process through the AHL, much more mature and sound in their ability to transition to the NHL than what we've seen in the past, in my opinion. Seem like they were out of place. So I think that's a good indication of what we're capable of.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

So you were saying they it the biggest thing when you have these young guys coming in and working with these veteran presents, it's it's on a little bit of both of them to kind of have that success. So it's on the young guys to make sure that they're coachable. And then it's on the communicator in in everything. So that's been nice to see is that he is um just taking that running with it. So um but in the third third period of this game, I want to point out we see a Jake neighbor's goal. Finally, and thank goodness we signed. And you know everybody on this podcast knows we are big Jake's neighbors supporters. We I I would and I I have seen uh how much uh he has been trying. I've seen how he's uh taking steps that even though he's not scoring, he is trying to make sure that he is producing in other ways. He's trying to be more defensively minded, he is uh making sure he's getting those passes across, he staying after to work on different skills. He just embodies what it means to be a blue, in my opinion. And for him to get this goal, I was so happy. I think I screamed so loud when this happened because I has just been trying so hard. And it was kind of a weird goal. He he barely uh Augustafson's uh skate, so it it was it was barely a goal, but nonetheless a goal, and you'll take anything that you can get, especially when you've been kind of snake bitten, like Jake has. So and then we also see a Jimmy Snugrood empty net goal, and I I again I Jimmy Snuggrood just continues to amaze me. That that top line just continues to amaze me. I I don't think I have it's for what they how proud of them I am. And where we come out on top of the scoreboard, but in the stats, we were behind them in everything except for face-offs. Minnesota had 31 shots to R22, Minnesota had 23 hits to R15, and we had more penalty minutes, but we did dominate the dot uh 58% to 41%.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

So I Alyssa, I can't believe it's a look at talked about the high point of this game, which has nothing to do with scoring.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Oh insane behavior that I have. Colton Preko gets the um this gets to be a little, and he was in the penalty box for forever. Yes, so Preeko is skatebound, he goes and makes a hit, and he's called for boarding, is what it is. And I joked at Alexa, I was like, he didn't do anything wrong, he's just I was totally aborting, like for that, sir. Um after he and Trinan, thank you, um, we get a little pushing, and and then Preiko breaks out into a full fist fight. I just also remember sitting there with my hand over my mouth going, what is going on? And we've seen Preeko fight before. It's not like this is something that he hasn't done, but it's just not his demeanor, it's not his, I don't want to say character, because I think that anybody that plays professional sports, especially like hockey, they're gonna be able to hold their own in a situation like that. And boy, howdy, did he hold his own.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Oh, for sure. Like you said, there's a lot of reasons we don't see that out of him very often, but the most recent before this was the one with Clem Coston, which like was hilarious in its own way. But like they so yeah, we did, yeah, it's the Four Nations. That's true. That was um who did he fight? Yeah, so he won that one too. But Periko's just so big, and so fights always seem weird. One because he doesn't do it very often, but also it just never feels fair for the person they're fighting against. He has such long arms, like you can't reach him. Like they went at each other, and it was a pretty good fight. My favorite part though was as soon as the gloves came off and he gripped his jersey, the whole blues bench whacking their sticks against the boards immediately. They're like, yeah, this is what we're here for. And I'm like, yeah, same. We have that in common. I am here on this. We are the same for the Colton Perico fight. You didn't make the playoffs. I am here for all of the extracurriculars. I I enjoyed seeing it out of him. So they score, like you said, on the power play to end the first period, and then they get a short-handed goal shortly into the second period, but it was all blues after that. Uh yeah. And it wasn't all around TM effort. It was a great game. I wasn't able to go Tuesday night. I know the Tuesday night game, I have heartburn that I wasn't able to be there for that one. Um, because it was such a good game. But I left Enterprise Monday night like this was a really great last game to have been there for um for this season.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

So and I'll I'll tell you, it just gets a little, it just gets a little dusty when you have games like this where you see the team effort come in and you see how hard they were working. And then I also think that it kind of like digs a little because I'm like, man, if only we could have done this at the right time. We could have, you know, had a little bit of a more a bigger push in certain times. And again, beggars can't be choosers, and I think the blues have made great strides. However, I don't think that they're a playoff team yet. And like, yes, I love this team, and I I will do anything for this team, but I don't think that I wanted to see them in the playoffs yet. That was yeah, this team is making great strides, and I think we just need to keep a few key more pieces to make us 100% ready for that playoff push. But to your point, so you got to go to Monday's game, and then we have a Tuesday game, so back to back, and this is a late start, folks. This was an eight freaking start time.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

I was so bummed I couldn't go. Like I was sitting at watching it, and I was like, uh, like I this would have been such a fun game to be there for, even though load management also sat Sidney Crosby. And of Genny Malkin, Chris Letang, Eric. All the good ones, yeah. All the good players. Just kidding, like Rucker McGordy, you rock and Kevin Hayes, former blue.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

I mean, I can't talk poorly about Kevin Hayes. Because I was like, what do you mean Kevin Hayes? Um, but also to go back to that Minnesota Minnesota game, I was praying, I was whatever I I was doing everything in my power to will for Colton Parego to get a Gordy Howe hat trick, and it didn't happen, and I'm really upset.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah, that was a big bummer. I felt like after we had that game in the bag, that was all that we wanted. But the and I think it's all the blues wanted, but then like someone just wouldn't they wouldn't put him on the ice, which to be fair, well, he probably hadn't played that many minutes since he had sat half the game in the box, but usually, you know, if you're winning by that much, Periko doesn't need to do much those last few minutes of the game. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Um, but to go to this Pittsburgh Penguins game, so it's an 8:30 really ended up being an 845 start time because it's an ESPN. We come out in this game, and I was worried. I I again we start this game of I was worried. Pittsburgh takes a quick three to nothing lead. So I went to the game with my mom, and my mom was like, Okay, so like what what's going on? Are we gonna leave? Like it's late. We're losing, we're gonna lose this game. And I'm like, I refuse to leave. I am not that person. I am staying this whole game, like here. Um so we we see McGorty, rector McGorty. McGorty. He gets a he gets a it was a great goal. Um so Bennington played a net and he got a great ovation to start the game. Um they announced his name, and for an 8:30 start time after the blues were mathematically eliminated, Enterprise was rocking. I mean, there was empty seats, but it was pretty full, which again, I think that just goes to show you the love and support that the city brings to a team. I mean, for for most, they're like, oh hey, like you're mathematically eliminated, we're not gonna try and and come to the games. So it was nice to see that everybody was still there to support.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Well, and those are the most fun games too. Like Monday's game with six, what do we have, six final goals? Like that, that was such a fun game because it doesn't matter that you're out of the playoffs. In that moment, you just want to win the game. And so the Enterprise Center was just absolutely rocking. It's the those are the most fun games to go to as a fan, in my opinion, because you're surrounded by people, plus like the wild traveled pretty well, so like they did have some fans there, just an overall great atmosphere.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

There was a ton of Pittsburgh fans there at the Pittsburgh game, too, which I mean didn't surprise me because Pittsburgh just and but I was part of me was sitting there wondering like, is this like true people from Pittsburgh or is it just Pittsburgh fans in St. Louis?

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Well, right, because Sydney Crosby fans live everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

So we end the period with a Jimmy Snuggerude goal and goal number 20 for our for Mr. Snuggerood. I I love it. What a year this has been for Jimmy, and of course, assist by Robert Thomas, so none other. And this was really big thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

The celebration alone was just I think you and I were texting, and I think I I think I said I was like, oh my gosh, they're so excited. And I was like, that must be 20.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

And it was like I again I was listening to the broadcast, so it was easier for them to confirm that versus you it was but I I'm watching it and I like Thomas is like shaking him, or I think it was maybe it was Dylan shaking him, and I was like, oh no, they're gonna give him Shake and Baby. Like, what stop needs to say?

