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What a bet.
What is going on?
Here's Chris with your host, Julian Mackenzie.
Part of the game.
Surprise.
When person doesn't happen all the time.
We got the fist bump in too.
This is amazing, by the way.
We've got a lot to talk about in terms of topics.
But we need to acknowledge the fact that this SDPN studio is amazing.
Yeah, the guys did an awesome job with it.
This is my third time here now and five weeks give or take.
And I have just gouged on the candy too.
I mean, that's the other thing.
I don't have candy at home intentionally to save me from me.
But in addition to the beautiful studio you see
and all the great things it allows everyone to do.
There is just candy everywhere you look in this place.
That's why you were shaking so much for fun.
Oh man, my blood sugar.
I'm not kidding.
It's just like Skyrim.
I was here yesterday, two days in a row.
They won't let you leave.
Well, I mean, I don't want to leave.
It's actually pretty cool.
But yeah, what a place and so much candy.
Seriously, like Jesse gave me a tour when I just got in here.
And he's showing me all the different studios.
There's office space.
I don't even know how much I'm allowed to say is in this building.
What? You didn't sign an NDA or what?
I mean, Jesse didn't make me sign an NDA,
but he was like, be careful what photos you take
because we want to do some reveals at some point.
So I was like, all right, cool.
I mean, let me not take a photo of everything.
And then Nick, producer Nick shows up and he's giving him a tour.
And I'm like, no, I was so stupefied by everything.
I had to take the tour again because I just
couldn't believe how incredible this space is.
Yeah. Now, if you lived in Toronto,
we could be in person all the time.
Yes.
Yes.
So long flight though.
It is a long flight.
Long commute.
Yeah, it is a long commute.
But hey, man, I have to think of, I've been thinking about it.
If it's got to do now, got to find a way here maybe.
But yeah, seriously, I'm really excited about the fact I get to it.
Anytime I get to see you in person,
I'm always really excited about that.
And getting to see Jesse and stuff.
Steve Adam, thanks for coming.
Not, no, I'm kidding.
They're great.
Everybody's busy, man.
I know, I know, I know.
I'm just playing around.
I know you might not realize we've walked into the city
at a time.
A bomb has just gone off and everybody is still
picking up the pieces around here.
Yes.
People are still very distraught at the fact the Toronto Maple Leafs
out the way that they were dismantled in the second round at the hands of the
eight, sorry, not because we're the Florida Panthers.
By the way, question, at the end of your podcast on the SDP,
you were like, you had gotten a text that sort of invalidated everything.
I was like, was it least related?
Was it something else that was mentioned in the podcast?
Like, what was that last little tidbit at the end?
I'm very curious.
It was Coyote's future related.
Let's table that.
We can get there, but yeah, it was to do with that.
I mean, that Coyote situation when I was here yesterday doing the SDP was
still very much unfolding.
Not that there's no resolution now, but it's, I think the dust has settled a little more.
So some of the things I said might have been dated pretty quickly.
So we'll put that aside because I have a leaps question.
So we've heard from Kyle Dubas.
We've heard from...
We haven't heard from him in three days.
We haven't heard from three days.
That's fair.
But like, we can at least go back on some footage.
And we've talked about him.
You gave out that whole list of players who could be gone,
who could be staying and all that.
We're just Brandon Shanahan fitting all this.
That's a big question that I have.
And I don't know if many people are asking that question,
or if it's weird me being an outsider asking that question,
but like, with all of these questions about the three tiers we're talking about the other day,
like where does he fit in all of this?
And it should be worrying about his future.
I don't think there's any reason to worry about his future.
It's my understanding is two years beyond this one on his contract.
So he's the rare person in this organization whose future
seems to be at least somewhat clear.
And behind the scenes, obviously, he's right in the middle of everything with Kyle Dubas.
And so where I think we're at here early Thursday afternoon
is that Kyle Dubas still has not indicated to the organization.
If he wants to continue on as the general manager,
if it gets to a point where he either does or he doesn't,
then Brandon Shanahan's pretty front and center because he's Kyle's boss.
And so I think behind the scenes, there's been a fair amount of dialogue,
actually, between Dubas and Shanahan.
I don't think it's radio silence in public.
I think that there's probably a lot more going on behind the scenes in terms of figuring out where this goes.
And the other part for Brandon Shanahan is I think because it's been a couple of days and you don't know,
you've had to start at least going through the exercise of if Kyle isn't back, what do we do?
And I don't know that they have one person circled or anything like that.
But I think that it's 72 hours.
What happened Monday as we've discussed a little bit was a bit of a surprise to everyone, I believe.
And now I think that they've had to start thinking of truly what's a plan B and plan C
if at some point in time here, Kyle Dubas phones or has a sit down and says,
I just think there's a lot going on at home and I'm just not sure I can give the organization
the staff and the players, the standard that's needed here.
And so you're right.
There's probably questions with Brandon Shanahan because he hasn't spoken to the media quite frankly.
I mean, I think that's where a lot of it comes from.
There's sort of a silence to that, right?
In a moment like this, there's uncertainty.
We all can see it, we all can feel it and you're almost looking for someone to come out and say,
okay, this is the plan.
This is how it's going to be.
This is why it's going to be okay.
And that will be Brandon Shanahan's role, but he's chosen to stay in the background until
everything's resolved with Kyle Dubas.
And I should mention too, Julian, one thing that I've come to understand is it doesn't
say there's a pure deadline on Dubas.
I think there's a sensitive time and topic.
I mean, the man kind of bared his soul a little bit.
I mean, obviously, I think we can all respect what he's dealing with, what he's called a family
issue or some challenges at home.
So it's not like anyone wants to be out here saying like, okay, we need to know by this time,
at this day, yes or no.
And so, but everybody involved in those discussions does understand like,
the draft is coming up.
Player meetings.
You know, we're going to have to figure out what we're doing with certain players.
And we maybe have some big trades to consider and even things like issuing, you know, qualifying
offers to restricted for agencies.
Like there is, if you look at the June calendar of events in HL, there are a million deadlines
to do with contractual related things that obviously Brandon Pritum and other people
still working in the police front office can kind of handle, but ideally you want the person at
the top to be comfortable with it.
So man, it's, you asked a simple question and it's a bit of a long answer, but I, you know,
to get back to the very premise of the question, I don't have any reason to believe
Shanahan's jobs in danger or anything like that, but I think he's navigating a pretty
delicate situation behind the scenes.
Okay.
That's a, I didn't expect all of that from, from that one question, but I am glad I got all of that
because that I do think it's, it's a genuine talking point with, with Brendan Shanahan's future.
As much as it is with Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe, which I mean, in terms of the silence as well,
we still don't know up to now if he's going to stay or not, or stay or not.
No, and we're, we're kind of at a late hour in the off season too, right?
Like relatively speaking, you know, we could look around and talk about, you know, Pittsburgh
looking for its new general manager Calgary, but we were a new general manager, you know,
the Rangers and Columbus and a couple other teams looking for a head coach, but those,
those processes are all ongoing to a certain degree.
