Who will win the NHL Awards? w/ Kevin Paul Dupont & Mick Colageo | Pucks with Haggs
On today's episode of Pucks with Haggs, Joe Haggerty is joined by Mick Colageo, and Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe to discuss all things Bruins, and make their picks for who will win the NHL Awards this year. That, and much more!
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This episode of the Pucks with Haggs Podcast is brought to you by PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it’s Tournament Season or the fight for playoff homecourt, there’s no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePicks the #1 daily fantasy sports app!
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00:00:00 More concerning in the power play, you know, separate from its lack of putting it in the net,
00:00:07 is that when it does score, it can make for an easy night. They're not getting
00:00:12 any easy nights. Every game now is tight.
00:00:17 Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast, powered by PrizePix,
00:00:27 the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS network. I think this is the 80th episode of the
00:00:34 Pucks with Hags podcast. As always, I'm your host, Joe Hagerty. You can find my work at
00:00:37 joehagerty.substack.com. Sign up for a premium membership. You get all of my NHL and Bruins
00:00:44 writing sent straight directly to your inbox. I also file columns after every game. For the Boston
00:00:49 Sports Journal, go to bostonsportsjournal.com and get the breakdowns after every Bruins game.
00:00:53 With me today, I want to thank Mick Colaggio and Kevin Paul Dupont, long-time friends and
00:00:58 colleagues, for joining me. Kevin Paul Dupont from the Boston Globe, of course, long-time hockey
00:01:03 writer. And Mick, please tell everybody where they can find your work. I'd like you to plug
00:01:08 your own stuff. Okay, bostonhockeynow.com. I have a Sunday column. I appear in big issues of the
00:01:17 hockey news on the Bruins section, on those season previews, prospect previews, blah, blah, blah.
00:01:23 And let's see, what else? I got my blog. My blog on game nights, Ranked Rap. There you go. Check
00:01:32 all that stuff out for Mick and Dupes. Let's also thank our sponsors, PrizePix, the largest daily
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00:01:53 For example, David Posternak, you can pick shots, goals. Charlie McEvoy, you can even pick block
00:01:59 shots, hits, things like that. So it's really an interesting sort of thing to use to make the
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00:02:43 easy. Okay. As we record this episode, it's before the Carolina game, after the Nashville game,
00:02:50 really great defensive effort against Nashville. Allmark was obviously solid,
00:02:55 but among the 31 saves, I wouldn't, you know, I think a few were really good, but most of them
00:03:01 were textbook positional saves, good defense in front of them. Just what dupes did you make out
00:03:07 of that Nashville game? Anything significant in your mind after a game like that, where
00:03:13 a few days before we were at Bruins practice and Montgomery was dropping F bombs on the ice
00:03:20 of practice saying other teams were going to pump in six effing goals against us if we play the way
00:03:26 we do in some of these drills, you know, the transition defense, the not paying attention
00:03:32 to detail. And then all of a sudden they go out and they put together a really strong beginning
00:03:36 to end, I thought defensive effort with no odd man rushes against a pretty good Nashville team.
00:03:41 He's trying to play dark Monty. Yes. Yes. And it started about four or five weeks ago,
00:03:49 pregame in Toronto, where his whole demeanor had changed. So it's a recognition that he's got to
00:03:56 be a different kind of, he's got to convey a different message to get their attention,
00:04:02 whether it's happening or not. I don't know. Certainly not happening on the power play.
00:04:06 No, we were on the road the other day. I can't even remember where we were. We were in Washington
00:04:10 and they had, they had the first unit out there. It was, it was, it was a brief day of game skate
00:04:16 and he's over on the sideboards. And the next thing you hear, this is how practice ends.
00:04:21 I've seen enough of that bleep and power play time to stretch it out, boys.
00:04:25 It's now one for 13, I think over the last five games. Yep. I have to say, first of all,
00:04:35 great to be with you guys as always. Secondly, I'm amazed that we didn't start with the discussion of
00:04:41 the line brawl last night in New York. Oh, I love that. I mean, we can definitely talk about that.
00:04:48 In the betting app application business, I did have Curtis Lazar and Jimmy Vesey
00:04:55 starting the whole thing. When you get almost everybody that's on the ice,
00:05:02 ejected two seconds into the game. I mean, that is beautiful. That's beautiful. Old time hockey,
00:05:06 as far as I'm concerned, I don't think we see that stuff enough. And I know there are a lot
00:05:10 of people out there that want to veer away from that and are all about the beauty and skill and
00:05:15 speed of the game and all that stuff. And that's all great. It's all got its place, but I think
00:05:19 you still in the NHL need to be able every once in a while, if you have two teams that hate each
00:05:24 other, just go out there and start a fight to start the game like that. I have zero problem
00:05:29 with that whatsoever. Well, anyway, we'll steer over there whenever you want to steer over there,
00:05:34 but back to Bruins, you know, the national game, I will give the Bruins a lot of credit for,
00:05:41 you know, zero, zero after 40. I think that's the fourth time this year.
00:05:46 They've gone six games in a row now, I think, where they haven't had a lead at the 40 minute
00:05:50 mark. And of course, that's always a pretty good indicator of how a team's playing.
00:05:57 You know, that's an excellent team they played and to match them for the 40 even, and then,
00:06:03 you know, then rifle in three and win it, that's a good game for them. All marks strong.
00:06:09 I'm still not, and this is the cliche of cliches, but it always proves true.
00:06:16 I'm still not seeing the best hockey from their best players. And that could be a real issue.
00:06:23 Yeah. And that dupes plays into the power play for sure. And I think when you watch Brad Marshan
00:06:29 right now, he looks like a 35 year old Brad Marshan that is also on the precipice of,
00:06:35 you know, a big milestone goal and is maybe pressing a little bit and forcing things.
00:06:39 Certainly it looks like he's forcing things on the power play at times and looks like he's going
00:06:44 outside of his game at times, and maybe even conserving a little bit for the post-season
00:06:50 too. Sort of trying to keep the tank full now because he knows the important games are coming
00:06:55 up, but we have not seen his best since the all-star break, I would say from Brad Marshan,
00:07:00 except for maybe a couple of games. Like he was definitely impact player in that Florida game
00:07:06 where they want to make a statement. I thought that was one of his best games since the all-star
00:07:09 break. So he's had one or two of those where he ratcheted it up. I thought when he needed to,
00:07:16 or when he wanted to, but Mick, I've seen the same thing with the power play. They're
00:07:21 struggling mightily. Their best players are not getting it done. I think Brad Marshan has,
00:07:26 has, you know, really tried to force things at times. And some of the other players have too.
00:07:30 And it continues to highlight one other thing that I've seen, which is that,
00:07:33 you know, I'm not sure Charlie McAvoy is a number one power play, you know, defenseman at the point
00:07:39 either with the, the, the reluctance to shoot and the, the wanting to pass and set up his teammates
00:07:45 instead of, you know, shooting the puck and being a viable scoring threat at times there. But
00:07:49 what do you make of that game against Nashville? And also maybe some of the power play things that
00:07:55 Dupes mentioned. Well, by contrast, the New York Rangers winning goal late in the third,
00:08:04 and you can say whatever you want about the ticky tackiness of Brendan Smith's hook. But
00:08:11 that was Park Middleton stuff. Adam Fox weaving to his right, shooting to his left, keeping the
00:08:19 puck on the ice and putting it right to an arriving Chris Kreider. So he could just put a stick right
00:08:24 in the right spot at the right moment and put that thing right over the shoulder. And the game's over.
