For
the first time since 2004, the Toronto Maple Leafs have reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
How does that sentence sound to you, CJ?
Well, I mean, it's a weight lifted is what I think it is.
For a whole host of people and a whole host of reasons, you know, just being an Emily
Arena last night was really struck by what a sort of cathartic release it was for a lot
of different people that have worked for the team for a long time.
I mean, you've got the obvious characters, the players that take, you know, a lot of
personal heat and have been questioned a lot.
You've got, you know, Kyle Dubas there with Jason Spetsa and Brandon Pridham, sort of the
front office staff, you've got Sheldon Keefe and his coaching staff.
You've also got all the support people that work around the team.
And many of them have been with the organization a long time.
And it was just pretty fascinating for me to almost just be a fly on the wall, honestly.
I mean, from the time that that puck goes in, you know, we would go to the elevator, you
know, say within 10 minutes, you're kind of in the hallway in Dressroom area.
And I just basically stood for 45 minutes and watched it play out.
It had some small interactions with players and people as they came by.
And, you know, you could really feel like this was something, this meant something.
And for anyone, just let's jump the conversation.
For anyone who's making fun of Leaf fans or even the team, like, you know, I think that
that's, it's just stupid because, you know, on one hand, you can't kick them for never
getting past the first round and then say, Oh, why is everyone so happy they got past
the first round?
Okay, that's fair.
One thing, because I want to continue that discussion.
You're at the airport.
How many Leafs fans have you encountered since you got here?
There's a fair bit.
There's a fair number, even, you know, because I'm having a later flight out here on Sunday,
you know, just going for a run today downtown Tampa.
There's a lot of sort of Matthews and Tavares sweaters around town.
So I think, uh, take a good number of people travel down to the game.
Quite honestly, it's probably from a cost standpoint, almost a net even when you, when
you just factor in how much cheaper the tickets were in Tampa and obviously a nice place to
visit.
So yeah, I've, I've seen a few fans and, uh, I think a few people had a few drinks last
night.
Oh, I bet they did.
I bet they did.
I want to go back to the discussion with making fun of leaps fans, uh, for celebrating the
first round the way that they did.
I think back to my playoff memories as a fan and not none of them have anything to do with
celebrating a team that made it to a Stanley Cup final, like even winning a first round
and I get the circumstances dictate some of that.
I think plays a huge role, uh, in, in, in how you celebrate some of those wins.
So I can't blame leaves fans for celebrating reaching around for the first time in 19 years.
Like that's a, that's a significant deal for them.
I'm, I'm kind of with you there.
Like, if you're going to, if you're going to knock them, knock that team for not making
it to the first round, you kind of have to pull back when they actually do it.
I don't think it ends every single joke surrounded with Toronto Maple Leafs mind you, but I,
I think for this particular instance, that is a hurdle that they did clear and it is fair
to just kind of let them have their moment to celebrate.
That's at least how I see it.
The winning's hard, man.
I mean, this is,
What is Stanley Cups hard?
But it's a 32 team league.
They're already down to the final eight.
I mean that you've, you've had a much better season than a lot of teams just by getting
to this point.
And again, I'm not saying put up a, I'm not, you're not putting a banner up.
You know, it got through the first round beat Tampa.
I, I get it.
There's, there's larger goals here.
I'm sure everybody understands that.
But at the same time, I think along the way you can stop and enjoy, you know, smaller
roses a bit.
I think it's probably instructive for all of us in our lives to celebrate our smaller
victories and not just wait for the big ones too.
And so, you know, that's, it was, it was cool to see them, you know, I was on the ground.
Obviously I saw some of the videos of the fans, but I was really removed from it because
I was with the team, but just seeing how much it meant to those guys and, you know, they
had a few drinks and we're, we're happy and hugging and you know, you could tell like
some joking goofy conversations the way it would be, but some, a few serious ones too.
I mean, it was, that meant a lot to a lot of different people.
And I imagine that it was similar for the fan base and anyone around the organization.
And I just think, you know, it's in today's game is going to be so hard for anyone to
win the cup.
I mean, even if you just did it statistically, it's once every 32 years.
We all plan to live a long time, but it just means you could follow one team and never
see them win unless you have a long life.
And so, you know, what Tampa did was out of the ordinary, how much they've won.
I think you should kind of commemorate the moments and good on the Leafs and the fans.
And look at the way they got it done man.
