Will Rangers sweep Panthers? 🤔 + Rating NHL players with Brendan Perlini 🏒🥅 | The Drop

Will Rangers sweep Panthers? 🤔 + Rating NHL players with Brendan Perlini 🏒🥅 | The Drop

hey everybody welcome to another edition of the drop Greg wasinski ocal here with you every Monday and Thursday wherever you get your audio podcasts as well the NHL on ESPN YouTube awesome guest on the show today awesome guest played in the NHL plays in the AHL is now in the content creation game Brendan perini really really great conversation highly recommend I highly recommend you check out all our interviews but this one in particular I got to say this was a very very fun chat yeah if you’re a fan of guys talking about guys they played with in a candid way this will be your interview friends yeah you’re going to love it and and cousins to a Vander Kane baby yeah there’s a lot yeah this was a great conversation we’ll get to that in a little bit of course it’s our Monday Edition which means we talk winners and losers a lot to dive into by the way there was a lot of news there was a lot of events a lot of things happening in the world of hockey but I think I think wish for a winner from this past weekend the last few days we got to start with the blue shirts absolutely big winner first of all and the words of the great Pierre Maguire Christopher krier uh Chris krider man the hero of the elimination game against the Carolina Hurricanes the natural hattrick in the third period uh was an absolute force of Nature and really like I think starts the conversation Arta about his place in Rangers history uh I’m going to be delving a little a little bit deeper into that in an article on espn.com this week talking to people like Mark Messier about kryder but you know not only the performance on the ice to send the blue shirts to the conference final but also the performance off the ice giving his stick to a Carolina Hurricanes fan Arta as he’s leaving the ice what a moment what a what a moment of of peace brokering with Chris kryder there with fans that are very upset at the time yes and a great athlete thing to do so Chris ker thinking of that in that moment perhaps one of the biggest moments in his entire career uh is a really cool thing to see uh we heard Steve valette on the MSG networks broadcast say this cements his number in the rafters and no one will ever forget this uh you know these are the conversations that we’re now having about Chris krider and it’ll be a no-brainer especially if he wins the Stanley Cup but he I I’m interested in reading your article and hearing what the likes of Callie and mess had to say about this because I think he’s already at that point in terms of Rangers history he is and and I think the other thing about him too and I talked to Callahan about this it takes a special talent to sort of modulate your game as a player and there was a time in the past when it was all speed you know speed and power um you know famously was known as a goalie wrecking ball ask Carrie Price about that um but then as he got older you know he modulated his game he became more of a net front presence guy tipping pux uh I talked to John quick about that a bit um you know he’s really somebody who is the total package like he can be the garbage collector in front of the crease but he can also be a guy that burns down the ice on the penalty kill like really really fascinating player and uh and certainly had his moment in the spotlight a moment that Arta Ranger fans decided to commemorate by throwing hats on the man’s front lawn yeah after game six to commemorate the hatrick against the Carol Carolina Hurricanes I was at Rangers practice on Sunday I did hear secondhand that krider maybe not the happiest that there were paparazzi photos of him cleaning up hats or there being hats on his lawn uh but but nonetheless that’s how excited Ranger fans are for this team in New York right now where they’re throwing hats on Chris kryder’s lawn I’m GNA be old man yells at Cloud a couple times during this show this is one of those instances I’m not a fan of fans doing this at his house maybe if they were throwing hats at him as approaches MSG and there being photos I don’t know that that doesn’t sit well with me I get the sentiment I’m just not a fan of it being leaked and also I don’t know I he’s very private guy right so I think that was sort of the issue with it but I do love the fact that you have less of a problem with strangers outside of Penn Station throwing hats at Chris krider and you do people tossing yeah he’s walking into the arena yes he’s walking into the arena show appreciation throw hats that’s fine I’m fine with that because he’s at MSG I’m just saying a normal day outside of Penn Station probably evolve somebody throwing a hat at Chris CER yeah definitely uh losers off the Vancouver Canucks injury luck we’re at game seven man we’re at game seven so yeah Brock besser not playing in game seven might be done for the rest of the uh postseason due to a blood clotting issue obviously they also are missing thatr Demco their vzna nominated said all season art I’ve said it on this very show the most important statistic of the Vancouver Canucks all season and what was an amazing division winning season was the number of games played for Pon Miller besser Quinn Hughes and Dasher Demco and unfortunately at a very important time in this season the uh the the health issues have cropped up um you hate to see it for besser he he’s had an MVP performance in the playoffs and obviously career best in games played points end goals in the regular season um just a real damn shame that this happened and and happened to a good guy on a great year