00:08:31 And in just one perfect execution, to me, it really highlighted for me how much the Bruins
00:08:41 power play is just so pedestrian. And because even though you have some brilliant talent on the ice,
00:08:49 Pasternak seems to want to invent the game every time he goes out there. That's a great quality in
00:09:00 his game. It's something that's allowed him to continue to expand his offensive portfolio,
00:09:07 continue to remain a great offensive force when he's not playing with generationally great
00:09:15 centermen. And here he is still. I think he's having a better season than he did last year
00:09:23 because so much of the defense funnels toward him and says, don't let this guy beat us like
00:09:29 a basketball game. And instead. Well, and he's not playing with Kratie Bergeron either. You know,
00:09:34 he's going to do so much more on his own. Right. So, so, so he asked, but, but I think when he
00:09:40 tries to bring that, that intuitive, creative, instinctive stuff to the power play, I think it's
00:09:47 difficult for the team to act as a unit. And I think maybe he needs to dial back how much he tries
00:09:56 to imagine in the moment and, and just do things that are more set plays. That thing arrangers did
00:10:03 last night was a set play. It was something to practice. You know, Marcian you're right. He's
00:10:11 still doing stuff to expect to see in October, November, where, where he's taking his notes and
00:10:17 making guys look good against him. And he's not at that point where he usually is in the season
00:10:22 where he's suddenly torching all those people. That's not happening. So yeah, there's issues
00:10:29 there and you, and let's, you know, we know that McEvoy was not a BU power play guy at BU.
00:10:35 So bringing him to the power play in the NHL and growing that part of his game on the job
00:10:42 when it wasn't his game at BU and that point in his life is going to have flat points and
00:10:50 places where it's not going to grow. So yeah, it's not a Tory Krug type point man,
00:10:57 who can be great from a still position. He's a guy who's at his best when he's really moving.
00:11:03 So yeah, there's issues there. And I'm not really sure what the answer is with this group,
00:11:09 but a power plays tend not to worry me. And the biggest of pictures, the New Jersey devils with
00:11:15 30th out of 30 in 2003 and won the Stanley cup. So how about the Bruins in 2011 when they won
00:11:21 their power play? Not a great power play in the regular season, but then they
00:11:27 threw in a double elbow on the left with a rotation. It was with Bergeron and Creechie
00:11:32 kind of moving in and out, you know, one guy's down the corner, one guy's in the,
00:11:36 so they had more structure as they moved. And I liked that there was more thought behind how
00:11:42 they did it. So yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing them, you know, those guys go into a think tank and
00:11:48 maybe give them a new power play just to get their minds out of their old, off their old doldrums.
00:11:53 And it wouldn't have hurt to have a tougher, stronger presence in front of the net.
00:11:59 You know, Brazzo, I don't know what his situation is with his little injury, but I wouldn't mind
00:12:06 seeing him or Maroon when he's ready, be that guy right in front of the net.
00:12:10 Yeah, I think Brazzo would be a guy I would like to see there just based on
00:12:15 the offensive skill set he has. And I think he could handle that kind of a role with higher
00:12:20 level offensive players, you know, making plays around him, as long as he's not too
00:12:24 deferential to everybody else if he got into a situation like that. But I think he's built
00:12:29 for net front of the power play as he's shown with the second unit. One interesting thing,
00:12:34 you know, Dupes mentioned that, you know, that was the, what, the fourth time you said Dupes,
00:12:39 that they've gone zero, zero going into the third period. I would say most of those other games and
00:12:45 a lot of the other times when it's been low scoring this year, I've felt like Swayman or
00:12:50 Allmark has had to stand on their head at some point in a period or a long stretch to get to
00:12:55 that point to get to a zero, zero. And, you know, maybe it's a slow start and they make 12 saves in
00:13:00 the first period, whatever. That game against Nashville was one where I thought Allmark did
00:13:06 not have to stand on his head really at all. Like he made some good saves, but I thought that was
00:13:10 just technically sound, 200 foot, good attention to detail, good defensive hockey, which is not
00:13:17 something we've seen typically from this group this year. And the fact that we're seeing that
00:13:21 late in the season against a pretty good team, I take as an encouraging sign.
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00:14:21 But, you know, to Mick's point, you know, with Breazeau getting injured, I think that throws
00:14:31 some things into it. It's funny how that player has become somebody that I think is important to
00:14:36 them come playoff time with what he's done. And if that's a significant injury, that is going to
00:14:42 impact them quite a bit, given where he was trending as far as the roles he was going to play.
00:14:48 No, we haven't seen a lot of him, but he was encouraging in that and he is the big body.
00:14:53 And, you know, the other part of this discussion is hand in hand with JVR hasn't hasn't been the guy.
00:14:59 Not lately. Nope. And and, you know, he's turning into a healthy scratch and Breazeau. Good for him.
00:15:07 He's taking he's taking advantage of the opportunity or has he did that. That looked
00:15:11 like he could be out for a while the other night. But we'll find out more about that.
00:15:15 What what what I find more that more concerning in the in the power play, you know,
00:15:24 separate from its lack of putting it in the net, is that when it does score,
00:15:30 it can make for an easy night. They're not getting they're not getting any easy nights.
00:15:35 It's every game. Every game now is taught, taught, even though even though they've got
00:15:41 a they've got a playoff berth. I don't know which one it is. They are the top three or four in terms
00:15:47 of points percentage in the league. They're probably going to win the division so we can
00:15:52 we can come up with all these foibles. Nonetheless, they've survived. And really much of much of why
00:15:58 they are where they are today is because they went nine and one in the first ten.
00:16:04 They've been a very pedestrian team over the last sixty five games. Yep. Pedestrian being pretty
00:16:11 much 14, one in three. Yeah, that's the one where remember when Montgomery had, you know,
00:16:17 was talking about, I don't know if we're 14, one and three team or whatever it was
00:16:21 like right around that that start, like right at that moment, they were kind of like we're playing
00:16:25 over our heads and we sort of know it. And you're right. That start catapulted them into where they
00:16:30 are now because, you know, Kylie Coyote had run off the cliff and didn't look down yet.
00:16:35 Well, not to mention if the scoring system was different and you didn't get, you know, points for
00:16:39 overtime, shootout losses and, you know, and things like that, there would also be
00:16:44 they'd be a much different team as well. I don't like those hypotheticals, though, because
00:16:50 they played the games knowing what the rules were. Yeah. So but the point being, they're not winning
00:16:55 as many regulation games as a lot of the other teams are around them, which I think they haven't
00:17:00 all year. That's right. Which is an issue and something to look for. And to my main point here,
00:17:07 the medical, mental, physical fatigue. Yeah, that they've been under here and some of it really
00:17:14 isn't necessary. They've got the playoff. I think maybe at some point they've got to look at that.
00:17:20 But, you know, I had this discussion with Marsh and in Washington where I was asking about,
00:17:25 would you consider a game off? And it's it just doesn't it doesn't play to his ear at all.
00:17:30 No, Montgomery, Montgomery back to back to Dark Monty, the guy who has him sit out. He isn't.
00:17:39 But right now, I'd say based on his play age, mileage, where they are and everything,
00:17:46 I would sit him out. Yeah. Yeah. I want to say I'd sit him out for a week. But over the final,
00:17:52 I didn't do that. What is it, seven games to go six games, guys? Whatever. These final
00:17:56 handful of games, I'd give him a couple of blows here. I certainly would, especially coming off
00:18:03 last year where Bergeron tweaked his back in that last game that he played. I would hope you've
00:18:08 learned your lesson as far as holding those guys out at the very end and giving them a little extra
00:18:14 rest to make sure they've got everything they need and they're fully healthy going into the
00:18:18 playoffs. Because, you know, what we saw last year was, you know, all mark Lindholm Bergeron.