There's, there's been interviews.
In some cases, there's been multiple rounds of interviews and even candidates told they're not,
you know, the Leafs would be starting at zero right now to replace a general manager, potentially.
To replace a head coach potentially.
I almost think amid that uncertainty, it's hard to think about replacing a president.
I mean, Brendan Shanahan is the top hockey voice in the Maple Leafs organization.
It's his job primarily to deal with the board, which obviously sets the directive for, for where
MLS and egos, you know, that's a huge corporate structure that, that includes the Raptors and
the buildings and the TFC and all this other stuff.
And, but it's Brendan's job to see the hockey department forward.
And so if you're contemplating maybe Dubas not being back, which I think we have to,
I should say, like with, it's hard to know, like he only knows what's going on.
Like I, I would just be guessing, but it does feel like the longer it goes on,
you just wonder, man, like he really might not be back.
Like this, you know, he's my, again, I don't want to go too far into what could be going on,
but he started to get that feel like the longer he's not back here, like how does,
what's, what's happening back there?
And so you're going to need Brendan Shanahan to make potentially the next hire there.
And then obviously there could be the head coaching position maybe isn't quite as urgent,
because you know, you're not, you're not having training camp till mid September.
So, but the general manager needs to have his or her hand on, on top of things quickly here.
And that's why I do get the sense if, and again, hypothetically, if, but if there's no Kyle
Dubas in the picture, you know, if he chooses to move on, you know, I don't think they're going to go
for a rookie GM again. I think because of how tight this window is, how critical the decisions
facing organization are, you know, it's tough to throw anybody into that, but I think it would be
even tougher to elevate someone who's never done the job before. And so, you know, you're
probably looking at candidates, and there's a number of them out there that have at least been a
general manager prior in their career. Last thing before we do the little, you can bet that segment
will get to some of the other GM searches going on. You mentioned the silence, you mentioned the
fact that people in this, like, how are you handling it? How are other Toronto media types handling
this? I know like when Calgary was going through its silence with whether or not
Brad's living was coming back and Daryl Sutter, that was just a long period of time where we would be
me and media colleagues would be at AHL games and we said, Oh, hey, there's Daryl Sutter in the,
in this section all by himself. Does that mean he's coming back? Does that mean he's not coming
back? Like, I know for me, it's like, it would have, it would be very, what's the word I'm looking
for? It'd be very annoyed. No, I'm not annoyed. I mean, I'm fascinated if anything, because this is,
this is so not what I expected. I mean, keep in mind, we're only two and a half weeks removed from,
you know, I was in Tampa and they just won their first series. Like, it felt like,
it felt like this kind of off season maybe wasn't coming. I mean, there was obviously going to be
big choices with Matthews eligible for his extension and all that's like, it was clearly a big
organizational summer, but the scope of it has grown larger and faster and more unexpectedly
than I ever could have imagined. And I think even some of my media colleagues, honestly,
Monday was a long day. Like, it was a long day and Kyle spoke maybe seven hours into when we got
there. And I think obviously the moment you recognize the emotion, like, if you were awake,
you recognize that this was a little unusual, but I'm not sure we all fully processed, you know,
the possible ramifications of this. And that's what I think it's sunk in now is a kind of Tuesday,
nothing Wednesday, nothing Thursday. Well, I mean, I'm not saying Thursday now.
As reference, this team has announced a big trade at 1130 at night. So I'm not going to say,
it's not, I'm not saying it's not happening Thursday until it's 1159, but still we're most of the
way through the business day on Thursday. And there's nothing. And so you start to think like,
wow, this really is, this is something. And then of course you go back and you watch
what was said, you start to think about the ramifications. In my case, a big part of my job
is talking to other people around the league. And you hear some of their opinions. And
you know, that it really was a bomb. I don't know that we recognize it was a bomb. If I read
some of the coverage, even my own story written in real time, like, I'm not sure we recognize that
that could literally have been potentially the end of Kyle Doob's run just because Kyle's 37.
And as I've said, whatever you question about him, like, you might not like everything he's done,
that's fine. That's a normal GM. There's lots of room for commentary on the decisions made.
But like, he was all in on this team on this organization for his, you know, huge chunk of his
working life. Everybody in place, kind of he's got ties to you know how much he cares about them.
Like the reason he's yelling in that press box in Tampa, obviously he's running hot in the moment,
but he was defending Morgan Riley because he cares about him to that degree. Like, you know,
whether or not again, you like that or not, you can, you know, how much he's invested in this. And
especially as it's become kind of clear that that MLSE wants to keep him around,
your brain just goes like he couldn't walk away, could he? I mean, you never know what anyone's
going through, right? No, well, that's true. If everyone in wherever you work, it's especially true
of people you only know through the television screen or through your phone screen, like that
you don't really know. You don't know what's going on behind the scenes. And we don't know,
and I don't know, I should be very clear exactly what's going on with Kyle Doob's. But
clearly that we're this far down this week without clarity tells me that there's a very real chance
he's not back. I mean, I'll call it now having no real knowledge of the situation.
I don't think we go past Monday without some kind of clarity on somebody.
Right. It's a holiday Monday up here in Canada too. In Victoria, yes. I mean, it's, it's
again, I don't think the Leafs are a prisoner of the business schedule, the,
the banking hours quote unquote schedule. But I think ideally they'd want to settle before the
weekend just because do you really want to be calling a press conference on Saturday of
Victoria Day weekend? Probably not. That being said, and I'm, I promise you, I'm not complaining.
I got no big plans. So I'll be asked, what were you doing for Victoria? I'll be around the city
and ready to work if need be. Okay. Nothing. I mean, I'm, I'm looking forward to a relaxing
weekend, hopefully, you know, but nothing, no big plans. I'm not going up to a cottage. I'm
not going away anywhere. So I'll be here and ready. I'll be back in Calgary come Saturday. And if
what I think could go down does go down, I'm going to prepare myself just in case on the Saturday.
All right. You mean like emergency pod or something? I don't know if, I mean, I would think,
what were you thinking? I mean, I mean, I mean, you know, I get it's not the Leafs, but I think
the flames GM search is very interesting. Sure. But do you think it's going to be
solved on Saturday? I don't think it's going to be solved on Saturday. I think like, I mean,
if we're following the tea leaves by our boy, Pierre Lebron, there seemed to be getting late
into the situation. Right. But I think they had interviews this week still. So I mean, I don't
know that we're at the 11th hour. I don't know in Calgary, but I mean, the fence, I need to find
that. We could talk about that a little bit more after we do you can bet that. I would love to know
what's inside your head about that search. All right, let's do that.
You can bet that. Remember to hit up sports interaction dot com slash SDPN for all of your
gaming needs. Right now you can bet on who the top Canadian NHL playoff goal scorer will be.