Three overtime wins on the road in a playoff series.
It had never been done before in all of NHL history.
So I mean, there was a lot of drama.
It obviously could have went the other way.
I mean, Stephen Stankos mentioned he thought the Lightning actually played better in this
series than last year's series.
The margins were small, but you know, the Leafs who sort of had a reputation as coming
up small in the big moments found a way to get the job done.
And I think they should be commemorated for it.
By the way, for those who haven't done so already, please check out Chris Johnston's
latest on northstarbets.ca inside a wild Maple Leafs celebration, 20 years in the making.
And CJ says he was on the ground and he was able to be a fly on the wall.
Literally this article is such a brilliant way of showing the fact that he was a fly
on the wall and seeing all the different reactions, the butt light coming in for all
the players celebrating.
I just want to say it was a fantastic article and everyone listened to this podcast should
read it.
And I would love to know from your vantage point, like just seeing everything going on
in that room.
It's like the one moment amidst the sea of moments in that locker room that stands out
to you the most.
It's tough to say just one.
I mean, for me, it might be Morgan Riley.
And it's a couple moments with him, but you know, he was drafted so long ago, fifth
overall in 2012 by the Leafs.
He's their longest serving player.
He signed an eight year extension.
I mean, he's planning on having a whole lifetime with this organization playing lifetime.
And he's been through all the crap.
And he had such a big series.
He has the moment.
He doesn't get to assist on the overtime goal, but he's one that's going to the net
when Tavares throws it there and it goes off radish, the Tampa defenseman skating in.
I mean, if Riley, it's overtime, right?
He's a defense man.
If he isn't at the edge of the crease, first of all, the Leafs probably don't win the game
on that play because it's going to be very easy save for Andre Vasilevsky.
The fact he went there disrupted what the defensemen were doing coverage wise.
But it also shows a mindset, I think.
He was attacking to win.
He wasn't playing not to lose.
So he was in the hallway after, and he was sort of having a quiet moment at one point.
And I actually just said to him, was it worth the wait?
And he looks up and feels pretty fucking great.
And it's funny, Sheldon Keefe came along just shortly after, and Riley got really animated.
I don't know if you watched the replay enough to notice this, Julian, but he was saying
to Keefe, like, man, you called it because if there's this one replay that when Tavares
is slightly around the net, you can read Keefe's lips pretty clearly saying get to your forehand
with an expletive put in there.
And what happens when he gets to his forehand and the puck goes in the net?
And so Riley had seen the replay, obviously, and was like all buzzing with Sheldon about
that.
And it just sort of, I guess, really for the people who've been around a long time, there's
a lot of support staff.
I mentioned like Bobby Hastings, the Leafs had equipment managers been there a long, long
time.
He's not an old man, but he's grown up with the team.
And just seeing how happy they were, a lot of the hugs, there's not maybe one poignant,
perfect moment to sum it up.
It was one of those things where you just looked around, and it was like the cumulative
energy and the excitement and the laughs.
And obviously, as I say, guys, check out a couple beers and making jokes.
These guys have taken a lot of shit.
And honestly, they've earned a lot of it too.
Like I'm not saying unfairly.
When you go 0 for 10 in elimination games, you've earned the right to be questioned about
whether you can get it done and earn the right to have people say, should this team be blown
apart and all that sort of stuff.
But they did it, right?
They finally did it.
And that was pretty, like I can only imagine, they must have kept going into the night a
little bit too.
And they're basically the time right after the game as everyone's sort of packing up their
gear and going for the showers and eventually going to the team bus.
But teams typically celebrate a playoff win privately kind of thing.
I think that that's sort of standard operating procedure.
And I think those Leafs had a good night.
And amazingly, they'll be back at practice on Monday and preparing for their next opponent.
Yeah, as of now as we're recording this, we do not know who that opponent is.
The one thing I will say about this Leafs victory, I do want to get to some Tampa side
stuff too.
But the one thing about this Leafs victory that I kind of find sort of amusing.
Being in the CJ show group chat, obviously, you know, you and I were in the middle, but
you have all the Leafs fans that are there.
And you see the reactions, like obviously I'm not watching these games as close as you
guys are.
So throughout the season, I'm seeing all these different groans and reactions to people
like Morgan Riley or Alex Kerfoot.
I don't know how many times John Tavares has come up in that.