and and right before the most important game of the season H yeah you hate to see it especially for kucks fans and for Brock certainly for Brock besser like just imagine the emotions he’s going through you know getting to this point game seven and you know life happens and and health happens uh give us a winner yeah winner Alexander barov not only do the Florida Panthers Advance over the Boston Bruins to the Eastern Conference Final to play the Rangers but for the second time barov is a selky trophy winner um and listen man he’s he’s rocking and rolling uh he he was first on my ballot my ballot was barov Sam Reinhardt from the Panthers then Jordan Stall of the Hurricanes Adam Lowry of the Jets and then rupe hints of the Dallas Stars please at some point we should uh change it up a little bit here and not give it to the same people over and over again but that’s all right barkov was very worthy the one thing I will point out though ARA is that Sydney Crosby got two first place votes for the selki he was 22nd on his own team in goals against per 60 minutes when he was on the ice I for I for the life of I I don’t know who voted for what yet the ballots haven’t been released for the life of me I don’t know how the Sydney Crosby for Sky thing became a thing this season unless it was just sort of like ancillary runoff from the seasons in which he actually deserved Sky cons consideration it’s crazy to me that he got first place votes yeah certainly but Sasha barov certainly deserving uh so that’s really cool to see uh loser o haters of Dallas Sports ah hate hate on the Big D hate on Dallas come on well listen man the Mavs and stars are both in the conference final no City or Market Arta has ever won the NBA Championship and the Stanley Cup in the same year that could change this year with the Dallas TW for right now now in the conference final uh what do you think uh it certainly could that would be a lot of fun for the city of Dallas a parallel here since we love the New York 1994 connections uh it almost happened in 94 the Knicks lost out of course but the Rangers won and you know why not bring it back to uh since everyone is doing that with this Rangers team the team of Destiny quote unquote uh even though it’s not going to happen this year because the Knicks had a very unfortunate game seven that took them out of the playoffs and I saw that we have an E60 on the 1994 Rangers coming out on ESP yes uh that’s exciting I I I uh you know my therapist said that never happened uh as a devil’s fan so I look forward to seeing what everybody else is talking about with this 1994 thing uh I also look forward to you being in the documentary just crying tears I was a camera I’ll tell you exactly where I was for games for Game S I was in my living room in the house I grew up in and I was uh exhilarated when they tied the game valer zukin tying game seven and then I was crushed like throwing things around the room crushed when Stefan Meto scored that goal um Mike big winner uh congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins head coach who will lead Team USA in the four nations tournament and the 2026 Winter Olympics uh Mikey Sullivan uh will be the guy to collect a gold medal with our brave men uh Austin Matthews Jack eel goalies to go like seven deep it’s team osa’s time and Mike Sullivan will be the man to lead them I can’t I don’t even have a comeback to this because I wholeheartedly agree I I I I am H appreciate your acknowledgement of the inevitability losers teams that need coaches Craig baru new Toronto Maple leafes head coach and then Rod bremore doing the expected we talked about on the drop a few weeks ago the idea that he was going to stay there it was basically done uh multi-year deal 5-year deal in fact according to Pierre LeBron of the athletic for Rod bore to remain in Carolina so if you are the Jets if you’re the Devils if you’re other teams looking for head coaches uh the uh the ranks have thinned a bit in the last couple of days yeah and by the way there’s a lot of uh Craig Brew of course played for the Maple Leafs there’s a lot of coaches in the NHL right now that also played for their teams also Rod brymore there like a full list I wonder if it’s the most in history there’s no way that I researching that let’s just go with trust me bro as my source real brief like do you like baru for the Leafs yes I do like baru for the Leafs a lot I think that this Leafs team needs a coach like barui that is No Nonsense you know where you stand with the guy he’s not always going to be you know the the sunshine and Roses type coach they need that they need that in that locker room remember like I feel like he’s going to be that spark he’s going to be that tough love that that vibe that gets those Superstars to the next level I think this is a great hire I think it’s an interesting hire I do wonder if there’s a little bit more work that needs to be done on the roster than people are willing to ad because he likes to play out very physical hard four checking style I’m not quite sure this is a bruet roster quite yet but that obviously is something they can remedy uh in the offseason loser Arta showing kids crying during the game is something you don’t appreciate I do not like this what one bit uh shout out to our uh one of our head statisticians in the ESPN stats and information group Vin Massie he tweeted this as well uh saying you know I’m not a fan of showing the kid in the stands now listen again this is my old man yelling at Cloud moment I totally understand it with that said I know that the kid is in a public place I know that there are cameras everywhere and I know that it’s the possibility