Jack Skille Drops By + Friday Mailbag and Snake Draft
Oh. Oh. Oh. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. N. Feeling feeling it. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] [Music] down. [Music] Hey [Music] Heat. Heat. Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] This is Chicago Hockey Radio with your hosts Justin Lynch, Charlie Weber, Natalie Chibi, and Andrew Nolan. Everybody, Friday edition of CHR. Happy Frundell Friday. Let’s go, baby. We are here at the end of the week for the Friday show. Really happy to have you all here. Big show today. A big big show in the works. We got a couple legendary guests in the queue today. For the Blackhawks Hour, former Blackhawks legend Jack Skiilly. And for the NHL hour, we have Dan Galant of Oilers Nation. Really looking forward to getting to both of them. But before we do, be sure to drop a like on this video if you haven’t already. Subscribe. We’re closing in 1,000 subscribers. I believe we’re 34 away from 1,000. We’re really We’re getting there. We’re getting there. If we can get there before the season starts, that would be pretty sick, the regular season. So, um, that would be really nice. So, really appreciate your help there. And if you’re listening to us on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, be sure to leave us a fivestar rating and review. We really appreciate that. That helps us out a ton. All right, baby. Let’s go. Charlie Nolan, how are we doing today? Yes. Yes, sir. Great. More importantly, hello, Mr. Jack Skiilly. How are you doing? Welcome back to CHR. How you doing? Doing very well. Thank you, guys. Of course. No, thank you for joining us. We’re really happy to have you back on. Um I think the first area to start is um what have you been up to some during our last uh since our last show on CHR? Um what have you been up to? I know you got a new role there with the Utah Grizzlies. Uh why don’t you tell us about that? How’s that been going for you? Oh, yeah. It’s uh it’s been busy. Yeah. To say the least. I’m uh now one of the assistants with the Utah Grizzlies and um head of their skills development for this season. Uh it’ll be their final year here in Utah. Um I’m also a amateur adviser, senior adviser for what’s called APX Hockey, a pretty awesome company based out of Minneapolis that specializes in player development and advising. Um but we’re really focused on the player development side. So we’re really excited about that. Really nice. And uh and you still got the Jack Skillia Hockey School going there, too, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes and no. Um, you know, I I I may or may not be transitioning out, but I’m not at liberties to say discuss that at this moment. Okay. Yeah, that’s cool. Um, yeah, I would say there there’s one question I’d like to ask you because um, somebody like myself, like I know I’ I’ve sort of thought about the prospects of of getting into coaching maybe in in the in the future, not right this second. Um, do you have any advice for somebody like in like a younger position who maybe would think about coaching in the future, how they get into it, that type of thing? Yeah. Uh, relationships. Relationships, you know. Um, network. Um, call people. Don’t don’t call just for a job. The last thing you want is your name popping up on their phone and say, “Hey, geez, this here’s this guy calling for a job again.” Um, be relational. Um, be personal, personable, and um, also study the game. Uh, learn from your mentors. Uh, get some mentors if you don’t have any. Uh, people you trust. And then, um, you know, put yourself out there and and build relationships. Very nice. Very nice. Yeah. Um, how about you, Charlie? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about getting into coaching? I have a little bit in there. Uh, not on the hockey side, actually. Uh, more on the lacrosse side. I was looking for coaching job. Uh, but I wanted to ask you, Jack, uh, like how would you describe your coaching style? Is it, you know, more of a player coach? Is it more of a, you know, uh, I don’t know, more of a like a hard-nose coach or more of like a friendly, you know, like I feel like what do you feel is best? um in terms of your coaching style and what you’re able to be effective at, like what what really helps you get the most out of the players. Good question. I’d say a couple things to that. Um I’m I’m adaptable, so I adapt to the athlete. I don’t force athletes to adapt to me. Um but I’m also demanding but never demeaning. Um, so I believe those two attributes, you know, it goes align with, you know, it’s not the message that matters, it’s the delivery. So, um, whether it becomes about practice plans or player development, um, or getting a team to buy into a cultural standard or whatever the culture is. Um, you know, we needed to adapt to the personalities in the room. Um, but we need to hold strong on those boundaries and be demanding that we deliver on them as a group. Very nice. And, uh, I know you’re a big fan of what’s going on in Utah over there, especially with the the Utah Mammoth. Now, um, first of all, you’re a fan of the name. Do you like the Utah Mammoth name? Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s fitting. And obviously with uh, you know, the history of dinosaurs in the Salt Lake Valley, um, yeah, I I always kind of knew that it was probably going to land there. Um, you know, there are some issues uh going on with the the the brand Yeti and um, you know, I I think it’s great. I think it’s great for this this community and I I think I think the logo is pretty fresh and clean and their practice facility looks state-of-the-art and beautiful. So, um, we’re excited. Very nice. I was a fan of the Utah Outlaws one. I think that would have been a pretty cool name, but you can’t go wrong with Mammoth. I’m sure they’ll have a nice rivalry develop with the Predators uh in the central in terms of the names. Yeah. Um, what are your thoughts on Utah’s upcoming year? Really successful year for him last year. Very nearly made the playoffs. Uh, would you say that’s kind of your expectation for the team this year is to be a playoff contender? I don’t know. I mean, I I I think uh I scouted them for 20 games last year for scouting service or company called Team 33. Uh um it’s owned by Michael Santos, former GM of Florida. Um I have a pretty good idea of their lineup. uh their roster and who they have coming up through the pipeline. I you know, obviously I think it’s an exciting skilled team. Um you know, I think, you know, leadership um is is is a big part of this coming season and uh I think it was a growth year for that group last year. Uh and and learning how to play the right way and um you know, playoffs, playoff hockey doesn’t just turn on when the playoff starts. Uh anybody with half a brain in the hockey world will tell you that uh you need to be playing playoff hockey for the majority of the year. Um at the very least uh the months leading up into playoffs. Uh the teams that win every single year are are uh accomplishing that. So uh I’d like to see the Utah Mammoth make that step leadership wise, playing stylewise. Um and I I think they can do it. Yes, for sure. And uh besides Utah, like I don’t know if we asked this um you this question before, but other like other teams would you say what other teams do you enjoy watching the most? Does that kind of change on a week-by-eek basis? Or would you say there’s a couple teams that you also follow like uh pretty closely on a regular basis? Yeah. Well, I I tell everybody I’m a big fan of culture. Um and there there are teams in this league right now that uh are dripping with culture. uh if you if you watch uh teams like Florida obviously uh Dallas um you know we’ll see what happens there now but over the last several years in Dallas has been fun to watch uh Colorado uh Vegas uh I think you can slide LA into that conversation um you know they have a very good balance of players that are skilled um that can play this game at a super high level and fast pace but they also have ultimate buyin from their group and visible cultural standards for so for me it’s it’s it’s really circulating around that word it’s easy to say it’s hard to live out I think that staffs for all those organizations have done an excellent job over the last several years of continuing that progression within their organization which is not easy to do yeah you see how teams like for a to do it like you mentioned what do you think like makes uh what do you think develops a good culture with a team um how how do you uh build that over time yeah well I think starts with what are your what are your cultural standards on paper, you know, and I think you you build it out from there and and that that means you’re you’re hiring the right staff um first and foremost, the people that uh do buy into those standards and and can execute them. Um that means like you know co obviously coaches, player development staff, scouts, uh anything internal um that understand how to tow that rope in the same direction. Also, you know, medical staff, equipment guys, I mean they’re the unsung heroes. So um who’s in that locker room every single day? And then um then it obviously becomes the product on the ice and those are the players. So who are you drafting? Who are you trading for? uh who are you signing in free agency? Um if you’re really mindful of those things and you’re doing your homework on each player, um you’re not just looking at their their their product on the ice. You’re talking to the individuals uh wherever they’re playing. Um you’re talking to the equipment guys, you’re talking to the medical staff. How’s this person treat you? Um what’s what’s this person like, you know, outside of the rink? What kind of lifestyle do they live? And um you know I think that’s something that for me as a player looking back on my career it’s something that I could have been better at and um I’m aware of it and you know obviously uh it looking back on the mistakes that I’ve made um and learned from those mistakes and editing my own behavior over the course of life and my transition and retirement here uh from the game um and into the coaching world. Uh it’s so important to to get people that can, you know, uh understand what the whole goal is here. Um and how to buy into it. It’s not about points. It’s about a rising tide raises all the boat scenario. And we see that in Florida. I think it’s a perfect example. I mean, you look at Florida and it’s like all those guys could have the guys that were up available or would have been for free agency would have gotten massive paydays and you know, they decide to stay. Obviously, something’s going on culturally in that room um for them to stick around and want to be there. Um, obviously state no state income tax helps, but um, yeah, I think the money is just the same for guys like Sam Bennett that stuck around. Like if he if he left, he would have gotten a lot a lot of money, but would have paid tax, but if you look at what he’s getting paid in Florida with no state income tax, it’s probably the end, you know, in the same same realm there. Um, but he stuck around. I mean, there’s a reason for that for sure. Yeah. Um, kind of speaking on that, which players would you say that you played with in your career kind of um, led by the best example? I say like players that you would say um, you would try to emulate or players today should try to emulate um, in terms of kind of developing that like that culture. Yeah. Well, I think unquestionably Jonathan Taves, um, obviously with you guys being Chicago people, you understand it, you witnessed it. Um, he was a great teammate. He was a great leader. He was demanding, never demeaning. You know, you bobble pucks in practice, um maybe not having a great practice, whatever. He’d tap you on the shin pin, say, “Hey buddy, we need more from you right now.” It was always encouraging. Um and and he just led by example. You just knew you could count on Johnny to to do it the right way every day, day in day out. And um you know, he really put that organization on his shoulders for a long time. And it it really um you know, you could see toward the end there of in Chicago that you know, it really uh took a toll on him um mentally and physically. So I’m just really happy for him. Yeah. Um for his opportunity he has in Winnipeg and um you know I just I really hope that he finds success there. But um yeah, that’s that’s an easy one for me for sure. One of the best leaders in the game. We’re definitely cheering for him. Hope he can have a successful return back to the game. If anybody can do it, it’s him. For sure. I feel like, you know, the whole the whole league, everyone around the league is cheering for him. For sure. For sure. Um, I guess on the flip side of that, who are some guys that you played against in your career that, you know, it was just always a grind. It was like, I hate playing against this guy. He’s he’s always doing, you know, the hardest worker on the ice, etc. Like, who are some of those guys that kind of make it harder to play? I don’t know. like you don’t really know the personalities that you’re playing against for the most part unless you’ve played with them beforehand. Um guys that that um you know you knew you were going to have to deal with you know between the whistles. Um you knew they were going to hit late. Um you knew they were going to hunt for you out in open ice and that was part of their style. Those are the guys you needed to be aware of on the ice and those are the guys leading up to the game that you’re like man this is going to be a heavy night. I, you know, I got to tip my hat to Damon Clarkson. You know, he’s become a buddy of mine and and he’s running a great program in Colorado right now with Okonogan. Um, he was always hard to play against. Uh, you know, every time he played Jersey back in the day and then we ended up being teammates in Columbus. Um, you know, you’d always have to worry about Big Buff. Oh, yeah. On the ice. Even though I played with him in Chicago, Big Buff was, you know, you need to know when that big man’s on the ice. Um earlier on it was guys like Bronner, it was guys like uh you know Fuff um you know just they were they were going to find you and you needed to be aware. So you know that that’s something that I learned pretty quickly playing in professional hockey transitioning out of college is you need to know who’s on the ice. Uh Ronaldo was one of those players in Phil in Philadelphia. Um you know you just you didn’t know that guy. He was a bit of a wild card if he was going to clip you in a way dirty with his elbow or a knee or something. You just But he he he was honest. He fought, you know, so like you know those honest players that would find you in open ice um was always in the back of your mind. Do you have a favorite moment from your time with the Blackhawks organization? It doesn’t have to be with the Hawks. It could be just throughout your NHL career. Um would you say you have like a favorite um like moment that you look back on? Yeah. Well, I just think being a part of the Stanley Cup run in 2010, um, you know, seeing how focused those those guys were. I mean, obviously I didn’t play. I was virtually a practice player every day, just staying ready, staying sharp in case I was going to get a kick at the can. Um, but, you know, just being around that level of focus. Um, obviously we won a national championship in Wisconsin um in 2006. So, you know, you know, just being around that type of culture, a championship winning team is is always special. But, um, in a Stanley Cup run environment like that, um, each round it it seemed to be a more of a belief and the more belief you had, the more locked in the group got. And it was really interesting to be around and and witness. Um, and it’s something that, you know, I’ll always remember, especially now as I pursue a coaching career or, you know, player development or if I stick with this advisory role for long term and maybe even become an agent someday. I have no idea where this is all going. But, um, you know, there’s just a lot of respect for for that type of that level of buyin. Um, you know, it’s it’s pretty cool to be around. Yeah. So, what sort of what what drew you kind of into that more management style of hockey? Like obviously you’ve been coaching for a while, but what kind of inspired you to kind of go um in that type of direction? Yeah. You uh sorry, rephrase that. Um yeah, like kind of transitioning from like um I know you’re still coaching, but like um but more to like the management agent side of hockey. What sort of um what inspired you to kind of maybe go in that direction? Yeah. Oh, just a a conversation with Apx Hockey. They called and had a position open. Obviously, I live in Park City. They’re they’re looking to expand their brand in the West. And