00:18:23 There was a bunch of players that got banged up right at the very end when they were playing.
00:18:27 Maybe some of that's, you know, you can't avoid. It's just, you know, fate and bad luck. But some
00:18:34 of it, I think, is also being smart about usage and the way that you're playing them,
00:18:38 especially with an older crew where so many of those guys are key in where like to your point
00:18:43 tubes. I think part of the struggle that we've seen from Brad Marsh in is that he's 35 years old
00:18:49 and he's played a lot of heavy minutes this year. And that is one thing about Jim Montgomery is he
00:18:55 is like put a lot on his best players as far as playing time, as far as ice time, as far as,
00:19:01 you know, really radical hard league trend in a flat cap era, a lot of forwards and skating
00:19:07 defenseman type minutes. But you noticed it like in January, February, Mick, where they were really
00:19:13 like, you know, post-track was playing 23 minutes regularly. You know, Marshian was over 20. Like
00:19:20 he was really riding the horses hard when they'd already seemingly had a playout spot sewn up
00:19:27 based on that great start. Yeah, they did. Yeah. I mean, and I think it's, if you look at the top
00:19:34 forwards across the league, I think that the answer of the NHL was, okay, you guys insist on
00:19:40 making this much money and we're in a flat cap situation. And this is what we're forced to sign
00:19:45 seven guys to, you know, $780,000 two-way contracts. Then we're going to skate you into the ground,
00:19:55 you know, and that's going to be it. You want, you know, so, and they always complain about not
00:20:00 having the practice time anyway. So they probably feel like, hey, what's the big deal? As long as
00:20:05 we're healthy guys want to play, give them the buck, you know? So I think that's been the trend
00:20:12 of the league, but we're also finding out now that 82 games is a long slog. And everybody, how many
00:20:18 comments have we heard in the last two weeks of, oh boy, I wish the playoffs could start right now.
00:20:22 You know, it's not just because their team's doing good. They're just sort of done with
00:20:25 the season and ready to get on with it. Right. So yeah, the other part of that,
00:20:29 that is a great point you make, Mick, about the flat cap era. But if you look at the construct
00:20:35 of this team, you know, hand in hand with the flat cap is, okay, they had holes. They went out
00:20:42 and got these million dollar a year rentals, Luchich being one of them, JBR, the whole list.
00:20:48 Chattenkirk.
00:20:49 Yeah. But what carries you through from the flat cap era, or even before the cap is the young kids
00:20:56 come up and take jobs. And we haven't seen enough of that again. Right. Just haven't seen it.
00:21:02 Laurie comes in, there's a lot to like about him. It's not like he's come up and demanded the job
00:21:11 and seized it. So you got to get more.
00:21:13 And Matt Potter got injured.
00:21:14 Right. Potter comes in.
00:21:16 That was a hit for him.
00:21:18 You know, and predictable, I might add. Right. You know, young kid, small, still not got the
00:21:24 weight on him, all of that, the stuff we talked about. So, you know, what carries you through
00:21:30 here in the more than anything is bringing these kids up. And when you've given away or negotiated
00:21:39 away a lot of picks, this is what you get.
00:21:41 I will say rather than sort of the young kids that they've drafted and developed that have
00:21:49 done that, though, they have found some players that are in that next tier of sort of like other
00:21:55 players and other organizations that are in their mid-twenties that are on low contract that have
00:22:01 come in and done jobs. Breazeaux, Anthony Richard was excellent when he came up. I thought Fluton
00:22:06 had a good story yesterday on him basically illustrating that part of the reason he was
00:22:11 sent down is because he was going to be have to be put on waivers to get sent back down if he'd
00:22:16 stayed up with them when he was really effective. And I think there was a fear of losing him before
00:22:21 the postseason. And he may be in the mix come playoff time. And I frankly think he should,
00:22:26 the way he played. I thought he was excellent in a fourth line role, bottom six role when he was
00:22:31 up here before. And I would expect to see him at some point in the playoffs based on the way
00:22:36 that he played once the salary cap is gone and waivers are gone and all that, and they can just
00:22:40 bring him up. - Ballquist has been really good.
00:22:43 - Yeah, Parker Weatherspoon, all these guys. - Yeah, Weatherspoon was a genius pickup,
00:22:49 a guy buried in the Islanders system 'cause they had a deal loaded on D three years ago,
00:22:55 and he was stuck down there, but he was playing under a great coach, Brent Thompson, and honing
00:23:01 his skills the way Islanders defensemen do. And so that's what the Bruins got. He was plug and play
00:23:06 from the moment he got here. But Ballquist has been a real revelation to me with the speed.
00:23:13 And the fact that that little body of his, he throws it around, he's effective that way.
00:23:18 And then the other guy that was on my brain when you guys were talking and now the name's
00:23:23 flitting away from me here. So all of a sudden I'm gonna just in the middle of your conversation,
00:23:27 I'm gonna scream out a name at some point here. - Well, a name we should bring up.
00:23:32 - Anton Heinen. - Yeah, yeah.
00:23:35 - What an incredible story he's been. - I think Beecher has moved into that
00:23:41 role that I'm talking about. I'm seeing a lot of promise now in Beecher. That's what you want.
00:23:47 You want your 19, 20, 22 year olds to come in and really take jobs.
00:23:53 - Yeah, it's been a mixture. It's been a mixture of the significant contributions from the hodgepodge
00:24:01 that was signed and Heinen waiting for the cap situation to straighten itself out so that they
00:24:08 could sign him and the patience that both sides showed through that process and how good a player
00:24:14 he's been for them for most of the season, he's been one of the better winners. So,
00:24:18 you know, I don't think of that. And then we see guys that, you know,
00:24:22 that have emerged, you know, Merkuloff was so high on my list. He had one visit here. He played
00:24:28 on a fourth line situation. It was a short visit. It didn't go well. And, you know, it just was
00:24:34 completely didn't work out the way I was looking forward to. I was completely off the rails wrong
00:24:42 about that situation for this season. And, but now, and the guy everybody talks about
00:24:48 on the off season, the most is Lysell. And while he's actually had a good year, but is now hurt.
00:24:53 - Right.
00:24:54 - He was, he's a guy who hasn't been here at all. So, you know, and probably would,
00:25:03 I still think we would have seen him by now, given the season he had been having.
00:25:06 - If he didn't get hurt, I think we would have seen him towards the end here. If they were
00:25:10 spelling veterans or sitting guys, I definitely think he would have gotten at least a game just
00:25:13 based on the season that he had in Providence and how he sort of listened to the criticism and sort
00:25:18 of turned things around. He definitely was going to get one based on all that. If he hadn't gotten
00:25:22 injured, Janton Heinen, he's going to be a top six forward going into the playoffs in that lineup. I
00:25:29 mean, and that is a testament to the season that he's had and what he's been able to do after
00:25:35 having a sink for his supper in training camp for a contract and being another one of those guys,
00:25:41 you know, the five, six, seven guys that are making 775K on this team because of the salary
00:25:48 cap and the situation that they were in. And I think he's also put himself in a position where
00:25:53 the Bruins would be, you know, well-suited to go out and extend him and bring him back for another
00:26:00 year or two if the money's right. And it's, you know, a million bucks, 1.5, something like that
00:26:05 for a year or two based on the versatility, based on the way he's played this year, based on that
00:26:10 he's still at the end of the day, a drafted and developed Bruins player as well. You know, that
00:26:15 Don Sweeney and all those guys had a hand in, you know, developing. And I think that's meaningful
00:26:20 to them to keep those guys around if they can. So I. - And he played for Monty in college.
