On the Brink of Elimination

Yeah, I think that's part of it. You know, if guys are really going and on their game, we don't necessarily have to shorten her bench, right? But we've got some guys that aren't getting a lot done and you're playing tight games and you're playing from behind and you're going to go with your horses. It didn't look like me. To me, like Max struggled with the ice time tonight, you know? He's feeling good. So that isn't necessarily the issue for me. It hasn't been at all. I mean, McKinnon playing 23 and change is nothing. It does it all the time, right? It's not like we're running them to 27 minutes every night. This is a must. We classified this as a must win game at home. So we're going to do whatever we had to do in order to get that done and not played hard. It was effective. I mean, we needed him to be, you know? Comes up with a big goal for us. Is there, do we get to a point where he runs out of gas? Maybe, but we're facing elimination. So we're going to plan 30. Hello and welcome into Hockey Mountain High, your go to avalanche podcast presented by Superbook Sports. JJ Dura is here, air of Dean following the game five three to two lost by the Colorado Avalanche. Live from ball arena here in the post game and what very well possibly could be the final home game of the season air. It's it's looking grim out there, but you know what? Devon Taves, Nathan McKinnon, Jared Bedner, they are confident as can be with their road record. They've won 29 games. I think I think it's 29 now in ranks away from ball arena this year, technically 30 if you add Finland. They're confident they can bring it back to game seven, but last time you and I talked the avalanche scored six goals and had a two to one series lead. We've since heard some murmurs that it doesn't look like Nachushkin's coming back anytime soon. Kamikar got suspended. They lost an overtime despite erasing a two goal lead. They lost here at home. They are on the brink of elimination heading into game six in Seattle in front of Rowdy crowd at climate pleasure. You know, wild how quickly that turned right 10 days ago. We're hopeful. See, let's see what kind of long run we're in for here and it might not even be out of the first round. The word of the night, I think from the team, the players, the coach was frustration starts with an F. Yep. That's the one. So yeah, I mean, get into that. I mean, team obviously frustrated. How tough is it for a team to reset after being just outmatched and getting under the skin, right? That's something that they're going to have to figure out because my favorite line that Jared used in regards to that word frustration was they're doing exactly what they thought they do. And then he went on to later say, we seem to be getting frustrated like we're not expecting it. Just like we said after game work, game one, they are who we thought they are. They're doing it. They're doing exactly what we thought they would do. And it just looks like the avalanche just they're they're not ready for it. They something is completely off about the way that they're playing. They are you can tell they're getting frustrated. They're gripping the sticks too tight. Nathan McKinnon slamming a stick against the boards on a call that 100% should have been a tripping call. But the reality is that happened on that side of the ice and I'm pointing to the side where Nathan McKinnon hit the glass 200 feet away from where Giorgiov was in goal and let in a goal six or seven or eight seconds later, Miss Cole or not. Nathan McKinnon said it. I've got to keep my cool there better. I can't get upset and that's on me. That is on them. And Jared went on to reference it and said how you know Seattle had more guys up the ice because McKinnon was busy drawing at the ref. It was a miss call. I will say that I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I did sugarcoat it when I tweeted it. That was a bullshit call that should have been called a trip. But you can't exit the you can't exit the play like that. Nathan McKinnon. You got to make your way back up. And even without Nathan McKinnon, the fact that Seattle got up the ice and scored six or seven or whatever seconds later, that's not a good look. It wasn't a miss call in the crease in front of Giorgiov and the puck was tapped in. It was way on the other side of the ice. We wouldn't even be talking about it right now if the avalanche didn't manage to not let in that goal. And that was a backbreaker. They just tied it up at one on one and they let that one in. Yeah. I mean, that was my thought exactly as it happened. Absolutely bad no call there. But Nathan McKinnon can't let the anger get the best of him and sit there and and pout about it and throw a fit. Rather, he's got a back check and you know, help his teammates and defend or if he's going to the bench like he did slowly mosey his way to the bench. I mean, he's got to obviously hustle and get that next guy onto the ice. Not saying that that's the play that lost the game though. I mean, technically, you can say that that was definitely the momentum shifter. That's really where Seattle took control of the game. But it was really third one. I think it was the full game, right? Like you said, the avalanche just don't seem to have their stuff right now. I mean, they seem to be stumped by the forecheck and heavy effort of the Seattle Kraken and you