I I I quite honestly did not want to be an adviser. Adviserss don’t have the greatest reputation in the amateur world. Um, you know, whether that’s because they’re not in contact with players consistently enough. um you know whether are they actually living out player developmental standards that you know I try my best to live at when I’m you know live live with when it comes to coaching players on the ice or talking with them over the phone or you know helping them with their their developmental paths. Um but when I when I spoke with APX um Pocky it was it was pretty clear that they were not only expressing the words of development but there there’s certain ways that they’re living it out and um there’s certain deliverables that as an adviser we have to hit in order to keep our jobs. There’s accountability there. Um and you know so you know for me and my clients like it’s you know it’s I’m available 247. I’m I’m doing video film breakdown with them, NHL reinforcement clips to back it up. Um, obviously, you know, the advisor advocating for players and and making scouts and and coaches aware of the talent that you’re helping out. Um, you know, but when I heard those standards, uh, integrity, transparency, um, with this company, I just immediately aligned. Um, I always go with like never turn down a meeting. So, uh, open-minded. Um, I really like what they had to share. And so far, I’m two months in now. Um, it’s been awesome. It’s been a great experience. It’s been positive. Um, the network that I’ve been building now because I have more of a reason to call, not just relationally. Uh, calling on behalf of players, uh, making connections, um, you know, sinking my roots deeper in the game in in terms of the coaching community. Um and you know understanding that you know my career um prior to this help certainly plays a role in that. Um and and knowing that you know I have respect and and now I just I got to I got to retain that respect and I I I have to um you know really advocate for my my players. But it’s it’s been really really enjoyable um you know to say the least. So that’s why I say like I I could go that route. Um but I see it as it’s a development thing, right? Players, you know, development’s a crockpot, not a microwave. And you know, that’s the same as a coach or or a player development person. Like you you have to edit your behavior constantly. You have to um you know, constantly challenge yourself to develop. um have an open mind, be a critical thinker, study the game, uh constantly evolve and adapt and um this role so far has challenged me in those ways. So, uh I need that friction and I’m enjoying it so far. That’s awesome. So, I have to ask this question. Park City, are you big into skiing over there? Uh not as big as I want to be. I mean, I’ve had a big couple big years. Um, couple scary scary years. You know, I got some buddies that love going through trees and stuff down some avalanche well, not avalanche terrain, but backcountry. Like, I haven’t done the backcount stuff yet. But, um, with this new role with with the Grizzlies, like I I just simply won’t have time to do it. And I if I get hurt, like that’s not cool either. I won’t be able to do my job. So, yeah. No, probably for the best. Yeah. Yeah. Um I think we’d be remissed if we didn’t ask you on your thoughts on the local Blackhawks team here going into this season. Um you know, obviously tumultuous last couple years through this rebuild, but a lot of young players kind of in a de in a developmental situation right now. Um what do you think of the team heading into this season? Yeah, in all honesty, guys, I haven’t really paid much attention to the Blackhawks and their moves in the offseason. Um, I I am fully aware that, you know, they’ve been young and and they’re in a rebuild for the last couple years. Um, you know, again, it’s just I think it’s just about the culture. I think it’s like how do you get the culture to get back to, you know, the vibe of aundred-year franchise. And I think, you know, I’m I’m, you know, former teammates of Brian Campbell, like I know that that is a mission of theirs. And um you know with Connor and the young Bucks that are there um and you know are are they learning how to be pros um are they learning you know what that even means and what that looks like on the dayto-day to to to show up to work and do your job and execute it. Um I think padding them with veterans is is always a great idea and um you know making sure that you know they they they can see that visually every single day. So, I don’t really know like right now as it stands. Um I I I’ve been so consumed with with my day-to-day. Um but yeah, I I I think I think that’s probably I would assume that’s what’s going on right now is just like, okay, like we’re we’ve been rebuilding like we need to keep reinforcing this culture. We need to keep building it. We need to bring in the right guys to execute it. Is that something when you were drafted from the by the Hawks in 2005, is that something that you sort of saw is an issue when initially came in um but I mean obviously you know a lot of those guys you mentioned like TA helped reinforce that culture and bring it back but 2000’s Blackhawks for those times were kind of in a rough period. Is that sort of something that you experienced then? And could you see it when you were drafted in kind of seeing this changing of the tide? Yeah. Well, I remember like I didn’t know the guys that well because I was such a young guy and I just remember walking into that room in training camp and just like going, “Holy crap.” Like I’m playing with like 30 plus year olds right now with families. Like this is wild. Like I’m not in college anymore. Like I’m not I’m not in Kansas anymore, you know, sort of thing metaphorically. But um I know I remember John Mcdana coming in and he did an outstanding job and it it seemed to kind of pivot on a dime. Um and you know my it went from, you know, people not attending games, blackouts, stuff like that kind of negative to my first NHL game, I believe it was in January of my rookie year against LA. I know it was against LA because Jack Johnson’s, you know, a dear friend of mine from the development program and we went out to dinner the night before and I’ll never forget the advice he gave me. Um, but you know, sorry my dog. Oh, no. I get it. Um, yeah, he, you know, it was a packed house. It was a soldout barn for my first NHL game, which was outstanding. Um, and I just remember thinking like, wow, well, this is different, you know, and it happened pretty quick. And then it kind of just snowballed from there. Um, yeah, like there were good I mean the game changed though like the game changed right before our eyes. Like we that 87 birth year group, you know, obviously being the first draft after the new CBA. Um, we were in a hotel like in in in Ottawa for God’s sakes. We weren’t even at a stadium. The rules had changed. you know, the the business side had changed and um you know, the it was just, you know, weird, you know, weird in a lot of ways. So, um I I I think the organization and John Mcdana did an outstanding job of just just really flipping that culture around and and creating a lot of buzz and excitement in the city. And but I mean that first three years I spent most of my time in Rockford. Yeah. So, it wasn’t like I was around it a ton. Oh, sure. I think our producer, no one has a question for you. Yes. Yes, I do. Uh, off cam today. Um, just wanted to ask your thoughts. You were talking earlier about the 2006 national champion Wisconsin Badgers. What are your thoughts on the uh on the Badgers this season? Um, I know Hastings is is doing an outstanding job again around that word of like really trying to culture around the word culture and he’s trying to get it back to um, you know, what it was when we were there. You know, we had we had a wagon of a team. I mean, if you look back on that ‘ 06 team, um, a lot of guys went on to play professionally. A lot of guys went on to play in the NHL. Um, and you know, you know, North Dakota was a team that was scary to play against that that year. Uh, I know they felt the same way about us. And um, but yeah, like it we had this like never quit, no complaining, show up, do your work, but we still had that unity in the room and, you know, hang out outside of the rink mentality. and we were tight and you know we still you know obviously you have all these different personalities nobody’s all gonna get along and I was so young and naive in a lot of ways and you know I’ve changed since then but what I do appreciate is we still have a group chat to this day via text and um I mean when you win like you’re brothers for life whether you whether you like yourself like each other in those moments or not, what other what other personal things are going on? But like we’ve all grown up, you know, and we’re all different people. We all have, you know, most of us have wives and kids now. And and to to be able to see that evolution from what we were back then, um has been really enjoyable and and that’s something that, you know, I try to express to these young athletes. Um, it’s something that I regret not being as mindful of back when I played in my career, but you only get one chance. You don’t get second chances with something like that. So, I try to reinforce that with my athletes that hey man, like you want to play, like you want to advance, like win and win together. like points come and um when you play embrace your role on your team and you focus on the win more than personal points and and production like the production comes um sometimes when we focus on the selfish side of uh you know it’s my contract year I need to have an x amount of points I need to get my cookies every single night the game tends to avoid you and um next thing you know you’re not being extended by a team that misses out in the playoffs and that’s almost a career career destroyer in a way. Would you say that’s your favorite part about the game is the camaraderie in the room like um being in the locker room with the boys and kind of um developing those relationships. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it’s it’s it’s really tough. Um it’s a but it’s a huge part of it, you know, that that bonding in the room and what that looks like, you know, today versus what it used to look like. But you know it it it is such an important part like you need to fit into that room and you need to understand your role and you need to um be you know outside of yourself to get to that point and um realize at times that hey man like this is something bigger than me. This is something bigger than us. like we, you know, and when you get to that point, like yeah, it’s it’s the best part. Like when you’re in part of a culture like that, um, winning cultures that are constantly in the hunt, like that makes time fly by. It it it it reinforces the love of the game. But, you know, when you’re in a culture that’s just not no one’s having fun, nobody cares, you know, I’m just going through the motions, you know, that’s a long long season. and nobody wins in the end. Mhm. Charlie, you got a question? Uh, yeah. You were talking about uh, you know, Justin’s question about the camaraderie, about the guys in the room. I was just kind of wondering, um, I know obviously you keep in touch with the Badgers team. Um, but are there any Blackhawks that you kind of have grown close to over the years from your playing days there? Uh, I mean, yes and no. Like, not really. Like I’ll, you know, every once in a while, you know, I’ll Adam Burrish. I mean, he was, but he was part of that 06. He seems like a funny guy. Yeah. Jake Dowel, you know, again, like 06 guys were tighter that we played. I think I played with Dow for We were talking about it. I think we played together for I think 10, 11. Yeah. Six. No, six years. Oh, wow. He him and I were the like we played with each other the longest out of anybody in our entire career as we were talking about that. So, um, you know, D-Rod or Dowzy, like we, you know, obviously the nicknames, but, um, you know, we we keep in touch. Bur and I keep in touch. I always check in with him. He’s doing some pretty cool things for the Badgers, uh, the University of Wisconsin right now and helping out the Badger men’s hockey team behind the scenes with some things. Um, Valkski, but he’s not obviously a Blackhawks guy, but that’s the ’06. Um, you know, I’ve reached out to Sharpie a few times just, you know, via text and Kainer and Taves. Um, but everyone’s busy, like they’re doing their own things and, you know, it’s, you know, I wasn’t really a part of that 2010 group. I was really on the outside of it looking in. Yeah. So, no, that that’s that’s that’s nice to it’s it’s it’s just cool to see everybody like um after the game too kind of getting involved in these roles too, these developmental roles and management, coaching, kind of staying involved in the game, giving back to the game. There is that saying if you give back to the game, it’ll it’ll give back to you, that type of thing. Um kind of a greater question. Um I I know you’re not like too focused on um like would you say um would you say a cup favorite at the moment? You think uh anybody can stop Florida right now? Yeah, I don’t. I mean, it’s too early to answer that question. I mean, uh, but I mean, Florida is I mean, what they did this off season was magical. I mean, I think it it shocked that a lot of people you you you kind of went into the offseason like, okay, like how are they going to pull this one off? But they did it. So, um, who knows? Like I I I think, you know, Colorado is always going to be in the hunt. I think Vegas, like the teams that I’d mentioned, Dallas, it’s going to be interesting. Um, you know, what they look like this year. Um, you know, I I I I just really think that that’s a tough team to beat in Florida. Yeah, it just seems like they got everything going right now. Um, I was say the story you told us last time you were on here, I believe it was when you’re in the KHL. Um, the passport story that still lives in my head, rentree. I I still find it. I still think about it every now and then. Um do you have any other stories from your um time like overseas um KHL I believe the Swiss leagues? Um I mean it’s hard to beat that but do you have any other stories like of like uh just like wow like just like shows the difference between like the European side of the game and the the North American side of the game? Yeah. Um, I mean, not really. All I can really speak into like in terms of the difference, like, you know, when you’re living in a place like Minsk, which is a beautiful city actually, like they have really great restaurants and it’s actually pretty cheap compared to North America, um, I remember like $2 Ubers, you know, back and forth from the bank. It must be nice. um you know it would actually saved you money to take Ubers every day everywhere instead of you know um getting a car for the month or for the season and then paying for a parking spot on top of that. Yeah. Um but no, I the difference really was just like um you know the game the the rinks were all different like there was a I forget the name Lada maybe. Um I can’t remember the name of the the team but they had this rink that was the the weirdest rink I’ve ever played on in my entire life. Like and I even played in like St. Lawrence like St. Lawrence was also a weird rink like they like their their corners were almost square but like what the I don’t know what their current was their old barn. I think they have a newer barn now but uh in St. Lawrence but um this this rink I think it was Lada. I think that’s the name of the team. I I’m maybe butchering that. But this rink was like how do I express this? like the neutral zone was like the lines the space between the lines was like really short. So it was the length of it was I I can’t remember the length but the it felt like crammed and congested in terms of space between the red the blue and the blue lines. So, like your routes were weird, but not only that, like your the the boards when you line up on a face off, um the boards were so narrow, like the rink was so skinny that when you were like on the hash mark at at the faceoff, your butt as a winger was like pressed against the board. God, that’s diabolical. So, like it was it was just El Dazaro. like it was I don’t even know how to take my winger route on the breakout right now. Like there were times in that game that I took a normal winger route and it’s so natural and it’s so habit over time that I literally would hit my back against the boards on a breakout route because like the dimensions were so off on the rink. Like I can’t even imagine what it was like for a goalie in that ring, you It was almost like a studio, but like it was just like somebody like literally was like, “Yeah, we’re going to build a ring and we’re not going to measure anything. We’re just going to eyeball it.” Unreal. You know, and then when they like painted the lines down, it was just like, “Uh, yeah, this is off, but it’s too late to change.” Like, it was like it was the most weird barn I’ve ever played with. So, like the KHL was just, you know, it was it was also very isolating away from the game. like it, you know, all the imports we had like five of us on the team and like I think by like three months in like we all kind of like hated each other or not hated each other, we just were kind of like, “Yeah, I’m just I’m kind of sick of the status quo. We’re just gonna like I’m gonna I’m gonna be a hermit and stay in my my house, you know.” Um, which makes the season longer. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah, just a I don’t really have a story, but that that rink Well, I’ll never forget that. That was very strange. No, that’s that’s a perfect example. Hopefully the rinks in Milan look a little uh look a little nicer than that for the Olympics this year, which I I guess I’m sure they will. Yeah, that’s a good question to ask. You think uh you think the US can take Canada? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I think we the I think it showed this past year and you know, it’s there’s I always view like Canada as like the bullies on the playground. I’ve always viewed it that way. um you know, USA verse Canada growing up. Um you know, wearing the crust and they’re going to come out and they’re going to try to bully you and they’re going to try to like get under your skin verbally and they’re going to hit you late. They’re going to you know, but when you push back, um you know, it it kind of levels the playing field. So, we saw that this past year like literally right off of puck drop like we’re not we’re not messing around anymore, you know, and that was I thought that was a huge step for our country. Um back to fight back and I think it’s exciting. I believe World Juniors is in Minnesota this year. So, like that’s huge too. So, I I really think like USA hockey is really making some some big leaps and um consistently every year. And then I mean Sweden, holy crap, you know, Sweden and Finland and Switzerland. Like the game’s growing. Yeah, there’s a lot of depth on the planet right now. For sure. Yeah. I don’t think Sorry, I don’t think I don’t believe we asked you about um your own team going into this season, the Utah Grizzlies. How do you feel about where they’re at and what they can accomplish this year? Yeah. Well, I think looking at it on paper, we’ve certainly improved in some areas. Um again, it’s a one one-year thing, right? So, it’s like how do we get the old guys uh in the room to understand the culture quickly and how do we get the old guys in the room to help the young guys buy into it and quickly? Um you’re in it’s a minor league. It’s a minor league. Um, I always talk about the AHL with people as like, you know, the Miners is probably the most selfish hockey you’ll ever play because everybody in that room wants to get a call up. Yeah. You know, like I mean, just naturally, and it’s it’s a natural human thing, but um, you know, there are guys in the coast that want to get AHL deals or they want to eventually advance to NHL 2A. Well, it really boils down to the boils down to the same thing. then win, then win, then find a way to win as a group and a rising tide raises all the boats scenario. So on paper, we set certainly have made some big improvements and being double affiliated with, you know, Utah and and Colorado, that’s certainly helpful in terms of prospects. Um, but yeah, like you got to win and we got one year to do it. And if those guys, especially young guys in that room, want like AHL deals and they want to advance, then stop worrying about points. Yeah. Play your role. Like win games, make it to the playoffs. Nobody’s going to get the contract they actually want and raise their stock if you’re playing golf in April. No, it’s that simple. That’s a very fair point. Um, thank you, Jack. You’ve been you’ve been so gracious of your time. Nolan, Charlie, do you all have any more questions you like to ask before? Um, I just want to say thank you for hopping on again, Jack. This was awesome. No, really, we really appreciate your time. Means a lot. And anytime you want to come back on, we really love to have you. We really appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah. Enjoy enjoy it. Have fun, guys. And hopefully you get to the thousand subscriber mark soon. Hopefully. Yeah. Next time we have you on, we will for sure. Thank you. Best of luck this season. All right. Thank you. Have a good one. Bye. Take care. All right. All right, everybody. That was Jack Skilly. CHR legend. Good to have him back on for a second time. Excellent conversation. I always enjoy talking with him. Um, cool guy. Yeah, you you learn a lot. You learn a lot. Good good perspectives. Really like what he has to say about uh, you know, the culture in a team and u, you know, his path to being in that development role. It was really cool to hear. For sure. know, a lot of interesting stories there and kind of how he’s taking kind of lessons he’s learned, applying it to his um to his career now beyond uh um still involved in the game and no longer um is a player. So, I think it’s important lessons to take away for sure. Um all right, I think uh we should we should probably get some news in here before we transition. Some Blackhawks news. Yeah, for sure. Before we delve into the NHL hour, that’s not the only guest we’re going to have on today. We’re going to have Dan Galant on the NHL hour. We’re really looking forward to talk of him. got some Oilers McDavid talk in there, some story lines of snake draft, NHL players over the age of 35. We’ll get to that later, but um we have we have some Hawks uh we have plenty of Hawks things to talk about before we head to the break and uh training camp started yesterday. Blackhawks players back on the ice. So, how pumped are we to see that? Oh, I’m so excited for that. I I think you know after how long has it been? It’s been since April since we’ve seen you know Blackhawks on the ice. You know, you could count rookie camp and you can count well, I mean, dev camp wasn’t even on the ice this year, so you could count the Tom Cervers, but I think just now you’ve got everyone on the ice. It just seems like, you know, hockey is back. And I I I love it. It’s so back. I mean, my entire Twitter feed yesterday was everyone either posting videos and pictures of the Blackhawks practice or discussing, you know, the line combinations, who looked good, etc. Uh, and a lot of uh, you know, big kudos to Blash Hill from reporters I’ve seen. Uh, in terms of him, you know, that’s kind of Yeah. Yeah. Not easing into things. You know, it’s full full go right from the jump. That’s definitely been the main takeaway like the higher intensity practice. No more standing around, no more wasting time. I think efficiency was the big word that Blast Shell used. Uh, we got some news, too. We got some news to delve into here. Um, Wyatt Kaiser, we we were waiting for this one. We were waiting for it. um on Wednesday was extended to a 2-year $3.4 million contract. So, that’s a $1.7 million AAV. Uh good to see that. Better late than never. Wy Kaiser is like me in college. He’d submit his assignment to Canvas at 11:59 before the clock hits midnight there and the assignment is overdue. So, so many times I’ve done that. Yeah. So, I was going to say he’s late, but he’s not really. I mean, camp started yesterday and he was there. So, um good to see him get that done for sure. I’m really excited to see what he can do this year. I think he’s going to get opportunity. Second pair of RD Lechnov. I think that’s kind of the the plans as of now for him this year. So, um he’ll have a big two years here, a big short-term deal to kind of prove himself and uh maybe down the line, two years from now, he can get himself a maybe an Alexic type deal. What do you guys think about those pairings? What do you guys think about uh Vic with Renzel and then Kaiser with Lebanon? Well, I think Vic with Renzel is a no-brainer. I mean, just from what we saw last year, I think that’s the top pair you want to run all season. Yeah, I think they complement each other nicely. I think for Vic, too, it’s like I’m not really going to expect as much points from him this year. like I think he kind of had to last year because the points weren’t really coming from anybody in the back end. Um especially when Seth Jones left. So I think with him he could kind of um get back to more of his defensive game and he could really let Sam Renzel kind of carry the manter in terms of production from the back end. I think Renzel is going to get chances on the on the power play I think in the first unit. So um I I really like his chance at the call there like I’ve said and uh I think Lebanon and the second pair with Kaiser like what I saw in that brief stint last year those two. So I see no reason why not to keep the chemistry rolling on both units there. I like that. I did see it was pretty interesting. I was looking at the uh at the sports books. Uh we can get into it on wager or Weber’s wagers later, but uh Sam Renzel’s Calder odds have jumped up from 65 to1 to 75 to1. Really? Yeah, they’ve jumped up. They’ve jumped up. How about Renzel? Is he still on the same plane? That that was Renzel. Oh, Renel. Sorry, I mistake that. I could do a little research on Lebanon right now. Okay, interesting. Yeah. Um, that’s not the only news we got in terms of um the Kaiser extension. We also got uh I mean this isn’t really news. I mean, nothing’s really changed at this guy, but uh we did have some hope that Lauren Bruis might be returning last week. Um I I remember seeing a tweet that he was on the ice. Then I saw another tweet after saying that it wasn’t actually Brois, so that was a mistake. But um we got some news yesterday that Lauren Brois is out for the long term of a hip surgery. So don’t think we’ll be seeing him anytime soon. I didn’t really think we were going to see him anyway, but there’s always the hope that oh maybe he comes back at some point, but um I mean it’s while we don’t really need him cuz I think you know we like our we like our night soda kso kind of trio there but um it still sucks for him because honestly at this stage he’s been away from the game. He missed a season and looks like he’s going to miss another season um barring a miracle. So it sucks for Broisa. I mean you look at something like this it could be not just a Hawks uh ender it could be a career ender. So that would suck for him. You know he’s only what 30 years of age around there. um you know, one of the more solid underrated backups in the game. So, you hate to see that. Um hopefully it could still recover, right? He’s still working on it. Um um but yeah, if it’s going to if we’re going to if he’s going to return action, I don’t think it’s going to be with the the Hawks at this stage. Um it just kind of seems like that ship has sailed. So, I did have uh I do have an update on those calleder odds uh on both Lechonov and Renzel because the sports book changed with a snap of a finger. I was looking at it last night. Renzel is at plus 7500. He has dipped down to plus 4,000. Very interesting. Very interesting. Does do the sports books have someone at all the training camps or I think they they’re tuning into the live barn at fifth third. I think it’s a really strange jump to see on a you know first day of training camp. Yes. And then Ardam Lechanov at plus 6,000. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I agree. Renzel should have the higher odds. I think with his experience, right? I think he’s definitely, you know, set to have a stronger rookie year. But um I think with Lebanon too, you have to think about his ceiling, too. I think it’s easy to forget that, right? So yeah, it’s going to take more time with him, but I think he’s going to get there. And just to put another name out there, uh Oliver Moore at plus 10,000. Oh, interesting. Interesting. Yeah, that’s sprinkle something. I’m just kidding. I don’t know, man. I mean, I think Moore, there’s a lot of potential there for sure. Yeah, I mean, he looked, you know, he was flying on the ice yesterday. Everything looked smooth, you know, like I was hearing a lot of good things about how he was looking. Speaking of flying, did you guys see uh the chemistry that Frank Nazar and uh Artist are building together? Yeah, I saw though give and go go those two had again. You don’t want to glaze uh training camp clips, but are you talking about the one from yesterday? Cuz there was another one today. There was another nice one today. Very nice. There was It was uh Lordis and uh Nazar going on a twoon-one together and Lordis uh Lordis finished it. And then to finish off the drill, they did a tip drill and Lordis got it got it home. Oh, nice. Good to hear that. But no, Lars looked really good in training camp. So again, is he going to start the Hawks? Probably not. But I think he will. He’s looked too good to where it’s a big confidence booster. You’re gonna see him on the Blackhawks at some point this season for sure. I think that seems pretty clear to me. Um, and you were speaking of line combos earlier. So far, we got Baddard’s first uh wingers of the year and we got Andre Burkovski and Ryan Donado were getting reps with him yesterday. I mean, we’ll see how that plant pans out there. I’ll reserve judgment till we see it in action if we do. But, um, I I like to I keep Dado with him. I think Donado and Bard had good chemistry last year. And, uh, I just like to see if Deno could have another year like he did last year. I think there’s a lot of I think everybody’s assuming he he he can’t and he won’t. So I’d like to see him prove everybody wrong and just have another, you know, 30 goal, 30 assist season. I think that’d be nice. So never say never. I think another thing about Burkovski is I mean Burkovski is a twotime Stanley Cup champion as well. He brings that pedigree into the roster. You know, he’s played with elite players like Alex Ovuchkin. He’s played with elite players like Nathan McKinnon. So I think that’s really going to help uh Conor Bernard, you know, the third number one overall pick he’s playing with, right? Yeah, for sure. I don’t I don’t hate that logic at all. No, not at I mean, Donado, yeah, people are saying, you know, he’s going to have a steep drop off in points, but, you know, if this is the line we see, if he’s with Bard most of the year, I could see him putting up 50 points. Yeah, he could, you know, 60, what was it, 62 last year, goals, 31 assist, so I mean, I could see him reaching 50 as a line of Bard. Yeah. Speaking of Bard, did you all see the goal he had in training camp yesterday? Uh, just like Gavin McKenna. I mean, yeah, it’s not exactly the same move, but it’s pretty similar. Um, I like to think he watched some tape and thought, “Oh, if my cousin could do it, I could do it better.” Um, again, just training camp, not an actual game. But, um, my guy, again, I don’t want to d I don’t want to glaze training camp clips, but like he generally looks quicker. Like, he just looks like he has extra jump in his step. And, uh, I watched his interview too yesterday. I watched all the interviews, but the beds he won, too. Like, again, I don’t want to be that guy who’s like a a psychologist, but like just his body language just seems so much more positive. Like, it just seems calmer. Like you could just say tell he has a look in his eye of of confidence and aura going to the season. I definitely agree. He just seems more laidback. He does, you know, not so, you know, stressed, I guess, by the questions being asked. He he was very, you know, forthcoming and willing to talk and even joking around when they were asking about an extension yesterday. Oh, we Oh, we do have the clip if we want to bring it up. Sure, let’s bring it up. Yeah, we got it. Give me Give me a second here. All right. But yeah, uh I think you know there’s no reason to panic obviously given his answers and just given the situation that we’re going into this year. There’s no cause for you know panic like everyone has been. Panic with what? With the Bard contract. Oh sure. Yeah. I figure that’s what you’re referring to. That’s kind of what they were asking him about yesterday. You know when something’s going to get happened and he’s just not worried about it. Yeah. He said he was pretty he was feeling pretty chill about it. Yeah. Let’s let’s bring it up. All right. Let’s hear him. Yeah. Okay. Technical difficulties here. We will we will make sure that we get this going. Well, I I could just speak. I I have I have the I have the quote here. Um I I like I like this quote especially from Betsy on the Hawks. Uh this is quoting Bard. We can fly. We’ve