Happy Hour Ep. 6 - Alex DeBrincat Trade?
Happy Friday! Welcome to the From Center Ice Happy Hour where I'm here to wind down your week.
We still have the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Calder Cup Playoffs to talk about.
There has also been some coahing news, contract extensions, and NHL award winners.
Also - The Chicago Blackhawks are trading Alex DeBrincat?
Join me for Happy Hour to talk about It all!
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Full Podcast Transcript:
00:10
Welcome to From Center Ice the podcast. My name is Courtney. And Happy Friday, everybody!
00:16
Since it is Friday, this is the From Center Ice Happy Hour, and I do have House Wine with me once again. It is still Pride Month, of course. so Happy Pride! I still got my jersey back here behind me that Jonny Rockford designed for me. And I have some nice rainbow ice cream cones on my shirt today, as well as my House Wine. So we're going full out for Pride month here on From Center Ice, and especially on the Happy Hour because why not? That's the best way to be, really.
00:53
Let me take a sip there.
00:56
If you are new to the From Center Ice Happy Hour, this is a one hour podcast every Friday evening. I'm here to wind down your week and talk about what has gone on in the hockey world over the past week. And, of course, we are still in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Calder Cup playoffs in the American League. So there will be a lot of playoff talk once again.
01:21
But as we are getting closer and closer to the off-season, there is more to talk about in regards to teams who aren't still in the playoffs. So, maybe a bit more of variety this week than we have seen before.
01:36
But let's just jump into it, because there's a lot to talk about on this Friday.
01:41
And of course we will start with the NHL playoffs. And we will start in the East as always and work our way West.
01:51
So, the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. That series has not gone final yet in the Eastern Conference Final. But the series is led 3-1[*two] by the Tampa Bay Lightning. When we checked in with it on Monday for the Cozy Cast, it was led 2-1 the Rangers. But the series shifted back to Tampa. Tampa won both games at home. And then they came back to New York yesterday for game five and Tampa took that game as well.
02:24
So game four, which was the second game in Florida, Tampa one that won 4-1. And then when they shifted to New York, they won game five 3-1. So, New York is in a tough spot here. They had some injuries. Ryan Strome was injured in game three, but he did come back in game five. He did not play game four. And Filip Chytil, the Center on that kid line, was injured in the second period of game four when he had a collision with Victor Hedman along the boards.
03:04
They were both going for a loose puck on the half wall. Filip Chytil was sandwiched in between Victor Hedman and the glass and boards there. Thankfully, like I said in my recap video of that game, it was unlike most of the hits along the boards that we have seen and then gone on to talk about. Because it wasn't a dirty play by Victor Hedman. So that's nice, I guess. We shouldn't really have to congratulate somebody for having a clean play. But at this point in the postseason, it seems like we have to. Because there have been a lot of dirty plays. But Filip Chytil was injured on that play. I don't know exactly what happened. I tried to watch it a few times to see, but I couldn't figure it out.
03:54
But he came back for game five as well. So they had their top centers. But New York just couldn't get the offense rolling. They did look better than they did in game four, which was good for them. In game four, Tampa was really good at shutting down the middle of the ice. And when Emily Kaplan talked to head coach, Jon Cooper, during the game he said that's what they had focused on shutting down the center of the ice, not letting New York cut through and get to the net or get passes across. And they executed that very well. In game five, New York was able to get more going offensively they were getting those passes through the center of the ice. Well, some of them. But a lot more than in game four. And they were able to drive to the net a bit more. So they were getting chances, but then Vasilevskiy did Vasilevskiy things.
04:55
I think in game five, it really came down to him more than the rest of the Tampa Bay team. Of course, they played well, they were able to come out and get the win. But I think Vasilevskiy had to come up with more big saves in game five than he has maybe in the previous four games. So good for him, I guess. Frustratingly. Annoyingly.
05:24
And then I woke up today and saw people on Twitter, talking about a sucker punch.
05:33
I'm going to take a sip here before this.