00:26:25 - Right. I think he's done enough that he's going to be back based on everything
00:26:30 above, but like, you know, he deserves plenty of credit for the season that he's put on and
00:26:36 where he's come from and where he's going. - That's logical. But if they think that
00:26:40 they're going to get a hand of Ben on UFA, there's no extension yet, is there?
00:26:44 So, but if they think that, then they might tell guys like mine and, "Hey, look, we got to take
00:26:51 care of some other business. So if you can hang in there with us and, you know, July 15th, by then,
00:26:59 I think he's going to have a better contract with somebody else."
00:27:01 - What would you give, if you're the Bruins, if you're the Bruins this afternoon,
00:27:06 what do you give Heinen on a three-year deal? - I'm not sure I do. As much as I like his
00:27:13 contribution and he might get my seventh player vote, I feel more like, I'm kind of like saying,
00:27:21 "Hey, I got to figure, I got to know what's with the bigger fish, what the big fish situations are
00:27:26 before I make any commitments toward guys like him. I'm not going to placeholder him. I don't
00:27:32 think he should sign for a placeholder kind of situation. I feel like he should get an honest
00:27:37 deal here. He's earned it. And I think that he'll get it. I just don't think it's lined up right for
00:27:43 him to get it here. I think it's going to wind up somewhere else. - I wouldn't go three years with
00:27:47 him. I'd go a couple of years, maybe two years, like $4 million total, something like that,
00:27:52 in that range. And bank it on the fact that a guy like that, that went through the experience of
00:27:58 having to go to the tryout route is going to want a guaranteed deal somewhere. And there may be some
00:28:06 loyalty there based on them bringing him in when other teams weren't and nobody would give him a
00:28:11 guaranteed contract where maybe he feels something towards them to stick around for that kind of
00:28:17 money. I wouldn't go overboard with him. I think his value is in his versatility and essentially
00:28:24 being a third or a fourth line guy that can also play top six if you need him to right now. But
00:28:29 I think the season he's having right now, what, 15 goals, 32 points, 33 points, I think that's
00:28:34 the max offense you're going to see out of that guy. So you're not going to unload much more
00:28:40 money or term than that to bring him in. What do you think, Dukes? - I see all your points.
00:28:46 I'd sign him for three years, 8 million right now. Given his contribution this year, given his age,
00:28:54 still young, given that the cap's going up 2.7 million there, 2.66, that'd be a very comfortable
00:29:08 signing for me. And my guess is he'd probably take it. Given as you say, Joe, he had a sink for his
00:29:14 - You might be right. That's very reasonable sounding. And if I'm dying and I might, my eyeballs
00:29:20 might turn into dollar signs at that moment. - Right. So all that at play. And then I think of
00:29:27 guys that they lost would come to mind, a different type of player at all, Achari, right?
00:29:36 Achari got to the point, and I loved Achari here. He hasn't been, he got hurt and there's a whole
00:29:42 history there, but for who he was, I would have given Achari that kind of money at the time.
00:29:48 They didn't do that. - Well, their mouth throughout that era had been to let the, as soon as
00:29:55 your fourth liners who were making a million or whatever, were strong enough UFAs in their
00:30:01 mid-20s to get 2 million, 2.5 million from some team that wasn't as good as the Bruins,
00:30:07 who were pounding out 50 wins every year, that they had to let those guys go, Tim Schaller,
00:30:13 you know, perfect example. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. Let Schaller go, but I think,
00:30:18 I think they missed the boat on Achari. It doesn't change the course of the franchise,
00:30:23 but that would have been a comfortable signing for me, just as Heinen would be.
00:30:27 - He's one of those guys you say, boy, I wish we had him right now. A lot of times when they needed
00:30:33 certain things in their lineup, they weren't getting. His career is- - Especially when he went
00:30:39 to Florida, I think he had a 20 goal season when he went down there after he left Boston. You know,
00:30:43 I think he had some very, a strong year or two before, to Duke's point, the injuries started
00:30:50 at play with him, which was going to happen, given his size and the way he plays, injuries were
00:30:54 definitely going to become a factor for him sooner rather than later. And maybe that's part of the
00:30:59 reason the Bruins, you know. - And he was victimized on a bad hit.
00:31:03 - Yes. - He took a bad hit coming up the wing.
00:31:06 Guy missed one to hit, knew he was going to miss the hit and found a way to get him anyway. And it
00:31:12 was that illegal way to get you suspended. So, yeah, so he's paying, you know, some of its luck.
00:31:18 - Mick, do you have any thoughts on that line brawl last night? Let's get back to that,
00:31:22 'cause Dukes had that on his mind and like- - It's the red meat hour.
00:31:26 - It's the red meat hour. - Dukes, this is the Rempe effect,
00:31:31 you know, this is what that guy brings to the table. - Yeah.
00:31:34 - And I love it. - Like, the whole thing happened,
00:31:36 I think, right? Because of what he did to New Jersey, you know, when he first came up and-
00:31:41 - He turned down a fight. He turned down a fight.
00:31:44 - Yes. Well, after he was running around hurting people and like, you know, throwing crazy hits
00:31:49 and doing what he was doing, but I love it. We don't see enough of this and I thoroughly enjoyed
00:31:57 it. And I think hardcore diehard hockey fans enjoyed that. And I still think we need to see
00:32:01 that in at least a game or two a year. Mick, I don't know how you feel about it.
00:32:06 - We haven't seen it since that Dallas game in Boston, right?
00:32:09 - It was around here. - 15 years ago, the Billings and the Stars
00:32:14 dropped the puck and everybody on the ice fought just immediately. I remember
00:32:18 with how feeling that caught me off guard so much when that happened. And how long is,
00:32:24 didn't the Devils acquire McDermott for this express purpose? I mean, wasn't this a situation
00:32:30 where they knew they needed a certain kind of player on their team and they went out and got
00:32:35 this guy? Transactions, March 1st, 2024, traded by the avalanche to the Devils for seventh round pick
00:32:42 in 24 and Dzhokhar Bardakov, who I have no idea who that is. So yeah, so the Devils acquired him
00:32:53 at this deadline for that last night's game. - I mean, let's be honest, the only reason you're
00:32:59 gonna acquire a guy like McDermott is for that express purpose. That's why you're bringing in
00:33:03 a guy like that. - It's been a great year for guys like him
00:33:06 and Ryan Reeves to have Rempe around and make them more relevant because those guys are dinosaurs
00:33:11 otherwise. And when they fight each other, it's really looked upon in a tired act. But now you got
00:33:17 this new kid on the block, you know, you got Rocky here who's six foot seven or whatever he is. And
00:33:24 he's pretty big boy. And now, you know, when he's going out and he's fighting, hey, earlier this
00:33:31 season, before his recall from the Wolf Pack, the Providence Bruins had acquired Victor Arsenault
00:33:41 from Abbotsford, which is Vancouver's farm team was playing on an AHL contract for the P Bruins
00:33:46 and Arsenault knocked him down with the right hand. So, you know, this guy who was doing this
00:33:53 all year in the AHL and he takes as much as he gives. And, you know, so I'm, boy, you know,
00:34:02 I mean, right now, I mean, the Rangers know they needed more of this. I think their whole decision
00:34:06 to go get Peter Labillette to coach them this year was to make them play with a little more of this
00:34:11 personality. And I think there would have been deadline moves for them to go get Curtis McDermott
00:34:16 or they would have been competitive in a situation like that or to add more of the thump to their
00:34:21 team, similar to the early nineties Rangers and the moves they made giving up guys like Tony Amonti
00:34:26 and Mike Gartner in order to get guys like Asa Teekanen and, you know, whoever else that, you
00:34:32 know, changed the look of their team and the feel of it and made it more playoff ready. And in this
00:34:38 case, Rempe, they feel like he's an internal solution to give them that edge. And they're
00:34:46 trying to get it from underneath. They're trying to have a symbolic presence, make everybody feel
00:34:50 tougher and play harder and feel more confident when it gets nasty. And they don't want to go out
00:34:56 with a whimper like they did last year at the end of the first round. And they got essentially the
00:35:00 same hockey team otherwise, but they're now, you know, I still think that the whole Lazar
00:35:08 Vesey leading this thing off, I think that might've been Travis Green's genius at work there
00:35:15 because of the rule that enemy subsequent fights knocked the rest of the team out of the game.