got some of the fastest guys in the league. You’ve got to play to your strengths and probably our biggest strength is our skating. We’re young. We’re energetic and we’re going to hound teams. And you can tell Betsy like he’s he’s working on that dynamic too where it’s like you know there’s a lot of young guys around him are honestly better skaters than he is and you could tell he’s been working on his skating a lot over the offseason and you know now he’s going to be able to hang with those guys you would think. So again is that Betsy’s game skating? No. But I think he can make it his game. I think he can make it a part of it. Oh I think uh he could become you know a complete Swiss Army knife. You know he’s already got the playmaking. He’s already got the shooting. Then he’s already got the hands. He’s got the passing right. Yeah. So then why don’t you add you know a little bit of speed into his game. And I think it’s really just the speed like his skating. He’s his edge work has always been impressive with Benzy. His edge work has never been an issue. It’s more just the the speed, the acceleration, the top speed, and uh he’s gotten better from that standpoint. Again, doesn’t he doesn’t need to have that blazing speed as long as he’s a step quicker, which he looks like he’s a step. Again, it’s hard to say in training camp whether, you know, he actually is. Um we’ll see in the games where that’s the case, but he visually looks like he’s a step quicker. So, yeah, you got to see it against guys like Kale Mar. You don’t want to see it against guys like, you know, Nolan Allen, who probably won’t be a full-time NHL this year. Yeah, I think that movie poll was on Kevin Fitzgerald who’s a Rockford defenseman. So, you know, say what you know about that. But, um, to reference the contract discussions, this is actually Davidson, not Bard, but I’m quoting Davidson here. Um, it’s nothing we’re actively working on right now, but I have zero concern about where that’s headed. He wants to be here for a long time. We want him here for a long time. We’re going to make that happen. So, yeah, there’s no rush. And like you said, Betsy, you know, feeling pretty chill about it. He’s a chill guy. So, um, it’ll get done. I’m not I’m not concerned about there’s going to be, you know, I can promise you this, especially depending how the year goes standings wise and uh points-wise like there’s there’s going to be media talking points and speculation around that, but until until pen has put to paper, not just with BSY, that’s going to be a thing of guys like McDavid, you know, and and Carill, etc. That’s always going to be a talking point, but um everything Betsy said has been nothing but positive, and I have no reason to believe um yeah, anything else. So, he had a little bit of personality when he was asked that question, too. He was like, “Oh yeah, three for three on interviews asking about my contract.” Oh yeah. Was that Betsy or McDavid? No, that was Betsy. That was But I just wanted to add very related to that, Jack Hughes had a very similar comment when he was asked about his offseason training and what he worked on and his preparation and he said, “Uh, well, this is the second time you’ve asked that this media, so we’re done with that question now, right?” But it was a little You could tell the repeat questions definitely annoy these guys. I mean, it wouldn’t me too like um I I understand it. Um cuz everyone wants wants their own quote. Sure. Sure. And uh more I think another Davidson quote we should get to here. Um this is Kyle Davidson. The Hawks expectations this year. He said he expects the Blackhawks to take a step forward this year. Um he also said if there’s a situation where a young player is outperforming a veteran, then that should merit a young player playing up the lineup. Which I think that’s a big part of why he didn’t do much this obviously to kind of leave those slots open and let the young players compete for him. Yeah. So he said that last year, right? Last year he kind of said, you know, we want to take a step forward. It didn’t happen, but you know, 75% of that roster wasn’t real Blackhawks. And this year, I’d say it’s the reverse. So, um, I think there’s a better chance that happening this year. Um, again, a young team though, and, you know, we’ll see. Again, point standings wise, I don’t think that’s really what’s most important. I think if as long as it’s your young core players steering the ship, that’s what’s going to be most important. You know, Nick Felino also had a funny quote, uh, talking about the speeding. Uh, no, talking about the speed of the, uh, of the team now. He’s like, “Yeah, I could totally keep up with him, bro. I think I think you’re the slowest guy in the team, my guy.” But I think I think it just shows that like, you know, we’re we’ve been talking all off season about the vibes of this team and how, you know, compared to San Jose, you look at the media scrums yesterday, the vibes looked awesome. It looks good to me. Like, they looks like we just got back. I think everybody’s in a good mood when you just get back to work for the first time compared to when you’re in the standings in January. It’s back to school day, right? It’s a little it’s a little easier to, you know, wake up with a smile. There’s no stress right now, you know. I mean, maybe stress for the guys who are trying to fight for a spot. Betsy is not amongst those guys and nor those core guys like Felino. So, I’m sure they’re feeling pretty chill right now. Couple guys I’d say though, there’s definitely some pressure on them and we talked about in the show is uh Lucas Reichel and Kevin Kinsky. I’d say for both of those two, especially Riel Davidson basically called a spade of spades. Like this is a pro camp for those guys. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Shout out Natalie. Shout shout out Nat. Nat is not here, but she’s not here to push back on her, right? So, but we’re doing it for By the way, shout out to Natalie, by the way. She’s working Riot Fest this weekend. So, we hope it all goes smooth. Yeah. Yeah. No, hopefully that’s going well for her and uh and Yeah. No, for sure. It’s that’s great for her. So, yeah, I just wanted to give a little shout out to Nat. I think we’d be remissed if we didn’t say her quote. Lucas Reichel, the man that you are. The man that you are. Yes, sir. Um hopefully year three is a charm for him. Yeah. I wanted to ask you guys a question. Yeah, I mean I can what I’ve seen I mean this Hawks team could you know there’s a big range of finishing positions you know it could be seventh it could be fifth you know we don’t know what we’re going to see this year who do you think’s going to have more points Connor Baddard’s point total or the Blackhawks point total Betsy I think here’s here’s my rationale I think um Betsi’s not going to have another 60 point season I could confidently say that even if he did he might still have more point I would say if Betsy had a 60 point season he probably had more points than the Blackhawks do. Um I I think he’s going to be a point per game this year. So around 80 something points. I’d like to say I’d like to see him do more. But I think I think a realistic total for him is high7s, low 80s. So we’ll call it 80. Um the Hawks are not going to put up 80 points this year. Like you know, best case scenario maybe. Um maybe they’re around that, but realistically this is probably like a 70 point team. Over under 70.5 um something like that. Um so yeah, I’d say I’d say Betsy. Honestly, I hope Betsy. I guess the Hawks have more points than Baddard then. I mean, unless they’re a playoff team, that’s that’s that’s not good. Yeah, agreed. Yeah, probably Bedard. Yeah. All right. You got any rational to that or I mean the Hawks I agree with Justin. You know, I’d set the max points at this point just without seeing anything at about 72 to 74. And you know, I could see Bedar nearly putting up a point per game season if he stays healthy. So, you know, anywhere in that 75 to 80 range is kind of where I’d put him. Okay. So, yeah, like a little bit of edge on a little bit of an edge for Bard in terms of that. Yeah, I think uh I think I’m in agreement with both of you two. I just think that, you know, what we’re looking at for this team. I mean, it all rests on on Bard and Nazar and the development of the young guys. I think, you know, if you’re seeing Conor Bard get a point per game, you’re looking at maybe like a 75 point team. I mean, if he goes, let’s see, all you know, all bets are off. He puts up a 100 points, you know, then you’re looking at like an 85 point team. So, I think, you know, Conor Bernard is this team. Connor Bernard is the one guy you want to see perform. I mean, there’s there’s a lot of guys you want to see perform. Nazar and, you know, Renzel and Le. Exactly. But I think if Conor this team, it all depends upon what Connor Bernard’s able to do. If Connor Bernard lives up to the expectations that the three drive the ship here. He’s going to drive the ship. Yeah. He the captain goes down the ship. Yeah. Yeah. He’s not the captain yet, but he he probably will. It’s a foregone conclusion. He’ll be the captain of this team next year. Yeah, for sure. I think so. Um I think too a lot of it’s going to come through that that young defense. I think I like this quote from Blast Show on the Blackhawks defense. It’ll definitely be the youngest D core that I’ve been a part of in the NHL, but it’s a very talented group. Talented in a way that I think translates to success. They’re extremely big, extremely long paws, extremely good skating. Um, they’re not like a bunch of guys who just beat people one-on-one. They’re fishing their games. Um, but I will say I listen to a lot of blast show. Like this is the most like stereotypical coach I’ve like ever seen. Like he just he’s just he’s a teacher who happens to be a coach. Like he remind I mentioned this before in CHR. Reminds me a lot of my old wax coach in high school. He has the exact same type of like aura about him. The way he speaks, the way he talks. He’s a good speaker. Interesting. I just hope it translates to the messaging. But so far I’m liking execution. Right. Again, we’re only two days in, but like the like the vibes and the training camp clips. Again, some of that might just be the fact that’s a new staff. So, you know, players probably want to, you know, make a good first impression on the new staff. Like, that is probably a big part of it. Um, but not just Blash, the whole group around in Valuchcci, Pekka, um, even Anders, like it definitely seems like the stakes have been raised, expectations are higher this year. And, uh, and the standards just seem to have been raised. Like, this is a real staff coaching this team, right? I’m not saying it’s like a, you know, Jack Adam staff or anything, but at the very least it’s an improvement upon, you know, the the staffs we’ve had since, which, you know, since Q, we haven’t really had a good one. So, Jeremy, don’t don’t say that name. Don’t say that name. Although, to be fair, I would not be in this position if not for Jeremy Katin. The real ones know the lore there. We could get into that more on another date, but did Jeremy Colton get fired today? Not today, but yeah, four years ago. Yeah, those were the days, man. Those were the days. The origins of Behawk memes. It’s true that that that is the origin of people was was that it was that awful start to the 2122 season. They were like where we went like winless in the first 10 games like one nine and two and there was other stuff going on too. That was a rough time but uh you know that’s those are the dark days. They’re they’re behind us now. And another blast show quote. This is his rationale for um playing Burkoski and Dado at Bard. I said Burkovosski is really good at bringing pucks up through the neutral zone. I think he could play off of Conor. There’s a give and go component to his game. Um so there could be a good match there. Then he said Data is a good score. I mean, we we knew that. Thanks for the thanks for the analysis there. He said something like, “Oh, yeah. I saw in the uh in the the tape that Bedard’s as good a passer as a scorer.” Like, yep, we knew that. But, but no, I appreciate that. Uh again, we we’ll see how it looks in action. I’m sure that they’ll get some reps in preseason. I’d say normally the lines you see, you know, in training camp or at least the lines you’ll see like the first preseason game. So, I imagine, you know, then that’s coming up Tuesday actually against uh is that the Blues or the Red Wings? I believe it is the St. Louis Blues. Yep. the 23rd. Yeah. And we got some preseason action this weekend, too. Not for the Hawks, but around the NHL. So, hockey is truly back here. Training camp is back and preseason hockey is back, too. So, a lot to look forward to there for sure. Absolutely. Did you guys catch the uh the Wyatt Kaiser media availability uh yesterday? Oh, he he had he had a good quote on that actually. Yeah, I think I got that here. He was uh and he was also just like I just want to throw this out there. compared to all of the hockey players that I have seen take interviews, he was like the most um I don’t know what the word is, just uh like relaxed, not like like I don’t want to say eloquent with his words cuz that sounds like a philosopher, but he was very very well spoken. Like I didn’t hear like a single like you know like stereotypical hockey answer. I guess that Minnesota golfer education really pulled through there, right? Yeah. No, I thought it was it was a nice uh change of pace to hear him. Oh, absolutely. Very insightful. I just don’t hear that a lot. We got a good quote from him actually. Kaiser in the contract negotiations. It’s pretty funny. Um, quoting Kaiser, if you want to finish the game the third period, but hey, if you went to overtime, we got the job done. We both wanted the same goal. They wanted me to play for the Blackhawks. I want to play for the Blackhawks. It was just business. So, they got the game finished in overtime. So, better late than never, like I said. And, uh, excited to see what he could do this year, right? Just to get that. I’m glad they got it done now. There’s no hold out, no distraction for him. Like, he should be totally focusing the game now. Got a nice little bump. I mean, 1.7 million, that’s that’s not nothing. That’s that’s a pretty solid in pay increase there. and he has his next two years to really uh really make the bank in 2027. So, we’ll see how that goes for him. And one one other note on training camp, I think uh the Felino the Felino story hanging out with the young black. Oh, that was awesome. That was pretty amusing. Yeah, the uh like he he was like kind of hesitant to mention the cliff diving. He was like, you know, and I it was fine. and everyone ended up safe, but someone was like, uh, in the interview, some media members said, “Oh, yeah, glad Kyle wasn’t around to stop that.” Like, yeah, that wouldn’t have been a good look for him, right? Yeah, it’s a bit of a hairy situation there, but uh it’s good to see them bonding off the ice. I mean, that’s that’s kind of his job, but like, you know, just being a captain kind of um helping them be more comfortable around him. I think it’s going to create like more comfort in the room and, uh, yeah, I hate to keep saying vibes, but I do think it helps with increasing the vibes around Oh, absolutely. the temperature and environment of the room. cuz I will say last year like you know having looked into a lot of clips and stuff like I feel like at times um that wasn’t there with last year’s team I’m hoping this year if a younger Blackhawks team it should be a fun a more fun environment which should lead to more success on the ice so hopefully I think the youth overall just brings fun in general when you know these rebuilds are happening more the more youthful talent you have I just feel like that’s bound to h bound to bond good culture from that no matter what even if the success isn’t there right away I just feel like that jelling of younger guys is, you know, going to take you far in terms of culture for sure. And I think we should get some quick prospect talk here before we transition to NHL hour. I just want to mention Roman cancer uh had his first goals of the year in the KHL. He had an absolute snipe in the last bomb. His second goal of the year. He’s put up I believe five points in the last four games. Two goals, three and six. And uh I can’t his Sy did you see his Sy? It was probably one of the best SE I’ve seen. It was awesome. I didn’t catch that. Love his aura. Hey, he went down to one knee and started uh you know raising his fist like that. It was it was pretty sweet. Yeah, sweet goal. I saw the goal. Yeah, the goal was sweet. I think the salad was even better. He’s got So, he’s got some uh he’s got some showtime in him. Yeah, he does. Yeah, I like that. Good to see. And uh Friendell Friday would be remiss if we didn’t mention he had his first point of the season, I believe, uh Wednesday or yesterday on primary assist. Uh it wasn’t the nicest assist of all time, but he he got credit for it, so that’s what matters. Put on the stat sheet, right? Exactly. The puck bounced off his skate and went to his teammate. That’s an assist. It’s They don’t ask how, right? They just ask how many. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. Um, should we answer the Friday mailback questions in this part of the the Hawks hour or should we save that for the NHL? I think we just say that for uh after the snake draft. We’ll save that. We We’ll conclude with the Friday mailback. All right, that’s going to do it for the Blackhawks hour. Join us on the other side for the NHL hour. We will be bringing on Oilers Nations Dan Dolant on other side. See you then. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, [Music] brother. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey. [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. Heat. [Music] [Music] Hey, Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] N Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Welcome back CHR enjoyers. It is CHR Friday. Here we are back for the NHL hour of the show. A big one. We have not just one but two guests on the docket today. We will be bringing on Dan Galant of Oyers Nation at some point during this NHL hour. Um but before we do, just a little friendly reminder. If you’re watching this video on YouTube, be sure to leave a like, subscribe if you if you’re willing, if you want to. We’re close to 1,000 subscribers. We gain one during the show actually. We’re at 967. Hell yeah. Um 967. Oo, nice. Very nice. You are you going to make it? you can make it. You know, that’s the last year the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup was 1967. So, yes, I wasn’t even going to make the joke, but I actually find that really funny. I I think I just realized that now. Oh, there you go. Speaking of 67s, I love Macy McTavish uh practicing with them. Very, very interesting. The Ottawa 67s. So, is that why is that how they got the name there? They were just ahead of their time. I I it I honestly don’t know the uh the backstory behind that. Maybe they were created in 1967. Could be. It could be. Um or it could be like the Philadelphia uh 76ers because 76, you know, 1776. It could be something related to Canada. I’m not sure, honestly. That’s a good call because it is the capital. Yes. Yes, it is. So, you know, uh what not sure what year Canada was founded, but potentially in a year that ends in 67. It could be. You know, you know, there’s a lot of famous numbers around there. 66 Order 66 from Star Wars 2. Um 67 69. I wonder how our 68’s feeling. Like 68’s all left out, man. All these numbers in the high 60s and 68 gets nothing. 68. Shout out Mike Kaufman. Wow. So that that that’s what’s most well known for. I mean, that’s just the 68 that just pops into my head. That’s interesting. I mean, it’s it’s better than nothing, right? Yeah. I mean, oh god. No, I Oh god, what’s up? I forgot Yamir Yoger. I was going to say the first one probably I’d say Gagger’s probably you know probably more wellknown than Mike Hoffman I would say. Um debatable, right? We can debate that sometime I think. Yeah. Um but yeah interesting with McTavish. I saw on Twitter his dad works for the Ottawa Senators and I’ve seen a lot of people speculating about you know a trade to the Senators. H that would be interesting. He’s practicing there while the contract hold out’s going on. There could be could be something there. Something there. I mean, do they still need a 2C right now? I mean, they got Stutzel at the 1C. We’re checking Claude Jaru, but who knows what Claud is going to do. I believe Ridley Greg is also in that mix. Dylan, you know, they got Cousins. They got Dylan Cousins. Totally forgot about Dylan. I mean, unless they unless they move one of those two, the W. I mean, the center depth is good. They got Stuts, they got Cousins, they got Pinto, Lars Ellers’s down there. I mean, center for them. Okay, they got Claude in their third line right now. What? That’s interesting. Nick Cousins and Dylan Cousins. I saw something on Twitter the other day. It was uh they call they call Dylan Cousins um what do they call rich cousin poor cousins. Okay. Interesting. Very very interesting there. Yeah. I’d say um that’s I would say that’s the biggest news of the NHL hour today. I think we’d be remissed if we didn’t bring up Los Angeles Kings legend Copitar. This will be his final season in the show. He will be retiring after the collusion of this 2526 season. um even as a you know 2010’s uh Blackhawks fan and uh you know the Kings obviously is you know there’s a tough loss there in 2014 that Kopitar is a big part of but um big rivalry there but you got to give him his flowers one of the best players in the modern game um second best player from the ’05 draft after Cindy Crosby um one of the best two-way players in the game silky winner um done it all over a thousand points at the Kings I also saw this that was very interesting he is only one of two NHL players to play for come from Slovenia that’s right Yeah, easily Slovenian’s best NHL player of all time. I Who’s the other one? I didn’t realize there was another one. Do a little bit of research on this. I’m pretty sure it was just him. We’ll wait for your answer there, but um that’s that’s an interesting stat there. Kopitar leader in games played for the Kings. Won two Stanley Cups with the Kings. Is he the best Is he the best king of all time? He’s not the best player to play for the Kings. You know, they Gretzky, Dion, um Robbitai, but I would say he’s probably I mean, if you there’s argument there. I mean there’s the Drew Dowy had saying quicker in the conversation too but yes I have found the uh I have found my research. What’s the answer? Second Slovenian player. So he is uh the leader in Slovenian games played, goals, assists, points, all this stuff. Second on this list is Yan Mersac who is a sixthround pick in 2006 by the Detroit Red Wings. And then uh third guy is Greg Kousnik who only played one game in the NHL. Huh. Very interesting. uh drafted in the seventh round by the Hartford Whalers in 1996. Hartford. Yeah, I would say those guys don’t quite stack up to Copitar. Um not not quite. Um I’ve been to Slovenia. Fun fact, actually. I’ve been there. How was it? Really beautiful country. Really beautiful nation. Yeah. Really nice. Um been to Lake Bled, I believe. Uh I believe Copitar took the cup there when when he won in 2012 and 2014. Don’t quote me on that. I I was seeing clips of that. Yes, he did. Yeah. Really nice location there in Slovenia. So, but no, we got to give a shout out Don Kopitar even as even as a guy who’s an OP, you know, in many points during the 2010s and, you know, a guy has been compared, you know, Ja Taz and Kopitar can have a debate all day, but um, no, legend of the game and, uh, you know, definitely one of the best over 35 players in the game today. A little foreshadowing, little foreshadowing. Yeah, we’ll be doing a sneak draft later of over 35 NHL players uh, uh, later in the show when Dan Khan joins us. So, we’re looking forward to that. Should be a fun one. Do you all have your uh, you have your list ready for that? I’ve got my list ready. Cooking on it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I’m not going to give too much away. You You’ll see the picks when they’re made. All right. I guess I’m just relying on my head then. Yeah. Hey, I mean, you’ve got a great wealth of hockey knowledge. You’re the trivia guy, so I feel like you might It’s a massive head. Yeah. You might not need a list. There’s a lot going on here. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to add uh you know, he should become the alltime LA Kings uh point scorer by the end of this year. Yeah. Hey, how far away is he from? Uh uh he is at 1278 and Dion is at 1307. So he’s 29 away if my math is correct. Yeah, it’s 30 away from passing him. Y Wow, that’s I think you know unless something you know injury-wise happens, I think we can probably say that’ll happen this season. There’s another really cool stat actually with Copitar that I found really interesting. I’m going to pull up it pull it up here, but it was a graphic of the most game the most games played with one franchise and it was near the top of the list actually. See if we can find it here. Here we go. Yeah, most games by players who only played for one team is actually from MB on hockey and insta good follow. Um he comes in number six the list 1,454 games play at the Los Angeles Kings. Wow. Um so if he plays 82 games this year I believe he will be fourth on the list. He will pass Alex Oh actually no Wetkin still playing. What am I talking about? But he’ll pass Steve Eisermanman at 1514. So he’ll be top five on the list uh when the seasons conclude assuming no injuries or anything. um if he were to keep playing, he could really uh because Lindström is top of the list at 1,564 games. He’s only, you know, 110 away from that. So, if he did want to play another year, he could pass him. But, um unfortunately, that’s one year. That’s not going to be happening. One more year. I got one more in me. Um but yeah, I think Ovuchkin’s probably going to probably going to take that record. Actually, I think yeah, he will take that record this year. Another record for Ovetkin as long as he doesn’t, you know, break his leg or something. Yeah, he should uh he should take that record. Another record for Ovkin. Another How many games was it? Yeah. How many games was it? For who? uh for Ovetkin to top the list. Well, he’s at 1491. Lorstrom’s at 1564. So, uh what is that 649 73 away? He’s got to play Yeah. most the season. Yeah. So, he’s got just don’t get injured. Yeah. That could be close, you know? I mean, who knows if he gets like maintenance days here and there being 40 years old. He’s Alex Ovetkin, man. The Russian The Russian machine don’t don’t break. The Russian machine don’t need maintenance days. Yeah. I hope he can get there. That’d be really cool to, you know, take that record. most games played with the same team and you know retire that way potentially for sure and he’s already got the goals record so I’ll look to keep extending that as far as he can this season I believe he’s also the active hits leader he is he’s the active hits leader that’s correct he can do it all man though Alex Oveskin can do it all and I think we should tee up some Oilers talk here before we have Dan Golan joins us if uh assuming he’s in the queue there I like we probably should get some Oilers talk there um because we got some uh quotes from McDavid and Oilers training camp and uh you know in terms of giving us some details on where his uh where he’s at in the contract where him and the Lers are at and uh I mean you mentioned earlier Charlie actually the practice quote um Bowdy said it was one of the best practices he’s had in years actually. Yeah. Yeah. Uh I don’t know if it was years the exact quote but it it was you know today’s practice day one of training. He said it is the day one you know it’s the first day but it was one of the best practices we’ve had in a long while is what he said. Um, so you know, that’s encouraging, I guess. Uh, you know, obviously the first day I feel like everyone’s going to go in there with that intensity and, you know, effort from the jump. Uh, you know, we’ll see if that continues. And, you know, he gels with, uh, I believe the line mates he had yesterday in practice were very interesting. I don’t know if you caught that or not on Twitter. Yeah, I did catch he was playing with Maja Pani, I guess. Uh, and Thomas, David Thomas, right? I was like, “What is going Who is going on here?” Yeah. Like that was that was I know Maji Pani well, but new addition. I think Maji Pani could be a sneaky addition actually. He had a you know was a bit David Thomasak last season and played for the SHL in Farsstad. Uh had 24 goals, 33 assists for 57 points in 47 games. He could be the uh the Dominic Kubalik of the Oilers. You know how much Stan loves signing his European guys. So in other words, he’s going to do nothing this year cuz he already peaked. No, not in his uh not in his rookie year. I mean, his rookie year, Dominic Kubley put up 30 goals in a co shortened season. Ah, I I see what you’re saying. So, he’s going to go out this year and then he’s going to disappear. Yes, fair enough. Okay, I I got you there. I got you. I know Kub favorites. Um you upon you last year at the Caps 14 goals, 14 assists. So, not not much of, you know, not much of a season there in Washington, but he was good. He was good with the Flames. He’s always good for 40 points. He had a 35 goal season once. So, he could be a sneaky addition there in Edmonton on the wing. But um really first day of training camp and these are the these are the guys who are playing with the game. Oh, it’s year 10 here contract year. Said the practice went great with those guys. That’s what he said to the media. I mean he maybe he’s I don’t know. Maybe I’m going to say maybe I’m looking too much to be fair. He’s kind of McDavid. He can make he can make a a rock look like a heart trophy winning player. So um so credit to him. That’s what generational players do. They elevate the guys around him. So, um, I’m looking forward to ask get getting Dan’s input here in terms of if he’s still confident, you know, McDavid resigns there. I know last time we had on the show, he he stated that, but, uh, you know, a lot of things have changed since then. Um, if you guys listen to 32 thoughts, uh, with McDavid and, uh, Freriedman and, uh, we’ll see. I think, uh, the body language wise, I think they’re still confident he’s going to resign, but, you know, until it gets done, there’s going to be speculation, right? So, yeah, that same thing with Bard. Yeah. Yeah. Same thing Bard like we alluded to earlier. So, we shall see what happens there. Um, but until then, I think how about more Jersey talk? Uh, do we see the Rangers Centennial jersey? What do you think about that? I I am a fan. I don’t know if it is better than the Hawks one for me. Uh, I mean, yeah, the Hawks one is simple, but I kind of like the simplicity of it. Um, you know, I mean, we’ve had the same logo for like a hundred years at this point. So, I think it all it makes all the sense in the world for us. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. To be subtle with it, you know, just the gold trim. Um, but I don’t mind the Rangers. I saw a lot of people hating on that one. It’s not nearly as bad as the barber pole one uh out of is it Toronto? Montreal. Montreal has the Barber Poles. That’s right. Uh not a fan of those ones. I’d say if I were to buy a jersey uh out of these Centennial ones, it would either be obviously the Hawks or I’d get like a Paneran Rangers one. Yeah. No, for sure. I I would say of the Centennial, I hate to hate to give them credit here, but I would say the Red Wings have the the top ones, I would say. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with those. So, um I would say it goes Wings, Hawks, and then Rangers. Number three, um a lot of people glazing the Rangers one. They’re they’re nice. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not, you know, dissing them, but I I I I only get the hype. I will say I think it’s uh I think the shade of blue is just I mean, you got a different shade of blue with it. I don’t I don’t know if I like the change. It’s like 70s baseball baby blue. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But like at the same time, I think if you’re the Rangers, like you should stick with that blue that you’ve had for how long, right? Ever. Yeah. I I I do get that because it is a heritage jersey and you’re doing something kind of completely new. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I do see that part of it. And uh we were talking about David earlier, but how about Krill Capri? I got some new comments from him at Minnesota training camp. Apparently his agent is uh present there in Minnesota as well. So um I guess the pressure is on there to get a deal done. We’ll see if something happens there before the season starts. But he was quoted saying, “You know, I like it in Mini.” Um he said like, he didn’t say love. But maybe maybe that’s the Russian translation thing. So, um, what do you guys think about that? Maybe updates there. Maybe maybe he’s just, um, you know, maybe he’s just trying to quell the day one of training camp. What is he supposed to say? Yeah, it’s fair. Yeah, I mean, you don’t want to It’s been all summer with the, you know, contentious uh, situation and then they were said they were embarrassed about what got leaked regarding the uh, contract being turned down by his team. Yes. Um, so I mean you don’t want to go into day one of training camp and kind of relight any of those flames at all. So I mean that’s that’s a good answer from him. I don’t know how true uh you know I mean sure he likes it there. I don’t know if he wants to be there for a long term. Yeah, that’s the question mark right until we see you know resolution found uh you know there’s going to again just like McDavid is going to continue to be speculation about something that hasn’t happened yet until it happens. So you know a lot of repetition but that’s kind of the name of the game at the moment. Um, in other news, how about uh Matthew Dchuk being named the guest picker on college game day for this upcoming weekend? What do we think about that? Um, there’s a reason he’s on the NHL cover, man. Say what you will. Whether you love Matthew Chuck or you hate him, he’s one of the most popular players in the game in terms of personal. Love me or hate me, you watched. Right. Exactly. Shout out. That’s one of my favorite quotes. That’s one of my favorite quotes. You think you are, I am. It’s an aura quote. Yeah. I Yeah. Uh, I think Kachchuck I think he’ll I don’t want to say. Okay. I was going to bring up um what’s his name? Timothy Shalamé on game day, right? Oh, dude. Don’t bring This is like Vietnam War flashbacks for me. Please do not bring up Ohio over Yeah. Okay. What happened and we’re going to go to all his other successful picks on College Dame Day. But I think as an American player, you know, I mean, he’s going to be a good representation of that. That’ll be fun to see. And you know, seeing a hockey guy on College Game Day is definitely new. Yeah, I’ll be honest. I don’t always watch College Game Day, but I will be watching this weekend just to see Matthew to Chuck and his comments. Um, he’s always fun to see. Always fun to watch. So, I’m sure we’ll have some good uh quotes uh in the queue there for sure. He always does. He always gives us some bangers, doesn’t he? That to Chuck. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I think we should get into these comments here by uh Quinn Hughes. Um kind of similar comments as Capri obviously said he loves playing in Vancouver. He’s not really thinking about his contract right now. Again, you might just be saying it to say it to kind of quell the the talk and the speculation, but um getting back there, obviously, what else are you going to say like you kind of said, but um what what do we think about Quinn Hughes right now? Yeah. Um I mean, Quinn Quinn, I think he’s gone. You think Oh, really? Who is that? Who is that? There he is. Yeah, there he is. Oh gosh, I probably shouldn’t be wearing a Ramblers hat, but welcome back. Yeah, man. first appearance on the show of the year. Uh we’re struggling to get our guest on Dan Galant. Uh so I don’t know what happened. I gave him the Zoom link. He said he was waiting to join and uh I don’t know exactly what happened here. So that’s too bad. Yes, I am in the show. Uh are we doing this Mount or not Mount Rushmore? Are we doing the snake draft really quick? I’m ready. I I think I’m ready to do it. Your mic’s on now. No. Do it. Absolutely. Um okay. So I have the official order right here. I just have to I got the first pick, right? We got to make this one quick though cuz I got to get out of here soon. For sure, man. Let’s get on it. All right, Dan is no longer second. Tasos Tasos is filling in. We got the emergency backup goalie in here. The Ebug. I love it. So, draft order for the snake draft of over 35 or older NHL players. The order will go Justin Tessos, Andrew, sorry, Nolan, and then Charlie. You can go either way. It doesn’t really matter. I just wrote I wrote all first names. Yeah. Hey, fair enough. Very nice. All right. So, let’s get right into it. Right. Here we go. I mean, there’s a very clear number one pick I should be making here. I’m going to make it. I’m not going to There’s a player I want to pick, but I’m going to take the player I should. Sydney Crosby 1. That’s no debate there. Okay. Yeah. I I don’t think there’s any real debate there. I mean, we had a little bit of a debate, but I think uh I I think you’re happy with Sydney Crosby one. Yeah, it’s an okay pick, right? Yeah. No, it’s that’s the right one to make. Yeah. All right. Uh second overall, Alex Ovetkin. That’s the right pick, too. All right. Steal steal my pick. Okay. All right then. You could pick. I mean, I have to do it. Third overall. I’m taking Showtime. Patrick King. I want to take him at one, but I was like, “No, I got to take.” Yeah, for sure. Is he really the third best player in the NHL over like 35 plus legacy wise? Yes. Maybe not right now. Legacy. I I think we can get into this debate, you know, later, but I think right now it’s it’s Patrick Kane. Okay. Debatable. Yeah, for sure. Debate there. In terms of career, I’d agree about right now. I don’t know if I’d agree. All right. Who do you got? Uh there’s not a whole lot of goalies here, so I’m just gonna go ahead with the fourth pick. I’m taking Babski. Okay. And then with my wraparound pick, I’m taking Steven Stamos. Sneaky one. Sneaky pick. Oh, I forgot. So, we’re doing six picks. Three forwards, two goalies, one no one goalie, two D. Correct. Correct. Yes, we’re creating a a lineup here. That’s absolutely So, I’m up next, right? All right. I am in debate between two picks. Um, honestly, this is a coin toss for me, but um, you know what? I’ll take him. Best defenseman on the board, Roman Yosi. Roman Yosi is 35. He’s 35 according to Puckedia. All right. Interesting pick. Interesting. I mean, I’ll take the former Norris winner any day of the week. Yeah. Best defenseman on the board. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very fair. It’s to me now. Yes. Okay. You see, the thing is about this draft is there’s not a lot of goalies. Yeah. No. So, I feel like I got to take the pick now with Jonathan Quick. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Nice. Actually, wasn’t the one I was thinking, but that’s that’s a fair pick. All right. Justin, back to back. 39 years old. Jonathan Quick. Crazy, isn’t it? That’s crazy. All right. My picks. I think uh his game’s falling off a little bit. I’d say in recent years, but just like Patrick Kane, he’s still still a damn good player. Um Evenny Malikin. Okay. I think that’s the right pick. He’s got the duo. Okay. Oh, yeah. I didn’t even realize that. How the hell did I get both Crosby and Malcin? That’s the the chemistry on your team is unreal. Yeah, that’s insane. And I think for my wraparound pick, like we just said, not a lot of goalenders who fit this bill. So, I’m going to go with Freddy Anderson. One of the better over 35 goalies cuz there aren’t many. So, I like that. Um, see, I got Oie. Somebody’s got to give him the puck. How about the guy that announced that this will be his final season in the NHL? Anz I like it. I like it. Um, so I can’t believe you guys let this guy get back to me. Oh, no. This was uh this is the guy I was flip-flopping between. Give me Stanley Cup champion Brad Marshian. Wasn’t I was thinking of good pick. Yeah, I it was a summer Brad. Why not continue? You know, third round value. Are you kidding me? Come on. All right. Well done. That’s a steal if there is one in this draft. Uh, so I need a defenseman here. Well, you can take whatever you want. I I kind of want to get my Dman out of the way. There’s not a whole lot to go around. That’s why I took Yosi. Yeah, I like that. That pick’s looking better, actually. Yeah. Defense would fall off quicker. Yeah. Yeah. Give me Drew Dowy. Ah, good one. Yeah. All right. Solid pick. And then for my next pick, give me Michael Backland. Michael Backland. Okay. That’s a jock. Michael Bland. He could have gotten this draft without getting picked. He could have gotten this draft without getting Okay, back to me. Yeah. All right. Uh, I’ll continue on with my Norris winning defenseman. I’ll take Eric Carlson. Oh, thank God that’s not All right. You didn’t take my pick. Okay. All right. I’ve got my I’ve got my D pairing, so I’ll take it. I know. He wants I’m going to go Chris Latang. Oh, never mind. Crystal Tang. Okay. I’m going to go Chris Chryslang. Okay. Surprised Justin didn’t take him for the Penguins trio. Oh, that’s why I took him. That’s why I took him before Justin cuz I had somebody else. Oh, wait. He was just He’s already been taken. Never mind. I thought I was cooking there. I just saw Carlesson. So that that that tells you how good my how how smooth my brain is there. All right, pitterpatter. I would take another legend, Jonathan Taz. Good pick. Yeah, I I know we’ll see how he is this year, right? You know, if his game’s still there, but um I think that’s the that’s the clear pick for me. And then I just thought of one actually. First defenseman, uh Brent Burns. Brent BS. That’s who I was going to take. Yes, I like it. He is still active somehow. Yeah. All right. It was back to me. So I have two forwards, a D and a goalie. Give me Give me Jamie Ben. Okay. Oh, yeah. Give me Jamie Ben. Yeah. You want a little bit of sandpaper in there? I like it. Yeah. Um a line of Oie, Kobe, and Jamie Ben. Nice. Yeah. Okay. All right, then. Uh then I will go with my last forward. Give me Claude Daru. Good one. How has he fallen this far? I know. I’m just He’s always been underated. He’s always been underrated. Yeah. Very nice. I like that. Charlie back to back. Back to back. I will start with This is tough, man. You know what? Yeah. Give me Logan Couture. Inactive. Inactive. Retired. Really? Yeah. We’re calling you out on that. That’s inactive. That’s a beat up. They They didn’t remove his logo from there. That’s interesting. Okay. Give me then. Let’s take JVR. JVR. JVR. I think this is your last pick. Yeah, this is my last pick. So, I need one more defenseman here and I will go with Uhoh. Yeah. Uh oh. Right. This is not a lot of names. Crunch time. There’s a big one missing here. Yeah. Yeah. I I I see one. You son of John. John Carlson. That was a good one. That’s a good one. That’s another one I was thinking of. All right. You’re going to steal it again. It’s back. No, because I need my goalender still. Okay. Um, I’m going to steal it. Yeah, you’re going to steal. I know. I already know who you got. So, just remind me real quick who the goaliey’s taken. It was uh Quick Babski and Freddy Anderson. Yep. Uh, so give me Jacob Marstrom. Okay. Yeah. Give me Victor Hedman. I knew it. All right. I knew there was one person to round out your draft. I think uh solid pick. Nothing special. Just a solid pick. Ryan Mcdana. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a great pick. Yeah, that’s I think that’s the second best I could have done. All right. Thank you for allowing me to participate in this draft. Uh I am sorry that this appearance is quick for me, but I have to jettison off to a road game. So, thank you for having me, fellas. I’ll have you back in the show. Let’s get you back in the producer chair. Good luck. Like and subscribe. Yeah, look at this guy. Look at us, man. Look at the Look at these teams. I mean, first impressions. Who we think has the best team here? I mean, I got the Crosby Malcolm duo. It’s hard to beat that. That is tough. Although Tassels has the greatest goal score of all time, so there’s that. And no one’s got Showtime. And your team exists, too. Charlie, see, my thing is I needed I needed Babski early cuz I didn’t have a top. That was a good pick. I will say I needed to take that to kind of, you know, solidify the team on the back end. You definitely have the best goal. I’ll give you that. You have the best goalending. I’ll give you credit for that. Uh, you know, the rest of the team, the rest of it is pretty meh because I uh I had some inaccurate uh list here for some reason. you know, inactive guys. Yeah, one of the guys wasn’t even on my list of oldest players. Are we going to call my my picks though like the best of all time or I mean, come on now. The Marshand and Kane up top. You got Roman Yosi and Eric Carlson. Zero defense. Yeah. And then how high are teams going to do in like this format? Like if the teams were to play but think about that on a power play. Yeah. You know, you got no offense, no defense. You got Showtime on the right flank. You got Carlson on the left flank. You got uh Jaru who can play like a bumper. You got Marshian in front of the net. And then you got Roman Yosi quarterbacking this. Who’s your keeper? Uh I have Jacob Marstrom. Marstrom. Actually, you know, I think my team’s kind of perfect here. I got the Crosy Malcolin connection. I got Taz. He could do the D. And then we got Brett Burns and Mcdana. Like that actually they they complement each other super well. I got offensive defenseman with the defensive defenseman and Freddy Anderson if he’s healthy in net. I like this team actually. I think I’m I think I take this. Not going to lie. Yeah. No, I think I think we all did pretty solid there. Yeah. Yeah. I just beat all right. I think it was a solid job. I just beat the three of you. I mean, delusion. Delusion. We can, you know, plug it into like an AI. You know, which one of these five? Or we can just have the chat would win would win a four. What are you thinking? Who won chat? I want your votes. Chat, who won? Don’t be colluding. Please. Please. We get that Justin Azora, but I mean we we can’t have Justin winning every single draft. Epic. Why not? If you ain’t first, you’re last. Why? Why can’t I win every single one? I mean, I I think I was first. So, yeah. Well, we could debate this all. We can call a spade a spade. We’ll call it a spade a spade. Call it a spade, man. All right, let’s get back to it here. Let’s What other news do we have to get into here before we get into the Friday mailback? Friday questions. Yeah. Yes, we do. Yes. Yes. Uh, like I said, preseason hockey this weekend. So, good to see that. Uh, good to see hockey back on the docket here. There’s still some contracts get sorted here. some, you know, Riot Kaiser is one of the was one of the last remaining RFAS on unsigned. He’s been taken care of, but we’re still waiting on a Luke Hughes extension. We’re still waiting on Evangelista and Nashville and McTavish. We already talked about him, but so there’s still some big ones on the docket there. We’ll see if any of those get done before the season starts. Um, you know, preseason coming up here, training camp underway. So, we’ll see if any of those get done. Um but yeah, um I I know I we did hear from Barry Trotz that the Evangelista ones, uh you know, there’s there’s a lot there’s a lot of work to be done there and in Nashville. So, we’ll see if uh um that gets done anytime soon, but and then Luke Hughes, uh not much progress there either. So, um so that that one might be a ways away, too. I didn’t even see his name on the the Devil’s roster there. So, I wonder how Jack’s feeling about that, not seeing his brother at the rink there. Well, I mean, maybe they replace Luke Hughes with Quinn Hughes. I thought that I thought I thought this was going to be all three brothers together, not you know that would be Yeah, but it’s never uh I heard Elliot Freeman talk about this at 32 thoughts like it’s never things never happen in a straight line, right? You know, there’s always a there’s always a catch. There’s always an if. So, I’m sure we’ll get it done there in Jersey, but it is interesting that it hasn’t gotten done yet. So, um I will say I have a uh speaking of Jack Hughes, I do have a uh NHL franchise mode that I’ve been doing with the Calgary Flames. And funny enough, I signed Jack Hughes the devil. And then I also got Jack Hughes the King’s Prospect. Oh, both uh both of my center core the uh the bread to the uh to the center core. That’s nice. My uh Blackhawks franchise mode right now. We got Bard first line center at 97 overall. 97? What year are you at, bro? Like you don’t want to know. Yo, did you did you play route the overalls? Did you like do some funny business? Listen, I did one last week, right? Or two weeks ago, I started it on 26 or still on 25. On 25 still. I still got to get 26. I haven’t got yet. That’s That’s all three of us. I started off and I, you know, kept resigning. I kept Nazar around. I kept all our prospects around and then I made a few big signings and then Bard never reached above a 90. I start a new one 97 and I don’t add anything to the team. I just let everything happen. 