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Shake and baby, and by the way, this game is only three to one, so why are we all so excited? That's what it looked like in the moment, and then yeah, so that was 20 goals for him, which yeah, I mean, what a what a rookie campaign for him. I wish we could have accomplished and looked like this so much sooner in the season. I will always feel that way, but it's not lost on me that Holloway spent a lot of time on IR, and so did Snuggareo and soon and Thomas, and so they've all had their stints on the injured list, and so I but this team as a whole, Logan Mayu also. So but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Well, it feels like the like the quote unquote bare minimum, but again, I sit and wonder like, would we have reached this sooner if we weren't injured? Oh totally, you know. Well, I hope so. Yeah, totally. Well, you you I mean, you I mean in there the thing with NHL and with just player overall management overall, I mean get it, and you say, okay, you know, there's some times where players go on benders where they are you're getting point after point each night, but then you go on a stretch where you might not see them producing. So the the crazy thing about this Holloway Snuggerude and Thomas line is we've seen them cons almost consistently and and then things back and forth on Twitter talking about like the consistency in the point production of their line was like number one in the NHL like post-Olympic break, which the fact that the blues were number one in something post-Olympic break is amazing in and of itself. That ends the first period, the second period starts a quick goal by the Penguins, and at that point I was worried the win was gonna be knocked out of us. That was gonna kind of be like nail in the coffin. But a quick two minutes later, uh an Oscar Sunquist goal, and it was a great play. It was it was kind of a um a broken play, and Torpchenko came in, made the shot, and it was kind of left out, and and Sunquist just took a shot, and and it was essentially a wide open net, but it was great to see him get on the board. He's an unrestricted free agent this year, and you could almost just feel it in the building that night. And it's always the tough part about the end of the season of is this gonna be the last of a player? Like, is this going to be the end? And I think there was a lot of can I don't want to say concern, but a lot of um feelings with it with Sunquist, with Bennington, um Kairo. I think that there was a little bit of. Feeling for that too. Um, and so it was it was one of the games where I was sitting at and I was texting you of just like I I kind of feel lost in a way, but also relatively calm. So to see Sunquist get on the board again, it was kind of just like I was I was like beaming because I love I love Oscar Sunquist. Um, and then we have a little bit of break in action, but then we get Logan Mayu on the board, and again, I I think I have to eat my words of what I said at the beginning of the year. Uh I have loved his play the last couple of weeks, really last couple of months, and an assist by Druin and Neighbors, so a little more consistency, uh assist-wise from Druin, and again we see Jake Neighbors pop up on the uh scoreboard. And then we go onto the power play, and none other than Jimmy Snuggerood getting a goal, assisted by neighbors and Holloway. Again, Dylan Holloway just continues to amaze me. I I don't know what else I can say about him, but he just is so good. He just is so good.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

And he just wanted to reinforce your thought there with that power play assist because he has a great third period too. There is nothing you can do to stop Dylan Holloway because that whole line looks great, but if you had to pick one player that is, I mean Snuggerood too, it's hard to pick between Holloway and Snuggerude which one is maybe even edging out the other because it's not it doesn't matter, it's not a competition. But Holloway is just like a consistency machine, like he just keeps pumping out goals, goals, goals, and then sprinkling in those assists just for good measure. Like he just he's an incredible player, and the more I think about it, the more I it's like we're about to watch the Oilers in the playoffs, and I think to myself, what a bunch of silly geese you are. Like, I mean, you need someone like this on your team if we come back in September or in October, and those three aren't on a line, I'm gonna feel a loss, just like you said you felt um at the game.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Well, yeah, and and the the thing with that is that we have Dylan Holloway that is a restricted free agent here, and like you had said in the last episode, you know, they were still technically in a playoff push up until two games. Yeah. So I mean, there's a little bit of I can see where they were like, okay, let's let him focus, but now that the season's over, everything's out of sight, out of mind. I that that's my first concern this offseason is signing Dylan Holloway. I don't I don't care. That's that is that is the priority. And we see this, we see him get a goal here at the beginning of the third, assisted by Snuggard and Thomas. I mean, it that to me, it just feels like a no-brainer. So um, and then what was it the 40 seconds later, we get a Pavel Buchnevich goal assisted by Kairu and by Jordan Bennington. Um, I didn't realize that Bennington had touched it before Kairu. I guess I just wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

It was easier to see on the TV broadcast because they shot it from that angle. So when I watched the play develop with the stretch pass, I was like, I think Bennington's gonna get an assist on that.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Well, and I think it was one of those ones that was like moving so quick and they were still celebrating the Holloway goal. So I was like, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

What are we doing? What are we doing? I know, and then Seaglovs took that personally of the Pittsburgh Penguins goalie because he hasn't assist on the goal.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Yeah, on the uh so then we the Pittsburgh Penguins had pulled the goalie, and um, but it's an empty net. We're at the point where Snugrood's out for a potential hat trick and we have a potential goalie goal. And so the I think the amount of shoot and pass that I heard was I I was overstimulated and I'm not on the ice. And eventually the puck does get to Meiu to Snuggard. I don't think Snuggard had a direct shot, so he did give the pass to Holloway, and Holloway um nets that empty net. So I was like, part of me was like, I would have loved a Jimmy Snuggard hat trick, but then the also part of me was like, okay, it would have been a little I'm a little bit of a sucker for Golden winning by one goal at this point.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

So good for Holloway to knock this one in, and then you still have two minutes if you want to give Snuggerwood a chance to grab another one, but at least you've got the game on lock. That's a good point to that.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

It was a great game overall. So the buzzer goes off. Everyone does the high fives and with the goalie, and they come out to do the final like stick taps and stick raise in the air after the game, and I am walking down the steps as that's happening, and I think I just started crying a little bit of oh, like this is I'm here. I'm a very sentimental person, and I and I looked at this team and I was like, oh my gosh, the growth that we've made, this is the last time we're gonna get to see some of these players. It's hard because I truly love Braden Shen and I liked Justin Falk, so not seeing them was a little bit hard too. But I think just not having more time to to watch this team develop and have fun, it because it just truly seemed like they were having fun during this this stretch of hockey. And I just would have loved to have seen more time with with this group. Um at home at least. We do have one more game of the season. We play Utah, and it was one of those games where Utah still played all of their big players, they weren't going for the load management, they didn't have the worry of being knocked out of that first spot of the wild card, so it was kind of surprising to me that they decided to keep everybody in. But they kept everybody in, and this was a great game. It was very physical, it got chippy, a couple different plays, um, and it was a very back and forth game. It was one of the games that I looked at and was like, if this would have been a mid-season game, I don't know. I I was thoroughly just invested and surprised by how well we played.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

These are always good games. Like for whatever reason, the games this year against the mammoth at least have been much more competitive games. And who doesn't live to the book?

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Yeah, because it was so like the mammoth won the first one, we won the second one, mammoth won the third one, and then we won the fourth one. So we went two and two this against them in the series. And I think the to your point of we couldn't play the coyotes, it this dates back to when we were going through like the COVID protocols, and I think we played the Arizona Coyotes like six times in a row.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Yeah, because yeah, you were doing those like long almost residency where you were going to a city and staying there and playing like a whole series. Like it's insane.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

I can't believe the Dallas wild. It was, I think it was what had happened was we played them, and then I think it was like Dallas was supposed to come in, but and then like coyotes were supposed to come back again after Dallas. It was a weird schedule how they had it worked out, but they were like, Oh, well, Dallas can't make it in because I think they were under protocol, so we're just moving these games up and the coyotes are gonna play here.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

And it was it was quite well, god thank God though, we left that in COVID years because can you imagine having to play that kind of structure against this central division? Oh can you imagine having to play even just three in a row, four in a row, games against the Colorado Avalanche or the Wild? Oh my god. I mean, that would be a disaster.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