know, yes, it was a bad play. Yes, it could have turned the game around. But it's start to finish for me. I just don't see the avalanche playing a playoff caliber hockey right now and it's biting them in the behind. It absolutely is. And what it's what it's doing, it's just it's leading to a lot of passengers and look, I hate to call guys out. But nobody's helping right now. It's Nathan McKinnon. It's Miko Rantonan. JT Comforts playing a lot of ice time because he's a centerman. He played he wins face offs. Has he looked good on the playoffs? No. But he's one of your three or four best forwards on the ice right now. The other ones being Lekenin, Rodriguez, Nathan and Miko. Like those are the guys that you have to ride with. Has he looked that well? No. But the reality is they just don't have the guys. But despite that, whether it's JT, whether it's Lekenin, even Rodriguez who's been fine. Rodriguez has been more than fine. Like, tonight, especially. He's a two million dollar player that had 39 points in 69 games. He's already got three points in the series. What more could you ask from him? It's the fact that he has to play a bigger role because of no val and no game and no half the team. What the hell is going on with their injuries and now no kill. McCar serving a suspension that was very much deserved. It's it's putting him in a role that he doesn't deserve. But JT Comforts not getting much done. Arturia Lekenin's not getting much done. Miko and Nate are playing way too much. You guys just heard Jared Bedner's quote. You know, he had to shorten the bench. And the question asked in the beginning that was a little hard to hear was, is it not that you feel like you need or that is it not that McKinnon and Renton are playing too much? It's that you feel like you need to do that and you need to shorten the bench because you don't have the weapons and the depth that you had. And you heard Jared, he admitted it. They don't. They just don't. He asked to shorten the bench. But he went out of his way to say some of the guys just aren't aren't doing it. Some of the guys aren't giving us what we need. And that's leading to shortening the bench. That's leading to Nathan McKinnon playing 27 minutes and one second in a regulation playoff game. And in less than 48 hours from now, he's got to play an elimination game. Here's another thing I saw. And another word floated around a lot in the post game was confidence, right? And just that the the team is lacking confidence. I even heard Miko Renton point out that guys don't want the puck on their stick. They're just trying to move it and you know, give it to Miko or Nate. And I'm then seeing when Nathan McKinnon has the puck on his stick, he's getting defended so well that he's immediately thinking past. He's he's got his head up. And so if the guys he's passing it to just want to give it right back to him and he doesn't want to shoot it, he wants to give it to somebody who's open. You got a problem. And again, it stems back to confidence. If the guys other than Miko and Nate don't want to have the puck on their stick and just want to hurry up and get it off, then you're not going to get much done. And and that's exactly what I saw every time somebody would be in the offensive zone and Nathan McKinnon was there. They'd try harder to get the puck to Nathan McKinnon than they would try to get the puck to the net. At producer Drew, this is a tweet that's just coming up on my timeline right now retweeted by somebody I follow 12 of the 14 goals total that the avalanche of scored in the series versus Seattle have either been scored or assisted by McKinnon. They have a total of nine goals. They have a total of three assists. Rhett or sorry, Nathan McKinnon, Miko Renton and Orkel MacArthur. They have a total of nine of the goals. They have a total of three of the assists. That includes the last 10 consecutive goals. The last time one of make Nate, Miko or McCar wasn't involved in a game and a goal wasn't game two. And think about that. It was in game two in game four, they scored six goals. Sorry, game three. And in game four, they had another two in game five. I'm struggling as much as the avalanche. You get the point. 12 of the 14 goals have involved one of 96 29 or eight who didn't even play tonight. That's where the avalanche are. They don't have the bodies. It's they don't have the guys. Darren Helm has been struggling with injuries. Josh Manson left today's game. You guys are wondering why Josh Manson's been playing terribly. He's still injured. It's a continuation of the same injury that's been screwing with him all season. Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't play game six, but you know damn well he's going to try his hardest and I wouldn't be surprised if the moment after the avalanche of season ends, whether it's in this round in the next round of the third round, they pull off some miraculous run and make it to the cup final. Manson's getting off season surgery. He's affected. Darren Helm, I think I've said it before on the podcast. I don't remember, but I've said it to you privately. There isn't a player in the world that's going to retire from the NHL quicker than Darren Helm. The dude is broken. He's beat up. Whether the avalanche win the cup or losing this round in the second or third of the fourth as they're going through the handshake line. If Darren Helm is playing in that game, he's going to be taken off his skates as he shake in dude's hands. That's how fast that guy's going to retire. Andrew Kaggliano played a lot of hockey this year. JT Comfor played 82 games. He doesn't look well out there. He might be hurt. Miko Randin's fallen all over the place. Kale McCar before his suspension, before he went bionic on on on Jared McCann and crushed the guy with a car accident into the boards. You can tell he's been hurt. You and I have talked about it. He only played 60 playoff games, 60 regular season games. These guys are broken. They're beat down. If anything, it just goes to show what a Stanley Cup championship does to a team. And obviously on top of that, the Val Nachushkin situation mixed with the Kale McCar suspension, especially the Nachushkin situation, because at least you know Kale's playing on Friday, especially the Nachushkin situation was just the cherry on top of everything that they've dealt with this season. And all the guys that they've had out leading to 27 minutes for Nathan McKinnon, 24 plus for JT Comfor 23 plus for Miko Randin in game five of the first round. They're already there. Yeah, I mean, they said it was a mindset issue, right? That's not necessarily it's an issue, but that's where they have to start to repair these things and start to get things back on track. It's mindset. And then you start to gain your confidence back little by little in the game. So, you know, at this point, considering what we've seen in the series so far, the Avalanche inability to score goals, do you, are you confident that they have it in them to reset their mindset and be able to confidently walk into game six with the championship pedigree that we we've known them to have in the past? Look, here's the reality is we've played five games in the series. The Avalanche were the better team for most of game two, because they were not good in the first period. They took over in games in periods three, two and three. They scored that goal seven minutes left from Devonta's. They won the game in game three. They were the better team for two and a half periods. They won six. What was it for? Because of the late garbage time goal? They were the better team there in game four. They were not the better team, but they somehow found a way Miko Randin and managed to score two goals. They sent it to overtime. Josh Manson takes a penalty. They lose that game in overtime. Tonight, they didn't look good. So we're five games in. They have been the better team enough times for them to have a three to two series lead. They have been the better team enough times for them to go into game six, be the better team for two periods and bring it back to game seven. What happens in game seven? Is anybody's question? They say it can't seem to win games at ball arena this year. I think they have 21 or 22 combined between the regular season and the playoffs now. So do they have what it takes? Yes. Will they pull it off? I have no frickin clue, but they certainly sure as hell do have the bodies to do it. They have the guys to do it. If this series has proven anything, it's Seattle is giving everything they have to a broken and battered and bruised up avalanche team. And they lost this game three to two. They lost in overtime three to two. Game one was the only one that got away from them. And they lost that one three to one. They have the guys. It's a matter of not getting frustrated, not needing to play Nathan McKinnon 27 minutes because you're not playing on your heels the entire time. How exhausting is it to be playing from behind for five games to never have the first goal? Think of how magical it would feel for these guys on the bench mentally and physically to I don't know 29 minutes into a game have a two to nothing lead to not be trailing to instead have Seattle on their heels. That's the difference in the series right now. So to answer your question, yes, they do have what it takes to get it to game seven. This is by no means a doomsday podcast. The season is not over. And in five days from now you and I could be podcasting from family sports at a practice prepping for round two. It's it could change as quick as that because the last time you and I talked, what was that four days ago? I was at Ryan Clark's house in Seattle and they were up two to one. And here we are. They're now down through three to two. It can change that quick. It might happen again. And it was Sunday not Saturday. It can all change on a dime. You get anything right today? No, yeah, you're definitely going to need help from the depth guys, right? You're going to need some scoring. You can't just have it all on the shoulders of MECO and Nathan McKinnon for two of the remaining games in the series if you're going to get it that far. But I think one thing you can be confident in is the play of Alexander Gorgiv. Again, he's not to the level that we've seen of him this year. But I think he he's standing there blocking blocking shots, making saves, doing the things he needs to do to win games. If he could just get a little bit of goal support, they'd be a okay. So I guess that's the one shining star that you can take out of this is that Gorgiv is still playing at a pretty good playoff level. And you know, I don't know if it's fatigue or just the long season he's been through already this year that's bringing him down a little bit. But he's been fine. He's