But there have been a lot of people, especially since last year, who for whatever reason have
put John Tavares into the doc house.
All three of those players I just mentioned had big moments in this series.
John Tavares can say he has ended playoff series wind droughts for two different franchises
as a result of what he did on Saturday.
And I really hope that for a lot of those fans, those Leafs fans who were dunking on those
players, I hope their apologies are as loud as the disrespect.
That's all I have to say.
Fair, and it illustrates a larger point.
Like what's at stake in the playoffs, right?
You can change everything.
Like, it doesn't matter what your regular season was.
What fans are going to remember.
They're going to remember that John Tavares goal.
I'm telling you, there's kids that are not even kids.
There's 30 year olds that have been cheering for the Leafs since they were 10 and haven't
seen that moment.
So I mean, you can imagine when you've waited that long and it's dramatic and it's an
overtime.
I mean, I just think that adds to it.
Obviously a bit of a lucky goal with the bounce they got, but that'll be something that will
be remembered for way more than John Tavares' statistics or how many goals he scored in
the 2019-20 season or whatever, other random thing we're going to pick out.
And I think that's what's really cool for this team because these players have expected
it for so long.
And all the stars, frankly, showed up in a series to varying degrees for the Leafs.
You know, Austin Matthews had just an awesome closeout game.
I thought a beastly 54 second shift in the second period that led to the one-nothing goal
that he scored.
He had four shot attempts on that sequence in that shift.
Finally gets one in.
Even calls for the pass from TJ Brody.
I mean, just kind of like what you expect.
It was like superstar stuff.
And that was his best series by points that he's ever had as a leaf.
Same for Tavares.
He's a Morgan Riley.
Same for Mitch Marner.
William D. Lander was only one off his best ever series in terms of points.
You know, Ronald Riley came in and scored some big goals.
I mean, I just feel like it was one of those ones where everything came together.
I mean, even Ilya Sampsonov leaves with maybe some tough statistics in terms of safer
percentage, but he was really good, you know, facing his countrymen, and Andre Vasilevsky
in Game 6 made some really tight saves.
And, you know, in a game where literally it's 2-1 final.
I mean, just like last year, it's 2-1 in Game 7.
Another 2-1 game.
I mean, obviously either team had a chance to really win that one.
And the Leafs guy stepped up.
What do we have?
Matthew and Ice.
I mean, 20-year-old kid who literally three weeks before lost the NCAA Championship in
overtime at Emily Arena.
He's now won three overtime games in the playoffs.
We're at the Leafs in that rink.
And he was on the ice for all three goals.
Like, you couldn't even make that up.
I guess I'm going on a bit of a tangent here, but I suppose the larger point is this.
You might get dogged on for Game 62 what you do or, you know, it's stretch of the season
where you're struggling or not producing enough.
But it all goes away if you have these moments.
And the Leafs had a bunch of moments in this first round that allowed them to knock off
the beasts of the East.
And, you know, the one thing I'll say, Julian, and we don't know, as you mentioned, there's
a couple series that haven't been finished as we're recording, I actually believe when
we get down to the final eight teams in the second round, like that all those teams legitimately
can believe they can win the Stanley Cup.
Like, I think it's open enough in my eyes.
It doesn't feel like it's one team that's like, it's their time or like, you know, Colorado,
for example, gave me the feel of like they weren't going to be denied last year.
I just, I don't have that this year.
And so, you know, you have these moments if you're the least, but like, they can legitimately
wake up today. And I believe say to themselves, like, we're good enough to win the Stanley
Cup.
Now you got to go do it.
You got to find those bounces again. You're probably, you know, things aren't good to
go your way.
This, you know, this is just one small step of the journey.
But it, I think given that relief I talked about, the weight off them, like, let's see
where the spaceship can go now.
I mean, I just think that that mentally they will be unburded.
And I think that they're going to have a stronger and deeper sense of belief than they ever
had before.
Have any of those guys mentioned if they would rather Boston or Florida in the second round?
No. I mean, to be honest, I didn't ask that question of anyone directly with the team.
You know, it's a hard one to call because Boston has looked a little out of sorts, right?
You know, heading into game seven, which is tonight, Boston hasn't looked like the team
that won 65 games in the season.
But I think that you just take whatever you do. I mean, if you're, if they get Florida,
they have home ice advantage, which could be a bit of a difference, although this ended
up being a road series with the winning three games on the road in round one.