This Utah Mammoth team is not a team to to sleep on. They've got great players, and it seems that the it seems as though they're connecting at the right time. And it it kind of shows in this game. We score first, and it's Pavlo Bucnevich who nets in his 20th of the season, which with the way he's been playing, if you told me that he was gonna score 20 goals, I wouldn't, I don't think I would believe you. But he nets his 20th, Suder bumps it and it gets to Kairu, and then it's just kind of like left open for Bucnevic to just tap it in. So it was a great read by Bucnevich. Um so I loved seeing this. It was and it was an early goal, so I was like, oh yes, we you know, we got this, we got it early. And then later in the period, Michael Garconi gets his netsa's 16th of the season, and then the second period starts, and it's a quick goal by Lawson Krause, um assisted by Mackenzie Uyghur. It's nice to see Uygh having some success here in Utah. I know that was a big deadline move. Um, and we talked about him quite a bit because he did end up waving his no trade to go to Utah, and I I bet he's happy that he did because he's about to play the Vegas Golden Knights here in the playoffs. Maybe not so happy to play the Vegas Golden Knights, but he's in the playoffs. Uh also assisted by Clayton Keller. Clayton Keller, I think, ends the season with 62 assists, which is insane. That's insane. Like shout out to St. Louis's own uh Clayton Keller. And they were talking about him being was he a nominee for the Bill Mask Award?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

He surely should be if he's not.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

I think he I think he is. Um, because just the the amount of work that he's put in this year, and he had that devastating loss of his father very unexpectedly on on Thanksgiving, and he his leadership after that. I mean, the team rallied around him and they were like, you know, please take the time that you need. And he was like, No, I'm gonna continue to play. It's what he would want. And then went to the Olympics also.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

I mean, he took no day no days off, you know?

SPEAKER_01 32:47

No days off, and because he played the blues like a couple days after losing his his father, so um, and then we ended up beating them one to nothing, which it goes to show you just like how much he effort they were putting in for him that game. I mean the this is a team that has rallied around behind each other, and it's it's been fun to watch them.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

It's a bummer that they're playing Vegas, but I think they have a better chance of beating Vegas. So at least like all hope isn't lost.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

I just like I do think that this team has a has a better chance just because Vegas consistently with goaltending has not been great, but uh the only thing that I gotta put with Vegas right now is the fact that John Tortarello came in and they went like 11-0-1 in their time. And let me tell you, the one their uh overtime loss actually came as a shooter.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Um I don't know what that was.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

But after the Krause, the Krause goal, um, you could feel a little bit of a shift, and commentators were talking how the Blues were actually doing a really great job with the East-West passes and connecting on them. I got a little worried with them doing East-West passes. That that always freaks me out, um, especially with a team so well-versed as Utah who can read plays like that and intercept very easily. Uh we were very lucky that it was working. We get a Robert Thomas goal a little before midway through the second period, assist by none other than Dylan Holloway. And then a couple minutes later, it's Robert Thomas again, assisted by Cam Fowler and Loway. Um beautiful goals by Robert Thomas. Robert Thomas has such a great hockey mind, and he can read play so well. It just is beyond comprehendable to me sometimes sometimes with how well he plays. And I know that that might sound a little bit dramatic. I look at him and I'm like, it he just plays so well.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

He does. He gets an empty net, right? At the end of the game. So we were talking about his first career hat trick a couple weeks ago, and now he's getting his second one, which is so funny because again, I think it was I think it later. Yeah, so I we're sitting here and we're like, oh, like, I don't want the rumors of Robert Thomas leaving, like he has said that they never asked him to waive his no trade, so it never got there, but I don't want that to happen, and I certainly don't want that to happen after how he's finished out the season. But believe it or not, that's when everyone starts calling and wants to pay more for him. So um right, you know, it's like the le I don't know what the lesser of the two evils is there, but um, yeah, it was I it's just he's just such an unbelievable player. He, you know, finished the year leading the blues in points um with 64, but only played 64 games. So I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

I have to shout out Logan Mayu. He gets a goal late in the third period to put us up four to three. Um an unassistant, beautiful forehand, backhand goal by Logan Mayu. Um and you could I mean everybody was just so excited about this. They were just everybody was around him. You could see it on his face too. And again, this coming from somebody who has he he struggled at the beginning of the year, was sent down and came back up, and for him to have the season that he ended up having, I just it it kind of makes me feel good to see that and see that he's had that success, and I can only hope that he continues to have that success later on. Um, and then like you said, Robert Thomas finds the empty net, assisted by Jimmy Snugrood and Philip Roberg. Jimmy Snuggerud ends up with 30 assists on the season, um, on top of his what 21 goals, so six fifty-one points on the season. Crazy to me.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Um yeah, him and Holloway both finished the year at 51 points, and then Thomas has 64. So for Snuggerud, it was 21 goals, 30 assists, and Holloway 22 goals and 29 assists. So uh, but Snuggeroood played 70 games, and Holloway only played 59. So um 11 less games for Holloway, but still the same point production as Snuggerood. Um, and then of course Thomas only playing 64 games. So um, yeah, the I would say this the sky feels like the sky's the limit for this bunch, and they finish Robert Thomas 22 plus minus, Snuggerood 16, and Holloway 13. Um, that's that's incredible, and uh especially Snuggerood. I a rookie, it's a you know, that stat is a measure of the people that you're on the ice with, in addition to yourself. Keep in mind, like I don't know what Nate McKinnon and the Avalanche ended up with, but we were all talking in the first like eight weeks of the season how impressive Colorado was because they were at plus 22, plus 20, plus or minus, like at the beginning of the year. But then when we talked last week, we talked about how coming out of the Olympic break that Holloway Snuggerin Thomas had those types of stats for the end of the year, which is the same-ish time frame, really, in the grand scheme of things. Um that grip is just really has really looked good. But not a you know, I think Robert Thomas 64 points in 64 games is light work for him. Usually we're seeing two to three points a game out of him, which is what we saw, you know, the last part of this season. Um I think I think I've always felt this. I think Robert Thomas is easily a hundred plus point player at his best. Um, he's been injury ridden um a lot of his career, so he never feels like he gets a full season. But I think at his peak, which is feels like we're really close to it in somehow, some way, is is a hundred plus point player. Um, I feel good. And I think, you know, it feels a little bit young for us to say things like that about Snuggerude for sure, but um Holloway probably in that middle ground. I don't think it's impossible for Holloway to achieve something like that.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

And like he I feel like we're getting to the point where like he's gonna be at the prime of his career. Totally. Um, you know, that 25, 26 age is always kind of that middle ground. It was funny to me because while listening to the ESPN broadcast the other day, um they were talking about Dvorsky and how he's had a good year, but a little bit disappointed that it wasn't more of a production. And they were talking about how they felt that he needed to um work on his skating. And I was like, you know what? I don't think I've ever had somebody explain what they meant by that, but they were talking about like how he's been skating his whole life, yes, but he just has some minor things that he can work on to get himself with that burst of energy, the little bit more um working on the skill of like starting off digging your toe in a little bit more to get that extra push. And they explain it, and it was nice to actually like hear the perspective. Usually I'm very protective of anything that they talk about with the blues, but I was like, oh, that actually like makes sense, and like I can um yeah, because I think Holloway and Snuggerood both possess that ability.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