been adequate. And he's definitely not even close to the issues you're having right now. The one thing I don't want to hear at any point this summer is Giorgiov is not a playoff performer. If the avalanche lose. No matter what happens. If the avalanche loses series, I don't want to hear that they lose this series. If they win this series and he lets in seven goals a game and a four game sweep against now, so I'm gonna start. Yeah, well, let's have that conversation. But if game six is another similar game to what game five has been or game four, game one, that's the one thing I don't want to hear is Giorgiov is not a playoff performer. There's a lot of reasons why this team has fallen apart. That is not the guy in goal. Despite what happens in game six. And that's just he's doing all he can. But look, the reality is, you know, going back to the home and road split in 43 games away from home, the avalanche have won 30 times in 43 games at home, the cracking of one 21. They are 21 wins 22 losses between the regular season and overtime. It's one game. You win it, you bring it back home. Yes, the crack and have a good road record. Yes, the avalanche have a poor home record. That all gets washed away. Everything gets washed away. It's a winner take all battle on Sunday. But you got to go into Seattle on Friday. You got to win that game and bring it back here. Do what you didn't do in 2021, where it looked like Vegas had the avalanche figured out. And when you went to game six in Vegas, you knew it was over. There was no way in hell the avalanche were coming back in that series. This series has a little bit of that kind of a taste, but it's not the same. They can go into Seattle and win this thing, bring it back here on Sunday and put up a valiant effort and put it all on the line for an elimination game. Yeah, yeah. I mean, again, you know, we talked a couple times this season about that threshold of getting over two goals, right? And every time the avalanche have scored more than two goals in this series, they've won. So if they could just get to that three goal mark, you know, again, Alexander Gorgiv's going to be there to back them up. And you can confidently say that it's coming back for game seven, but they just have to get goals. They have to get production. I mean, it was a three, two game tonight, but that second goal was a very garbagey goal that came late in the game. And, you know, the offense just needs a little bit more there. And I don't know if it's an effort thing, right? Because I think that they're going in on the four checks. They're going in on the battles. They're just simply losing them. So they're losing. Yeah, they're losing them and they're frustrated when they lose them. That's the thing. There's no second chance efforts. There's no second chance efforts. But what we saw there late in the game when they were getting those chances and when they scored that funky deflection goal that was going way wider than that is you can score a garbage goal if you have that urgency. Jared Cole today, a must win game. Never thought I would hear that of a two, two series, but down three to two, that's a fucking must win game. So maybe that urgency will be there. Maybe they'll start on time. Maybe they'll score the first goal. Maybe they'll silence the crowd. Maybe they'll find a way to score those kinds of garbage goals. They needed to work so damn hard for their goals. Remember those two Wednesdays in a row where they lost to Pittsburgh, had a chance on a Wednesday on TNT to get burst and they didn't and then they beat up on Arizona and Anaheim and whatever. And then another Wednesday was Colorado, Minnesota and they lost that game too. And both of those games had the same feel. Pittsburgh or Minnesota would score and Colorado would bust their ass off to pull within a goal and then Jeff Carter would go score again and they would bust their ass off to pull within a goal and then they have to pull their goalie and try to do a miracle at the end and let in an empty netter. That's what this entire series has felt like. Their season. The entire season. Lord knows this. It's just been like, look, I give them like kudos for winning 51 games in the regular season or whatever you ended up with in a season like this. But we can talk about that if or when their season actually ends in a West 51. Back to the matter is those garbage goals are possible. And here is the biggest thing. I don't know if this is where you are going with the podcast by Philip Grubauer does not look great. He's made some big saves. He made one today, the two on one was a mechanic and a lekkenon. He's made some big saves, but he is nowhere close to being tested the way he should be by the salvellant team. If they could test Philip Grubauer, you get Philip Grubauer that you got in game three in Seattle. He let in six goals. You can do that again. I don't know. I'm with you. Philip Grubauer has not been spectacular by any means. The problem has been the avalanche getting pucks to the net. How many blocked shots have we seen out of Seattle? How many sticks in the lanes have we seen out of Seattle? I mean, and those are the tiny things that are frustrating in the avalanche. I mean, they're just a frustrating team to play against because they're doing those kind of things right. They're playing in that defensive zone really tightly and just not giving any leeway to the