Sam Reinhardt, Chandler Stevenson, both of them at plus 175 Brandon Montor. If you want to bet on
him at plus 205 as well, Mark Stone at 185, Jonathan Marchusow at 199, Tyler Seggen at 205,
Carver Hagey, who has been really good with the game winning goals at plus 190.
Top Canadian NHL playoff goal scorer. Well, if you do this, you have to be picking the team that
the person plays on to get to the cup final. Oh, yeah, of course. You don't have to pick the
winner though. Like that's the interesting thing because you just want the person to play the
maximum remaining games possible. I got to feel in the cats are going to the cup final.
Oh, we got an early cup prediction from I'm not sure if I was supposed to reveal at this point of
the show. Well, we're on. It doesn't really matter. It's okay. We'll get more in depth
predictions as we go on, but I like you being saucy off the bat and I'm kind of inclined to go
Montour. Oh, big man. He plays a lot of minutes, man. He does play a lot of minutes and he plays
power play minutes and he's got that swagger even over. Hagey has the swaggy nickname. He does.
So I think that if the Panthers have success, if they do reach the Stanley Cup final, Brandon Montour
will continue to be a big part of it. So that's, I would take a, I don't know if that's a flyer, but
but usually you'd probably be inclined to pick a forward in this spot, but I think Montour is a
very unique player the way he plays for Florida jumps in the rush a lot and
you know, might be worth a look. He might be worth a look. He does need to pick up his game,
though, because he has not gotten a point in his last four games. Geez, do you mean? What do you have
six goals in the first series or something like? Yeah, like he got, he got, he got, he got at least
one goal in the Leaf series at the beginning, but I think he was just held off the score sheet
after that. But in the first round, he was scoring like a first line center. Absolutely. He was,
he was lighting it up. Yeah. Plus, he sent that game to overtime in game seven against Boston,
because I think they're season playoff hero Brandon Montour. He's been, he's been playing really well
this year. The hard tip thing with all these teams, none of them are built around one sort of
scoring option. Yeah. Which is a good thing, I think. Obviously, you might have players
identify as the best, but I think that what makes the, the, the pick here a little tricky is there's
not like one player like, well, if that team plays right through the cup final, he's definitely
leading them scoring. It's like you need a balanced lineup. You do need a balanced lineup to get you
through to the end of the postseason. Don't forget to check out sportsinteraction.com slash STPN
for all the best odds before game in game and the best props. Again, sportsinteraction.com slash
STPN. So the Calgary Flames, according to a peer Lebron in one of his latest columns at the
athletic saying they're getting very late in their GM search. That might not necessarily mean
they're going to come up with the GM candidate tomorrow, but they've talked to a bunch of people.
There's some names that have been thrown out there. The internal candidates are there too.
What we haven't really talked about this topic that much. What's your read on that situation?
Well, look, they're in the same situation that we're sort of talking about with Toronto and that
all the same deadlines that are facing the May Police Front Office are facing the flames and
whoever comes into this job has some reasonably big decisions to make because that was clearly
not the season. Anyone from ownership on down right into the dressing room had envisioned for Calgary
last year. I do think that the next week or so would be a reasonable timeline. I think that
there are at least two to three interviews in with some candidates. That shows that they're
narrowing to some degree. There isn't a lot of specifics I've heard out there. We know that
they've talked to Stan Bowman, for example. Craig Conroy, right from the beginning, was identified
as the assistant general manager. Someone has been around the organization so much as you know
Julian and someone who could get that job. I still think he can. What's interesting about when you
get to do this is you get a chance to talk. It's not just who you interview because those are all
1A candidates to get the job. It's a chance to have outside people with experience in the industry
to come in and give you their opinions on your organization. Give you opinions maybe on some of
your players and what they would do. I think if done properly, it's smart to talk to a lot of
people. That seems to be what Calgary's approach has been through this because you get a chance to
maybe steal some ideas in addition to identifying hopefully the best candidate to run your organization
forward. When you say that, that completely explains why Bradcher Living wouldn't be
thrown out there for interviews as he's still contractually obligated with the flames until
June 30th. Yeah, that's an unusual situation. That sort of thing happens from time to time,
but I would say it's not industry practice. He is under contract. Look, I have contracts at
certain jobs and they do say what you can and can't do. There's nothing nefarious about that.
It's just the fact that they're enforcing his contract to the letter of the law.
Essentially, it would seem to take him out of the mix for these jobs because if he can't talk to
another team until July 1st, how many times we see GM replaced after July 1st in the same calendar
year? It's so rare it basically never happens. The times that new GMs are higher are between
March and June-ish. You get enough time to familiarize yourself with your organization,
get involved in all those meetings, go through a draft. Getting hired after a draft would be very
weird. Yeah, and the truth is a lot of GMs get hired around now and even the first draft is weird
because you're jumping in six weeks out. You're not going to come in and be like, no, no, no,
we got to rearrange all the pieces on this board. You have a scouting staff and a process
that's been in place. I think a lot of GMs almost just sort of oversee from that point.
And similarly, you don't necessarily come in and start trading everyone right away.
No. I think the standard is that you want a year of observing an organization from the inside
before you're making big decisions, which is what's kind of interesting in Calgary, right?
Because those decisions maybe need to be made in some cases a little sooner.
And yeah, it'll be interesting to see if they don't go with Craig Conroy, how that goes, I think.
Just because he is so well respected and so loved and as mental auto organization has
grown his game since playing the game, done a lot of different things and is sort of seen as the
the top internal candidate, how that, what that means if they don't, I guess.
I've found the whole thing in Calgary weird, right?
Tell me.
Well, you let your GM walk away.
Yes.
You take someone in Domeloni who worked under that GM,
promote him to a president's role, and then allow him to fire the coach that the GM didn't want to
work with.
I find that really confusing too. It's like, and like I tried to ask the question, like,
was there any point in the season where you thought about or at least worth Brad
tri-living, I thought about firing Darryl and Don was like, no, that never came up.
So like, why would you go through this whole, as you said, kind of ass backwards process,
like that way?
Like it does seem very weird and I can understand why people from the outside would look at that
and be like, well, why did you do it that way?
It does seem weird.
It doesn't mean you won't end up in a good place.
Right.
And the one thing I would say is that Brad tri-living as long as he's in Calgary,
like maybe it's not the worst thing for him for Fresh Start and for the organization either.
So maybe if you had it done this differently and Darryl was fired, Darryl Sutter was fired right
at the end of the season and then maybe Brad tri-living was thinking, okay, I'll sign an extension.
Like that might, sometimes you still end up where you should be,
but I just think for how big these organizations are, how much money,
like sometimes they're not operated in the most sophisticated manner.
Yeah.
And again, I'm not levying that criticism just at Calgary.
Like I see that time and time again this time of year.
I mean, a lot of things happen and from a fire, like that just doesn't add up to me.
Yeah.
It does kind of read like a weird situation.
I'm still obviously being the new guy there, getting a sense of how things are run.
Like that just seems very weird to me and just we can spin our wheels about that.
But all that for Brad and whoever his replacement's going to be, I'll just say this.