It's like you just turn them on and they're immediately off. Like they don't have that struggle to kind of launch almost. Um, I think that's a good call out, and I think you know, Kairu is one that I've struggled with lately with his skating. He's never been super fast, really. I think when he was younger, we felt like he could be, but I think it was just his ability to read a play at that time and get where he needed to be. Right now, when I when if you watch Kairu, it feels like his feet are sitting still. And that is one thing. Like it's almost it's almost like they're just stuck. Yeah, like he's not moving much. I think the thing that helps Snuggeroot and Holloway is they never stop moving, they're always kind of not wiggling, but like moving their feet back and forth, so even when they are in the same place, they are not idle. And I think that's just a skill that they have. And but I you're right. I think that Dvorski that makes a lot of sense, and I did feel like they explained it pretty well. Um, I think he could improve there, but I think he had a pretty I mean he finished the year, he played 71 games, um, 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points, minus six. Um he but he was averaging 14 minutes per game. That's that's a healthy time on ice average for for a rookie. That's above probably what you would see from most rookies of his caliber. Um, we we see Jimmy Snuggerood's closer to 17 minutes, but you know, I would put like a Jimmy Snuggerude and a Maddie Beneers and a Rucker McGrordy, a Connor Bedard. They're they're in kind of a they're in a different echelon um because of where they're coming from, um, or just their pure skill level. Overall, I think Dvorsky probably was drinking from a fire hose the majority of this year. He was just trying to absorb as much as he could, fit in with the team as well as he can, learn as much as he can from these players. And I think that overall he had a good year. I think Montgomery was very clear with him when he was, you know, maybe not living up or doing the things that he needed to be doing in order to put himself in the lineup. And so I think they've had open communication about that. And overall, I think if we look through this lineup and we look at the players that we have seen so much success out of, in my opinion, to shift what we're talking about a little bit. But I think that the success we've seen out of the players we've seen shows that Jim Montgomery is the right person for where we're headed. I think that we have seen a really great cultural fit from all of these young players that have come in and played a portion of the season. But I also think that all of our youth has leveled up compared to where they were a year ago. I think the ones that have struggled the most are Jordan Cairou, Pavel Buchnevich, some of the players that have been here quite a while. Players that are still struggling are the same ones that were struggling when Barube was here. Doug Armstrong added so many great pieces to fill out those bottom lines. And I think now we have a pretty good picture of what they're capable of and how they fit into the future as we go into the offseason and determine who we sign in those bottom lines, who we bring up from the AHL next year. It maybe is more of a fixture. Um, but just to overall, I think all of them would say that we could have had a better year, but I think that also if we Just look at the stats and we think about how these games have made us feel as silly as it sounds over the last month. Um, there's a lot of promise in this group, and I think they never stopped, they never quit. They played this season out all the way to the very end with three, four, really, four really strong games to end the year between the Black Hawks, the Wild, the Penguins, and the Mammoth, and um, you know, gave us what they would say fans probably deserve, which is 100% effort. I think that's what they gave, and I think they had a great time doing it, which is even better.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

So 100%. And to to just piggypack off that, so we end the season with four wins. Um, we end up ending the season with 37, 33, and 12 record. Um that's you know, with how we played at that middle stretch, we expected better, I think, uh as a fan base, but kind of looking at it and reevaluating mid-year, we're like, okay, uh this is where we'd expect it to be at. And um it's been hard to see this team now play so well towards the end and then not have the outcome.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

Agree. All right, well, we had some organizational updates this week. So we are recording this Saturday morning, April 18th. I just got the Twitter notification that they are doing like end of season media with the blues today. We planned on covering most of that when we record next week. Um, but we did have some coaching updates yesterday and then also a milestone from none other than your favorite players. So you want to talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Um, so Colton Pariko ended the year with 800 games played. All of them have been with the St. Louis Blues. So he is currently third overall for most games played by a defenseman. So I know that he's three games away from hitting, or four, I guess technically four games away from hitting second place. He's at 800. Barrett Jackman played 803, so he's four games away from beating that. So we're looking at potentially the assuming that the Blues don't try to trade him off season. But then he's got a little bit of a jump from beating Barrett Jackman or jumping over Barr Jackman, the most sorry. This isn't defenseman, this is most worn by a blue. It's 800 for Pareko, 803 for Jackman, and then 927 for Bernie Fernerko. So he's got a bit of a jump there, so it's two seasons worth of games to get to that, but good for him though.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

It's good to see that he he grabbed that spot. We were worried that wasn't gonna happen when we were hearing about Pareko in Buffalo. He loves the city, and it's it's very good for him. So the Blues announced yesterday, Friday, uh the 17th on X or Twitter that they will not be renewing the contracts of defense coach Mike Weber and assistant coach Claude Julian. Keep in mind that Steve Ott also has been moved to head coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds to finish out the year. So we don't know if they'll keep him there. I would guess that he probably won't come back to be an assistant in the NHL here, but Steve Ott has been talked about for coaching positions for quite some time across the league. But I think what's not landed him those is that he's never had a head coach job. He's been a blues assistant coach for quite some time now. So the ability for him to go down to the AHL and be a head coach there fills some of that gap. So we don't know what that will mean, but what we know that it means is that Jim Montgomery is gonna get to build his coaching staff, which he has not done yet in his career. Of course, he inherited Baru Bay staff or Bannister staff or both, really, when he came in. And then when he was in Boston, same thing. So I think we'll get to see what he thinks that ideal mix looks like and what he thinks this team needs. I want to say that Mike Weber, I I was surprised to see that they wouldn't be renewing Mike Weber. Not because, you know, our defense has been incredible, you know, the whole time he's been here. That's not what I'm saying. But I do think that when he came in after Mike Van Ryan left, we saw much improved defense from this group, especially those first couple of years. And I do think that he managed the transition with so many different moving parts this year, at least the latter half of the year, um, pretty well. But the beginning of the year was tough. But overall, I we saw much better defense with Mike Weber than we saw with Mike Van Ryan, in my opinion. Um, in the past.

SPEAKER_01 48:58

Yeah, this this kind of came this kind of came as a shock to me, lose or not losing, I guess. I mean they're just not extending him. It's not like they fired him. Correct. And same with Claude Julian, yeah. It kind of sh so the idea when Julian came in was my thought process was um that when the inevitable time of them getting rid of Drew Bannister, that Julian was just gonna kind of slot over as head coach, um, it just kind of so happened to work out that Bannister and Montgomery were released from their coaching duties at this around the same time. So I mean, when I think that Armstrong was looking at it like you can't have somebody like Jim Montgomery walk away. Because he's somebody that would have had a job probably within hours of yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

I mean, he had a that's right, he had a job. We hired him within the week because he was released from Boston and we released Bannister because we knew we could fill it with Montgomery within it was like four days or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:05

So I mean the my understanding with Julian is that that was kind of like my thought process with us bringing him on when we brought him on. Um, I thought that he did well, but I think his um role when Bannister was here is kind of run the power play a little bit more. And with Montgomery being so well at the power play, I think that that kind of slotted him in at that spot. The Mike Weber, I can understand it, but I also am a little shocked by it. Um I felt as though our defense has looked better since um losing Van Ryan, but again, I think that it kind of comes down to what you're putting on the ice. I think that we were so successful early on because we had players like Petrangelo and Bo Meester and Pareco were kind of running it. And I I think we're starting with like your Brobergs, Perecos. Um I think that you have the potential for Tucker to be a good solid stay-at-home defenseman. The idea is kind of to replace the Falk um mindset with him, which obviously they were traded from the same, you know, we got him from Detroit similarities. Um but I don't know. I just there's part of me that thinks that the defense could just it just needs some just something more. Um but I felt as though our defense got significantly better at the end of the year. So again, this was kind of a shock to me to see um them announce this about Mike. And it's hilarious because Alexa and I are the same person, and we the text messages that we sent each other in all caps was what do you mean we got rid of Mike Weber? Came in at the exact same time. And I I kid you not that like it was like they both popped up at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 52:02

Yeah, and it was right after the I have my notifications on for the blues. So I got the notification from Twitter on my phone that said blues will not be renewing Claude Julian and Mike Weber's contracts. And yeah, I immediately went and texted Alyssa. Claude Julian, you know, I think I think I totally agree with you, and I think it worked out in our favor because it was so easy for us to move Ott down to the AHL and not lose that um, you know, someone that it could at least help help Montgomery from the offense side. Um, you know, we saw David Alexander, goalie coach, on the bench in that spot um where Ott usually was. And I don't know when his contract is up, but he is not going anywhere. He is said to be um one of the one of the faves uh in the league for from a goalie coach perspective. So um he is still there. Obviously, Joel Hofer has developed under David Alexander's guidance, so that doesn't surprise me. And like I said, it's not that they're firing the two coaches, they're just not renewing those contracts. So um we'll get to see what Montgomery wants his staff to look like, which is exciting. You know, I think there's something to be said for having such fresh faces on a team and also bringing in fresh coaching with it. It doesn't feel like as much of a disruption um to what you're already doing because that is it's kind of like habit stacking, like you don't know any different because this is just the way that you function now. This is the way that this coach likes to run things, this is the way they like to run practice, these are the drills they like, this is the system we're using instead of rewriting how your brain is wired. Um, you know, you're just coming in and that's just what you're learning. So um excited to see where that goes. I'm certain that Mike Weber will have a job somewhere else soon. And Claude Julian, I'm curious what he thinks for his next step. I know Claude Julian's been a head coach before.