05:38
And I thought I had missed something during the game. Because I didn't see anybody dish out a sucker punch on the ice there. But it wasn't a part of the game. It was after the game. And a, I don't even know if he was really a Rangers fan or just somebody who was at the game because it's something to do and they are far in the playoffs. But he turned around as they were leaving and just sucker punched a lightning fan. And then he was on the ground, and a bunch of other fans who were there surrounded him trying to see if he was okay.
06:23
And I guess somebody else followed the guy who dished out said disturbing, disgusting sucker punch and tried to, I don't know, tried to keep him there until they could get security or something. And the guy ended up punching him as well.
06:44
From the updates that I saw, both guys seem to be stable and are okay. And the guy who did it has been arrested. So there's that they caught him at least.
06:56
But I don't understand.
07:01
Why?
07:03
I mean, hockey is a very emotional sport. We've all felt very strong emotions while watching our team.
07:14
But there is no situation where, because of the outcome of a game, I will say because some people can be just gross and taunty and say horrible things. And they probably don't deserve to get Sucker Punched either, depending on what they say. But there is no situation where because of the outcome of a game, where it is acceptable to just sucker punch a fan of the opposing team, just because your team lost.
07:48
I shouldn't even have to say that. Nobody should have to say that. That should be common sense right there. But apparently, it's not.
08:00
Of course, we don't know the full story here.
08:04
But who knows? We don't know the full story. But that's just, it's not okay.
08:14
And seeing as he went on to punch somebody else who tried to stop him till they could get security, I'm going to sit here and assume that it was just severe rage because of the outcome of the game and not because the other dude provoked it in any sort of way. He was just an innocent lightning fan. If that's not the case, then I'm sure we will learn about it later.
08:44
But y'all, it is not that serious. It is a game. Do we have to go back and quote, legendary goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov? Why you have to be mad? It's only game.
09:02
Like, people.
09:07
Of course, there are meatheads in every single fan base. And it's people like that, who give fans a bad name, not just Rangers fans, but just fans in general sports fans. People like that give fans a bad name because that is not acceptable in any way. And it's never okay. And there's never an outcome of a game that justifies that happening.
09:37
Which just sounds ridiculous to me as it's coming out of my mouth just having to say those words because again, that just seems like common sense, even though, and I'm going to take another sip here.
09:53
I say that for the people just listening on audio. So it's not just random dead air. Of course if you're watching this on YouTube, you can see that I am taking a sip, but if you're just listening, then it's just a random spot of dead air.
10:09
But it's,
10:11
It's just crazy to me that somebody would think this is what I am going to do right now. Because there's a fan of the opposing team that just beat my team in a hockey game. I'm going to turn around and just sucker punch them and knock them out.
10:35
What? What?!
10:37
Again, we have all felt very strong emotions when it comes to hockey, or any other sport. We have laughed, we have cheered, I have cried, I'm assuming a lot of people listening may have shed a tear or two when it comes to something related to hockey, maybe not everybody.
10:59
And we have screamed, we have yelled. So many different emotions. But, while emotions are good and healthy and okay, it is not good when it crosses the line into assaulting somebody.
11:40
I don't know if more will come out about this later. But as of right now, I'm just glad that they are okay. And I guess we will see if he faces anything criminally he was arrested but we we will see I guess.
11:55
But let's move out West now. Where we had the Western Conference Final between the Colorado Avalanche and the Edmonton Oilers.
12:05
And Colorado pulled out of the brooms for the second time this postseason, and they swept the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 in the series. Game four went to overtime and Colorado won 6-5 in overtime. It was a crazy game.
12:27
Artturi Lehkonen got the game winning goal. For the second year in a row, getting the game winning goal to send his team to the Stanley Cup final. Of course last season he was with the Montreal Canadiens, and he scored the game winning goal in Game Six, I want to say, against the Vegas Golden Knights to send them to the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. And Montreal only won one game there against Tampa. It was quite the magical run for the Canadiens until the very end of there.
13:03
But wow, what a game that was. It was not looking good for the Colorado Avalanche for a while in that game. But then the third period started. They scored something like three goals tied it up. And I think it went back and forth again. But then it finally went to overtime. Zach Kassian got the goal to tie it up to send it to overtime, I believe. Now if I'm recalling this correctly. This game feels like it was already 10 years ago and we haven't talked about it since Cozy Cast Monday.