00:35:20 And the Rangers wind up losing Truba and Keandre, you know, I mean, they lose a, you know, a top
00:35:28 four defense pairing out of this, you know, which, which is a rough and tumble couple of guys that
00:35:34 suddenly got really open looking benches out there. And, you know, and there was a pretty
00:35:38 good screaming match between Labby and green in the wake of this event. So yeah, it was a hell
00:35:44 of a way to start off a hockey game. I'm glad I decided to watch. I tell you watching it, dupes,
00:35:49 it makes you wish that the, and I'm sure Don Sweeney, Cam Neely watching it wish, or, you know,
00:36:00 work or think about like how they can find a Rempe out there, a young guy like that, that can be a
00:36:07 catalyst that can come in and bring that kind of energy, bring that kind of, you know, fight and,
00:36:12 and sort of bring that attitude to the team. Like he has with the Rangers where he's clearly
00:36:18 injected some life and a different sort of vibe into that team. That's something I think the
00:36:23 Bruins could use, frankly. Well, sure. And that's why they went out and got Luchich, right? They
00:36:28 got him as high as that was important. I, you know, I've had a million of these discussions
00:36:35 over the years and, and you know, the 1960s, seventies, eighties me loved it. And, and, and,
00:36:42 and when I see it, the sixties, seventies and eighties me comes out, right? Because when you
00:36:48 go back that, that whole thing lasted about 60 seconds. If you go back at one Oh seven,
00:36:54 at least in terms of watching a video, that's the end of it. And Rempe and the other guy just sort
00:36:59 of walk away from each other. So it's, it's 60 seconds, but the nineties, aughts, tens and
00:37:07 twenties me has realized what the league realizes is by and large, you can't sell the game based on
00:37:15 this. And that's what they were doing in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. There was a
00:37:18 lot of sales generated around fighting and vicious and bloodbaths and all that that's been stripped
00:37:25 out. But what's, what's catching up here, as we all know, is, is the CTE and the lawyers and the
00:37:32 scientists just are going to at some point take this entirely out of the game. So it's kind of
00:37:38 this interesting museum piece when we see it now, and it does kind of get those juices going, but
00:37:45 I don't see it. What, what it underscores to me separate from the fighting is what you've touched
00:37:52 on here, which is rivalry. This is, this, this is, this is defining that rivalry and we don't get
00:38:00 enough of them in the original 32. We had them when it was Boston, Quebec, when it was Boston,
00:38:06 Buffalo, even Philly, you know, when you had to get, you had to be in the stands for warmups
00:38:13 because the line brawl might start during the warmup. Well, you know, playing Montreal three
00:38:18 times a year, isn't going to cut it. No, no, exactly. So there's not enough emphasis on the
00:38:25 divisional aspect of this. The fact that New Jersey knocked them out last year, the fact that
00:38:31 the Rangers won the first two games had, had, you know, along the way injured two guys, knocked them
00:38:38 right out of the lineup in New Jersey. There's all that kind of feeding off of prior games that we
00:38:45 don't get anymore. And, and I, you know, separate from the fighting issue, I wish they would look
00:38:51 at the rivalry aspect of this. There would be more, certainly more contact that'd be more yak,
00:38:57 yak between the coaches on the bench, which, you know, that's another part of the theater
00:39:01 that was fun. But overall, we don't get enough of the rivalry. They're hyper, they're control freaks.
00:39:10 And they think that they got this under the veneer. It's under the veneer of game management
00:39:16 and game control. Now, the fact that you have automatic game misconducts for the subsequent
00:39:20 four fights in that, in that instance the fact that they, that they don't want these scenarios
00:39:26 that get the game out of the referees, out of the league's control, but somehow they are perpetuating
00:39:34 the CTE situation because stage fights are still allowed. If for the most part, if you're watching
00:39:40 any hockey game this year, two guys get mad in the middle of a, of a puck battle and start going at
00:39:46 each other and drop the gloves and want to fight. They don't want them to fight. They don't like
00:39:51 them to fight. They start breaking them up. The linesmen don't want hockey fights. They certainly
00:39:56 don't want them right after a whistle in front of the net. They don't want hockey fights. But if two
00:40:00 guys decide that they're all pros and they want to, they got a score to settle and they're going to,
00:40:05 you know, do this thing. You can't remove the helmets anymore. That's a penalty.
00:40:09 Remember those videos where you see guys remove each other's helmets so that they could have their
00:40:15 fight. Well, it was funny. Reeves fought Tanner Janot last night too. And it looked like Reeves
00:40:22 was starting to go for the helmet. Like he was going to take his off if Janot was going to take
00:40:26 his off because Janot had a visor, but he ended up keeping his on and they ended up knocking it
00:40:30 off anyway. Once they started throwing punches, but I think he was, you know, that, that instinct
00:40:36 of like to take off the helmets is still there for the old school guys. Right. So I think right now
00:40:42 the fighters, the combatants, they're embracing the greater relevance right now that's being
00:40:50 celebrated around the league because it lends itself in the best instance of how it helps the
00:40:57 game is like situations like last night where everybody wound up fighting, you know, and so,
00:41:03 but I think that in the long haul the stage fights, the side shows have to go. Those are the
00:41:11 ones who wind up with the brains at BU. I think that the, I think that the hockey fights, I wish
00:41:18 that the league would loosen their, their control, their death grip on, on hockey fights and let anger
00:41:25 fights happen because those that's the one that's in the book. You can fight either that or just
00:41:31 take it or just take the damn thing out. If you're not going to let an organic hockey fight happen,
00:41:36 then in the era. Yeah, I agree. And, and there are points like, and we've seen this over the
00:41:42 last few years when the linesmen step in prematurely, or they step in to try to head
00:41:46 it off at the pass where either there's a risk of a player getting hurt, either punched when the
00:41:52 you know, linesman is holding his arms down or trying to like hold them back or the linesman
00:41:56 getting clocked by somebody as they're trying to throw punches at each other because they're trying
00:41:59 to step in between two guys that want to go. And I think definitely think there needs to be a line
00:42:05 there where, you know, if two guys want to start throwing punches, they need to get out of the way
00:42:10 and just let them take care of business and then, you know, break it up afterwards, instead of
00:42:14 trying to, as you're saying, manage the game to make sure there's no fights, like, you know, not
00:42:19 legislated out, but, you know, tell your linesman to break up anything before it starts or whatever
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00:43:42 to factor meals. It gets the hags thumbs up seal of approval. - Let's quickly, before we break up
00:43:50 here, I just want to go through all the awards quickly and get your thoughts on who you think
00:43:56 might be the lead candidate or who you think your lead candidate is. Hard trophy, I've got Nathan
00:44:03 McKinnon, dominant player. Colorado has been one of the better teams in the West all year.