SPEAKER_01 53:57

Um yeah, he's been in a lot of places.

SPEAKER_00 54:00

Yeah, so I'm curious what he th what you know Claude Julian's next step is. So you know what I could potentially see for Julian?

SPEAKER_01 54:10

GM.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

And I'm not saying necessarily um Did you see this morning that Chris Pronger has interviewed for the Leafs GM job? But Chris, you're on a book tour right now. You don't have time. You you already have main character energy, you don't need to go become a least GM. Also, I like you on the SportsNet panel in the ESPN panel. And these are all selfish opinions, Chris. But um I don't know. That I mean that I can see it. I am so curious to see. I we're gonna have some GM shakeups in this league in general. Oh, yeah, and some coaching shakeups for sure. And 100%. Um yeah, I'm interested. You know, that that does make sense to me. I wonder if it's a GM role, or maybe it's a I mean, it's probably a GM before it's a president of hockey operations, but it's so interesting because when I think of Julian, I think of him a little bit less in that GM role and more in that advisory role. Um Yeah. And so I could see that that might just be a raw that might be a wrong perception. It's just my perception. Um, but yeah, best of luck to both of them. And I think they've, you know, they've been here a while, so they've certainly seen success throughout their time here. And I have no doubt that uh we need good defensive coaches because the defense in this league is not where it used to be because the forwards are so much better than they have been in the past. So um, and I think Mike Weiber does a great job of you know fostering growth in in those younger players, which is what we need more of.

SPEAKER_01 55:46

So no, 100%. Um, so I know that we had the idea. Oh, before I wanna I wanna jump in and say this real quick because um it it it kind of bothered me. Uh it was dressed like a seat night there in Utah for the last game of the season. And you mean to tell me that this team is getting ready to play in the playoffs and they were seat. But okay.

SPEAKER_00 56:13

Um, yeah, I I am not a fan of the play. I'll do a pre-chirp. You support your team, you go all in on every on every occasion that you get. And I say this as a blues fan that doesn't get more blues hockey until October. So if I had gotten the opportunity to see even just one more game, even if it's not a playoff game, and like again, I say, Mammoth, I'm so excited for you since you're playing the Golden Knights and you're in the playoffs, but like you're playing the Golden Knights, so I don't think that you have as many games left in your season as you may think. Yeah. I yeah. Unless you're unless my bracket is true, then you might have more games. But True. Um, okay.

SPEAKER_01 56:56

Well, do you want to do chirps real quick before we do kind of that around the league? Um around the league is gonna just kind of look a little bit different. We were just gonna talk through the bracket that we both made and then call it Yeah, I don't know what my chirp is. Okay, I'll I will do mine. Um well I guess my Utah um was a little bit of a chirp beforehand. Um my mine is um I I'm not allowed to say the word that I'm uh saying, so I'll just say freak load management. I I hate it. And let me tell you why. Okay, I get it. You've had you're in the playoffs, I 100% get it. I guess this also kind of comes back to we need to talk and I'll chirp at the um players or the people that make the schedules. Why are you putting the only game uh between a Western Conference team and an Eastern Conference team the last game of the season where you know the potentially that, especially a team like the Penguins, where you have the potential of a player not playing? Now, if it was an injury, again, I understand that, but you play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the last game of the season for the or Zen for the Blues, and you do it the l what what do you mean? You knew that there was a possibility of one of them making the playoffs. Well, maybe they didn't think that, but also at the same time, why would you do that? You make it a central division doesn't matter. I wanted to see Sidney Crosby. Yeah, and I am mad that I did not get to see Sidney Crosby this year. So, NHL, I think that you should pay for Alexa and I to go see the Blues play Sidney Crosby next year.

SPEAKER_00 58:40

That that's that's actually what we're asking for. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 58:43

I This is what this is what we're asking for.

SPEAKER_00 58:46

The Pittsburgh Penguins had already secured a playoff spot when they played Ovechkin in the Capitals, and they played their entire true lineup that night. Um, because it could be Ovechkin's last year, and so they did like a big thing for that game, and I heard it was really well done, although I didn't watch it, um, where they you know honored Ovechkin and Crosby for, you know, that rivalry that really and talent that brought this league into where it is now. And um, I heard it was really well done, but they of course played their whole lineup that night, and so that was kind of like the cue, the load management, with Crosby being hurt middle of the year with a pretty serious injury. I can understand why they don't want to play him a ton, and I think the mystique of Ochkin Ovechkin perhaps playing his last games um probably didn't work in our favor there. So um, my chirp actually goes off of the Ovechkin thing now that I'm thinking about it. So the Blues play the Penguins Tuesday night, right? It's an ESPN game. Well, the game before that was Columbus versus uh Capitals.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

Washington, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:03

And it was Ovechkin's last regular season game. Um well, really his it was his last game because the Caps didn't make the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:12

But um I thought you were going to say something to the effect of him retired or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:18

Well, that's I that's the right. It's like, is he? Is he not? That's what we're doing right now. So he after that game, you were at the blues game, so you don't know this, but like the the game ends, and they fought the camera coup follows him down the tunnel and then sits in the locker room with the camera on him. No break, no cut to the panel, no commercial break for I am not joking you eight minutes. Just his face, just watching him. You can see like he's talking to people, like he's saying he's he's talking to the trainer, and then finally, someone from the Capitals walks up and puts their hand over the camera and is like, get out. And I'm like, Thank you. Like, I mean, I'm sorry, call it the mystique, call it like TJ Oshi was on that call, which I love. I wish I had gotten to watch more of that game because he did like a pregame thing with with OV. Bringing in the subway. He was getting emotional talking about it post-game because you know, he's like, this this could be it, like we don't know. And um anyway, so I thought like overall understood, but like putting a camera on a player like that and having it sit there for eight minutes when by the way, you have another game that is about to come on, you're starting it late. Like, that's not I'm sorry, I want to acknowledge that it could have been Ovechkin's last game because that's the narrative that we're sticking with, but like that is not the way to cover it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:41

That they're like, oh, it could be Ovechkin's last game, but the videos that I saw, so the chance of Ovi start in Columbus, and then Columbus like goes to line up to try and like shake his hand, and he kept waving them off. Like he was it was almost kind of like uh hey, like uh this isn't the end for me. And I I I don't know that would have reading for me. I mean, like and and it's hard for me because I'm looking at like Ovechka and Crosby and like Quick had made the announcement that he is retiring. So all of these players that I grew up watching that were big players, that were like people that you followed, that these stars are now coming to the point where like, okay, it's you know, we're nearing the end of our career, and if this would have been, you know, announced like it was his last game, of course, something like that would have been totally acceptable. But if it's not announced, I don't know if I'm uh if I'm doing that because I think that's gonna make him mad.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

Well, yeah, and so the like I said, so one uh ESPN did air a really cool um I don't even know what to call it, a cool video though that they recorded of all of these people that Ovechkin has impacted over his time there, and not players and coaches, like people in the community that you know he does a lot of work with the hospital, he donates a lot of money, but the whole like let's follow him down the tunnel and I I don't I mean we've talked about this with the Olympics. I don't like cameras in the locker room. I don't like it. I'm not a fan. Just putting a camera in the locker room and having it on his face, like that means one, that means even if he is having that moment, he can't communicate with his teammates. You know, he can't, he just can't be who he is. And I don't I didn't like it. I didn't think it was an effective way to cover what you were trying to cover. I think that they did a ton of work on it pre-game, and I think that they went through the game, and I think it's fine to reference it, and I think it's fine even, you know, you f like following him down the tunnel, you were gonna do whether it's his last game or not, because it's just who Ovechkin is. He's that guy, and it's the end of a season for him. But like I just thought it was I didn't like it. Yeah. I wasn't a fan, but I I do hope it's not Ovechkin's last year, but I think he might have one more year in him. Um I you know, Ovechkin is just such a good player that I don't think he's gonna be one that um plays longer than he feels like he's able. And um I I just think, you know, for him, he doesn't want to just play hockey okay. He wants to go out playing what he considers his standard of hockey.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