13:43
Time is weird in the playoffs, especially when there's so few teams left.
13:49
But yeah, went to overtime. Didn't take too long for Lehkonen to get the goal. They reviewed it to see if it was a high stick, and it wasn't. He knocked down a shot from Cale Makar from the point, and Mike Smith made the initial stop. But Lehkonen stayed with the play, grabbed the rebound, and while Mike Smith was stretched out, he just put it around him for a good goal. And oh, so happy to see them get that sweep there. Because game four, Evander Kane was suspended for that one for injuring Nazem Kadri with that cross check into the boards.
14:34
Kadri had surgery on his hand.
14:39
And Bednar and Kadri are hoping that he can come back for the Stanley Cup final, which is just crazy to me if that's the case.
14:49
But Evander Kane was suspended for that one, and I really just didn't want to deal with him in game five on Wednesday, so I was hoping Colorado did get the sweep done. We don't have to deal with Kane anymore. And I feel like if this series had gone on longer, then there would be a lot more injuries that came.
15:12
There were already way too many.
15:16
Especially on the Edmonton side, and Colorado was heading in that direction as well. Of course, Darcy Kuemper's injury started flaring up again. I don't know if it was ever confirmed what it was. I think everybody's just assuming it was the eye injury from taking this stick to the eye in round one. I'm not sure if that was ever confirmed or not, now that I think about it.
15:40
But you had Darcy Kuemper go down in game one. So Pavel Francouz came in as the Savior and won the series. The Western Conference Final. Came in and won. What a good story that was. And then you had Nazem Kadri go down with the thumb injury, getting surgery.
16:01
Andrew, not Andrew. Andre Burakovsky getting injured blocking shots, he missed a little bit of time.
16:11
Andrew Cogliano, had hand surgery as well from blocking a shot. And I think that was in game four.
16:21
And Bednar's hoping that he can come back for the Stanley Cup final as well.
16:26
So you have Kadri and Cogliano getting hand surgery and maybe playing in the Cup final, which is madness. And I'm guessing they're hoping the Eastern Conference Final goes to seven games so these guys can have some more time to heal up there.
16:43
But yeah, that series was a sweep. I don't know if anybody would have guessed that coming into it. Seeing as how handedly Edmonton . . . handled . . . the Calgary Flames.
17:00
Of course, the kings in the first round took them to seven games, and the Flames just kind of rolled over and died, and then Colorado swept them. So, it was a strange postseason for the Edmonton Oilers. Which, I mean, they are just convinced that Mike Smith is the answer in net so it shouldn't be a surprise that anything about them is confusing and interesting because that especially is. And he's still under contract for next season. I think Mikko Koskinen's deal is finally up. That horrible contract that Peter Chiarelli inked him to before getting fired.
17:45
But they still have Mike Smith on contract for one more year. So I don't know if they're gonna roll with him as the number one starter. If they're gonna go out and get goaltending help, and have maybe a 1a, 1b situation because I don't see them demoting him to full time backup.
18:08
Even though maybe that would be the best case. And he's just an interesting goaltender.
18:17
He'll come out and have absolutely fantastic, absolutely fantastic games. Elite goaltending on the ice, not allowing anything.
18:28
And then he will just be really bad. And we saw that in game four here.
18:36
You pretty much had the full spectrum of Mike Smith throughout this series with Colorado. Of course, he couldn't get a win since Edmonton got swept. But maybe he deserved a win in game three.
18:51
But he didn't get it. Because that's hockey. That's how it goes sometimes.
18:55
And then in game four, he was really shutting them down again. Then there were just some weak goals that go in, and his team loses.
19:06
That's the Mike Smith experience, I guess.
19:08
But to wrap that up, I have the top 10 scorers for the Edmonton Oilers throughout the playoffs, not just for this series, but I do have this series stats for the top 10 guys.
19:23
First up, of course, Connor McDavid. He played 16 games, so all of the games for the Oilers in the postseason. He had 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points. Just ridiculous. In this series against Colorado, he had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points.