For a couple of weeks ago, Don Maloney had an interview with a good buddy of mine,
Pat Steinberg at Sportsnet 960 and he was asked about GM candidates and all that.
And he could only say so much and he had mentioned that he would like to see a progressive thinker.
Someone was on the cusp of getting their first opportunity.
And that's why a guy like Craig Conroy would make sense.
He's been in the organization.
He played all those years with the organization.
He worked as assistant to JFeester, then gets bumped up to AGM.
He's a decision maker.
He's not just some pretty face that's there.
Again, he's got personal skills.
But he has a hand on signing a bunch of guys who have been in that organization for years.
He's very familiar with so many things that go on in the organization.
And yeah, he had the interview for a Buffalo job a couple of years ago.
This is a guy who kind of fits that description.
I keep harping on this press release that they put out after Tree Decide to Part Ways,
where they were saying, you know what?
We look forward to build on Brad's work.
I don't know.
Yeah, they're not blowing it up.
No, whoever gets this job, I mean, look at the contract that are there.
There's no way you could blow it up right away.
You have to get someone who has to build upon that work.
And if you get someone who can build on that work,
but is very familiar with how that work was done,
I don't think Craig is the worst hire.
I think he'd be a really good hire personally.
That wasn't a strong statement, though.
I don't think he's the worst hire.
Okay, that's fair.
That's fair.
I don't think he's, I say that because I see people saying, you know what?
Eric Tolsky should be there.
Brandon Pertum should be there.
All these newer, younger guys, like guys who would genuinely get that chance.
But like, I don't like, I see people that go, you know what?
They got blow it up and they got to get some newer voices.
I don't feel as if Craig Conroy would be this bad voice.
I think he would be a good voice.
Well, not let me put it this way,
because this actually applies not just to the Calgary job.
I think it's broadly.
Sure.
If you bring someone in externally, and this is something that the public,
even a lot of media members don't think about,
like that means everyone that you're now working with, if you're that person,
has been there, right?
So all the reasons that you are where you are,
where you're hiring a new GM because shit's gone wrong, usually,
is still there.
And like, how long does it take to actually figure out who's worth keeping,
who should maybe be promoted, who's got in the wrong spot,
whose, you know, talents aren't being best used?
That takes a long time.
And so the benefit to someone like Craig Conroy is that I'm sure he has all those opinions formed,
right?
Yeah.
He hasn't been the main person with his hand,
but he's got opinions on, you know, people lower down on the depth chart than you would know
because you cover the team.
But certainly the people, I wouldn't even know who they are.
But those people are all part of a successful organization.
And so I think if you're Calgary and you want to build on Brad's work,
it's harder in a weird way to bring someone in externally,
because I just think the process of doing that,
it's not just making decisions about who's the second line center.
I mean, that's a decision and it's a big decision.
But it, all those things have to happen.
And it's, it will be similar to the Leafs if Dubas leaves.
It's like, do you elevate Brandon Pratham or, as I said in the first block,
you know, you probably bring someone externally and well then who, like all bets are off.
Yeah.
What becomes that of Jason Spetsa, for example, in the Toronto,
like, as he was the assistant to Kyle Dubas, only one year in.
I mean, there's sort of like a trickle down effect from these decisions that is massive for organizations.
And so that's also what Calgary's doing.
Like, they're looking at their best candidates, but I think they also have to calculate what might happen
if we hire Colmay, Colmay, Colm C.
Because one of the things that has to be discussed too,
there seems to be a bit of confusion about correct Conroy's future.
There was, I mean, I think Ellie was trying to speculate if he had been signed to a contract extension.
That didn't seem pretty clear.
We tried to ask that at one of the pressers of the last month or so
and John Bean, the team, the CSEC president was saying they're all under contract.
But he didn't say like, oh, they were renewed or for anything like that.
Like, his contract runs through June 30th.
Like, if if if Craig Conroy doesn't get that job, like, there's a possibility he leaves.
And the same goes for another candidate we have not mentioned at all to this point, Brad Pascal,
who has been very underrated in this entire search with his experience with hockey Canada,
but also his work on the Calgary Wranglers and what they've been able to do over the last two years.
Like he has a legit chance at this job, but like, up to now, we don't know about their futures.
There's a possibility if you bring someone in from the outside, maybe those guys leave.
I mean, this is- That's just what it is.
It's harsh business, right?
It is.
Like, you're betting does either of them want to leave Calgary?
I don't know the answer, but like, are they willing to go move somewhere else to try it somewhere else?
But also, if you get passed over by your bosses for a job you want,
I mean, it's clear what they think of you.
It doesn't mean they hate you.
It just means that they think someone's better qualified or better or more ready or whatever.
It's, you know, it's hard.
Every team has two or three assistant GMs.
There's only one, right?
You just do the math.
It's like a pyramid.
Yeah.
It's hard to get to the top job.
And I guess nowadays the president of hockey ops is probably the true top job.
But yeah, I'd be curious to see how it shakes down.
It sounds like it's close though.
It does sound like it's getting close.
That's what it seems like.
Anything else with that before I move on to the Rangers?
No, sir.
Okay.
So the New York Rangers head coaching search.
We know Gerard Galant is no longer coaching the team.
What have you heard on that front in terms of prospective candidates for that job?
Well, I think everyone's sort of trying to go through Chris Jerry's hockey DB page and figure out
who he's been connected to in the past.
And hockey being hockey is like you could find all kinds of potential links there.
You know, I think the one that is of some interest is Patrick Wa, his former teammate.
And, you know, someone who's currently wrapping up the latest iteration of his junior career
at the Quebec ramparts who are, you know, on the verge perhaps going to the Memorial
Cup was recording this.
But Patrick Wa is indicated he's done after the season in Quebec.
He's, you know, hired Gil Scott, a respected coaching agent and is out canvassing on his behalf.
And the Rangers have at least expressed interest there.
Now it's too soon to say, are they going to hire him?
Like he's still these coaching games like tonight.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Like it's not like, you know, but there's at least kind of go back to what I was saying about
all the candidates for GM job.
There's teams that are looking at them.
And, you know, what's interesting is I think the Rangers might have wanted to look at Joel
Quenville, but it just seems like the league that was a non starter for the league.
And so now they've had to pivot elsewhere.
And that's a, it's a highly desirable job.
Like that team, first of all, maybe a bit of a disappointment this year, maybe just didn't
ever quite get up to their expected level and then obviously losing in round one.
But that's lots of good players.
Obviously New York speaks for itself.
Original 16.
You know, I think that's the kind of job someone like Mike Babcock would love to.
It like, it's not a certainty Mike Babcock will coach the Angel again, but I feel like
that's the sort of place.
If they went there, that would get his attention.
Do you remember when we did that episode in Adam's basement and there was a story about Mike
Babcock that was released?
I think it was David Singh from Sportsnet wrote about him kind of followed him.