So and I mean, really, if he wanted to, he 100% could. I mean, he has reached the milestone, he's passed Gretzky. I mean, he he holds the records now. So, I mean, at this point it's kind of that thought process of you know, does he try to go out now or does he try to do one more year and try to push for the playoffs? I think the Capitals are in that up and down, they're net lull. They have a lot of good pieces, but I think they're still missing pieces. And a big thing they got rid of Carlson mid-year to Anaheim, and I know that was a really big piece that people were not very happy about. So um people that said he was supposed to retire a capital, so that's uh I can't I can't imagine like Carlson and Ovechka not possibly going out together or something of that nature. So I think that that's something that you possibly see going forward. So alright.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

All right, let's do brackets. Should we talk brackets? Yeah. So I did two brackets and they're straight vibes, but I know who you have in your bracket, so I'm gonna do my second bracket, which you know what that means. And I think it'll be fun. I think it's gonna be great. So we're just gonna roll with it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:54

All right. So we're gonna start with the Western Conference. You've got Colorado versus LA, Dallas versus Minnesota, Vegas versus Utah, and Edmonton versus Anaheim. Um for the Colorado LA series, I have Colorado. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:13

I mean, I think it would be at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:14

And I and I'm thinking it's a it's a 4-0 four-one series.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:20

I think yeah, I think it could be five games. I think the Kings get at least one in there. And please prove me wrong, Kings, if you can, because Copatars last year, like I'd like to see you make a run for it, but I would be I I think the Avalanche deserves some respect here. And I think it's I think it's the Avalanche.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:39

Yes, oh 100%. 100%. Alright, Dallas versus Minnesota. And I will tell you that this was a very hard choice for me. This has been the hard this their series, I think, is gonna be the most um hockey-based, like truly like seven-game series.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:00

Yeah, and I'm really g looking forward to watching the first game this afternoon. Um, like this feels like this is gonna be such a fun series. So I picked The Wild, and I I also picked the wild on this one.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:13

It was a hard choice for me. It is it's a hard choice. The only reason I think I did this is uh Rope Hints was announced to be out uh the first two games. That's a bubble. Was it hints or was it I think it was hints?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:27

For me, it was the wild for a couple of reasons. One, their goaltending's been good all year, but for me, and again, I my like sticking point, because I I think the stars and the wild are both good, and I think it's probably not fair that I'm so not easy to write off the stars, but why like I just feel like it's the wild. And the main reason is I believe that successful teams in the playoffs are deep teams, and I think the wild have way more depth than the stars do right now. Young talent, um, and a lot of players that have played already in these really high-stakes games, like in the Olympics, and um, you know, Quinn Hughes is Quinn Hughes, but you've also got Brick Brock Faber, and you've got Kirill Kaprizov, and just these players that are they're used to high-stakes situations. It's been a great year in Minnesota, and I'm feeling like they could be great. Um, so I I think it's I think it's the wild for me. Um, but I also think that, and you and I have talked about this a little, I think this is the stars' last chance with this roster that they've got to try and make a push. So I think it could be the end of an era if this is what happens. So I want them to make a run for it, but I think it's amazing to me is you know, I'm uh such a competitive person. I want for the first time in a while, I want the wild to be successful, and I think it's just because I never liked the wild. We went through some really tough competitive years with them, of course, playing in the playoffs against them, trying to make the playoffs against them with c some of their uh more veteran, you know, two, three years ago rosters. This new roster is just so fun to watch. Like I it it almost makes me mad because I can't not like watching them play. So for me, it's it's the wild. But the stars I think could give them a run, but I think this is the last we see of the success in Dallas. I'm interested to see, you know, like what happens with Robertson um at the end of the year and you know, all the repercussions that that could have.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:36

So yeah, that that was a really tough uh decision for me to make. I I'm not gonna lie. And I I didn't base I think I tried to base it based on um goaltending, and then defense to me, I I feel that Minnesota has the edge on that one. I think forward-wise, I think that Dallas has a little bit I think that the the the their defense their offense is just so evenly matched, in my opinion, that I think this this series is gonna go go down to defense and goaltending. So that that's just kind of my thought process there. Agreed. Um Vegas versus Utah. Um I'll tell you I had Vegas picked, but kind of looking at it, I don't I don't I don't know. I I'm struggling with with this series as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:26

Um I have Vegas, but this is the matchup that I would be over the moon if it broke my bracket. Like I 100% agree. The mammoth, here's the thing. So you talked about Tortorella, they've gotten a good bump. You mentioned that. But I think that I'm as someone who's not a Golden Knights fan, if I were a Golden Knights fan, I'd be riding that wave and be like, we're great, we're not gonna lose, we're gonna play great, like, you know. But I think um the mammoth, you know, to me, that's that last 11, 12 games that have put them there isn't enough to ride on and assume that that's what you're capable of. So I think if the mammoth come in, which they're gonna have to, and they come in and play their style of game, it could be hard for the Golden Knights to be easily successful against them. I think the Mammoth could pull off a win here. I have the Golden Knights in my bracket. However, I it this is hard for me too, because I think that their styles of play are so different that I think the mammoth could provide quite a shock to the Golden Knights. I'm just not sure that it's enough to win them the series.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:36

I I agree with you. I think Vegas is gonna struggle with goaltending. Um, their goaltending has not been good this year. That if Utah can be feisty, because Vegas is i is gonna play hard. It's gonna be a very heavy hitting Vegas team. But if Utah can can and can squeeze through and get the shots on net, I I think you gotta ch I think you got a chance of Utah potentially breaking that. But I went with Vegas just because once um and and two just the the level of the caliber that they have on that first and second line. Utah, I mean, has that caliber as well. I think defensively Vegas has the edge over Utah. So I the this is gonna be a good series. Again, I had Vegas, but if Utah won, this would not upset me to break my bracket.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:34

Yeah, and you know, um, I think this series could be the highest scoring series.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:40

Oh, I agree with you. I agree with you. I think the Dallas, uh, Minnesota one will be fairly low scoring. The Colorado LA will probably be high scoring, uh, one-sidedly high scoring. Um I'll take that with how you will. Um yeah. So then we have Edmonton and Anaheim. And again, I struggled picking who I wanted in this one. Um I think Edmonton had made the push there at the end, and I think that their goaltending has gotten better. Um defensively, I think that it's gonna be hard for Edmonton, but I think offensively and Anaheim's goaltending is not as strong. I have Edmonton on this one just because of one experience and two um skill of the forwards versus the goaltending on Anaheim.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:43

Yeah, so I have the Oilers here also. And for me, this is a I think the ducks aren't ready yet. Like, I think we could see out of them what we saw out of like Montreal last year, where they get in the playoffs and you're like, good for you, but holy cow, we didn't know what was coming to us. Like this is a different, this is a different kind of hockey. Um, the other thing I'll say is Connor McDavid, you better keep your head on a swivel. Because I know a guy that plays for the ducks that you know he's he's been on a on a tear lately. So protect your yeah, he likes it, he likes your players. Uh he likes ACLs and MCLs. Yeah, he likes ACLs, MCLs. Um he he likes the knees. So um, you know, make sure you keep an eye out for that because let me, you know, I didn't know if I the the one thing I will say with this too is Dry Saddle's still not playing.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:38

I don't know if he's gonna be ready for the playoffs. Um that could potentially have a little bit of a factor in it. Um and the other thing for Anaheim that they have going for them is they have the leadership of Joel Quinville. And say what you want about Joel Quinville. The man knows a lot about hockey, and he's he's a he's very much old school style hockey. That if he can get the team to run that old school way, might push Edmonton back a little bit. I I you know, I'm not saying that's gonna be enough to knock Edmonton out, but I do think that that's this is a potential to make a run. I do think that this series will probably go six games. Um, I think the Vegas-Utah series will go six games. So those are the two that I've been that that has been um my thought process.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:38