But I think that they're just happy to have the chance because there's been a lot of times,
well, every other time for 19 years, when you got to this stage of the season, these
players were golfing or going on vacation or watching the rest of the playoffs on TV.
There's one other stat I want to, I want to bring up, which you were bringing up a whole
sequence of them, a whole set of them a couple of moments ago. Sheldon Keefe, this is from
Jessica Corbett, Sheldon Keefe is the only living person who has coached the Toronto Maple
Leafs to a playoff series win.
It's wild. Let that sit. It's wild.
That's insane. I mean, you go deep enough down in that rabbit hole, man. Like, look at
the people in the lineup. I know we did the Ron Francis talk of the last one, but like,
look at who played in the game the last time. I mean, Jason Spetso is a young star for the
senators back then. And, you know, last night, he's sitting in the press box celebrating
working in the Leafs front office. I mean, time goes quickly in pro sports, right? So
19 years is an eternity, an absolute eternity, especially for a franchise that has the financial
clout the Leafs do. I realize in a salary cap that's mitigated in terms of what you
can spend on players. But, you know, it should still be an advantage. And just the kind of
the passionate fans they have, you would think that that would be a positive thing. But it
became a negative. I think they had poor management prior to this current group. The current
group said to stick with it, but you know, they've made a lot of good decisions. And,
you know, I know that the lightning have a ton of respect for Leafs, like even before
this series, that, you know, everyone might make jokes about them not getting past the
first round. But I think, you know, if circumstances were different, it probably would happen sooner
than now. But it had to happen now and they delivered when it had to happen. If it didn't,
you know, you know, we'd be talking about on today's pod, we'd be talking about, you know,
the choking situation they're in, we'd be talking about whose jobs on the line and all this stuff.
I think all that just fades into the background now and we'll deal with it whenever they play
the last game. I think there was a, I think there was a really good rant in you if there was
a game seven on Monday. I firmly believe that if the Leafs lost game six on Saturday night
and we were about to enter, like we're doing this recording today on a Sunday ahead of game seven,
I firmly believe we were going to have a rant with the ages from you.
It was, it was building in there. It was building. I mean, one thing I was wanted to see it through
this series is like, I wanted to see someone get angry about the situation, right? Even if it
was at reporters, like I get it. It's not nice to be asked all these questions again, again, again.
This is something though I think largely goes away now. I mean, I'm not saying they're in the
clear. I mean, we can even debate if they just go lose, you know, kind of easily in the second round,
is that enough? Like, I think that there's all that discussion is fair, but I just think they
won't be asked the sort of like in nicer terms, are you guys a, you know, packet choking dogs?
Like, they proved they're not. I mean, they just knocked out the three times Stanley Cup finalists.
And, you know, they did it by erasing a three goal, third period deficit, and it came by scoring
another goal in the final minute with the goalie pulled, you know, pulling three out in overtime,
by getting absolutely, you know, kicked in the face in the first game of the series and responding
two nights later and getting away. I mean, they were tested there, right? And they, but they,
they showed they were stronger for the test. And again, I think if you're, if you're in the
least front office or coaching staff, what you're feeling best about today is your best guys had
their fingerprints all over this. Like, it's not to say that none of them, you know, there was some
tough moments in the series or tough games. You know, Nielander got benched at one point,
you know, in game four before end up getting three assists and later on. But, you know, that's
going to happen. I think the point is, is all your players that are paid to get the job done, got
the job done at various points. And that's why, that's why he still got games to play, right?
It's not to say John Tavares dominated every shift he was out there, but he was pretty darn good
controlling that puck and overtime, finding it to a spot on the ice where he could just throw it
towards the net and hope for a good bounce. And, you know, the most tortured fan base in the NHL
got a good bounce for a change. For a change. What about the Tampa Bay Lightning? What's next for
them? They lose in the first round. I firmly believe that there were so many stretches in this
series where they did look like the better team. I think at all three of the losses they had at home,
they were the better team in those games and they lost. They did not close out the Leafs
when they had the opportunity. What do you do with this roster? We know the chapters closed in terms
of all those successive cup final runs. But what's next for them? I think they're going to have to
find a way to get a little younger. You know, if you look at their contract situations, a lot of
their veteran players, whether it's Corey Perry, Pat Maroon, Belmar, Alex Chlorne, I mean, those
guys are all eligible to be free agents. I'm not sure how many of them, if any, will be back.