exists that we can show fans crying for me I would keep it to adults that that kid is in a moment where the kid is sad the kid is crying I don’t think we need to linger on that and show it on on a broadcast or anywhere in the arena Jumbotron whatever it is I don’t think we need to draw attent attention to it like that it’s again it didn’t sit well with me I don’t want the kid to get memd and that’s kind of what happened with the Hurricanes fans but that being said I do like the idea of giving us a reminder of why we watch these games and how important they are to people and how meaningful they are to people like when you see a kid crying it brings you back to like I said when I was a kid watching game seven of the Easter Conference Final in 1994 how important it was to me we lose that over time and we have to remember that this is still very important to a lot of people but the other thing I’ll say about this particular situation ARA is that you can’t divorce it from the shod and frea of a team releasing a t-shirt that says cry and then having their fans put on television crying I mean they were kind of maybe asking for it just a little bit maybe a little I would if it was an adult that was near tears or looked very sad fair game meme that show that all day stay on that person for 30 seconds if you want we don’t know if that kid would be fine with being Meed right like that that’s where the gray area is to me I get what you’re saying the whole like brings us back to our childhood and the Heartbreak that we experience through Sports I do want to give a shout out to Mike Foreman as well who works with the Hurricanes I believe he is the he’s the CMO of the Hurricanes he actually tweet Guru yeah yeah so he he tweeted out listen if you can find connect me with crying kid uh the crying kid meme kid I want to send something to cheer him up so Good Vibes to the Hurricanes organization and Mike for doing that I think it’s also important to realize that I am an nihilist with a deep pit of Blackness where my heart should be so you’re probably right on this one you hate kids is what hat kids Let’s uh let’s move on to game seven uh we’ve got one tonight Edmonton and uh Vancouver obviously we talked about the bester situation which is a real blow to the Canucks all hell King Leon by the way dry cidal 100 points and 60 playoff games played uh he became the third fastest player to reach the Milestone after oh I don’t know Wayne Gretzky and Mary Lemieux that’s the company we’re keeping uh so he is he’s I mean I we’re g do we’ll do some cons Smite stuff later in the week but like I think he is clearly uh a top that list if they do in fact advance in game seven but will they advance in game seven what is the key AR do you think for the Canucks tonight in game seven scoring by committee steuart Skinner having a bad game and containing Conor McDavid when Conor McDavid score has one point or less in this series all but one game the Oilers have lost when he’s had a big game three points Four Points they’ve won so to me the Canucks are scoring by committee getting some depth uh tallies and assists from their third and fourth lines they contain Conor McDavid and they need Stuart Skinner to as you’ve said many times and I keep bringing this up because go tending is the most important position in the playoffs yeah he can’t lose the missies well is this not the definition of this though it it is the definition of and that’s why the key for me for the Oilers is they have to care to play defense tonight like when when they’ve played defense and cared about it in this series they’ve they’ve they’ve suppressed the shots of the Vancouver Canucks to like 15 or less and I don’t know why the Oilers can’t do it consistently but they just don’t but if they play defensively as well as they played in game six and game seven they’ll advance and that to me is the big key uh for me I’m I’m saying oil 32 I think I on espn.com I said in overtime I’ll stick with that I I I I could see it kind of being a closely played game that gets decided uh with a a great individual play in overtime what say you about final score I always feel like game sevens are closely played no one wants to make a mistake everyone is playing the tightest hockey possible I I I want that to change I want to see a track meet I want to see a high scoring game so I said 64 it’ll be 54 yep 54 late the third and the Oilers score an empty net goal to seal it uh that’s where I’m going with this so a six4 tiny 64 I could see it I could see it um but yeah she had a bad game in game six I mean he’s been terrific I don’t want to take anything away from him it’s just game six was not that is kind of that’s kind of like the quiet part out loud right now is like does he have like is he hitting the wall a little bit at this point in the series this is the thing like and and also this is the biggest game of his life right like y like he’s been terrific but game seven like this is pressure for him now like if he gets through this like that’s going to be impressive uh yes it will be so uh speaking of impressive our next guest quite impressive in becoming one of the hottest new content creators in the world of hockey YouTube all right really happy to have this guest a very special guest here on ESPN’s the drop a former firstr draft pick for the Arizona Coyotes a man that played over 250 NHL games Brenan perini joining us now on the drop of the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL uh the big reason we wanted you to have we wanted to have you on Brandon was because you’re creating content now you got a YouTube channel you’ve been posting content uh one of your videos recently