avalanche and not even giving them the opportunity to create opportunities. So credit to them. They've been a good team to watch and a tough team to play against, I'm sure, from the avalanche standpoint, just like that little annoying bug that just won't go away and keeps going at you and just, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, and look, the reality is, and I do want to talk about the Kilmer car suspension because we didn't podcast after game four, but that's a player that I know he's one of the three that I mentioned earlier that the avalanche have had to over rely on the series, but number eight's got to come back with the vengeance of his own. He didn't have a good game in game four, obviously before and after the hit on Jared McCann, but that's a player that will give you a massive jolt. Like, what better guy to insert into the lineup than Kilmer car? Like, that's a huge piece. It's the reigning consummate trophy winner. It's the reigning NARS Trophy winner. It's a guy that would have another NARS Trophy had and not been for injuries this year, especially as we're talking about the abs difficulty of getting pucks through traffic. That's a skill that Kilmer car has. I think he does and that's the thing that he needs to do and you know, the missing value. Chushkin is very noticeable. Missing Gabe Land is very noticeable. It just it is what it is with this team. Well said, guys, Superbook Sports, of course, baseball is back and the push for the coast season is on for hockey and poops. Make it all count this spring with Superbook Sports. Superbook Sports is the best wagering app around. It's a direct line to experience bookmakers behind the counter in Las Vegas. Plus, you get a $250 bonus when you sign up. So, deposit and wager in the same day. Don't let spring passion buy without winning money with Superbook Sports. Visit superbook.com to turn in conditions. Can't make profit by 100 by 220, 270. Um, let's get into the Kilmer car suspension. I know it's a little late, but there's people out there wanting our opinions on it. Let's get into it. A couple people out there, I guess, National pundits, aka Jeff Merrick and Ellie Friedman talking today about how they think it should have been more than one game. He's getting the superstar treatment, I guess, Erif. What say you on the Kilmer car hit and suspension? It was absolutely deserved. Look, the reality is, and I don't think you agree with this, but the reality of the hit is Kilmer car hit a guy well after the whistle. When the puck was already in the stands falling down to a fan to catch it. And I, I, I hate the idea of play to the whistle. Jared McCann is literally can see the puck on the other side of the glass. It's nowhere close to the playing surface. You are not in a position to get hit at that moment. Jared McCann got blown up by Kilmer car with a hit that wasn't dirty. I don't want to say legal because interferences are not legal hit plays, but the actual physical contact between Kilmer car and Jared McCann killed did the responsible thing. He waited until they were lined up instead of blowing him up right when the puck went up because he thought the puck was going to come back down instead of blowing him up right away and crashing him into the board similar to what Matt Nieto did early in the first period, which we all kind of forgot about because of Kilmer car. Instead of doing that, he did the responsible NHL player thing of waiting until they were lined up shoulder to shoulder and then he connected. So the actual contact was not malicious and it was not dirty or illegal, but it's the fact that the puck was out of play. And when the puck is out of play, Jared McCann is no longer bracing. If Jared McCann for some reason in the corner of his eye saw Kilmer car coming and was like this idiot's about to hit me and the puck is already in a, in a fan's hands. If Jared saw that and Kil hits him and he just takes the contact and goes into the board and then gets back up and face washes Kil and they kind of face washes each other, it might be a two minute minor no suspension or it might be fricking the rest might have been stupid enough to call it, you know, coincidental minors and the teams play four on four and we don't even talk about it. But the fact that Kil hit a guy well after the puck went out of play, even though and I believe him and the NHL player safety mentioned it too, Kil's assertion was that the puck was coming back or was in, you know, was coming back down and was going to be in play in front of Jared and what better to do than legal contact to separate Jared from the puck that's falling to take it to go the other way to go back on the power play and try to set up for an avalanche goal. But that's not the reality of what happened despite Kil thinking the puck was coming down. He still made a mistake and a bad read in thinking the puck was in play. Yeah, I just don't think that the play itself warrants a suspension. You know, there was no head contact. It was a clean hit like you're saying and if there was no injury, we're not even discussing it. Exactly. Yeah. But there was, but there was on an illegal play because the puck was out of play and Kilmercar blew the sky up. Yeah, I get it. And I think I should. I just think if you're if you're the Department of Player Safety, the main reason you're issuing this suspension is because Jared McKinn