But they have to keep turning it over and kind of doing what the Leafs have done. I mean, the Leafs
have rebuilt again and again. They're what's called their bottom six or their support players.
Tampa's not it too. Obviously, I mean, they both acquired and lost, you know, Good and Goodrow and
Coleman, you know, they found their way through all that. But I think they're going to have to keep
doing that. But you know, beyond that, I think you run it back. I mean, I'm certainly not closing
the chapter on the lightning. You know, it's going to happen at some point. But I thought,
you know, Stephen Stamkel said a really good series, for example. Victor had been probably played his
best hockey of the year after regular season where he wasn't at his top level too often.
You know, a bit of a quiet series for for Brayden Point. Nikita Kucharov had a strong start and
then kind of faded a little bit. I mean, maybe some of the story of the series is they might have
actually run out of gas a little bit. I mean, maybe that's a convenient narrative, but I think
there's also something to it. And that's maybe part of being older too. And some of those veterans
just didn't have, you know, the first line, for example, that the Parry Maroon unit, it had some
really good moments early in the year, really in the series. Then by the end, just was kind of
fading away. So, you know, I think Julian Breezebo, I've got nothing but massive respect for him and
his staff. And so I expect they'll get right back to the drawing board and they'll be making low-key
good signings. I mean, I don't know if you watch much of Mikey A. Same on, but he looks like a player
and they found him kind of nowhere from San Jose, so to speak. He looks like someone you can,
the way skates can be in a lineup if placed in the right role. So I think they're just going to
continue, you know, Darren Radish. It's unfortunate for him that the pocket overtime goes off escape,
but that guy has played like 30 NHL games and he was playing 25 minutes a night in the series and
he looked good. And you know, that's situational. I'm not saying that's the ideal usage for him,
probably, you know, in an alternate universe, Eric Ternach's healthy and they're able to use
them a little more sparingly, but, you know, they've clearly found another player there,
you know, that can handle some minutes. So, they're too good of an organization to just let this go
away. They're a proud organization. I think that this will be a little more fuel for them and,
you know, we're not, we're not making predictions for next season yet, but I'll give you a prediction.
I think the lightning will be right back in the mix, right back in the playoffs and right back
being a team that no one's going to hope to draw on the first round. Very early prediction for the
2023-2024 season done right here by Chris Johnston. Anything else you want to add on the series
before we quickly get to a bit of a sports interaction segment and then we have to discuss
a few other series that are pretty much done, essentially.
You know, the only thing I'd say is I'm happy for the fans out there. You know, I'm happy for the
people that care. I'm happy for Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde, Jesse Blake, our producer Nick,
you know, saw his video was awesome of him celebrating the overtime goal. Like, you know,
actually spoke with a few fans that stopped me on the street here down in Tampa during the series.
Like a lot of people who spend a lot of time and money, he caring about this thing,
you know, it's nice for them to, it's good to have your team win every once in a while, you know.
I've been a team, I'm a bit a fan of, you know, like the Dallas Cowboys, the Toronto Blue Jays,
and so I can understand what a fan goes through, especially when you get to these tight games.
And so, you know, I'm happy for some of the individuals that I know,
sort of with the lease organization, of course, but then also happy for kind of the city to share
in that joy. You know, I don't want to see any team be down too long. You know, like, I think
Buffalo is a team, for example, like they kind of have a soft spot for them now,
because it's just such a great hockey town and the Sabres have been two years away from being
two years away for about 10 years now. So it actually finally seems that that's an organization
to turn into corner. But I guess my point is I hope not to see any organization's fans have to go
20 years between series wins because that's a lot of getting kicked with the, you know, in the,
you know, where. Oh, yeah. New York Islanders fans know all about that. And I wonder how they're
feeling after these, this past weekend. But anyway, let's get to sports interaction real quick.