Yeah, you know, the other thing with Edmonton is I think since they've lost in the Stanley Cup final two years in a row, it feels like they've lost a little bit of their magic, but I'm not sure that that's actually the case. I actually think that's just the perception of like the media coverage being different, and I just think overall, I mean they've had they've been super inconsistent this year, but you know, I look at them and I think they'll still beat the ducks, but I think that I don't think they're as good of a team as they've been the past two years, and I don't know why that is, because I don't think their overall makeup is that different. Um I quite literally think it's the same team. Yeah, and so I think it's just it doesn't feel the same. I don't think they have it in them to get all the way to the final this year, but I'd love to be proven wrong, so I'm curious to see if this is just a perception thing that it doesn't feel like there is good, or if that's actually the case.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:36

So agreed. All right, let's jump over to the Eastern Conference. So we've got Buffalo versus Boston, Buffalo's first exp uh chance into the Stanley Cup playoffs in what 13, 14 years. I'm very excited for Buffalo. So I I have Buffalo winning, and I I did this based off of just the run that they've had over the past couple of weeks, um, the uh production that they've had from a lot of different players. However, Boston is an experienced team and they're a playoff experience team. So and say what you want about playoffs. When you get down to the brass tacks of it, if you do not have experience in it, it's hard to play in it. You it's a different pace, it's a different intensity level, it's overall a different style of play. And do I think that Buffalo has that in them? Absolutely, I do. However, I think that they are going to have I don't want to say a rude awakening because that's not the right term that I want to use for it, but I do think that they're gonna have a little bit of uh a shell shock of the different style of play. Boston has gone a little on a little bit of a run here towards the end as well. Um, not to the point where, you know, it got them higher than that second wild card, but their experience in the playoffs, I think, is going to be what could potentially push them over on this one. But I do think that Buffalo skill-wise is going to be the winner on this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:27

Yeah, I have Buffalo also. However, the hard thing for me, and one of the things I focus on when I look at a bracket too is the ability of the defense because I just think that special teams is so important in the playoffs. Um, but I think you have to have defensive depth to be successful, not just forward depth. I believe you have to have forward depth also because you're you're we've seen this. Connor McDavid and the Oilers have made it to the Stanley Cup final two years in a row. It's not enough. One good line is not enough. But um, you know, Buffalo has Dallen and the Bruins have McAvoy. Well, it's not a one-man one-man show. They both have good defensive leadership and veteran leadership at that. So I think that will prove really beneficial for the Sabres. I also think the Sabres have, I think the Sabres are more uh I I mean they're not experienced. That's not the right word. But I think that the Sabres forwards are more mature and the Bruins' overall production is coming out of a little bit of their less experienced players, and so I I'm curious to see which team takes the edge here. I think the Sabres have a good chance at beating Boston for a lot of reasons. Um, but uh more than anything, it's just this Boston team feels like it's been surprisingly successful, and I'm curious if that is enough to get them past the Sabres. So I I have the Sabres winning this one.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:02

Yeah, I having the Sabres win again. This I wrote it kind of and I just went with it. I didn't kind of sit down and like have the thought process that I'm having right now, but uh now I'm having the thought process and talking it out. Um it doesn't matter. Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut for a practi for a bracket, like you know, and um I'm not gonna lie, I hope that the Buffalo Sabres win just based on uh their admin going out and just finding all receipts and the Buffalo Sabres making the um billboard of Brian Whitney saying that they have a 0.00% chance of making the playoffs. Absolutely diabolical, and I love it. I can't tell you how much I love it. Um so that is that's where I was at with that one. Um our next lineup is Tampa versus Montreal.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:07

Um this is the hard one for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:10

This was yeah. I I went with Tampa only because of experience.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:18

Um I went Tampa in this bracket, but I went with Canadians in my other bracket. It's it's a hard one.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:26

It's a hard one. I mean, the Canadians are on a push right now. We know that Cole Caulfield got his 50 goals, so and it they've got a lot of different pieces. I think the area that could potentially be the struggle point again for them, and we've said it in almost all of these series, is is goaltending. Um I just think that Vaskoleski has the upper hand, um, and again, experience, but just upper hand goaltending wise. So uh, and I mean Kucharov in the playoffs is just another beast in of itself.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:07

Um but Tampa also doesn't have Stamkos, who was a big producer in so yeah, and you know, the big thing for Tampa is that Headman isn't playing yet. Now, there was just a they asked John Cooper about it this morning and he basically said he's around. Um, and he's been on the ice, but like they haven't said more than that. And this is when we get into that time of year where coaches aren't gonna tell you anything about any place's status. Yeah. But if they don't have headman, that's a bet that'll hurt the lightning big time. This one feels to me like the battle of experience versus the up-and-coming opportunists. Like I think I think I really I think the Canadians could do this. I really do. Um, but and I want I want them to so desperately, but this it's hard for me to pick the Canadians over the lightning because they're the lightning.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:01

So no, I I complet I completely agree. Then our next uh lineup is Carolina versus Ottawa. I easily wrote down Carolina on this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:13

Me too. Me too. This this didn't feel like a um the senators have a locker room problem. And yes, I I and it I hate to see that will but that's that will that will help affect them.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:24

Yep, yep, a hundred percent. Totally. Um and I just also think that Carolina has a a more sound offense and they've got a sh a stronger defense, I think, than the Senators. Um, and I think their goaltender goaltending is stronger than Ottawa, but Absolutely the the culture of the lock and Carolina. I want Carolina to go far, and I I won't and I do have them going far in my bracket just because Rob Brendemore has has brought them so close in so much in so many ways over the past couple of years, and I don't know something about this year feels just a slightly bit different. I I can't give you a reason why, it just feels slightly different to me. So um I have them beating Ottawa pretty handedly. Um another 4-0 series.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:26

Yeah, I have I have Carolina as well, and I think to your point about Brenda Moore, you know, this team is consistently in the playoffs, they're consistently won in their division. They they they just the past five, six years, they're a mainstay, and they can't seem to get very far. And I want them to, because I think they have the potential for it. It's just it hasn't clicked up to this point, and I want to believe that this is the year they could do it. I also think that they're getting close to that area where you know, what do you do? Like, if if if we've been unsuccessful for this long, what then? And I don't want that for them. I think that they have a really great team. I think they have a they have an incredible fan base. We know this, we've been to a game there. Um, I think they have great a great team as a like I think they have a great group. I think they get along well. I think that Brendan War has fostered a really strong group and a strong team. And I think that when you get to the playoffs, you don't have room for any doubt, whether that's between your locker room opportunity, your specialty teams, your ability to not take undisciplined penalties. Everything has to be locked down. You have to be locked in to be successful. These are the hardest playoffs in professional sports, in my opinion. And um, I think Carolina always goes in at a hundred percent and knowing exactly what they need to do to be successful, and when they're not successful, they can tell you exactly why. Um, and I think that could be a recipe for success for them. Um, you know, and I think that every single year. So I I think they should without much struggle be able to get out of the first round, and so then, you know, we'll go from there. I um bit depending on the bracket, I have them going pretty far, but um I I I hope that this is a shoe-in for them. So if it's not, I'll be upset. I will too.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:31

And then our last uh first round matchup is Pittsburgh versus the Philadelphia Flyers. I think this is gonna be a really fun one to watch. This is gonna be fun. I think that um I jokingly talked about uh Pennsylvania. I um I had too many P's. Um and I guess I blocked out. I don't know what I did. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have have had some run-ins in the past. Uh there's been a couple of playoff matchups between them. They've also played against each other in the winter classics, so I mean there there's a little bit of that deep settled, I don't want to say tussle between them. Sure, we'll go with that.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:20