now has to miss games. So you think you're going to make it even by making the car miss a game. Jared McKinn is missing games because of him in a legal play. He got hit by a guy when the puck was well out of play. Sure. But we're not talking about an open ice hit. We're not talking about a shoulder to head contact. We're talking about just a run of the mill interference play where had the puck been in Kilmercar skates like he thought a perfectly clean fine play just one half of the whistle. I just don't think 100%. I don't. There's I understand what you're getting. Yeah, there's something so so here's the thing you mentioned Jeff Merrick and Elliot Friedman mentioned that he's getting superstar treatment. I actually agree with that. I don't know if I agree with the notion of superstar treatment because if there are superstars out there that the refs and the NHL are sick of and they're assholes to them like Corey Perry when he was a 50 goalscore still. They don't care about the superstar treatment. What they do care about is respect and reputation and Kilmercar has a phenomenal reputation around the NHL. I don't need to explain that to our listeners. Everybody knows the kind of guy he is. He's the same dude that blew off his cold off and own power play for his team in November and apologize to his team for it. Hey guys, I'm sorry I was such a good sport. That's Kilmercar. Had it not been for his reputation, I could have seen two games because Michael Bunting got three games for two offenses and interference and a malicious hit. Kilmercar injured a guy on an interference without the mal intent that you were talking about. So because of that, I could have seen two games, but he got one game in my opinion because of his reputation. Anytime you accidentally injure somebody, you think it warrants a suspension. If you accidentally injure somebody on a play that should be a penalty, then yes, because an interference, I'm also a little confused as to why they brought it down from a five to a two. I can see both sides. I can see why they did and I can see why they why they should have kept it as a five minute major. I remember when I was at the game, I did entirely disagree with them lowering it to it too, but I also don't agree with the one game suspension, but something else that Elliot Freeman and Jeff Merrick mentioned in their podcast, and I'm going to cite them for this because obviously it's not me talking to this executive. I think it was Jeff Merrick or maybe it was Elliot. One of them said that they talked to an NHL executive and executive as someone in the front office, a GM, a president of hockey up, someone that's been around the game for 20 plus years, and he said the executive said to them, it's really weird when people get upset that an illegal play with an injury gets more focus and an injury is what causes a suspension. They said that's weird because that's I know people don't like to compare sports to everyday life, but that's literally how we live our everyday lives. If you get pulled over for a DUI because you're driving and swerving into lanes, you're going to get a slap on the rest on probation, suspended license, whatever, but if you get arrested or if you get pulled over for a DUI after hitting a pedestrian, it's going to be a little different. So the action of what you did illegally, if that leads to an injury, it absolutely should be looked at and focused more playoff hockey, like you said, had Jared McArbin bracing had he saw kale coming and said, why is this idiot trying to hit me when there's a fan in front of me holding up the puck already and noticed it coming and taken the hit and braced for it and then got up and they tussled maybe a couple of minor penalties for each, maybe a fighting a fight later in the game, somebody gets into it, no suspension, no nothing is playoff hockey, it's why we love it. But the fact that Jared, it's unfortunate, the fact that Jared rightfully because the puck was out of play, stopped skating and stopped bracing and then got hit by a car is ultimately what caused it. That's the season for you. That was great. It's ultimately what led to an injury and the last thing I want to say to all of our listeners is imagine the script was flipped. Will Borgen, Nathan McKinnon, imagine what you would think. If Nathan McKinnon had a puck go out of play and he does he does his Nathan McKinnon thing after a play where he, you know, like the Xbox controller unplugged and he just kind of stands there and just like nothing and then got blown up by someone like Will Borgen, a depth defenseman or even Jamie Alexiak, Adam Larson, who cares, into the boards and knocked out of the next game with a concussion. How would you be reacting on Twitter? I am talking to our fans and listeners, our beloved Avalanche fans, fans stands for fanatic and you should be an Avalanche fanatic and you should have those bias classes on. But how would you feel in that moment? And I rest my case, your honor. Yeah, we'll go with it. It's late. Just like Kael said. I mean, and by my car, the penalty has been served, right? Yes. We're already after here, game five. So we're looking ahead, Kael McCar joined in the team again, four games, six, and you know, he was out there at morning skate looking good being part of the team. So he's going to pick up like he never left. Let me tell you something. The way they were booing