Let's talk about the Oilers. We have to talk about the Winnipeg Jets because that is a team
that is going to be going through a lot of interesting changes this offseason. But let's get
so you can bet that first. Welcome to you can bet that. Remember to hit up sportsinteraction.com
slash SDPN for all of your gaming needs. Two Canadian teams remain in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Will a Canadian team reach the Stanley Cup final? Yes. Is that plus 110? According to
sportsinteraction? No, at minus 153 of the Leafs and the Oilers. There are people who want both
of those teams to play against each other in the Stanley Cup final. Do you think? Well, actually,
I mean, if you've been paying attention to CJ's predictions, he of course believes a Canadian
team will make the Stanley Cup finals. Am I right? Yeah, I'm not changing that. Nothing,
nothing new from what I've seen has made me think otherwise. And you know, as I said earlier,
I think any of the eight teams in the second round have a shot. And so you're talking about one
quarter of the field being based in Canada. I'm comfortable saying yes. I think we're going to
see a Canadian team in the final. I don't know if they're going to win. Obviously, I predicted
the Oilers to win the cup. But, you know, I don't have all of the answers yet here in my
crystal globe in the Tampa airport. But, but I do think we're going to see at least one Canadian
team in the final. All right, sportsinteraction.com slash STPN for all the best odds before game in
game best props sportsinteraction.com slash STPN. And on the other side of this, we're going to talk
about the team that, uh, con, that's not Connor. Well, Connor McDavid definitely wants to be in
the finals. But CJ would like to see him in the finals as well. You guys hear that? That is the
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This episode of the Chris Johnston show is brought to you by athletic reads. I take
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slash Johnston. Go check it out. Hours after the Toronto Maple Leafs get the job done in their
first round series. The Emmons and Oilers do so in game six of their series against the Los Angeles
Kings. A late goal from Kyle or Yamamoto sends the Oilers to the second round and we get Oilers
versus Golden Knights in the second round, which means we get Connor McDavid versus Jack Eichl.
I got to say that is a very enticing matchup in the Western Conference. I love it. I think it's
going to be really fun to watch. Yes. And I've got my Mia call power to the way for Vegas. So I'm
starting with a fresh sheet when describing the Golden Knights. I think it's going to be a good
series and kind of interesting. You know, the Oilers close it out in California on the road.
They're going to stay on the road, I believe, right through till the next round. And so they're
going to get some time in warmer locales and get ready for the playoffs and have to open that series
in T-Mobile Arena. And it's funny. One of the underrated things, Julian, about going to a game
in Tampa is you get to talk to Scotty Bowman. Scotty Bowman lives in Sarasota and attends
most lightning games up in the press box and I actually had to chat with him in the second
intermission on Saturday night. And he was mentioning that of the games he saw live this year that the
Vegas was the team that might have been pressed on the most, believe it or not. And so I will gladly
defer to Scotty Bowman, and some with his resume, his experience, and some are still so dialed in.
I mean, that's what's awesome about him. He's as big a fan of the sport now as I think ever and
knows all the players and tendencies and all those types of things. But, you know, we weren't talking
about Vegas directly head to head with Edmonton, but he just had pointed out he really liked the
way that that team played when he saw them, you know, come through Tampa this year. So I think
they're going to be a very tough test for Edmonton. And, you know, this is where it gets really hard.
I think not that that was an easy series of LA. Certainly, the Oilers were pushed and they had
some back and forth games and over times and those types of things. But now they're going to be
facing an opponent who has been there a fair bit has a lot of experienced players in the
important positions as Mark Stone back healthy. And, you know, I haven't actually done my second
round prediction. So I don't I'm not sure who I'm I guess I got to pick Edmonton in the series
that to stick with my better than making to the Cup final. But I think it's my gut tells me like
a seven game or if that's how it plays out. Yeah, it's kind of tough for us to do predictions
considering the fact that there are still some series that are incomplete, including Monday
nights game seven between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils in which there is a bet on
the line between you and I sir. Yes, that's remembered. I just had my game seven face on.
Yes, clearly, clearly. But I will say this too with the Vegas Golden Knights because I too need
to be a couple with that. I thought gold tending would essentially let them down, especially to
series against the Winnipeg Jets, which we will get to in a moment. But they have the talent to do so
upfront. They have the defense. They have the pieces there. Jack Eichol cannot be understated
in all of this. He had a slow start in that series against Winnipeg. He has since woken up as well
and is, you know, emerging against the gamer that the Golden Knights wanted him to be. I think for
this team, you know, as all those pieces keep clicking and La Jamba, swa La Jamba, does a good
job in net. This could go seven. They could win it. But if you're Edmonton, just with the pieces
that you have Leon Dreyseido being as effective as he's been, Conor McDavid, we're not going to
we're not going to short site Conor McDavid at all. They have the firepower to go at it. That's
why I'm so excited about this series. There's so much that could happen. You know, one of the
things you didn't spell it about Vegas that I like is I really think first Cassidy is a great
coach and and he is, you know, I think that Sean threw a bit in the Winnipeg series.