19:45
Second is Leon Draisaitl. He played 16 games. So again, all of the games. He had 7 goals, and 25 assists for 32 points in the postseason. So only one less than McDavid. But in this series against Colorado he only had 6 assists. He did not register a goal, which I found interesting.
20:10
Third, you have Evander Kane. He only played 15 games, of course being suspended for that game four. He had 13 goals and 4 assists for 17 points. He led the team in goals in the post season. And in this series with Colorado, he had 1 goal and 1 assist.
20:30
Up next is Zach Hyman. He played all 16 games for the Edmonton Oilers in the postseason. He had 11 goals and 5 assists for 16 points. And in this series with the Colorado Avalanche, he had 3 goals and 1 assist. A great post-season for Zach Hyman. And now that their run is over and I don't have to worry about Evander Kane going all the way and winning the cup, I can fully appreciate how well Zach Hyman played. And I can be happy for him since he left the Toronto Maple Leafs in the offseason as a free agent. Just, what a postseason for the guy.
21:13
Up next, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He played all 16 games. He scored 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points. In this series against the Colorado Avalanche he had 2 goals and 1 assist.
21:27
Next up is Evan Bouchard. He played all 16 games. And he had 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points. In this series against Colorado, he had 1 assist.
21:42
Next up Kailer Yamamoto. He played, Let's see, I didn't mark down his games played because of course. But he had 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points throughout the postseason. And he had 1 assist in this series against Colorado. Of course, he was injured. Oh, what game was that? Game two or game three? When he took a hit in the middle of the ice from Gabriel Landeskog. So he didn't play the full series against the Avalanche.
22:19
Up next Cody Ceci. He played all 16 games. He had 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points. And in this series against the Avalanche, he had 0 points. So all seven of those coming in the first two rounds.
22:35
Number nine is Darnell Nurse. He played 15 games for the Oilers, scoring 2 goals and adding 4 assists for 6 points. And in this series against Colorado, he racked up 3 assists.
22:51
And last, but not least, at number 10 We have Tyson Barrie. He played all 16 games. He had 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in the postseason. And in this series with the Avalanche, he had 1 assist.
23:10
Which brings us to the man in net. And I only have Mike Smith because Mikko Koskinen just kind of played spot duty there to Smith. But Mike Smith played all 16 games. He went 8-6. Had a .913 save percentage and a 3.37 goals against average. And in this series against the Avalanche, he ended with an .870 to save percentage. So that severely brought his save percentage down, which was looking very good after the series against the Calgary Flames
23:53
Because they definitely made him look a lot better than maybe the other two teams that they faced did, being the LA Kings and of course, the Colorado Avalanche.
24:06
So those are your point leaders for the Edmonton Oilers this 2022 post season.
24:14
But I'm sorry, Oilers, you have been eliminated.
24:19
Now, they did have a lot of injuries. And, Holland, their GM went over the injuries at the end of the season. They had five to seven minor injuries that he didn't name. But then you have Darnell Nurse was playing with a torn hip flexor, which just blows my mind because if you have ever injured your hip flexor or maybe strained it from working out too hard, that pain is horrendous. So I can't even imagine having a torn hip flexor and going out there and playing hockey with it. Just Oh, reading that one more than any of the other ones. just made me shudder because so awful.
25:13
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a shoulder injury. Jesse Puljujarvi had a shoulder injury. Yamamoto was in concussion protocol after that hit by Gabriel Landeskog.
25:26
And, of course, that brings us to Leon Draisaitl, who was playing with a high ankle sprain that he suffered in the first round against the Kings. And in those last two games, games three and four, you could really, really see him struggling. He did take a hit in game three by Nathan MacKinnon. Some people called it a slew foot, I'm not going to argue one way or the other. But after that, he was definitely not the same in game three. And then in game four, the guy could barely move. He was out there and he got a lot of minutes. But he could barely move. And you can tell he was in so much pain. And there was one play where he was out there hobbling on the ice, and then his defenseman tried to dump the puck deep into the offensive zone, but it hit Draisaitl in the back or the rear end. And so he took that shot. So he was in pain from that while dealing with his ankle. And oh my goodness.