And one of the things we discussed from that story was how it didn't seem as if Mike Babcock
was like, contrived or felt any kind of remorse for any of that stuff that was kind of pinned on
him, whether it was the list with Mitch Marner or any of his past behavior or anything like that.
I mean, it's been over a year since that's happened.
Do we, I haven't heard anything about stuff he might have done to atone for anything or
stuff to prove he's a different man from what he's done.
And I get there's other people we could talk about with the same description as well.
But Mike Babcock being mentioned, we were talking about in the group chat.
I was like, really?
Like we're going to, I guess I'm not surprised that his name's kind of thrown out there, but at
the same time, I'm like, really, we're going to go down this road?
Yes, because, I mean, look, I haven't talked to Mike myself in a long, long time.
So I can't speak for what he may or may not say if he's in one of these interviews or if he gets
hired, what he'll say to the microphones.
But I think everything gets lumped into good and bad in today's world sometimes.
And on the range of like Bill Peters to Mike Babcock to maybe even Joel Quenville, like how
you evaluate their actions or what's happened, like it's not all the same thing, in my opinion.
Right.
And so I would get if we're talking about Bill Peters, why you would just say,
yeah, like there's, no, I would.
Not a discussion about hiring him.
No, no.
I think where Mike Babcock is clearly, he's made mistakes.
But to me, and this is just where my barometer is.
Sure.
Especially depending on how he views those today and what he wants to say about that,
which I'll leave to him because I don't know.
I feel like there's a world where he could coach again and you feel comfortable.
But you might not like that.
Like, and I'm willing to accept that.
But I will keeping in mind that people making these decisions are more probably like
me and older.
I think that there's good.
He'll be, he'll have a chance to work again if he wants to.
I just don't know.
He's been out for a long time.
Like three or four years.
Yeah.
Three years.
I think it's been, it's been a while.
I always get like Patrick Wab being mentioned in all of this.
Like he has not coached in the NHL in like, like at more than five years.
Like I have, but he's been coaching it.
He has at least been coaching.
You're right.
Like I think that is different.
Like he is in the fire.
I know the QMJHL, but you know, coaches that he's coaching against could be considered for NHL jobs.
Absolutely.
It happens all the time.
Absolutely.
So like I think he's in the mix.
You know, I think Mike Babcock, as I would do in his shoes,
has been traveling around and spending time with his family and
enjoying the riches that his career has brought him.
You know, you just wonder, I know how competitive he is.
I don't know if he gives a shit about the way he went out, right?
Like I don't think he feels like he's got to go prove something.
It would just be, I think if you hand him a team like the Rangers,
that's the kind of scenario he would be back in.
Like the idea that you go in there, it's probably a couple of your commitment.
We're not talking to rebuild.
And it's like, can I take what is a clearly a really good team and get them to the next level
and maybe win a cup?
My thinking is you're putting him in a good situation.
You're not, you're not like, I know he was interviewed or discussed in Columbus.
I'm not saying that isn't a good situation.
It's just not a good situation for a veteran coach.
I don't think.
And also for a guy who's won a cup and has been in the bright lights of Toronto,
like, would he not no disrespect to Columbus?
Would he look at a team like Columbus is like small fries compared to like the Rangers,
where it's like, you're not getting any bigger than that, me and HL?
I don't know about that.
It sounds, I'm pretty sure he had a property in Ohio at one point.
I don't know if it's a city or organizational based thing.
It's just more where Columbus is.
Columbus is two years away from being two years away.
Right?
They're just, they're kind of in a rebuild.
They don't have a first line center or maybe a second line center.
They just need a lot.
They're turning things over there.
They were hoping to win the corner, but Art Lottery.
Like six or seven other teams that had a legit
shot by the numbers.
So I don't see him fitting there.
The Rangers, to go back to the question though,
if they hire someone younger, which I think they're considering some of those
kind of up-and-comers, or if they go with a more established hand,
that's an interesting call for Chris Drury.
Because, you know, drug-glant was his experience as they come.
And it's had lots of success with a few different teams.
And after two years of making the playoffs, boom, punted.
Here's- Wow, mutual, what was it?
Mutual?
Mutual Part of the Ways?
Yeah.
I mean, it really wasn't working for either side.
No.
Here's my one point about Mike Babcock, because he has essentially established
himself as a hard-ass.
I don't think I'm wrong in saying that.
No.
We're- and I get this happening in a different organization,
but we are- how many days, how many weeks off from the Calgary Flames,
deciding that they did not want a hard-ass who they had given it to your extension to-
Darryl Sutter's next level, though.
Yes.
That's fair.
Yeah.
That's probably-
Like in the day, in the old days-
That's true.
Like, 2004, Darryl Sutter was called a hard-ass, and Mike Babcock was probably a progressive.
Like, I'm on a scale at that point in time.
But to the point I want to get to, and I guess we can-
That's fair if we wanted to debate how these two vary on that scale.
But because we're in that time now where I don't think certain players necessarily want-
That's- I think it's a bit more split, and I think some of those bigger voices-
Maybe especially in that Rangers locker room who might not want a voice like that.
They would say something now.
They would say like, okay, we all know if-
Yeah, we see that Mike Babcock has all that-
All the accolades and all that.
Like, is he the guy we want in that room?
I would-
Sure.
I would wonder if there's-
That-
I think there would be some pushback.
Chris Jury said much like we heard in Calgary that part of the reason they fired
yourre-galant was the end of season interviews with the players.
Yep.
Like the players spoke up maybe not unanimously or whatever it was,
but there was enough there that they were like, you know what?
We can't go forward with this.
Which you're right, that's a new idea altogether.
Yeah.
New being if-
Even if 10 years ago that happened, they'd be like,
we gotta get rid of these players.
What's wrong with these players can play with the coach?
Just play hockey and shut up!
Snowflakes.
Yeah, I don't know.
We're in a new era now, and I'm all about player empowerment.
And look, I'm not trying to advocate for people getting fired,
but I do think that if a player with a platform,
a player with a significant stick in the locker room
is able to say something and players step up with them too,
that's empowering and that's good.
It's a tricky line though.
A coach's job is to push you beyond what you think is possible.
Yes.
And obviously there's lines here that you shouldn't cross as the coach.
But how you do that now, I feel like it's almost more challenging
because it's not just a yelling, screaming, threatening kind of thing.
Again, I'm not saying that's bad,
but I think the job has evolved towards that's a really-
How do you push those buttons now?
Yes.
Without crossing that line.
Because the teams that win,
it's when the players do more than they think they can do.
You're right.
And there's a line that-
Motivation is tricky.
Absolutely.
And I think there are guys who can exist as hard asses today
without stepping over that line.
Maybe you have your habitual line steppers,
but not the ones who completely go over and go overboard.
Do you know what's weird?
I responded well to hardass bosses when I was young.
Really?
But even if I think back on some circumstances
without getting too specific to protect everyone's-
Like I could think back and I'll be like,
oh, other people I worked with, that style wasn't working for them.
But for me, for some reason,
I always sort of liked knowing where I stood.