Vegas is really well prepared, plays a structured game and you know Bruce has been there too. He was
all the way. He was coaching in a game seven of the Stanley Cup final in 2019. You know, for him
when first, he was Bruins came out on the bad end of it with St. Louis. But you know, he's he's
also got a lot of experience in these moments. And I think knows how to push the right buttons
with his team. And so this this is is a heavyweight series kind of thing to me. Like this is the
stakes are real because, you know, I don't know who you're going to be facing in the Western
Garmus final. But as I say, like I just feel like everybody left in this tournament is going to
have this feeling like I can we can do it. We can be the ones. And so I think it actually is going
to up some of the urgency in Brown too. I don't think we're gonna have as many mismatches as
sometimes if had in the past for some reason the second round sometimes has produced some one-sided
series. But certainly I don't see Evanton bag of shake shaping up that way and really
the way the other ones are lining up to I think it's going to be pretty competitive second round.
One team that will not be part of the second round is the Winnipeg Jets. They lose to the golden
Knights and Rick bonus. Obviously not happy about it with some of his comments said post game.
When he was brought up again to the media a couple days after that didn't really shy away
from those again. But some players like Blake Wheeler probably would have preferred that he kept
some of those feelings about his team in the background. Not sure if you saw Siege but Kevin
shovel day off not too long ago announced that a Rick bonus will be back for next season as head coach.
So I'm very intrigued about the direction that they will go. Connor Hellebuck has mentioned that
he's not interested in any type of rebuild. If the Jets go there any obviously wants to compete.
There's a lot of questions that need to be asked of this Winnipeg Jets squad. What do you think of
of their exit? What do you think of of of bonuses questions? I don't know where you want to start
with this but we have to dissect this Winnipeg Jets team. Well you know what's interesting about
what Rick bonus said. It is interesting to be very candid and frustrated in the moments after their
loss in game five when he spoke to reporters briefly. He called out the top players and it's
something he did down the stretch of the season too. He didn't just say generally the team
disgusted him or whatever. He's without name and names he's pointing his flashlight at the big
money guys. Some of the guys that are going to have contractual situations on the horizon.
What will be interesting to see is these decisions don't all have to be made this summer. This is
really a summer 2024 issue for the Jets when it comes to Hellebuck's contract being up wheel or
shively Pierre Leu du Bois has one more year as restricted for agent. He needs a new contract now
but in theory could play his way out of time restricted for agency. But I think we're being
realistic. Kevin Cheveloff and the staff are going to have to work through at least some of those
decisions this summer. There's nothing to say that couldn't bring all those players back and then
have the potential of Max Exodus in for agency a year from now or maybe bring some of those
players back and think of what traded him at the deadline as rentals. There's a lot of different
things on the table but it stands out to me that he's calling out the top guys and some of those
top guys are the ones whose futures are murky. I wonder about Hellebuck in particular just because
he is such a great goaltender and those players. Gold is like him don't typically change teams too
often. I just wonder if he's someone that they can convince that they're on a path to keep around
because he couldn't have been more clear that he wants to win a Stanley Cup. And something the Jets
don't want to win a Stanley Cup but I think there's a debate about what the path is for them from
where they are right now if they're going to have to take a step back before trying to surge forward.
Man, I'm just trying to picture Connor Hellebuck at a different jersey. Like what if what if like
the Pittsburgh peg was for example they've already been married to the contracts they've given to
some of their big guns they try to make a deal for Connor Hellebuck as an example or or what if a
team like maybe like a team like New Jersey for example. Yes, they have a key rich image who's
doing really well in this postseason. What if they say you know what give him more time to be the
backup move out VTech Vantage Act Connor Hellebuck goes there. I know I'm just kind of just spit
balling here. I'm not looking at the cap friendly pages and all that but like if Connor Hellebuck says
you know what get me out of here like that would be a very very interesting trade list for this guy.