26:43
You saw a lot of takes on Twitter, calling him gutsy and saying what an effort by Draisaitl. And he's better than most of the NHL on one leg. And while yeah, maybe all of that is true. I don't like the fact that he played with such a bad injury that was ailing him so bad. He could barely move around on the ice as one of the better skaters in the NHL.
27:21
Like, you get why these guys do it. Because hockey players are always praised for playing through injury, and for coming out there and putting it all on the line. And even when they're injured, they want their team to win. So they're out there no matter what.
27:41
But at the end of the day, you have to think about the well being of these players, especially going forward. And Draisaitl is still a young guy, much like Connor McDavid, which is crazy to think about because they are two of the best players in the NHL. Connor McDavid, probably the best player in the world. And Draisaitl's right up there. He's incredible.
28:12
But watching him play through those injuries is just kind of sad. And I don't like it because you want him to be fully rested and fully healthy coming into next season. Because his health is more important than a game. But it seems like a lot of players and maybe teams and team doctors don't see it that way. And they think cup over anything.
28:45
But you have to think of their livelihoods. And playing on an injury like that can just make it a lot worse, and extend the healing time that he's going to need to get back to 100%.
29:02
So I don't know, I don't like it.
29:06
And I hate seeing takes online talking about how gutsy he is and how wonderful that performance is on one leg. And like, yeah, it's impressive that he continued to play so well with a high ankle sprain and barely being able to move and still setting guys up left and right for goals. But he shouldn't have been playing because he should have been healing.
29:36
And I know this is not a popular opinion and people are people are going to say that's hockey. It's a tough sport. And you know, the good old days when guys would play through absolutely anything, because it's all about the cup.
29:56
But it's not.
30:38
And maybe you'll say yes. And maybe the players would say yes, but I would argue that that's just what's been hammered into them by hockey culture. And we all know that hockey culture is severely flawed.
30:52
And I don't know, the the older I get, and the more I grow up, I just hate seeing guys play through these things.
31:05
Because their health is more important than anything. And maybe they don't think of it that way. And they probably don't, because they're hockey players. And again, it's been beaten into them since they started playing that this is the most important thing to win the Stanley Cup, and lay it out all on the line, and you're weak if you use injuries as an excuse.
31:35
But then what happens after hockey?
31:38
And we've seen way, way too many guys go on to not live as long of lives as they should, because of the toll that this game and these injuries and these repeated head hits and the use of painkillers because of what they put their body through. We've seen them lead lives that aren't as long as they deserve. So it's just something to think about. I know most people won't agree with me and a lot of people say put it all out there on the line because cup over everything. And that's winning is the most important.
32:26
But at the end of the day, it's a game. It's a sport, and you have real human beings leaving real lives and that's what is the most important is these guys livelihood after the game.
32:45
But saying that, hopefully Leon Draisaitl is able to heal up and be 100% after this offseason come back to Edmonton next year and just have a another amazing season. And I'll move on from that.
33:03
The other news out of Edmonton is that the Oilers would like to keep Woodcroft as their coach, and they would also like to bring back Evander Kane. So there's that.
33:20
They would have been a lot easier to root for had they not gone out and signed Evander Kane this season after he was let go from San Jose for his various problems. They became a lot more unlikable after that. And it was hard to fully appreciate the just amazing performance and run put in by Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl. Unfortunately, with his injury, because next to them, you had Evander Kane, and I'm not gonna go into everything about his history and what he's done recently, but the guy is just impossible to root for.
34:13
So that really sucked. It would have been a lot more fun to watch this run by the Oilers, had they not had him, and maybe they wouldn't have gotten this far if they didn't. But with how dominant McDavid and Draisaitl were, I think they probably could have made it to where they did. They were already unlikable as a team because they have Mike Smith in net, at least for me. Because I've been very vocal about not liking Mike Smith.
34:46
But they came became even more unlikable when they went out and signed Evander Kane, so we'll see if they end up bringing him back or which team does inevitably end up signing him in the offseason.
35:04
We'll see.
35:06
But the Stanley Cup final is coming up very quick. There was a tweet from Kristen Shilton of ESPN today saying, "The Stanley Cup final will officially begin either June 15 or June 18. Depends on the outcome of Game Six tomorrow between Tampa and New York. And if that series will require a game seven. Final starts in Denver either way."