97 within two years or three years. Who do you have as his line mates? Um, so I drafted uh Caleb Den Noir. Okay. Um, because Fondell was not able to fall into our lap there. I couldn’t recreate reality. And then on his right wing, uh, Sebastian Aaho. Oh, interesting. I think the uh the last one I did, I had uh Nazar on the right and then Kyle Connor on the left. Oh, nice. Oh, that’s a good guy. Speed. Speed. Fun connection there. I am Speed Lightning McQueen reference. Um there’s there’s some little notes in here I think we can uh get to here. Um we’ve done a lot of Capri soft talk. We haven’t really done a ton of bread man talk. Art No, we have not. What if we tie them together? This was an interesting thought I saw from Jeff Merrick. Uh I believe yesterday he mentioned this and um Arti Paneran’s on the last year of his contract. He said there’s not a hint or whisper of a contract extension. Can anyone else see Guil Capri sauce sliding into that spot? Is that is that is there something to that or you think that’s uh I think that’s you think that’s delusion? What do you think? I think it’s delusion. So you think Capri off of like a draw with New York for Capri would be to play with Paneer and they’re good buddies. But they also have a couple of Russians there in Gabberov and Shurken still. He’s he’s very good friends with Shurkin. I saw a picture of them both at the Knicks game a couple of years ago. Of course you remember that. And no, I just saw it like a couple days ago. So that’s that’s why it refreshed in my mind. But I think, you know, looking at the cap situation, keeping both or keeping Paneran and then signing Capri off, there’s no way that happens unless you get rid of a uh unless they open up a moneyaundering scheme. You got to trade the Empire State Building to Minneapolis. So, I mean, yeah, this is in Vegas, too. So, I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to just LTI this. So, yeah, I I think you’d have to get rid of a guy like Mikas Advantage who’s making $8 million. Honestly, that would work out just perfectly. He hasn’t really done much for him, so that would work out pretty nicely. But, yeah, that does seem like a bit of a pipe tree. You might say uh I’d say Chicago has a better chance of happening, right? Yeah. No, I think just looking at the uh the cap space in the future, I mean, why wouldn’t you want to come play in Chicago? Absolutely. And we’ve got some Russians coming up. That’s right. Yeah, we got cancel the Roman candle. MV is basically Russian. He’s basically Russian. Belus, same thing. Yeah. No, he’s not. Nestrasil isn’t, is he? Nester is from the Czech Republic. Czech Republic. That’s what I thought. We got some Russian. Yeah, we got some Russian. and uh Ilia Canarski, the seventh round pick that we got last year. Uh the guy who had no picture. We also got that Russian goalender, Sergei or Stannislav Berzo, you want to say? Yeah, exactly. He said he looked solid again yesterday uh at training camp from what I heard. Is this our future guy? We always thought it was Spencer Knight, Drew Kso, and or Sodom and it might be But hey, those Russian goenders, man, they’re always good, aren’t they? I thought it was Lincoln. So, you know, you never know. I love the real deal. Yeah, that’s that’s funny stuff. All right, Capri off. Also, I will note the betting odds, you know, you Vegas doesn’t mean everything, but you know, they kind of have a a temperature on an idea. They’re pretty, you know, on it for the most part. They have the Blackhawks as a more favored team to be the next team for Capriov than the Wild for his next contract. Really? They have the Hawks have better odds in the Wild. There’s two teams above the Wild for better odds and one of them is the Hawks. Wow. What was the other one? Uh, the Hurricanes, I believe. Hurricanes. Hurricanes. That’s right. Yeah. Here I am. Rocky like a hurricane. Speaking of boring. Boring. I saw rumblings about them being interested in a Carter Hart signing potentially. The Hurricanes. Why would they do that then? Actually, you know, Freddy Anderson when he’s healthy is good, but he’s and they also got coachov. He’s he’s all right. I mean, Anderson’s inconsistent when it comes to health. Go check inconsistent just when it comes to play. When he’s on his game, he’s good. When he’s off his game, he’s inconsistent. So, um, there are other teams I would say to be fair. Isn’t there another goalie in there? Oh, no. Anti I think Anti Ronto’s gone from there, right? He’s Yeah, I think he’s long gone, huh? Yeah. Who knows? Blackhawks legend onto. Yeah, that’s a pull. Yeah. So, I mean, there are other teams I think that probably make more sense for him, but they did um they have been connected. I don’t know if it’s official, but they have been connected to Mloud. So, I don’t know if Michael Mloud. Yeah, I did see that. Yeah. So, there’s not going to be, you know, any baggage in that locker room whatsoever. But, um, yeah, we’ll see what what happens. Hurricanes fans are thrilled seeing that on Twitter. Like, what are we doing? For the love of God, please come to our games. Yeah. Wait, do you guys do you guys get that reference? No. No. Uh, urinating tree on YouTube. Did the uh the Raleigh man uh this was probably like five or six years ago, right before they started, you know, becoming six years ago. Yeah. Five or six. No, no, no, no. No, it was about five or six years ago whenever uh Carolina was like in that middle ground, you know, they were just starting to become good. AO was like just starting up and uh he made this like, you know, big time meme where it’s like, for the love of God, please come to Arcades. Yeah, that’s funny. That’s like a meal at Red Lobster, right? Red Lob don’t get me started Red Lobster. Do not get me started Red Lobster. I could go down a whole rabbit hole with Red Lobster. Big Red Lobster guy? No. In a good way or a bad way? No. No. I think it’s uh Anyway, um all right, those are the ops. Anyway, we don’t not sponsored. We don’t mess with that Seabbug restaurant. Couple other things to get to before we get to the Friday mailbag because we do have some questions this week. So, thank you for Thank you guys for you know in our request last week. Um this is via Darren Drager on Kyle Connor. It sounds like talks are progressing. I think it’ll be somewhere in the Marner territory somewhere around 12 million. So KFC sounds like extension is brewing there in Winnipeg. So, um, good to see that. I I’m a big fan of Kyle Connor. Uh, yeah, I am also, uh, noted to be a very big fan of Kyle Connor. I think he is the, uh, engine that drives that Winnipeg Jets team. You You think so? Yeah. I I mean, I get it. You’ve got an MVP in Connor Halabuk, but Connor Hobbuck doesn’t score you goals. He just stops the goals. You got in the play and he doesn’t even stop the goals in the playoffs. He He uh he didn’t look too bad in that last game against Dallas that that overtime game. Yeah. Uh, yeah. in the last game. All the other games that series, I don’t really know where he was, but I mean, he looked good in the Four Nations, too. Yeah. Yeah, he was he was good in the Four Nations. So, hopefully that uh that carries over to the Olympics. But I think, you know, Kyle Connor, you’re getting like a 9100 point guy and he plays all facets of the game. He plays on your penalty kill. He plays on your power play. He is the guy on the power play. I just think Kyle Connor is one of the most underrated players in the game. I was See, guys, we’re doing this again. Conor’s he’s not underrated like like he was underrated. He just had like he’s no longer underrated. I think we now all know he’s one of the best players of the game now. I feel like Canadian markets know that. I feel like American markets don’t. I would agree. It’s funny cuz he’s American too. You think? Yeah, he’s American but it’s like I feel it’s such a different world in terms of hockey media up there and what gets dis discussed and what’s like known. I don’t know. And it’s super interesting, too, because uh in the American markets, at least on TNT and ESPN, you won’t see the Winnipeg Jets on there, right? Yeah. Yeah. True. I mean, it’s Winnipeg, right? I mean, yeah, but again, you got two American stars there. I mean, the only other I mean, you could realistically have more American stars that you could be um marketing, but the only one they really seem to be doing is Austin Matthews. True. Uh you could look at Quinn Hughes in Vancouver for the time being. You could look at, you know, Brock Basser right there. I wouldn’t call him a star, but I mean 30 goal scorer, you could market him pretty well. You look at a guy like Dustin Wolf in Calgary. You look at a guy like Brady Kachchuck in Ottawa. Yeah. I mean, I just call that the Ontario effect. I mean, like what is it? 60 to 70% of the Canadian population. How many% 60 to 70 of course unknown between six and 710. Yeah. Unknown boy in the chat is stating exactly my thoughts. If everyone calls him underrated, is he actually? Yes. Thank you, Unknown Boy. Thank you. Finally, somebody’s on my ship. Okay. All right. Anyway, uh let’s get to the Friday mail bag questions. I know the chat’s been clamoring for we should answer chat’s questions. Yeah, we’re going to go to uh our buddy Quinn here who sent us an Instagram DM. Uh he says, “TGFF, thank god it’s Fondell Friday. There’s been a lot of talk about the 2026 free agent class, but who could we see moving at the trade deadline?” Ah, trade deadline. Um is is he kind of referencing um like 2026 um options there? guys that could so guys who maybe won’t hit the open market but would be involved in a trade. Uh yes. So you look at the 2026 free for Asian class um guys like Capriov and McDavid and Connor and Eichel you know I don’t know if any of those guys are actually going to be like you know there’s always going to be talk speculate. I don’t know if any of those guys are actually going to be I would say of that bunch I mean Connor seems like the most likely to extend. I still think that David is going to extend. I’m not really that’s you know um Capri I mean I know Capri claims otherwise but I do think there’s some real smoke there. Yeah, let me uh let me bring up the 2026 class for a reminder for everyone. Um yeah, I always seems like he’s going to extend in Vegas. I mean, somehow. I don’t know how they make the money work over there, but he’s probably going to extend in Vegas. Star Voodoo Magic fan. I I don’t care about that. I don’t know. I don’t know how they keep something in Vegas or something. Yeah, I will say he’s kind of a, you know, a player of a different note, but I’ve been hearing that Raspus Anderson’s going to get traded for like months now. So, um whether that’s actually going to happen, who knows? But that definitely seems like a guy who probably gets not traded like before the season but probably the 26 trade deadline. Rasperson in Calgary. All right. So we uh so I have pulled up the list. Conor McDavid, Kyle Connor, Jack Eel or Timmy Paneran, Martin Nichas, Alex. I think I think I think we could see a NES trade. Another another Nichas deal is the uh that wouldn’t shock me at all. It wouldn’t shock me that was another situation like Ratin where it’s like it doesn’t quite fit um in Colorado. I know there’s been some talk around that. um they got to get a deal done there. But I’ve seen his name in in rumors a lot. Nes he might need he’s not he hasn’t been very happy in Colorado thus far. I might need a change of scenery once again. So I would say Nate is probably the most likely of that bunch to get moved at the deadline. Again, I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but um I would say that’s probably number one. We still have uh more names on this list. We have uh Adrien Kempe, Alex Tuck. Kemp Kemp I think is going to extend in LA. Um we go down the list here. I mean, there’s really not a lot of notable names here. I love what we’re asking a trade deadline question in September. Right. Patty L. Line. He’s always a guy um we’ll see. I think he needs another year in Montreal, right? Um up up and down. Last year had some injury issues. I think he needs to stay healthy, right? And especially if we think that Montreal is going to be a playoff team, which I do. What? Yeah. Yeah. You keep those guys. You don’t you don’t do anything to He’s been good in the power play there, right? I like the effect he’s had in the Montreal power play. You bring in Dobson this year. I think that could be a solid connection. I think he’d be giving a lot of one-times. So, um, but that that that could be that could be a guy potentially. Yeah, potentially if you know, Montreal slips down. Uh, I think Lonnie is a guy whose spot never really fully feels um, you know, in place. Yeah, that seems like a guy who’s always on talk. So, um, you never know of him. Yeah. All right. Uh, next question here comes from Joseph. And Joseph says, “Fellas, I’m afraid we’re going to watch another 60 70 point Demadov season. What does a successful year in point total look like for Ardum Lefchenov this year and us to be happy taking him over Demov?” Well, I you know what to answer that question. I don’t think there is one. I think we need to stop comparing Ivan Demidov and Ry Lebanonov. They’re not in the same situation. You know, they play different positions. They have different roles. Like I’m just going to I’m just going to be honest here, guys. Um Lebanonov is not going to be as good of a player as a Demov. Like he’s just not like I’m sorry. That’s not me being a um a pessimist. Like I just think with Demov like that’s going to be I said it before I said it last year. I said it before the 2024 draft. Like he’s going to be a star player. He’s going to be you know 80 plus point per game player right in the NHL. I think Levaw is going to be a very solid angel defenseman, right? If he’s a guy who’s in the Norris conversations, I think we could feel good about that pick, right? Um, but I just I’m just going to be honest here. I don’t think he’s going to, you know, have a better rookie year than Demadov, you know? Right. I think I think defensemen are a project, right? And especially we talk about points here, like, you know, that that’s not what’s important here, right? I think with Lepchnov as long as he sees improvements in his defensive game like comparing points of defenseman versus forwards there’s more to the game than points and you know in totals and goals and again like you’re going to see a lot of demod highlights on your feed and there’s that’s going to be a narrative all the time. I’ve got to say the Hawks were not the only team to pass on this guy. The the the Anaheim Ducks did and the Blue Jackets did as well and they took forwards. They took forwards at their picks. The Ducks took Beckett Senica and the Blue Jackets took Kaden Lidstrom. Why aren’t we talking about that? Like all we ever do is compare the Blackhawks and the Canadians. I never see anybody, you know, talk about the fact that Demidov was the 44 taken in that draft. It was, it was Senica, it was Lindstöm, and then it was Demov. The Hawks were the only team to take a different positional player. So, you can’t compare the situations. I I would agree on that. But to answer that question, um I think a successful rookie year for Leopard, I’m not looking at points. I’m not I’m not looking at points. I think I just want to see progression from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And if uh if you’re looking at points to at the end of this rookie year to compare these guys, they’re going to be extremely disappointed. You’re going to be disappointed and you’re not really comparing them in the way that they should, but you’re doing a you’re doing an injustice of it’s like selecting stats that fit your narrative kind of thing almost. You know, if you’re comparing them based on points and development for defenseman does take longer, you know, uh we could see Loves have some time in Rockford this year. Who knows? But that that’s not the important part is it’s not this year for him. It’s the development process, the maturation, growing to the game in the NHL level and, you know, becoming a a a top pairing defenseman and that doesn’t matter if if he’s scoring, you know, 40 points a year or not. If he’s the guy on the defensive end and he provides stability, then that’s what you need. Exactly. I mean, David, he’s probably the favorite for the Calder trophy, right? and left again. Like he could be a dark horse, but I’m not really sure if he’s a favorite. So, you know, based on year one, yeah, it’s probably going to skew in their favor, but over the duration of their careers, we’ll see. You don’t know, right? Um, so yeah, that’s a question that’s hard to answer now, but I’m just going to be honest. I don’t think you’re going to like the answer. And then we have just prepare yourself for that. We have one from Discord. It is a two-parter from our boy DJing It Up. Give us one guy that will one make it out of rookie camp, two won’t make it out of rookie camp. Um, well, I think there’s definitely competition between Oliver Moore and Ryan Green. That definitely feels like a story line. Um, I don’t think both of those guys are going to be on the Hawks opening night lineup, but I think one of them will be. Um, I I rather personally see Oliver Moore. Um, yeah, I think Ryan Green might be, how would I put this? His game might translate better like right now. He might be more ready right now, but I think Moore has got the higher, you know, ceiling of the two, I would say. Right. I think Green’s all-around game is impressive, but I think with more I I I think he’s a dark horse man. I think if he makes this Hawks team right away, I I like the prospects of what he can do this season really. Like I’m not saying he’s going to have a Frank Nazar type of season, but I think he has that potential to just kind of, you know, just slowly but surely get better as the year goes along. Again, if he needs to start a record, fine. Um but personally, I like the way he’s looked in camp so far. The prospect showcase game, he impressed me a lot more than Green did. Um again, it’s just a prospect game. It’s not that deep, but um I’d say yeah, monitoring those two, seeing who makes this team. Maybe they both do. I just I don’t know if there’s enough spots for both of them. Um but yeah, I would say I’d say Alvin Moore. Um I think he makes the team out of camp. And then uh and Green doesn’t. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. Uh I would say for the player not making it out of camp, I’d go with Kevin Gorchinsky. Uh not making it not making it out of it. He will start in Rockford in my eyes. And I mean, it’s just such a crowded blue line. And he has so much time to develop. He, you know, he he has NHL experience from such a young age. Um, you know, and that was I feel like that was a big thing for him to experience. And, you know, in the ways that he wasn’t quite ready yet, he’s seen it already and he knows what he needs to improve on. and giving him, you know, all the ice time that he can get in Rockford to develop further and, you know, feel confident as a top guy down there. That’s going to help so much for him because he already knows, all right, this is the AHL, you know, but I’ve been in the NHL and I know the intensity is here versus here in the N AHL. Uh, I think that’s what’s best for him at this age. No, fair. Coach is an interesting one, man. Like I I even even Davidson said like the ball is kind of in his court in terms of you know where he starts this season. So um if he needs more time in Rockford fine. Again I know he’s young. I’m not you know hitting the panic button here but I just I just don’t think his second season in Rockford’s ideal. I think he’d be better off be playing for the Hawks right now. But if he’s not ready then he’s not ready. So um we’ll see what happens with him. Yeah. Yeah. Um mine um one guy I want to see come out of camp I I want to see Ethan Del Mastro make the team out of camp. I think he’s a guy who w looked very good last year. I’ve been uh noted on this podcast that have been very high on him. So, I think Ethan Del Mastro is my guy there. Um I think not making the team. I mean, there there’s a lot of guys you could say really. Um I’ll go Oliver Moore. I just think uh you know, just because of the pure fact that um you know that look at Nazar last year and what his development looked like. Um I I I think you send Oliver Moore down for the first 20 25 games, see what he does. If he’s a point per game, then you bring him up. That’s fair. Or I think he’s the first guy that comes up if there’s a major injury. Yeah. No, for sure. If he needs it. Yeah. It worked out great for Nazar, so there’s no reason it can’t work out for more. Yeah. I don’t think War’s a guy who needs to be here, you know, day one. But I was thinking if he is ready though, then then he should. You know what I mean? Um I think that’s a thing too where it’s like yes, you want to be patient with these guys, but it’s like if they show they’re ready, then they should be on the team. Yes, I agree. Um, but yeah, I think that’s going to be that’s definitely going to be a story line to watch. The competition between uh veterans and young players once again will be a story line this year for sure. Yes. We got any more questions? Uh, no, that is it. That’s it. That’s it. Thank you guys for the good mailbag questions. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Really appreciate that. Absolutely, guys. Thank you so much. Yes. And every Friday we answer your questions and there’s several ways you can do it. You can DM us on Instagram. Um, you can send the questions in on Discord. If you’re not following us on the CHR Discord, uh, go ahead and do that. We appreciate that a lot. Thank you. And yeah, every Friday we answer your meal bag questions. So yeah, for sure. Thank you very much. And I agree with Kevin in the chat. We should start comparing Nazar and Doc. You don’t see that. And that’s a direct comparison. Demodov and Levaw is an indirect comparison. There was no trade there. There was no deal, right? It was just a matter of, you know, draft pick um placements, right? Um Nazar and Doc was an actual was an actual trade that occurred. Yes, it wasn’t Frank Nazar yet. It was his draft, right? It was a draft pick that became Frank Nazar. But you can look at that now and say that was a trade. Frank Nazar for for Kirby Doc. So that should be the comparison. And and and from that standpoint, the Hawks uh the Hawks won. I mean, yeah, I think they won that deal. They’re not winning that that trade. They they won that trade, honestly. I think it’s fair to say. Kirby Doc, I don’t even It seems I don’t even know if his future is is in Montreal to be honest with you. I think he might need another change of scenery there. He’s had three years now and uh still has it figured out just like Chicago. So, I think that’s a guy where you Luca Fazar too and what he did last year. It’s going to be, you know, a season this year to prove it over a full 82, right? He hasn’t played a full year late yet, but I have no reason to believe that he won’t uh that he won’t impress. So, um, no, I think the Hawks, uh, yeah, I think they won that trade. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think that’s Cal Davidson’s legacy move so far. So, that is Yes. I mean, you could look at the you could look at the contracts, too, but I think, uh, yeah, I think that’s his legacy move so far. I would agree. All right. And, uh, I believe it is time for Weber’s wagers. It is time for Friday edition of Weber’s Wagers. Yes. Let’s hear it. Join us in the wager wire over here. Before we get started with some picks, I have to give a brief disclaimer. The following content may discuss topics related to gambling. Gambling can be addictive and not suitable for all individuals. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available by calling 1800 gambler. Must be 21 or older. Please gamble responsibly and be aware of the risks. There we go. All right, here we go, guys. So just to wrap up the Wednesday’s night’s picks, we went two and one. Yankees minus one and a half on the run line. Hit with ease. I believe they won 10 to five. And Chargers or sorry not Chargers, the Mariners was a loss. Unfortunately, the Royals squeezed out a two-run win late in that game. And the other pick, Bayern Munich, won 3 to one over Chelsea. Easy game. We knew that was coming. So, two and one from Wednesday. Hopefully, we can go into this weekend 3 and 0 with the picks. So, without further ado, the first pick for Friday is, you know, we love this one. Cubs money line minus 120. Shota Imanaga on the mound in Cincinnati. Uh, you know, Cubs had a rough one zero loss yesterday coming off their big celebration after clinching the postseason. So granted, I think the Cubs were a little hung over yesterday for the one zero loss to the Reds. Um Colin Ray looked great, though. Colin Ray had his best start of the year and got a one zero loss. I mean, seven innings pitched, one earn run, 11ks, uh no walks, I believe. So yeah, we’re going with the Cubs to, you know, snap this one little oneame slide and get back into that confident winning feeling before the playoffs roll around. Hope they don’t. Uh yeah, thanks. And I hope you guys take care of the Padres’s this weekend at Guaranteed Right Field so that don’t have to worry about them. So, you know, go socks this I’m going to I’m going to take your negative energy and turn it positive. Go Socks, man. Fair enough. Well done. The next pick is also a tonight pick. It is Oklahoma State football minus 8 and a half at home against Tulsa. um the quarterback play, the lines. I mean, Oklahoma State’s a much bigger team on all fronts and the talent is on a, you know, that higher level in terms of the conferences. Uh I think this is a no-brainer for tonight. Oklahoma State should handle them easily. So, yeah, we got Cubs money line, Oklahoma State 8 and a half. And Sunday’s pick, since we won’t be here till Monday, is Packers minus 7 and a half versus Oh, you’re taking the Packers. What’s wrong with you? So, here’s my logic. First of all, they’re playing the Cleveland Browns. The Packers are 2 and 0. They’ve looked dominant in pretty much every facet of the game, even with Jordan Love’s, you know, uh, kind of inconsistencies here and there and not having a true number one wide receiver. You know, they spread the ball around a lot and I just don’t think Cleveland has the depth to cover everyone that’s a playmaker for the Packers. And also, their quarterback situation is a little iffy. And I just think since I’ve been tailing the Bears and it hasn’t gone so well and the Packers are 2 and 0, we might as well take the Packers. I’m done with the Bears. We’re not taking the Bears against the Cowboys. No, that’s fair. I don’t blame you for that. I have zero faith in the Bears. Oh, what are we doing? We’re taking the over. That’s I I almost put the over out in that game as a pick because of Ebloo’s defense. They have the 30th race 30th 30th ranked pass defense in the NFL so far this year the Cowboys. So yeah, I think Caleb would be able to take advantage of that versus Ebloo’s boys. Uh especially with some you know added motivation that he’s there but we can’t linger on the Bears. I told you guys last week I’m out on the optimism. So only the right thing to do is take the Packers instead. Yeah. I mean you do what you got to do sometimes. s you got to make some tough decisions in life and maybe you know go more of your brain than your heart which I think we’ve learned with especially with the Chicago Bears team. Yeah, I that’s difficult man. I mean I mean if there’s one team I think to be able to figure out against it’s the it’s the Cowboys but I don’t know I have zero faith in them this weekend after what I witnessed last weekend. So the Cowboys have played some nailbiters so far. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll see what happens. We’ll we’ll be watching any given Sunday. Any given Sunday we’ll be watching. But I I have zero faith. Um I have a question for you guys. What’s up? What’s up, audience? Do you guys want to represent your favorite Blackhawks podcast on the street? Get recognized. Say, “Hey, what is that cool shirt, Charlie? How do I do that?” Stay warm at a United Center game. How do I do that? You can do that by going to Althonetwork.com and visiting our merch page where we have t-shirts, hats, and hoodies all with the chr logo on them. Oh, yeah. It would mean a lot to us if you would go out and consider purchasing some merch, even just checking it out, sending it to a friend who might like it. We would really appreciate the support. Uh, so yeah, guys, go buy merch, please. Yes, we we really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Uh, yes, sir. Nothing beats a CHR merch drop, as Natalie would say. No British accent. I’m not even attempting a British accent. I No, that Thank you for that. That would not go well for all parties involved. Yeah, I would say. All right, I think um No, this actually was something we need to delve more into, Mr. Mr. Ev. Genny Malcin, one of our over 35 NHLers in the Snake draft. We got a got a good quote from him and as the Penguins return to training camp here. Um this is Evenny Melkin on the idea of leaving Pittsburgh. Um quoting him it’s hard you know we see a story like with Brad Marshian it’s looking good but if a team trades you and you don’t win a cup it’s a little bit weird too. It’s a great story when you see on TV but I don’t know how I feel if team the team wants to trade me. Um so it seems like Melin from what I’m hearing like he wants to remain a penguin just doesn’t know that’s going to be the case. He’s open to the idea, but um I think he wants to be a penguin for life like Crosley, but we don’t know if that’s going to happen, right? Um things could change there. You never know, especially the team’s in a much vastly different situation, right? You know, we saw Marsham with Boston, Boston kind of entering a retool, right? And Maram was traded and it worked out great. He won a cup of Florida, he’s got a new home there. Maybe sim something similar can happen with Malcolm this year. You never know. Um that’s that’s that remains to be seen. Yeah, that’ll be interesting to see. We’ve been talking a lot about Crosby. We haven’t really talked a lot about Malcolm, but he’s in a similar boat. He’s like kind of in a very similar situation and as the deadline approaches like teams in contention that need a topline center. Who knows? Why not? Why would you not? They’re going to reach out minimum secondation. Yeah, there’s going to be discussions. I mean, people are going to reach out to the Penguins to figure out what his deal is. Can we get him for this cup run? Does he even want to be part of another cup run with a contender? Would he rather be in Pittsburgh? And I think, you know, the next couple months and how the season goes is really going to determine that. So, be very interesting to see around deadline time what happens. And, you know, we’ll hear a lot more conversations like that quote you just uh read to us. Yeah. No, Pittsburgh is definitely going to be a team to watch us here. We’ve talked a lot about Pittsburgh on the show, right? Shout out my Pittsburgh family. Yeah, for sure. There we go. Yeah, there we go. Got a lot of got a lot of roots over there. Very nice. And uh before we go, I don’t know if you guys saw I don’t think we talked about this, but like um looks like Blackhawks practiced and training captain. Those boys are being worked. It looks like the miracle drill is going on over there. I see players, they’re getting bag skated, they’re going back and forth and 45se secondond thing. You saw that. I see guys in their knees here paused. Like it just it seems like a really tired group. That’s what you want to see. Work hard and practice. Leave it all out in the rink. That’s what I want to see. You practice how you play. Yes. And make that’s what show is a good quote there. He said, you know, if you practice hard, the games will come easier. So that’s what I love. I love to see that. Make these guys work. Make them earn. This is the Chicago freaking Blackhawks. So um no, I’d love to see that. Again, it’s just training camp. I don’t want to glaze training camp, but I’m liking this culture. We check school, we talked about um culture today. And I think uh I think we’re seeing some changes there, some shifts in culture and in the Blackhawks land. Um which is what you want to see. But again, until then, it’s all talk. You know, we got to see it in action on the ice starting. There’s a nice quote I got from uh college football. They look good in t-shirts and shorts, but then you got to actually put the pads on and see how they look. With Betsy, too, like I love the way he’s looked in, you know, the summer training in the offseason. It means absolutely nothing. Do it on the ice, brother. Yeah, do it in the game. Five on five with people in the stands. And I I have faith that he will. I have faith that he will. I do believe that as well. All right, I think that’s going to do it for Friday edition of CHR. Looking forward to watching some preseason action this weekend and uh looking forward to get being back Monday. We’ll tee up the Blackhawks first preseason game on Tuesday. Looking forward to that one. Very much looking forward to that one. And uh yeah, training camp, more training camp action this weekend that we should be able to delve into. So looking forward to that. Yes. And just a friendly reminder before you go, like this video if you haven’t already. Um, subscribe. We’re closing in a thousand. We’re getting really close. Really close. Uh, so close, but no cigar so far, but uh, we’re getting there. Really close. No soup for you. No, no soup for you. No, sir. Seinfel reference. I like that. And, uh, if you’re listening to the show on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts, how many stars? Five star rating and review. Really appreciate that. Means a ton. All right. See you all in the next one. Bye-bye. See you.
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1 comment
Jack Skille, the guy the Hawks drafted instead of Antze Kopitar.