It would and look anyone who would be acquiring him or even if it's Winnipeg thinking about extending
him you're probably you're probably paying him 10 million bucks on the next contract right. Like
you're probably taking him into the sort of stratosphere that you know Kerry Price has been
or you know Sergei Babrowski or not that kind of dealing for agency with Florida. I mean not a lot
of goalies get there. Seems like five to six million is kind of the range for players that are
above average at the position maybe not the superstars you know it's Vasilevsky I think is
in the eight million range. You know needless to say Connor Hellebuck probably has a case to be the
highest pay goal in a league or among the highest pay goal is in league depending on who's making
that call and so it's not necessarily the kind of contract Winnipeg would typically sign. I mean
we'll just have to see how it plays out you know at this stage there haven't really been
discussion so at this stage it's all conjecture but you're starting to see the lines being drawn
right. You got Connor Hellebuck coming out and saying these are the conditions I need to keep
wanting to play here. You've got you know certainly some questions still about the core group of that
team with with the head coach Rick bonus is going to be back by the way. Yeah as I mentioned yeah like
so he's going to be back and so yeah it'll be I think the potential for fireworks in Winnipeg is
real you know we'll see what happens with your Calgary Flames there. Oh boy that's a that's a whole
other thing in itself. That's what I'm saying. If we get into that we're not going to have time.
Another another team that's got some questions you know Vancouver you know maybe some of the
heats off Toronto but there's big decisions of summer nonetheless so it's going to be going to be
a newsy summer in the the Canadian NHL cities and Winnipeg's probably the hottest destination with
the most potential chaos. I have to say though when we're talking about the Winnipeg Jets and
their core Mark Schifley and Blake Wheeler those are two names whose futures are going to be up in
the air you know whether the team puts it out that way or a fan speculated about it like one thing
that kept seeing a lot from Jets fans is that they're fed up of the core they're tired of this
team they're tired of everything that they've endured. If you're looking at changes how do you
not look at those two players who have been around this team as long as they have and and they have
I guess some of the more mercurial personalities in that locker room like you look at the core
those two faces in particular yeah I know how Connor and Connor and Hellebucker there but Schifley
and Wheeler are two of the faces you notice. Well the players have a say too right I mean both of
them have the option just to play out a year and go to unrestricted for agency I mean Wheeler is
much older he's he's probably at the stage of his career where he's looking to go player for a true
you know absolute contender because he doesn't know many years he has left so I don't think it'd
be all surprising to see him move on at the end of his deal if the Jets don't move him beforehand.
Schifley's a little different proposition he was the first ever draft pick and the rebooted Jets
and has been a core member of the team and has been a productive member of the team
for a long time but does he want to continue in that or not and and it feels like a little bit of a
a strained marriage I'd say at times you know which you know I make this point a lot but I think
people should understand that's not always a bad thing like like there's a lot of pressure on
people in sports and you know sometimes that strain comes from you know both sides maybe having a
different view of how to get the job done but it's because it's because the care is there right it's
not it's not to say it's a bad thing I just I guess what I mean is it's not all sunshine roses and
happy days when you're when you're in the kind of fishbowl that that pro athletes are and sometimes
that the GMs and coaches that interact with them but yeah I I don't know I don't know how that's
gonna shake down a shift remembering was pretty honest a year ago but seemingly wondering about
his future there you know I think that you'll probably get some resolution I if you're not
extending him I would think at some point this summer you're probably looking to trade him if he
doesn't want to sign an extension I mean that'll be an interesting call but but not a lot of players
in his position end up playing out that final year in their market I mean look David Pastry next
started this year in Boston without a contract they got that deal done it's it certainly happened but
I'm not sure that the the level of distraction that that would bring about might not be worth it for
everyone involved the player and the team anything else you want to add about the jets before you
run to your flight no I think I'm I think I'm good man I'm I'm running low on fumes here there's
not a lot of gas in the tanker yeah yeah I could tell that's why for normally we would do the the
first episode of the week would be ask CJ we're gonna move all the questions and stuff to Thursday
so we're gonna take all that on that day and some other hockey news as it comes along you get
yourself some rest as soon as you can get it my man a great coverage during the first round of this
series for the Leafs looking forward to more of your coverage in round two and of course war of
these episodes of the CJ show but man yeah it's it's an awesome time of year I don't want to seem
like I'm complaining it's just been a few nights of three hours sleep one after another yeah seriously
get yourself some sleep and for everyone watching and listening subscribe to the podcast however you
consume the podcast and again Thursday we will have asked CJ as opposed to the episode you're
listening to right now for CJ I'm Julian so long in peace the Chris Johnston show
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