Yeah, the fans will feel it for sure, I think. Like I think you'll feel this rivalry from the fans. Um, and I think the players probably don't have that as much. Maybe Crosby does. Um, but like, you know Crosby just will do anything to win. Um, but yeah, I so I have the Penguins winning this series. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:41

But but this was a series that I had winning going to seven games.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:45

Yes, and I because I was gonna say anyone that wants to like light me up for that, I'll take it. Like, I I will take it.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:53

I would Sidney Crosby Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:56

I think I would be a silly goose to put the flyers over the power. Penguins. And if if but I'm not but I I want to be clear that I am not saying this saying that the Flyers are gonna get walked all over. That is not what I'm saying. No, I just think Pittsburgh will reign supreme, and I think good on the Flyers for making it, and I think that they could be the underdog of this playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:22

Like I really no, I I I am with you on that one. I do think that they have the potential to be that underdog. Rick Tockett, although hasn't had much success post, you know, uh seasons. I I think that it just his overall uh like he's he's knowledgeable. I think that that has the potential. I mean Pittsburgh has a newer coach as well. I think that Pittsburgh is gonna get their leadership from Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Carlson. I think that those four in and of itself could run through a wall and win you a Stanley Cup. So that's how that's why I have them for this round. Um but could be persuaded other otherwise, but I I just think leadership wise Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:17

So do you think I do you think we should just say like who we have based on our bracket going to the end, and then as we go, we can talk about who actually makes it to the next round.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:30

Yeah, I'm good with that. Okay. Um so on the Western Conference for the second round, I have Colorado versus Minnesota, and then I have Vegas versus Edmonton. Uh I have Minnesota winning the Colorado series, and I have Edmonton winning that other series. With that, I have Stanley Cup Finals. Um I don't know why, I just have a feeling with how they've been playing down the stretch. Um, I think they have some pieces that are just clicking well together. That's why I have them going as my Western Conference team. On the Eastern Conference in the Buffalo Tampa series, I have Buffalo going on, and then Carolina Pittsburgh. This was really hard for me. Um, but I had Carolina moving on. And then for Buffalo, Carolina, I had Carolina um making it to the Stanley Cup layoffs. So I have a Minnesota versus Carolina Stanley Cup final, uh, with the Minnesota Wild being your Stanley Cup champions. Um I don't know, it's just the vibe that I get. Very um wild, no pun intended, uh thought process that I had. I just think offensively and defensively on core and um I and I think that you have some people with some playoff experience, but then you also have some people with Olympic experience that has the potential to put them on top. So that's why I have the love.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:13

So I will say before I go through the bracket I have pulled up that I do feel good about, but it it's kind of a crazy train of events. Um I have the wild winning in a different bracket. But this one, it's so funny because as we went through the that first round, most of our answers were similar, not identical, but similar. But then we go in two completely different directions once we get to round two. So I have Avalanche versus Wild uh for round two, and I have Colorado beating the wild. Um that this is a hard one for me. I think that they're very evenly matched teams. I told Alyssa earlier before we started recording, this is the series I want to see. I want to see this series in the playoffs. I want to see the Avalanche in the wild. Um, I think it'll be such a blast to watch as someone that, you know, doesn't have the her team in the playoffs. So um we'll see. And then for the Pacific, I have Golden Knights versus Edmonton. And I picked Edmonton. Um, you know, to me, if they can make if Edmonton can manage to make it through the first round, I'm just not fully bought in on Tornarella fixing the Golden Knights. I don't I think that it may have fit may have fixed them enough to get past the mammoth, although we talked about how I think it's totally possible that doesn't happen. But I think that that if that does get them through the first round, their luck runs out against Edmonton. Um, this will be a really hard series if that happens. So I have the Oilers over the Golden Knights. Then Out East, I have Sabres versus Lightning. I have the Lightning Um winning that series, and that's just an experience thing. Um I just think that if the Lightning burst pla past the first round, which I think they will, um, that they'll have the edge over the Sabres. I also think that if Headman can't play for this first series, he will push to be back in the second series if possible. Um, so we'll see. And then I have Hurricanes versus Penguins. I picked the Penguins. Um, this is a hard one for me. I totally agree. That's a hard one to pick who you think's actually gonna win that series, but um I went with the Penguins. I just think that the the trio um of Letang, Malkin, and and Crosby, I just feel like they'll they'll have the edge there. Um so then I have Avalanche Oilers, I have the Avalanche, and I have Lightning Penguins, and I have the Penguins for a Avalanche Penguins Stanley Cup final. There is a very, very slim chance that this happens, but boy, would it be so fun! Like that would be a freaking blast. Alyssa is like massaging her, like squeezing her nose. Like, why did I let Alexa even do this? But like I said, I mean I have Minnesota winning my other bracket, and I don't feel that bracket is more of like who my soul wants to win, I think, which is crazy that in the grand scheme of things, I would have the Minnesota Wild doing that. But let's be clear, it's because I have Minnesota playing Colorado, and I will always pick Minnesota over Colorado. So um after that, you know, it just it that's just how it is. Because then if I have I'll have them playing Vegas or Edmonton, and I certainly would pick the Wild over them. So anyway, um my one-to-win bracket does have the Wild making it to the Stanley Cup final, and I don't think that that's unreasonable. But this one would be fun, and if I look at the progression, who do you have winning the Stanley Cup? Pittsburgh. I it's not unlike I can't, I cannot pick the Avalanche to win the Stanley freaking Stanley Cup. I cannot, in good faith, as a blues fan, say that the Avalanche are gonna win the Stanley Cup. I just can't.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:14

Oh, I don't disagree with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:15

Now, I don't disagree with you. Do I think that that is what got in the way? Yes, I do. I think that if it's Pittsburgh, Colorado, Colorado probably wins, but I can't put that in writing somewhere. So yeah, no, that can't be that can't be traceable. Also, I trust that Sydney Crosby could make me proud in that way, if required.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:36

So listen, I think if if it came down to that, Sydney Crosby, it would be the battle of civil silver medalists, Nathan McKinnon and Sydney Crosby.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:46

And I think they would be best friends. Like, I just think this whole narrative about Sydney Crosby maybe being an avalanche player would be just a hilarious like this the cycle that that took where we were like, oh, maybe besties will play together, and then it's like just kidding. You're playing against each other in the Stanley Cup. How about that?

SPEAKER_01 1:36:09

Yeah, that would that would be um that would be that would be crazy to me. But I do think that there's a there's a pot I mean it's not un in Well, it's definitely not impossible, so that's always a good start. I mean, I just think you gotta hope that you've got strong goaltending coming into this, and you've gotta hope for um Sidney Crosby staying healthy. I know that he'd sat a couple of games for maintenance towards the end and he came back fairly quickly from his injury of his of from goodness. Um so I I mean not in not impossible, but I I think likelihood of it is is probably pretty low.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:56

Oh, totally. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:58

But I know I don't mind it. I don't mind it. I I'll have a Sydney Crosby Cup win.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:04

I'll take it. Anyway, I don't know. What I do know is uh in about an hour and a half, the Stanley Cup playoffs. Well, blues fans, no more blues games this year, but we'll be back next week to talk about we'll talk about how the playoffs have gone so far, but we were also gonna do our like true kind of roundup of our thoughts for the year. Wanted to give us a week to kind of sit in that. I think you know your opinion of that changes. Like I said, today is player media day. So um also I definitely want to sit down and watch that. Yeah, and it's it's usually there's a couple day break between that last game and the player media, and they are just stacking it. Like yesterday, Armstrong spoke, and I think Monty spoke, and then today they've got the players in there, so like they'll be like done after today as far as like team commitments. Um, but usually I find that there's at least a couple day gap, which always annoys me because I wish that like I, you know, I wish I could hear like their immediate thoughts, but it seems like they're eager to kind of close the book on this one and move on. So um, we'll take a look at that, we'll review our kind of final thoughts for the year, talk about the playoffs a little bit, and we'll go from there. Well, from the Lou to the league, we've got you covered. Thanks for listening. This has been Two for Chirping. Gals from the Lou, watching all 32. It's hockey talk flavor. You're welcome.