popped off but why don’t we talk about just the idea of creating content as a as a hockey player man what what what got you interested in the content game yeah just first off boys thanks for having me on the show I appreciate it it’s uh it’s cool to come on and chat with you guys but um you know what I don’t know I mean I’ve had this kind idea the last probably I’d say two years um watch a lot of YouTube watch uh like more specifically kind of YouTube golf stuff Rick Shields and guys like that and my brother follow those guys like me and my brother for for years so um we play a lot of golf that’s kind of how it started and you know play with cool people uh from different sports and and whatnot and cool courses that you know maybe um the regular kind of golfer might not get access to as far as you know Country Club and this kind of stuff and I’m like you know what man I should just start documenting some of this stuff just start filming and then that turned into well you know I can do this YouTube kind of thing how hard can it be and you know obviously finding out how hard it is cutting in editing and you know find the proper place to put the camera and all this kind of stuff and and the more it kind of went with that I actually did it for a little bit last year didn’t have any idea what I was doing like didn’t know how to you know talk to the camera and whatnot and then I kind of got discouraged from that because I I thought you know I was going to do it and it was going to be Master’s production you know it was going to look like the freaking British Open right away and it so wasn’t that so I got a little bit discouraged and then that was kind of end of the summer and then just during the season this year um I uh I kind of got back into like I had so much stuff filmed that I was like let me just you know away from the rink while we’re on the road like we’re on the boss we’re on you know the playing all this kind of stuff sitting in hotels I’m like let me just cut and edit and some a hobby something to do and and I really enjoyed it and and that turned into like I’m a big fan obviously wearing the wrestling shirt you guys kind of mentioned before the show and um I followed kind of Maven stuff I don’t know if you oh my God and so for those listening so basically Maven does a lot of behind the scenes but like stuff that wrestlers don’t normally talk about like wrestlers payoffs and you know match structure and injuries and you actually have an injury video so like is Maven an inspiration for you oh 100% like I you know I hate to say like I you know you steal from him or something but I kind of use his blueprint per se even like the the intro on my first video I didn’t know like anything of even how to talk to the camera so I was like you know what like he’s got a really thing a really good thing he introduces himself he says hey this is when you know like for me this is when I played in the NHL this is who I played with and now let’s get whether I liked them or not or whatever and that was really the the the inspiration was was watching him and I’m like damn you know I could do this in in hockey of like people want to know behind the scenes they want to know if uh you know Jonathan T is a good guy bad guy what my interactions with him were and like I will say too none of it is from I don’t want to portray a uh a negative image on anyone you know but they a lot of the stuff is my experiences so um I really had to kind of get rid of my ego as far as like you know oh is that guy GNA like me not like me whatever it doesn’t matter this this was my experience with this human good or bad you guys be the judge of however you think of it but this is I’m going to lay it on the line and kind of tell you you know what what this person’s really like or what this you know what going to the combine is like what going to the draft is like and all that kind of stuff well you’re you’re our favorite video of yours obviously was you walking around rating a bunch of NHL players you played with so we wanted to throw some names at you and see what your ratings are for these guys okay any Recollections let’s start let’s start with mcdavid’s teammate that’d be Leon dry cidal what was it like playing with Leon yeah so Leon like I would say and how do I say this without uh like very German [Laughter] you know like he’s actually he’s he’s a funny guy we’ve known each other we did the top prospect game like that was when we first kind of met he was my draft class so uh we known each other back to like you know when we were 16 17 um very like dry humor German sense of humor if you know any people from over there they’re kind of like that um but in a good way like I I always got along with them great uh one of my other friends on the team I’m not going to give away who it was but um they didn’t they kind of butted heads and I could see almost why because if you can’t really like you know take his dryness sometimes it’s like you might think it’s a personal thing or something but um you know that’s that’s kind of my humor is like the dry humor so I like him he’s a good guy like he you know he’s a good locker room guy and everything and like it’s always funny you guys ever see the just quickly you guys ever see the interview like I do this one interview really it went off in Edmonton like all over TSN and sports and stuff okay and I it was like a a seven minute kind of rant I went on about we were on seven game losing streak at the time in Emington talked about positivity and you know attracting you know good things in your life and blah blah blah then the next day they interviewed him and he got into it with one of the reporters And