And so if I-
And there's one boss in particular,
but there's a couple that if I screwed up,
there was no question about where-
It was like, oh man, this is a big one.
And so that worked for me,
but then my colleagues at the time,
I look around, they probably didn't work for them.
And it's got to be the same in a dressing room.
It was kind of my point.
Yes.
They're probably-
The coach's job is probably to learn
not how to push everyone.
Everyone has different buttons.
Some need the stick, some need the call out.
Like I feel like Nazim Qadri, for example,
Yes.
benefited at times in his career for some of the tough love
that the organizations gave him.
And I think if you talk to him, he would agree with that.
Like the fact, last year when he won the Stanley Cup in Colorado
and I chatted with Dallas Akins,
who was his first coach in the American Hockey League
with the Toronto Marley's at the time,
like they're still really close.
But Travis-
Sorry Travis.
Dallas Akins called him out as being out of shape.
Right out of the gate.
Toronto's son headline leaves first round pick Fatso
Whoa.
On the front page.
Jeez.
But here's the thing.
Nazim the way he's built,
that kind of stuff fueled him in the right way.
And I don't think it inhibited his development at all.
And it might have helped it
when the dust settles and you see it.
But there's lots of players that you gave them that.
Like they just go away.
They just give up on you.
They just say F this.
Anyway, I don't envy coaches.
This is kind of what I'm getting at here.
As I think it's-
When you're working with humans and you're in charge,
it's not an easy thing to do.
No.
It is not an easy thing to do.
But it is if-
I think it was a very interesting discussion.
We just had over hard-ass bosses and coaches and stuff.
I'm thinking about hard-ass bosses I've had in my life now.
I don't know if I respond that well to that.
I like someone who's a little bit more-
I like knowing where I stand too,
but I think there are more-
I think there are better ways to make your point
about certain things without being an ass.
Sure.
That's where I stand on that.
And I'm coming at this saying,
I recognize that not everybody would like this.
100%.
I almost just don't need to talk about it too much.
It's just like, okay, where are we today?
CJ, you F'd up.
And like, be better.
Like, that works for me.
There's like-
I can handle like,
Hey man, you F'd up, but like-
Don't like-
Don't like wear that on me.
Don't like be like,
Hey, don't F up like you did the last time.
There's-
I don't mind being told you F'd up.
But just-
Just don't get to a point where you're
hanging that over my head all the time.
And like, that's like my reputation.
Right.
Yeah.
Anyway.
Anyway.
That was not on the schedule of what we're talking about today.
No, it wasn't.
Here are some other things that are on the schedule.
Do you want to mention anything with the senators
and the fact they're still looking for an owner?
Or do you want to get to the coyotes?
Senators will just go quickly.
Yeah.
They,
you know, the final bids were due on Monday.
The binding bids to the league.
You're down to the final few.
It seems,
you know, based on
what I've heard here in the last day, day and a half,
it sounds like Michael N. Lauer's bid is viewed as the most favorable.
I mean, it's a tough idea.
I knew it.
I knew it.
Tough.
I knew it.
It's a tough thing to handicap.
But I've had a few different people from different parts
like that aren't talking to each other.
That's kind of the word going around.
And you don't want to reason it would make-
I mean, first of all, it makes sense.
Michael N. Lauer, lots of money,
has been a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens for a long time.
Knows everybody in the board of Governor's room,
knows Gary Bettman Bill Daley.
And you know what?
You didn't hear him say a thing this whole time, did you?
No!
He didn't do one interview.
He walked by us at actually the one board of Governor's meeting.
Sort of like walked by us and like gave a cheeky smile.
Like kind of like, you know, I can't say anything.
So I don't know.
We'll see how that plays out.
I think we'll know,
I think we'll know relatively soon,
but nothing imminent there.
They still have to work through those bids.
I'm not happy because I knew in my head all this,
like we were looking at it.
If Ryan Reynolds was interested,
we were looking at if the weekend was interested.
We were looking at if Snoop Dogg.
There was a whole thing going on with Snoop Dogg.
Hey, but like,
I don't know what NHL said this the other year on a podcast.
Like, does Snoop Dogg know what Ottawa is and all that?
We have all these different celebrities
who are taking an interest in the Ottawa Senators
and have an opportunity to make them a cool franchise,
which I don't think they've ever been in their history.
But we're going to go with Michael Landlauer,
who, okay, minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens,
but you know, typical white guy with money,
who's got money, who's going to own this team.
And we're just going to go back to where we're going.
There was an opportunity right there.
Wait a minute.
Right. Stop.
Stop.
I, my information isn't that's like,
like, I don't even sure the decision's been made.
Dude, I, it's just, it's just what I'm hearing is that his bid is,
but like, I don't, let's not go too far because Snoop Dogg might
still end up owning the team and then we both look like idiots.
So.
And, and I'll say this too with Ryan Reynolds.
I think that door could still be open to him to join the winning bid.
I just don't know if he's going to do that.
Like what he had said previously is he was in with the Remington group
and that was his, he was putting his hat there.
And I think the NHL all along wanted him to just wait around to see how the bid process went out.
But there's still a world, even if it's as small as it might be,
there's still a world of Ryan Reynolds could be involved here.
Are you saying that I overreacted just now?
Well, I just don't say that I did, you know, that's fair.
If that's fair, if I did, I just think of the old takes exposed that I'm like,
they could be announcing this in like six days.
And so I might play that clip and you're railing against Ann Lauer.
Instead, we got like Snoop Dogg up on the stage and he's like, yeah, we got the team.
Oh no, Julian reeled against a white billionaire with money.
No.
Well, that, I mean, look, man, you have a mic and I have a mic.
You can, you say what you want into your mic and I say what I want into mine.
I love making CGM comfortable with these types of comments.
Okay.
What about the Arizona coyotes and obviously we know about the fact that the
propositions that were put out of the voted no, they're trying to figure out some options.
It looks like they're going to play at Mull of Arena, at least for next year.
What about that situation?
This is worrying.
Yes.
Because they're going to play at Mull of Arena next year, which is a small venue.
And the reason they were willing to do that originally is because this idea is that the
Tempe project was going to go through.
So this was a bridge to the kingdom that was going to save the coyotes in terms of where they're
at in Arizona.
And now unless something works out with this new owner of the sons in Phoenix,
with an opportunity maybe to join his group, I mean, we'll see what else they can come up with,
but I don't see a lot of other options for them in Arizona.
Like, I'm telling you, a lot of work went into trying to get that Tempe entertainment
district built.
Like I, that goes back two, three years.
Like, I don't think you can just pivot now and be like, oh wait,
stick those renderings and put them in this other vacant spot of land.
And so maybe things will work out with the sons.
Who knows?
I would have guessed that Arizona was being moved many years ago,
just because they haven't been able to get this in line.
This is not a shot at their fans at all.
No.
No cheap shots coming from this podcast.
No.
And down there are lots.
It's not about the people, but it is about the situation.