00:44:08 When you look at shots, he leads the league in shots on net by a wide margin, even over Austronek.
00:44:15 You know, obviously he's one of those guys that's like, you know, he, McDavid, there's a few guys
00:44:21 that look like they should be playing in a different league at times with the speed and
00:44:26 the skill that they have. But I would go with McKinnon over Kucherov. And I think there was
00:44:31 one other, McDavid was the other one who's decided he wants a hundred assists this year, clearly.
00:44:37 So he's a racking up the, the assistant set of the goals. Dupes, hard trophy. What do you think?
00:44:43 - I think you're right. I think it is McKinnon. If you had to pick between McKinnon and McDavid,
00:44:50 boy, man, the only reason that I would tip it toward McDavid winning again is that they had
00:44:58 the horrid start. They make the coaching change. So they make this great recovery that Colorado
00:45:05 didn't have to make. So, you know, is that a fair assessment of the award? I don't know,
00:45:12 but they're two magnificent players. You can make a case for those. I know Kucherov is in the
00:45:18 discussion, but he's not at their level in my mind. - And maybe he turned off some people with
00:45:24 his skills performance at the NHL All-Star Weekend when he kind of mailed it in. That was legendary.
00:45:30 That was very becoming of a hard trophy winner to do something like that. Who do you think for
00:45:35 Hart, Mick? - Well, first off, from a philosophical angle, it annoys the crap out of me that wingers
00:45:41 win the Hart so often and defensemen never do. Because to me, a defenseman in any, in almost
00:45:47 any incident instance, a number one defenseman is more important to a hockey team's fortunes
00:45:52 than any winger that they have. You better be Cam Neely, you better be Gordie Howe,
00:45:56 you better be somebody like that in order to get me to make that kind of consideration.
00:46:01 So Kucherov, brilliant, brilliant player. A joy to watch play, he's so good in so many ways.
00:46:11 But he's not on my radar for this award. I may win the Art Ross and let him have it, but good.
00:46:17 So I'm with you guys on McKinnon and McDavid. I feel like they're deserving. But I also want
00:46:22 to go outside the box a little bit and talk about two Vancouver guys, JT Miller. I feel like
00:46:29 Vancouver is just another skilled team that wouldn't live up to, wouldn't have this impactful
00:46:35 and change the season if it wasn't for a player like that. I feel like he's a guy who sort of
00:46:41 has injected some old school, rock 'em, sock 'em hockey into a team that is suddenly relevant.
00:46:48 And I also look at their young defenseman, Quinn Hughes, who is my favorite among the Hughes,
00:46:53 because if you can play on a team that plays like them and be plus 39, which is might be the best
00:46:59 plus minus in the league, and you're taking all the D and you're this is your style of game.
00:47:04 You're there, Bobby, you are for lack of a better description and say, OK, this is you're like Eric
00:47:11 Carlson, except you don't get scored on. I mean, what's wrong with this picture? I mean, this guy's
00:47:18 really good. And and so I think that guys like that need to get some consideration here. And I
00:47:25 so I tend to think centers. I tend to think defenseman, you better be generational and
00:47:30 having a year that nobody would ever forget for me to consider it as far as what the circumstances
00:47:36 were. So I'm with you guys on the McDavid McKinnon. It's hard for me. I love Dupes
00:47:40 comment about McDavid this year, considering they had to go and grab not block out of Hartford,
00:47:46 save their season and them morphing their team into a team that can do like Edmonton did back
00:47:54 in the early days and change over from the team that has to win eight to six to the team that can
00:47:59 win one nothing. And I think that McDavid not still being their leader, still being at the top
00:48:06 of the scoring race, still being all those things and, you know, reinventing himself however he has
00:48:12 to. In that regard, I would put him ahead of McKinnon, even though I'm a huge McKinnon fan.
00:48:16 Yeah, it's interesting. Like what you're mentioning about centers and wingers, that was
00:48:21 kind of the final determination for me going McKinnon over Kucharov was like the winger better
00:48:25 be just that much better than a center who is more impactful. You know, if you're going to give
00:48:30 the most valuable player award to him. It's interesting that you mentioned the Canucks.
00:48:36 I think JT Miller may get some selkie consideration, to be honest with you, because of the
00:48:40 season he's had, he's been really good on face offs. He's been a good all around player. He's
00:48:45 been an impact player for them. I do hope that get some kind of awards consideration
00:48:50 because he's been an extremely good player for them. Quinn Hughes will go Norris next because
00:48:56 he's obviously a candidate there. I went with Kael McCarr for this as the biggest reason,
00:49:02 because I looked at Kael McCarr, Quinn Hughes and Roman Yossi, similar offensive numbers,
00:49:08 similar seasons from a production standpoint. You know, they're all very good offensive defensemen,
00:49:14 but the one difference between them, Kael McCarr averages about two and a half minutes of penalty
00:49:20 kill time a game. Both Hughes and Yossi are around 30 seconds of PK time a game. They basically don't
00:49:28 play on the penalty kill, whereas McCarr is a full out penalty kill defenseman for the Colorado
00:49:33 Avalanche. And I have a hard time voting for anybody for Norris trophy that isn't a penalty
00:49:38 killer in a, you know, as part of the defenseman description, just going back to the, I want
00:49:43 traditional defensemen in name and the way they play to win the award rather than glorified
00:49:49 offensive defense. And even though I know that's the direction the league is going in for. So for
00:49:54 that reason, I would go with Kael McCarr. Mick? I think, I think historically Yossi is an all-purpose,
00:50:01 the closest thing to Ray Bourque that we've seen in the league in a long time. And I think he has
00:50:06 been the best defenseman on average in the NHL for probably, I don't know what, a decade maybe.
00:50:12 But, but yeah, in regards to them dialing him back and not having him play in that role so that they
00:50:20 could use him to generate a challenged offense. That's, that's what happens when you, when you,
00:50:26 then you do lose out on, when it comes to awards because you're not doing that,
00:50:32 that all purpose thing anymore. And, and you know what, and maybe that serves the Nashville
00:50:36 Predators purposes more because they're a team that needs Yossi more to help their attack. And so
00:50:44 he has to pour more of those 24 plus, you know, minute nights into that. And, you know, and so
00:50:51 I think it's in him. I think it's always been there and they're just doing it different now
00:50:55 with him. And I won't, and I'd say that, yeah, those are the ramifications. If you're not doing
00:50:59 that role, then, then, then you shouldn't be in that situation in award time. I agree with you.
00:51:06 Yeah. I do think though, Yossi, I think you're right, Mick. I think Yossi is going to get a
00:51:09 lot of consideration. Like it's his time to win this award this year. You know, the groundswell
00:51:14 of support, I think for him because he's had such a great body of work. Dupes, what do you think for
00:51:19 Norris? I'm in the groundswell. Yeah. You know, I, I love him as a player. They went out and got
00:51:27 Luke Shen to kind of take some of the hitting, you know, the targeting, I should say, away from him.
00:51:34 Yeah. And he's, he's, he's, he's, he's a smart, splendid player. This, this ties into a part of
00:51:41 the discussion we had earlier. Ray Bork should have, should have won a heart along the way.