the reporter asked him like why are you so pissy all the time remember that yeah yours was the day before yeah yeah so it was like the fan base was just going nuts like building me up and kind of like people people are comenting like man that guy should be the captain like why beini yeah why are you play four five minutes a night and like yeah really funny what about uh what about Max doy Do’s another great guy yeah we like we go back we played against each other in the OHL too um it’s funny because he always like uh I like he never really had like he never cared what other guys think and I I don’t know if that’s because um he grew up around like the locker room being like you know around Toronto Matton and like with his dad and stuff so he would always come in like obviously me I got blonde hair and stuff right now he would do stuff like that which I like like he’s just being himself you know and he would come in like one time I remember uh I think it was was my first year or his second year um he showed up with this like Drake style haircut and his eyebrows were like they were died like really really dark black and I just like that yeah he was always himself and like great guy like really really good dude and his dad was always like around so it was funny and like domes knows Mark Wahlberg and he knows like you know a bunch of the kind of Celebrity Circle so it’s always kind of cool to see what he was up to dude Ty DOI is living his absolute best life he might be one of my favorite follows on Instagram Max Do’s dad obviously cuz he’s just smoking cigars and hanging out with celebrities and he’s just loving life wherever he is like he’s just hilarious absolutely love that um let’s throw some more names at you Nick cousins Nick cousins man I’m not gonna lie so like um there’s there’s a couple guys in this round him Tony D’Angelo like guys could either really like them or not like them at all and I feel like they really don’t like them when they play against them like honestly so cousins played in uh in my hometown in S Marine Jr and there was kind of this thing like I’m not really going to I don’t know the full extent of the story so I’m not really going to get into it but there was some stuff with the authorities with the police and whatever yeah and uh you know he gained this reputation around my town of like not being a good person not being a good team guy blah blah blah so I’m not gonna lie when we got him I think from Philly I was like not this guy man like because all you’ve heard is just negative about him yeah but in fact like couldn’t have been like nicer guy F like just one of those guys you like in the locker room like always laughing and joking and making fun of other guys making fun of himself more importantly like yeah we we had uh some good guys like that Tony D’Angelo was the same thing like he was my roommate our first first year together in Phoenix and like you know has this thing of like oh got in a fight with someone in New York gets thrown off a team he’s a bad guy he’s this he’s that I promise you you talk to like 99.9% of guys and play with him they’re going to say he’s an awesome guy like best team guy ever again just laughs jokes like those are the type of guys you kind of want around the the only thing like with Tony where people sometimes like the gray area of what people like or dislike like I like somebody and I think this is why I got along uh with CM Punk um that’s like a different story like I met him out in my gym but very like straight up very you know tell you if you does like and that’s how Tony is he’s you know think of like Tony Soprano’s type uh like Vibe of like get out of here type of you know like yeah and he he’ll tell you straight to your face like I don’t like you man and you know if he he does like you then he loves you and so it’s kind of yeah doesn’t suffer any fools yeah and I like that because I’d rather a guy tell me straight up whether you know he likes me rather than go behind my back and kind of and moaning and right wouldn’t most people was it like having having Rick tett as a coach so talk um it was different man because I came from um Dave tippet who I really like tip like I had tip both um there and then in Edmonton yeah I ended up signing in Edmonton because of tip and it was just different different philosophies um you know tip was he he’s that guy where he’s you know no No Nonsense no tell you straight up whether he liked your game or not not saying that talk wasn’t that it it always felt like talk kind of like you know was juggling a lot and I don’t really know what goes on behind the scenes as far as like the management side of things if there if there’s other things of you know that they’re trying to juggle especially with an organization like Arizona at the time it was like revolving door of like Players management you know so I don’t know if like that guy if if he had like a lot on his play it just seemed like he was always juggling a lot of stuff um which I sympathize with but um yeah I mean it didn’t really like he was coming from a place in Pittsburgh too where you know just to kind of give you an example like we were bottom of the barrel kind of you know last few teams in the league right and like our power play like you kind of do the meetings and he’s like you know like coming over from Pittsburgh like like uh you know just run it how Crosby and malcin would run it and really kind of like well you know okay we’re we’re not really Crosby and malcin so um yeah like it happened a few times but good dude like I I liked him we always like after the season I remember one exit meeting we just talked about golf for like 20 minutes