They don't, it's not a viable business the way it's being run.
And so I'm just worried that if we get into next season, or like, you know,
I'm talking a couple of months from now, and it's becomes clear there's just no hope for them
in Arizona that you have like an Oakland A scenario going on, where it's like a phantom team,
where the locals know it's not sticking around, where it's all just about,
hey, are they going to Salt Lake City for 24-25?
Or are they going to Houston or Oklahoma City or Kansas City or all these other places?
They've been rumored to maybe being moved.
I think Salt Lake City still is the most likely option if they are moved.
But I'm worried about what next season looks like.
And we already know like the product on the ice, they've gone through an aggressive rebuild.
And so, and who knows what other contracts, you know, they got Jacob Voorcheck on their cap sheet now.
Like the list of players who ended their careers as coyotes without playing for the coyotes is long.
Isn't she whippier on their list?
He got traded, didn't he get traded?
Oh, no, he got traded to Vegas and then he got traded to them.
Yeah, he did.
Yes.
Yeah, exactly.
Like in retirement, he's been traded twice.
Or in, you know, you can't call it retirement because he's still getting paid.
Yeah, exactly.
But anyway, that's my thought there is like, this still has to shake out.
I think that they were pretty surprised.
I mean, everyone knew it was a possibility.
Put it to a local vote.
Like you and I can think whatever we want.
I mean, we don't know what our neighbors think until they go to the ballot box.
And in this case, you didn't know how many neighbors were going to show up.
The final number was in the 30s percent.
So not, I mean, I think that's normal for elections, but it's, you know, you're leaving
things up to chance with that kind of scenario.
So anyway, they're going to play next year at Molot Arena unless things change abruptly.
And I'm worried about what that could look like if it becomes clear the coyotes
aren't staying for the season beyond that one.
So I believe it's a low voter turnout, but also the voters that did turn up were
much older and just really didn't get the message that was being put out by the team and
essentially the league for this project to work.
Yeah.
Wow.
I mean, look, there's a lot of money.
Yeah.
Taxpayer money.
So I don't pay taxes in Maricopa County.
So I'm going to just say I'm not criticizing anyone for however they decide to vote.
Like that, you know, you voted a certain way and you live there for the next 20 years.
You're paying for that.
So if you don't want that where you live, that's the way the system works in Arizona.
There's these refrendoms on big decisions and the people chose.
I'm glad you also said we're not going to do cheap shots to essentially the coyotes fans on this pod,
because I don't like the idea.
Maybe when you're younger and you're into, you know, having hockey work in all these different
Canadian markets, like a second Ontario team or Quebec, like I definitely feel for Quebec fans too.
But like I find when you're younger, you look at a team like Arizona, like, oh, you have no fans.
But then when you get older and you see teams move around or you experience something like
like the bunch of expos moving, like you show sympathy to fans in Arizona when they're going
to do something like this and they have all that uncertainty.
So I think if you're if you're you're watching this, if you're dumping on coyotes fans because,
you know, hey, they might lose their team and all that.
Like you should you should refrain from that because that is not a cool experience.
It's not fun at all. And I think if the league ultimately wants to grow the game,
like I it took me a while to realize this, but they need something like this to work.
Yeah, well, give it. I mean, I know everyone wants to make fun of Batman for this.
And maybe we're at the point that that you should, but he is at least trying to make it work.
Like I don't think there's any doubt about that. He is not opted to move that team when he's had
an opportunity. I mean, the league ran it in bankruptcy for a couple of years.
Yeah. And the league has loaned money back to the current owners, I believe, to fund the debt.
Like the NHL has done what it can to try to make it work. But this is what you need to work.
You need a good owner, stable owner, and you need a building that is like in the right place
that fans want to go to and spend money and allow the operation to float itself. And when you don't
have both of those things, you have problems. And look at the reason I don't dump on any fans,
what do most people go to sports for? It's a, you know, life can be hard. Work can be stressful.
Family stuff. Like it's your escape or whatever. It's like, this is where I devote my energy,
my time. It's great. This is like the 1%er club, the owners. Like it's like, it's them trying to
figure this all out and trying to figure out how to build money. You know, I guess the point is,
is like there's a huge disconnect between a fan base and the ownership decisions.
And yeah, I feel bad for Arizona, honestly. Like I've, as I said, I probably, I don't know,
I've been there 20, 34, a lot of times. And it's, it's not the people's fault, but
it also wasn't their fault. They didn't want to drive like an hour each way to Glendale on a
Tuesday night in November to watch the blues and coyotes play or whatever. And I'm not picking on,
but you know, again, like, there are things to do on a Tuesday night.
Well, like go home and sleep because work is busy and stressful and you can just watch the
game on your couch. Yes. And it's cheaper that way. It's much cheaper that way. The beer is cheaper
out of your fridge than when you go to the arena. It's you're not put in the gas money to drive
that hour. Yes. Like I get it. It's not, it was not an ideal situation.
And honestly, I think if they leave Arizona, we're going to be talking about, you know,
relocation or expansion in Arizona in the future. They just, they got to get a building built in
the right place. Yeah. Again. Scottsdale, please. Scottsdale. Scottsdale, really that cool of a.
Yes. It's a top five place in North America. So, so Jesse wasn't BSing when he said top five
yesterday. No, it's awesome. Okay. Well, it depends what you like. Everyone likes some people like
the middle of Manhattan, right? Like that's their dream. Like they just love busy city,
energy, what have you like Scottsdale is more chilled out. Lots of nice restaurants. It's warm.
You can see the, the deserty mountains or I guess they're not mountain mountain. It's nice. It's,
it's, I can see what trust me. There's a reason why so many former
anytellers that played for the coyotes have stayed there. It's a good place to, it's, you know,
there's some other, but yeah, it takes a lot of boxes. Before we get to stick taps,
do you have predictions for the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference Final?
Florida Panthers in six over the Carolina Hurricanes. It's very interesting.
The upper gets the really good Carolina Hurricanes team. You should fade me, by the way. I think,
I don't know what my current picks are, but it's not, I have not had a good spring. Oh, I've had
a terrible spring. And I am going to say the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars in seven.
Okay. So I have the exact opposite. I love it. I love it. Also, you could tell that, like,
you have the Carolina Dallas final. I have a Carolina, which is a Finn's dream. Yes.