him in Seattle, it was honestly really cool how loud those boos were. And there was a point they have a song that they sing along to not as like well as the fans here sing along to all the small things. But as they were singing along to it after the puck was dropped, like five seconds later, Kael got the puck and they stopped singing and started booing. And I thought to myself if Todd Burtuzzi was still an NHL player in the avalanche are in the middle of singing all the small things, are they going to stop singing to boob or two zero whatever it was. So the way that they were booing him, there was nothing JJ I wanted more than Kael to score the overtime game winner. It would have been just like just beautiful. But you know what, he missed the game at home. He's returning. They could have just left him in Seattle. Hey, we'll see you here in a couple days because you guys suspended. Just keep the hotel warm for us. It literally could have kept him there. They are going to boo him from puck drop to the final buzzer. I will not be in Seattle for game six. So you and I will be podcasting from Denver right after the game. Maybe depending on if JJ falls asleep early on me again, like he did after game four, which went to overtime on a Monday night. But what the hell is I saying? Oh yeah, Kael's coming back in Seattle at climate pledge arena. That dude should be coming for blood. Well, it was funny after the hit. He embraced this bad guy role, right? He embraced the villain role and you saw him getting into some post whistle stuff. He threw somebody in a headlock, which seemed, you know, a little, I guess over the top, a little bit of an overreaction for him. He rose the rosy cheeky Kael Macar got a taste innocent guy is growing up before our very eyes is villain story. He's realizing how strong I mean, he's always we've always known how strong he is the hits he I'm just look how thick he is when you see him outside of pads. He's a big dude. Kael Macar is like, you know what? Fuck it. Like he was embracing the role. And again, my favorite part, he's going right back to game six at climate pledge arena. Like nothing would be better than for him to score a big goal, the game winning goal, something bring it back to ball arena, eliminate them and let climate's pred, cut blue climate pledge sit there and stew on the villain that is the most respectable, innocent little boy in the NHL for an entire summer. I think we're going to have to healthy scratch it for the next podcast. Let me a suspension review the film. All right. Well, let's wrap it up here from game five here in an empty ball arena. Man, the hope that was in this building three hours ago to the energy of fans leaving early. Everybody in dismay by the end of it. It was definitely a sight to see, but I always not gone. The team still believes you should do. I always love when fans leave early. It's hilarious because four minutes and 53 seconds left. And fans are walking out the door and at three 37, the avalanche score and you're like, uh oh, can't come back into the building. You're already in your car, whatever it may be. So that was a tough look, but I will say this 2021 was unfortunate. 2020, obviously also unfortunate they erased a three to one lead against Dallas losing game seven. I look back to 2019 when the avalanche had their backs against the wall against a much better San Jose team and they found a way to force game seven with a gutsy effort in game six. The rough part about that memory is do you remember who scored the game winner in overtime? From the sharks from the avalanche in game six to force game seven. Remember the famous call from Conor McGay. He do you know the way to San Jose? It's just another thing you get in wrong. Whatever. That was before I moved here, so I don't give a crap. No, it was McGay because it was a radio call. Oh, I thought you were talking about guts all over the place. No, no, no, that was fan and a frickin way back. Yeah. In 2019, Conor McGay he in game six here at ball arena then Pepsi Center, the avalanche won an overtime and he said, do you know the way to San Jose? Because that's where game seven is coming up in a couple nights. I'm guessing it was Joe Povelsky. The avalanche won the game, buddy. Oh, it was number it was number 92. We do say gay, bland, discock scored that overtime winner to will his team to a game seven that they lost by a goal? You need somebody to step up and will this team to a game seven? My bets on kale macabre. But we'll see. We will see my bets on Alexander. Your gift. He's been there the whole time. He's been consistent. He's been great. Get a shot out and hope for a goal like the one that was scored at the end where it was going way wide and then deflected in. That would be nice. But yeah, like on a serious note, the way that Seattle is attacking this team, even in the first period where it was boring, you look up and the shots are seven to their eight to four or your gift stopping close shots from the slot and group hours got nothing. No, like no work. You can't have that in game six. We need to stop this podcast. Let's call it a day. We doubled up because we forgot game four. Thanks for hanging out with us guys. Thanks for listening. Of course, definitely if you made it this far in the podcast, bless your little heart. We promise to do better next time. Let's make hockey for everyone. We have to. Huh. You. .