because I was going over to to England to uh to do a golf trip and he’s like oh you got to check out this Pub you got to go to this course yeah you know so really good guy like he’s another one he actually played in my hometown for the Sue so nice nice finally finally the one we we’re most fascinated by because we can’t get a read on this guy Evander Kane what was he like playing for with Kan so Kaner is actually like another one of those guys where it’s like and who knows maybe I just get along with all these bad boy type of guys or what I don’t really know but honestly he was another one where we signed him mid season and uh you’re thinking like oh not this guy right like you only heard bad things blah blah blah he comes in and like I he he took a liking to me I wasn’t there very long with him but he took a liking to me because uh at the time it was only uh two single guys on the team myself and Duncan Keith he was divorced so Kaner would always be like like he’d always be trying to live almost vicariously through me of oh what’s you know what’s going on the single life blah blah blah you know and so we kind of like bonded almost over that just stories and whatnot but um just a like kind of a funny guy you know big personality on him but you got to know like how to take him if you take him too serious then it’s like you can you can kind of um you know maybe think he’s egotistical or whatever but a lot of times it’s like dry it’s like dry humor that like like he there he’s like joking about stuff you know so um the dry humor in the Edmonton room makes it sound like it’s the Sahara Desert there’s like a lot of dry humor it’s like everyone’s dry humor yeah yeah maybe I’m I’m saying but there was even like McDavid too was like yeah he’s very dry a super dry humor and he was a lot funnier than I thought like I thought he wouldn’t really joke and stuff but he was a lot funnier than I thought and he like he would come onto the plane and you know you you so don’t really see him as like a guy like with like style or anything like that and the he would come on with like you know he’d have like What’s That Brand like gavinci and he would have like a bright bright um yellow like change out of his suit into this bright yellow gavinci kind of top and guys would you know give it to him he would give it back and like just kind of things like that where you’re like you don’t really see him as that type of person you know because he’s so sort of Polished in front of the camera right yeah so Brandon you’re a wrestling fan we’re wrestling fans you’re wearing the WWE creu shirt we’re putting it out in the universe that you’re going to have a match or a segment one day uh in pro wrestling definitely going to happen I love that you’re inspired by Maven with the YouTube videos as well uh this we’re this is how we’re going to end this interview so we have three images that we’ve personally selected and curated that are basically like hockey wrestling crossovers our producer Justin is going to show them to you one by one same idea first thing that comes to mind here’s number one The Undertaker posing with Nash now this is also the era where the Undertaker was still very protective of his character and we didn’t necessarily get a lot of pictures like this right this is from several years ago yeah yeah that’s that’s pretty funny uh yeah it’s hard to kind of recognize because even you don’t see the long hair or a ponytail or anything like that so that’s why I didn’t even recognize him he looks like he’s dressed like Rocky Balboa I don’t know what the hell’s going on yeah that’s that’s a great honestly I did actually think that was Stallone at first a little bit but I was like kind of got rid of it out of my head because we’re doing wrestling so oh yeah you know what um I recently put this guy uh because there was a clip floating around on the internet and I put him on my story and uh I think Punk responded to it and said like man the The Glory Days of wrestling or something something along those lines mean the the Goon was the Glory Days the Goon was back in the day when everybody you know every third wrestler was an occupation NASCAR driver garbage man like that was it yeah yeah I love you know what props to that guy man because if you look at like his shoes they look like he was just running on Tucks like with no blades you ever see that like I’d like to see the actual boot of like because he was wearing a skate no basically they took the blades off and he was wrestling in them which could not have been comfortable whatsoever yeah like props to him man that was and I love at the start how they they ding the bell and then he goes like that too drops the glov stra by the way his finish his finishing move was get the opponent to the outside cross check from behind and win by count out so he’d roll back into the ring after the cross check and basically the ref would count out his opponent what a finish way dude somebody’s got to bring this gimmick back maybe I can bring this back you’ll be the you’ll be the next goon all right here’s here’s the last here’s the last picture oh yeah there we go that’s awesome so like quick story I guess just how I met him um he was out of WWE this was 20 2015 16ish um he was with the UFC at the time don’t think he had fought yet but they were uh they sent a bunch of guys out to our gym in Arizona um our gym is called exos and uh like anyone from you know you name any Oly Michael Phelps was training there like there football guys Colin Kaepernick was there at the time like there was so many different athletes and um I remember one day like us training and uh being like Oh who the hell are those