That's true. That would be like the all Finland final. I don't know how many Finns would be
involved, but I've got a lunch. I've got a bunch of Finnish reporter buddies that they would,
this would be their Super Bowl. If we get Carolina Dallas and they all come and cover the final
matter, who's in it? But often there's like one Finn in the whole series, right? So like every day,
they're like hitting that person up. In this case, they would just, they'd be overflowing with
Sebastian Ajo's and Miro Haskinan. Yes, he pulled the RV, Yaspari Kock and Yemi,
like like Carol, Kiwi Ranta. Isn't Rupe Hint also Finnish? Rupe Hint. Rupe Hint. Yeah, like this is,
I like that. The Fante Ranta. The Fante Ranta is also Finnish. You're absolutely right. I'm telling
you it would be a massive event for the Finns that I love the Finns. So what's the time difference
between seven hours? Of course you know that. Of course you know that. I've been to Finland
multiple times on vacation, not just for work. Yeah, that's true. If I were to plan a trip to
Finland, where should I go? Well, Helsinki, go in the summer, first of all, or now,
but go at this time of year because instead of having dark year round or day round, you have
basically light all day long. And when the weather's nice, i.e. 20 Celsius and above, it's on the
sea. It's beautiful. There's saunas, great eating and dining culture. The warmest,
hardy people you could ever meet. So I started Helsinki and then you got to go to Tampa Bay.
That's where the world championships are currently being held. It's the home of hockey in Finland.
It's where the Finnish hockey hall fame is. The nicest arena in Europe, probably arguably for
hockey, no key arena is where the world's are, was opened a year or two ago. So I would say go to
those two places. But you know, I haven't been the far north of Finland, I actually would like to go
to, but it's you need time and you know, sometimes when I go to Europe, I'm trying to jam in a few
things. But I might go there this summer. I haven't finalized my plans. So July wants free
agency winds down. I love Asana, man. You're a sauna, man. Yeah. The first, I mean, I must have told
the story. The first time I went to Finland was 2012 World Hockey Championship. And I'm covering it.
Have I told the story? Stop me. Keep telling you that's not me. Stop me. And so I'm there in
Helsinki. I stayed in Airbnb for like three weeks because it's a long tournament. And there is like
the old school sauna around the corner. Like I think it's from the 40s. And it's like a giant,
giant thing. And it's separate, like it's men only. And so, but I went in there on like a Friday
afternoon. And you know, everyone's speaking Finnish naturally. But I can hear them like,
I don't understand the language, but runt and then, but it's a cup and then like you could tell
they're talking about hockey. Yeah. And then one guy comes over and he just like gives me a beer.
Oh, he like, he like recognized me as like an outsider and was just sort of like that was his
peace offering. Oh, and it was just so cool. It's like an old school. Anyway, it's just a really
unique place. And it's the one thing I love about it. If we get down to it, there's a hockey podcast.
I got hockey in my blood. It's a true hockey country. Yes.
Like it might be the one place outside. It might have more interest in hockey
per capita than Canada. It's just it's a small country. I think six million people give or
take five million. But you know, like if Finland plays in a gold medal game at the world hockey
championships, like four million people watch it. Like it's like 80%. And you and I both know,
like, well, hockey's widely popular here. It doesn't have that level of reach. Maybe Canada
in the gold medal final once every, well, in this case, we don't know what but once every 12 years
or something, then then a huge percentage of the country watches because that's a true event. But
I remember like my mom watched, you know, the 2010 gold medal game, like, and she wouldn't otherwise
be watching flames, Oilers on a Saturday night. So anyway, I'm ranting and raving, but I love
Finland never apologized for ranting. And that was a cool story. To do us funny to my buddy,
Auntie McEnan, he is the voice of hockey in Finland. And I actually say that he has the loneliest job
in hockey because he calls NHL games in Finland year round that start at like one or two AM his
time. He calls them from a closet. He has no color man or color person. So he's the entire voice.
He he does everything by himself. He does the technical thing. He's there at two AM all year long
calling games overnight. And then he gets to come live for the Stanley Cup final. Like what a payoff.
Like he calls like a hundred plus games a year in a closet in the middle of the night in one of
the darkest countries in the world because he loves hockey so much. And then he gets to come and he's
going to be at, you know, wherever the the final let's go by me. He's going to be at FL a live
arena calling Panthers golden nights, you know, starting June 3rd. Like how cool is that? I got
to say though, I would imagine your friend might prefer Dallas Carolina final. He would. He
absolutely would. He would a few years ago, Tevo, Terravine and scored a cup final over time goal.
And he was like, it's Tevo time. But didn't finish. I don't know how he said that. That would
have sounded pretty. But yeah, he would love the idea that any number of Finns could do something
big because he he gives like the crazy calls that everybody plays whether you speak the language
or not. That was really cool. By the way, I don't think you've told that song a story before.
No, I don't remember. But that was a really fun. It was cool. I was like really nervous at the
time. I was much younger than I am now. You know, I traveled, but like, but just hearing just
knowing everyone around me was talking about hockey and I couldn't understand. And the one
guy brings me the beer. That's funny. Do you have a free beer? Don't remember a story for 10 years.
Do you remember what kind of beer it was? No, no, they have a beer. They're called car who.
It's got like a big bear on it. I think I can't remember what translates to, but it's like a
grizzly bear beer, which I've had a few of in my day. I got a beer soon. Do you have
a stick tap for this week? I'm going to give it to anti-maconan. Yeah. My buddy over there in
Finland, he's down to his last two weeks of calling games from the closet in the middle of the night.
And soon anti my friend, I'm going to see you over here on the side of the pond and you'll be
covering the cup final again in person. Oh man. I'm going to. Hmm. A lot of different things I
could do with my stick tap this week. Um, I think give it to Kevin Harlan. You don't know if you saw
his call of the Miami Boston game yesterday where he used the word frickin on his broadcast. You
know, Jimmy Butler hit a big three and he's like Jimmy frickin butler. He said that on air.
All right. That is awesome. But also, uh, I don't know man, just I'm happy to to to been here. Just
shout out to the fact that this is a whole space that we're able to do this.
Man, shout out to to the SDPN. I'll give them the stick tap because this is a really amazing space
for us to do our show and and and the fact that we have all these rooms and stuff and and all this
great growth we're seeing with the network and stuff is really cool. And from Steve Dangle's
childhood bedroom to this to this man, this is super cool. And you know, this just kind of
amplifies the pride of of being a part of such a great network and and I'm not be asking. I
generally am happy to to do the show and be around y'all and be here. Like, I know, I know, I know I'm
in Toronto for some kind of sadder personal reasons, but this is this has made my week.
Love that. Yeah, so let's keep it rolling, bud. Let's keep it rolling and thank you.
Thank you. And we'll be back next week with a brand new episode of C.J. show. We'll have two more,
hopefully if a hey, maybe there'll be an emergency pot to do. No, Nick, producer Nick,
that's how producer Nick that now producer Nick at the birthday. And so it's going to have to
happy early birthday producer. It would have to take something incredible for us to pull them out.
It's just not going to happen. Well, Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe both gone. Do you know what I've
learned? The world keeps turning even if you're not like on Monday, we'll still have something to
talk about. Enjoy your weekend, Nick. You deserve it, bud. Oh, there's many glizzies in your future,
my man. For C.J. have july, it's so long and peace. Enjoy your long holiday weekend. We'll be back
at it next week. The Chris Johnson show. Howard by sports interaction. One of that.
Inside the game. Twice a week. Follow Chris on Twitter. At reporter Chris. And follow july
and mckenzie. At JK and mckenzie. The Chris Johnson show.