00:51:46 Absolutely. 89-90. Closest vote ever went to Messier because he did it without Gretzky, but
00:51:53 they didn't knock the season out of the park. They won the cup. It's a regular season award.
00:51:57 The Bruins finished first overall. Yeah. And, and part and parcel of the discussion being,
00:52:04 you know, Ray can get the Norris. So. I hate that. I hate that logic. That, that, that is just not
00:52:11 acceptable to me. It's a, it's a, it's a, the heart is a trophy that should be awarded based
00:52:17 on itself. Right. And he could have been a, Ray Bork was a candidate for that at least two or
00:52:23 three times. Absolutely. A legitimate candidate. But back to, back to, back to 2024, I would say,
00:52:33 yeah, Yossi. And again, part of the, part of the, my thinking there is what they had to do. They,
00:52:40 they had dotted along around 500 up until the, the, the U2 event, if you will, or non-event
00:52:47 they got it going and he's been a tremendous player for them.
00:52:51 But yeah, that said the other two guys are great, you know, great, not just players, but they,
00:52:58 you know, they, they, there were so few players who can really command spotlight out there.
00:53:04 They do. But my car is so quick. It's amazing how quick he moves from any position. It can be
00:53:10 standing still and he only needs to go eight feet. It'd be me, lateral, whatever. It reminds me a
00:53:15 little bit of Brian Leach in that regard that he said that the quickness is just off the charts,
00:53:21 you know, but it's, but boy, oh boy. And, and you know what, I love watching him in the playoffs
00:53:28 because to me, that's the true test of a defenseman whose game is a legacy of his game is on the
00:53:32 offensive side of the park. Playoffs show how good he is. My car's won the Stanley cup. It was a huge
00:53:38 piece of it. So to me, when a guy, you know, is able to do that, it elevates that defenseman in
00:53:44 my mind. Yeah, no question. And, and you know, like I said before, like I was looking for some
00:53:51 differentiating thing between the three of them because the numbers were so similar. And when you
00:53:55 start to break it down, they all had excellent seasons in their own right. So you're looking for,
00:53:59 you know, something that differentiates one from the other two Calder trophy. I mean, I think a lot
00:54:06 of people just preordain this for a kind of a dart this year. The injury definitely played in where
00:54:12 he missed some time. When you look at his season, it was good, not great. You know, obviously not
00:54:19 playing on a very good black Hawks team. I ended up going with Brock Faber in Minnesota, just
00:54:26 because he's been so good for the wild as a defenseman, you know, playing huge minutes,
00:54:32 playing really impactful hockey, good all around defenseman. And I think this is one of those
00:54:38 instances where maybe you shine the light on a good two-way defenseman instead of on the, you
00:54:43 know, the shiny object that everybody's trying to prop up in the league as the new face of the league
00:54:49 and rightfully so I'm sure he will be a few years from now. But dupes Calder, what do you think?
00:54:54 I'd size it up just the way you have there. I think Faber's done a terrific job.
00:54:58 I still think it'll be the eye candy. Yeah. Take it for Bajar. And again, he's,
00:55:08 he's an exciting, fun player. Whereas Faber's done a solid job. It's, it's not as it's,
00:55:14 you know, the wild has been better since they made the coaching change.
00:55:19 Faber is definitely meat and potatoes though. There's no question about it.
00:55:24 And that's, that's the best way to characterize it.
00:55:26 25 minutes a game. Yes. That's incredible. Oh yeah.
00:55:29 Are there any goalies in this discussion we should be thinking about? I'm trying to isolate them.
00:55:34 When I look at the stats page and I'm having trouble finding my way there.
00:55:39 Yeah. I don't remember there being a goalie that that deserved consideration as high as
00:55:46 Faber and Bajar. There may be one that ends up in the top five.
00:55:50 All right. And finally, finally figured it out here.
00:55:52 Yeah. But I think it comes down to Faber or Bajar as the final two choice. And I think,
00:56:01 you know, Mick, it may end up being Bajar just because, you know, that's, that's kind of what
00:56:07 the, you know, everybody has wanted since day one, when he came into the league and was drafted
00:56:11 number one overall. I'd be disappointed in my, my, my writer colleagues who has still have votes.
00:56:18 We know they revamped things and pared down the number of votes in Boston. I haven't had one for
00:56:25 a few years here, five years, I think, but and that's not a complaint. Sometimes I'm glad now
00:56:31 that I don't. But you know what Kochikov is probably the best of the goal at Carolina.
00:56:38 And he's, you know, it plays for a very strong defensive team, 238, 911. That's not a through
00:56:46 the roof, say percentage. And, and Erson's the only guy with a lower goals, goals against no,
00:56:53 no, that's not a lower goals against they're doing it on a different basis here. I'm never
00:56:57 figured out what it is, but it doesn't matter. Erson's really struggled anyway, recently.
00:57:01 So yeah. Is there a guy here? There's no goalie here that challenges favor in my opinion.
00:57:07 No, I think I'm, I think I'm with you on the favor. Fabulous favor.
00:57:11 Yes. Very Charlie McEvoy ask from people that have watched him in Minnesota. He plays a similar
00:57:18 style game. Vesna trophy, Connor Hellebuck, Thatcher Demko. I feel like it comes down to
00:57:25 the two of them. It may, maybe a toss up between the two. This is one where I went with Hellebuck
00:57:30 just because I think he's been so important to Winnipeg being a playoff team in the style that
00:57:35 they play a low scoring defensive team all year. Maybe not going to work out for them come playoff
00:57:41 time, but I think he's been huge for them. Mick Vesna. What do you think?
00:57:45 I think he'll abuse it. Cause going to win. Yeah. And I don't begrudge him that I think,
00:57:52 you know, the stats aren't there right now when I look at season long stats, but I got to say
00:57:57 in games of watched the guy who really kind of won me over. That is really a good goalie
00:58:01 that I definitely really given my own personal credit to over the years is Ottinger. I really
00:58:07 believe that Dallas has a goalie there, even though the numbers don't aren't. And you know
00:58:12 what? Hey, Stuart Skinner, if that say percentage wasn't down at nine Oh six, if he was in the teens,
00:58:18 he might get some love for this because he's also a player and internal solution on a team.
00:58:24 They couldn't stop talking about it's gold ending as being the bane of its existence for the last
00:58:30 decade or so. Well, that was the big rumor in season is that L mark was going to get shipped
00:58:35 out to Edmonton cause they needed a goalie. Right. That's what every precisely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:41 So it's funny. We, you know, if you look at the goalies who have posted wins in the NHL stats,
00:58:47 Georgiev is the only Georgiev is 37 Demko 34 and Skinner 30 Skinner and Bob at 33.
00:58:57 Hellabuck is all the way down at 32. He's usually like right up there. Right. So he's only five
00:59:03 behind the leader and he's got a two point what he's got a 2.43 and a nine 19. And that's the
00:59:12 best say percentage amongst the wins leaders. You've got to go way down to find a save percentage
00:59:17 that's higher than that. It hasn't been a great year for, for say percentage for goaltenders.
00:59:22 I think because the Bruins run a tandem you know, there was an intermission last night. Hank Lundquist
00:59:30 was asked to give his, his his ranking of the playoff eight in the East, how he would rank
00:59:38 their goaltending. And he deferred to Shusterkin out of, I think out of my opinion, out of loyalty
00:59:44 to the Rangers. And then secondly, he had the the Bruins tandem as his. So I think in his opinion,
00:59:53 secretly, the Bruins have the best goaltending in the league. So, you know, I mean, if this was
00:59:59 the Vesna trophy from, from 1972, when Jockaman and Villamur shared it, then I think that there
01:00:06 would be a shared Vesna for the Bruins goalies, but it, it became an individual award.