guys uh and it was like they sent a bunch of the UFC guys there was about five of them it was him Luke rockold um oh man what was that one guy uh Rashad Evans like there was there was some Heavy Hitters and I didn’t really like I knew Rashad Evans well at the time but I didn’t really know the others and then I knew Punk and like none of the guys uh who I was there like it was just all kind of younger guys on our team training they didn’t really know any of the UFC guys or anything like that or or even him and I told my buddy of mine like man I’m going to ask him for a picture like uh take a quick picture of us so I asked him like oh you mind if I take a picture like big wrestling guy you know my buddies are yeah no problem and then they have this kind of lunch area too that um he was just kind of sitting by himself and uh a couple of us ended up sitting down on the couch at the same time we were watching hockey and then you know come to learn he’s big Blackhawks fan and whatnot and uh yeah and we I I think he he sort of like remembered that too because when I got traded to the Blackhawks um he reached out sent me a message and yeah we kind of you know I just always chatted over the years online and whatnot and then when he came back to like the rumor started swirling about aew uh I messaged him like with a screenshot of like you know you coming back sort of thing and he sent me back like a smiley face with a little wink so I’m like oh like it’s it’s on you know and then so I tuned in for the first and then right when he come back like honestly again like I’ve been watching wrestling now like for the last couple years where like you know as soon as he kind of came back um because it’s always different too when you feel like you know someone of like you just yeah you’re that much more invested you know and I it’s the same of like um when I was playing in the NHL if people like friends family what because you get your cousins uncles’s best friends brother asking for tickets right so and that’s because they feel like they know you you know and they have that connection and I feel kind of the same way through him so I always try and follow stuff and you know watch WrestleMania and whatnot and and obviously I’m around Chicago too quite a little bit my girlfriend’s in that area so um yeah that’s that’s kind of the story at least how we met and whatnot but um but now yeah I’m in my I got the blond hair I’m in my Cody rhods era now you’re finishing the story finishing the story as it the story that’s what you’re doing exactly this was this was a lot fun man uh would love to have you back on uh big success with the YouTube channel can’t wait to watch the journey I just subscribed and for anyone that wants to do that uh bpbs B zp11 on YouTube can’t wait to see what content uh you conjure up next my man thanks for joining us here on the drop yeah no problem guys anytime you need a guest uh I’m your guy for sure I’ll come on all right love it thanks again for Brendan perini for joining us here on the drop let’s talk a little conference finals shall we East Florida Rangers five key questions about the series wish number one this is a great goal tending matchup isn’t it Sergey boski eigor shesterkin can playoff Bob outplay overall eigor he hasn’t so far uh eigor second and goal saved to have expected Bob is sixth eigor over Bob in save percentage overexp expected Bob over eor in High D anger save percentage and has faced uh I think more High danger uh chances too so when the going gets tough Bob gets going uh but the big key here is work rate like I’ve said before you know eigor is facing 31 shots per 60 Minutes Bob 24 Shots it’s been a huge change for him from having to put on the Superman cape last year and stop a bunch of shots and be the hero every night for the Panthers to you know being a guy who sets up a lawn chair in his crease and a sip it a margarita and then occasionally make a high danger save I I I still don’t think he’s had the best postseason Bob but if he finds his game if he’s play off Bob in this series that is going to be a huge Advantage for the Panthers who wins the Special Teams battle probably the Rangers the third best power play they they off that power play uh I I like what they’ve said you know they went three games in that Carolina series people were saying the power play was in a rut the Rangers say uh uh uh actually they’re great the at the kill and we struggled against that but we found a way through it and still we’re productive uh the Panthers have the third best kill in the playoffs but I don’t think their kill is nearly as good as Carolina’s uh the Rangers second on the PK obviously a danger on the power kill to score a short-handed goals as well Florida eighth on the power play for the playoffs I think the Rangers have the Special Teams advantage in this series does home ICE matter not for the Panthers uh over the last two seasons uh in the postseason they are the best road team in the playoffs winning 12 of 17 Road games and that could be kind of interesting Arta because look I don’t I I’m hoping that the Panthers have a packed House of people rocking their jerseys oh my God what’s that a jovanoski Jersey oh look that guy’s wearing a long Longo Jersey how exciting it’ll be they’re all throwing rats but let’s not kid ourselves Ranger fans just like Bruins fans will find a way to get into the arena in Florida to cheer on their team that could be fine I mean like we said the Panthers are a great Road team even if H my feels like a road game of times I don’t think H might’s Advantage is going to be a big deal in the series because of how good the Panthers play in adverse conditions