35:34
So if New York wins Game Six, it will start on June 18. If Tampa closes out the series tomorrow, it will start June 15. And it's crazy to think that we have the Stanley Cup final so soon, but it's coming up. And now we will move past the Stanley Cup playoffs. And usually I cover Blackhawks news next, but this time I'm going to cover NHL news first and you will see why.
36:04
But we have news that dropped very recently, and that is the Buffalo Sabres are going to be retiring Ryan Miller's number 30 next season next season. They are going to put it up in the rafters. And I think people forget how great of a goaltender Ryan Miller was in his prime. So, he played 11 of his 18 seasons with Buffalo after being a fifth round pick in 1999. He went to 284-186-56 with Buffalo and he had 1 tie, because there used to be ties in the NHL before the shoot out and all of that. He is the leader in wins for the Buffalo Sabres. He is second in shutouts for the Sabres with 28. The number one goaltender for shutouts with the Sabres is Dominik Hasek with 55.
37:09
And it's crazy to me that Ryan Miller is the leader in wins, but there's such a discrepancy between shutouts with him and Hasek. It's kind of funny.
37:19
Ryan Miller won the Vezina trophy in 2009-10 season he went 41-18-8 that season with a 2.22 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. He was also a Silver Medal Olympian and 2010. Of course, surrendering the golden goal to Sidney Crosby, who most people say that is their favorite goal in international hockey, if they're Canadian.
37:54
In that Olympics, he was named MVP of the tournament, despite losing that gold medal game, and had a 1.35 goals against average and a .946 Save percentage, which is crazy.
38:12
Ryan Miller is 14th on the NHL wins list, only one ahead of Dominik Hasek. And he's the all time leader for wins among US born goaltenders. So that's just crazy. All of this info coming from an article on nhl.com about his jersey number retirement. So go check that out.
38:36
In the NHL as a whole, he played 796 games. He had a record of 391 wins 289 regulation losses and 88 Overtime losses. He ended his career with a 2.64 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. In the playoffs, he was there for seven different seasons. He played 57 playoff games had a record of 28-27 had a 2.52 goals against average and an .813 save percentage. He played three seasons at Vancouver, four seasons in Anaheim, but most of his career was spent with the Buffalo Sabres. So that's exciting news that they will be retiring his number next year.
39:30
We have more NHL awards that were given out. And, apparently, there's going to be an NHL award show on June 21. Even though we are getting all of the award winners revealed before then, so I don't know exactly what the awards show will be for. They're usually pretty cringy broadcasts. But now that we know the winners, I can only assume it will be even worse. So I'm not sure why exactly they are having a full show, but they are.
40:07
We have the King Clancy award winner, that being P.K. Subban this year. And that award is given to the player or players who best exemplify leadership qualities on and off the ice and have made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to their community.
40:27
And there is an nhl.com article by Jon Lane talking about P.K. Subban winning. And it says, quote, "He has been committed to racial and social justice, underserved youth, COVID 19 relief, and youth hockey. In 2014, while playing for the Montreal Canadiens, he created the P.K. Subban Foundation. And in September of 2015, he pledged $10 million over seven years to the Montreal Canadian Children's Hospital. Subban also founded Blueline buddies in 2017 while playing for the Nashville Predators, a program that aims to bridge the gap between law enforcement and local youth. He hosted a virtual meet and greet with participants prior to every Devils home game this season."
41:18
And a quote from Subban that was also in that same article is, "Being in Newark and driving to Newark every day and being in that community, you understand that playing for the New Jersey Devils, you are a leader. You're a role model in the community and specifically to the African American community. And I wanted to do something a little bit more specific," Subban said regarding his Blueline Buddies program.
41:44
So congratulations to P.K. Subban. I know a lot of people don't like him on the ice. But off the ice, he is really invested in the communities that he plays in and he does a lot of good work. So congrats to P.K. Subban there.