01:00:12 Doops Vesna, what do you think?
01:00:13 I'd like to, I'd like to see Skinner's numbers post the change in, you know, because I'm sure
01:00:24 those numbers would rival anybody, but ultimately Joe, it's gotta be hella bucked by a landslide
01:00:32 over Demko for one reason. Demko went to Boston college.
01:00:41 It wasn't, wasn't it, wasn't the Demko that, uh, dis Jeremy Swainman when the,
01:00:45 with the goalie hug to it, the all-star weekend.
01:00:47 Bad aloof BC guy.
01:00:51 To be redundant.
01:00:54 I'm having fun. I'm having fun. That's all it is. That's all it is.
01:01:04 You got to give it to the blue collar, hard nose UMass Lowell guy.
01:01:07 That's what I think is going to happen here. You know, you always got to defer to the UMass
01:01:10 Lowell, the hardworking UMass Lowell guy over the BC guy. No question about it.
01:01:15 Selke, Doops. I went with Joel Eriksson. I think there's a bunch of good candidates. JT Miller,
01:01:22 I mentioned before, I think we'll get consideration. There's some of the usual
01:01:25 suspects, Anzi Kopitar, others Barkov, uh, anybody that stands out to you.
01:01:30 It's the award where I ended up getting five guys and you can throw a dart on it, right?
01:01:37 You know, um, it's sadly missing Patrice Bergeron from the field. It's easier to pick him out.
01:01:44 Yeah. I, and, and I, you know, I don't see a lot of Kopitar, but every time I see him,
01:01:50 I love him in that definition of the award. So, um, you know, today I'll go with Kopitar.
01:01:58 We'll do a podcast a week from now. I can pick another guy.
01:02:01 Mick.
01:02:04 I'm wondering if Reinhardt's going to get any love because he's got five
01:02:07 shorties to go with his 50 goal season. Um, answer no.
01:02:12 Yeah, I think, I think Barkov is going to get the Selke votes from, uh, for Florida.
01:02:19 If anybody's voting for anybody down there, even though Reinhardt's had an unbelievable season,
01:02:24 I mean, he, he certainly should merit heart consideration as well, uh, with the season
01:02:29 that he's had, uh, for Florida. No question about it. Well, he's really been the, he's been
01:02:33 the constant of that team amongst a bunch of up and down that is somehow managed to tie together
01:02:40 that team well enough for it to have the season that it's had. And I told him last little swoon,
01:02:46 they were in the driver's seat for the president's trophy. So, uh, yeah, it's been quite a, quite a
01:02:52 season for him. So, uh, you know, sometimes you wonder if the, if the writers are just going to
01:02:57 go with a, with a, um, uh, when I, one of those, uh, sentimental favorites, somebody who's always
01:03:04 been in a hunt has been waiting for Bergeron to retire so they could win the thing. And this might
01:03:09 be the year they get that vote. So it can be a little weird. Yeah, I agree. Um, I think there's
01:03:15 a couple of clear cut ones for the last one here. Jack Adams, um, uh, torts, I think we'll get plenty
01:03:22 of consideration. I loved what he had to say the other day, um, just about, you know, players
01:03:27 tuning them out or, you know, in sort of like you got the wrong coach, you got the wrong players
01:03:33 that, you know, sort of a long monologue you went on when he was asked about, you know, the players
01:03:38 getting the message, all that stuff. I think he's done a great job with the flyers. Um, aside from
01:03:43 maybe criticizing their goalie, who was going through a rough time. And then he backtracked
01:03:47 on that to his credit. Uh, but Rick talk, and I think he's done a great job with the Canucks.
01:03:52 Uh, they were not a playoff team last year. Um, turn them around. They are going to go now. Are
01:03:58 they going to do anything in the playoffs? I don't know. I don't know if they're built for the
01:04:01 playoffs, but, uh, certainly they've had a great regular season. So I would go talk it for that.
01:04:05 And, and the job he's done there, the broadcasters make this vote. And, uh, I think that,
01:04:14 that knob block also needs to get some consideration here. Yeah. Another in season
01:04:20 change that, that, uh, you know, talk it obviously his turn, the connection to a team that, uh,
01:04:27 is really had a brilliant regular season that did, it was looking really bad start off the hop. Um,
01:04:34 so you look at those, um, but yeah, my hearts would torts, but I don't think you'll get it.
01:04:39 I think it would be probably talk it dupes. What do you think? Talk it because it is a broadcast
01:04:45 award, but to me, it's not a block. Not, I was looking at these percentages yesterday,
01:04:49 knob lock as of yesterday. I think they lost last night. I'm not sure guys.
01:04:53 Okay. So take this percentage as wrong, but as of yesterday, he was 42, 14 and four that's 7 33.
01:05:04 Wow. That's a better percentage than anybody in the league. Right. Uh, Patrick law, of course,
01:05:10 his impact in the Islanders, they've performed less than they did under lane Lambert.
01:05:15 Yeah. That, that, those, I don't, those effects won't be realized until next season. If they're
01:05:22 going to be good, too much going on there, right. Way too much. So, Hey, and you know, something,
01:05:28 here's the other thing, just same way I believed about Peter lobby. I'll let
01:05:33 when the Providence Bruins went from worst to first in 99 and won the Calder
01:05:37 cop, uh, and set a record for wins in the AHL. He won the coach of the year. It's the only coach of
01:05:44 the year he's ever won. Uh, he was deserving of consideration when he took over the flyers right
01:05:49 before the 2010 winter classic at Fenway park and got them into the playoffs in the last day
01:05:55 of the season and all the way to game six of the Stanley cup. Um, you know, so an off the mat
01:06:00 against the Bruins, obviously in that infamous series. So, uh, guys like that don't necessarily,
01:06:06 you got to have like, uh, some, something has to special has to happen in order for a job like that
01:06:14 to, uh, you know, and I think about the next season with the P Bruins, when the flu went
01:06:19 through their team and the same basic group of players almost didn't even make the playoffs,
01:06:26 he got them in and they were one overtime goal away from winning the call the cup again,
01:06:30 because whoever won that series against Hartford game seven overtime was going to
01:06:36 just absolutely roll the, uh, I think Rochester, but any case, um, guys are always, these words
01:06:44 always tend to go to guys who achieve superlatives. So, uh, that's another reason why I think talk
01:06:51 because of Vancouver season, he'll get that love. Uh, but if the flyers are in the playoffs,
01:06:56 then to me, if they, if they keep it, if they somehow get a playoff spot here to, in my brain,
01:07:04 I'll always remember this as torrents year. I agree. And I, you know, great coach, uh, great
01:07:11 on the off days sometimes when he, you know, is a little more effusive with what he has to say,
01:07:16 rather than like right after a game or the morning skate of a game when he, you know,
01:07:20 is clipped and doesn't want to answer questions. But I think the league is a better, more interesting
01:07:23 place for, you know, coaches like torrents be in there that, uh, bring some personality and
01:07:28 some fire into it. Um, dupes, uh, Mick, thank you very much for joining us. Uh, let's also thank
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01:08:28 DuPont, Mick Colaggio. Thank you very much, boys. Thank you everybody for listening. We'll see you
01:08:34 at the rink.
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