Panthers on the road love to say bus in 10 in fact that was coined by Matthew kachuck is this the kachuck E cheese series that’s the thing man he’s got 14 points in 11 games like he’s been great he’s their leading scorer um but maybe it’s because the bar was set so high last postseason that we expect more heroics more operatic moments for Matthew kachuck only one game-winning goal in these playoffs no goals in his last five playoff games they’re trying to maybe get him going a little bit he played with both Sam Bennett and Lindell in game six against the Boston Bruins uh this is his moment man this is the stage this is where you expect Matthew kachuck to do Matthew kachuck things and if the Panthers are looking to advance I think he has to have his best series all right listen we talked about the X’s and O’s we talked about all the factors but really sometimes it’s just juj sometimes it’s just fate okay sometimes it’s just projections in the universe wish is it just the Rangers year this is what gives me pause about all of it like the numbers point to the Panthers in a lot of ways but they didn’t have a you know the Rangers had the Crider game the Rangers had the troch cheek goal with the photo we talked to Art but make it Sports uh guy about like uh the Rangers have had the ree Mania going on that’s the 30th anniversary of 1994 it’s a Rangers town the Knicks are out people are pumped everywhere you look people are rocking Rangers gear it feels special is there something ethereal happening here with the New York Rangers that defies logic that defies the advantages the Panthers have is it their year and that’s the thing that gives you pause about this series but does it give you enough pause ARA to pick the Rangers in the series my friend yes I’m picking the Rangers in four I’m just going with my sweep uh I’m going with my sweep gimmick I’m contining it I picked all sweeps in the first round and I’m just going to continue it on Rangers in four baby who do you got you know who doesn’t know it’s a bit the people have Reddit that constantly screenshot your pics and say look at this why does he think we’re getting swept I’m I’m gonna go the complete opposite which is Panthers and seven I think it’s gonna be a long series a really really good series I think this is tremendous I’m so happy that it was the Panthers advancing versus the Bruins because I don’t think the Bruins match up all that great with the Rangers the Panthers do um again the strength up the gut for the Panthers with barov Bennett londell it’s great um they have better depth than the Rangers I’m a little bit worried about the lack of production for the Rangers down in their bottom six I’m also a little bit worried about their defensive pairings I Adam fox has not been himself and that that uh Decor is not all that impressive right now especially in light of what the Panthers can do on the four check long series great series fun series probably a dirty little series with guys like Bennett and kachuck and others involved wait but in in the end I think the Florida Panthers will advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season and send the Rangers packing in seven so those are our predictions put your predictions in the comments and we’ll interact let’s keep the conversation going thanks for listening to the drop every Monday and Thursday wherever you get your audio podcasts as well the NHL on ESPN YouTube thanks again to Brendan peini for joining us on the show that was a lot of fun and we will catch you on on Thursday

Welcome back to the Drop! Arda Öcal and Greg Wyshynski are back in studio to deliver you the latest news across the NHL! First we start out with the winners and losers of the weekend! Does Chris Kreider deserve to have his jersey retired? Should Aleksander Barkov have won the Selke? Should crying kids be shown on national broadcasts? Plus, Team USA announces their next head coach! Next, we preview game 7 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks! Keys to the game and score predictions follow. Then we have the absolute pleasure of welcoming on former 1st-round draft pick Brendan Perlini to the show! We ask Brendan to rate NHL players he’s played with from Leon Draisaitl to Evander Kane, you won’t want to miss what he has to say! Please subscribe to Brendan’s YouTube channel @Bubzp11. Lastly, we preview the Eastern Conference Final between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers! Will the Rangers sweep the Panthers?! All that and more on this episode of The Drop!

00:00 Welcome to The Drop!
1:05 Winner: Chris Kreider
4:44 Vancouver Canucks injury woes
5:56 Aleksander Barkov wins Selke Trophy
7:10 Loser: Haters of Dallas sports
8:44 Team USA names Mike Sullivan head coach
9:17 Loser: Teams that need a coach!
10:55 Should crying kids be shown on national broadcasts?
13:47 Game 7 preview: Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks
16:46 Brendan Perlini joins The Drop!
20:56 Brendan rates NHL players!
21:15 Leon Draisaitl rating
23:08 Max Domi rating
24:32 Nick Cousins rating
25:38 Tony Deangelo rating
27:02 Rick Tocchet rating
29:03 Evander Kane rating
31:45 Brendan’s opinion on Undertaker photo with Gnash
32:27 Could Brendan be WWE’s Goon?
33:49 Story on how Brendan met CM Punk
37:22 Eastern Conference Final Preview: Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers
37:41 Who has the better goalie?
38:41 Who wins the special teams battle?
39:22 Does home ice matter?
40:13 Is this the Matthew Tkachuk series?
41:05 Can the Rangers win the Cup?
41:52 Eastern Conference Final predictions
43:10 Thank you for watching!

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