42:01
We also have the winner of the Lady Byng trophy which is given to the player who best combined sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and ability. And this year that was given to the Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor. There is also an article on nhl.com by John Lane about him, and it lists his his stats and his accomplishments this season. So he played 79 games for the Winnipeg Jets. He only had two minor penalties, and he had a career high in goals with 47. A career high insists in assists with 46 and a career high end points with 93. Kyle Connor also led the Jets forwards in ice time with an average time of ice time on ice of 21 minutes and 47 seconds per game. And he was 12th in the NHL in takeaways with 66. So congrats to Kyle Connor up there in Winnipeg.
43:12
In other NHL news, Chris Driedger, goaltender for the Seattle Kraken, will miss the start of next season. He was with Team Canada in the World Championship. And he suffered a torn ACL in the third period of Canada's 4-3 overtime loss to Finland in the championship game. And he's going to need seven to nine months to recover from this injury. So Chris Driedger's out to start the regular season. And we have a lot of guys injured to start the season, especially out there in Boston, but now Chris Driedger as well.
43:53
And then we have some contract extensions.
43:56
With the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jack Roslovic extended his contract for two years at $4 million average per year. He's 25 years old. He was involved in that trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Winnipeg Jets, and then Columbus in return got Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic. And Roslovic is a Columbus and native he was born there. This season with Columbus, he played 81 games, he had 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points. And overall with Columbus, he's played 129 games, scoring 34 goals and 45 assists for 79 points. He's been a pretty impactful player for Columbus since coming over in that trade. And, of course, being a native to the Columbus area. It's cool for him to stick around and be such an important player on that roster. So two more years for the 25 year old forward there.
45:01
In Dallas, they extended Denis Gurianov for one year at $2.9 million. He is also 25 years old. This season with Dallas, he played 73 games, he scored 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points. But in the playoffs, he played five games and scored zero points. So I'm sure with only extending him for one year, they're kind of giving him a prove-it contract, seeing what he's really worth after this year, but it'll be interesting to see where Dallas goes with their roster construction.
45:43
They have a lot of guys who are older, and they also have a lot of youth. So I don't know. Dallas is quite the interesting team to keep your eye on.
45:54
They also gave Alex Petrovic a contract extension, but this was more of an American Hockey League deal as he's been in the AHL the past couple seasons.
46:07
They only extended him for one year at $750,000. Depth defenseman should there be an injury. He's 30 years old, and with the Texas stars this year, he played 71 games, he scored 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points. And in the playoffs, he registered 1 assist as the IceHogs swept the Texas stars.
46:32
And I best remember, or know, Alex Petrovic for being the guy who broke Patrick Kane's collarbone before the 2015 playoffs which allowed the Blackhawks to go out and get Antoine Vermette with that cap space.
46:51
So thank you to him, I guess. But that is what I best remember him for.
46:57
Before I started recording this, like right before I started recording this, there was other news out of Dallas. And that is they traded Ben Bishop and a seventh round pick to the Buffalo Sabres, for future future considerations. Future considerations have been on the move a lot this hockey season, between the NHL and the American League. But of course, they are only trading Ben Bishop's contract, as he quote unquote, retired due to injury there. So they traded his contract and a seventh round pick this draft for future considerations to Buffalo.
47:42
But maybe the biggest news coming out of the NHL is that the Boston Bruins fired their head coach Bruce Cassidy.
47:54
And he's been the coach there for six seasons, the Bruins have made the playoffs all six years.
48:03
He was the coach that took them to the Stanley Cup final in 2019 that they lost to the Blues. He had a record of 245 wins 108 losses and 46 Overtime losses in the regular season and the playoffs he was 36 and
48:23
And they said that, while their GM said, "I just felt the messaging and the voice that was going to be required, I felt that we need needed a new direction."
48:39
And Sweeney also said that the feedback from the players factored into his decision.
48:46
And once the Bruins fired Cassidy, that basically lit a fire on hockey twitter saying my team should hire him. My team should hire him. Oh my goodness. And everybody wants Bruce Cassidy, but everybody also wants Barry Trotz. It's going to be a very interesting season, or offseason I should say, to see where all of these coaches end up.
49:11
Which brings me to Blackhawks news. And that's why I went over the NHL news first, because the Blackhawks are still currently searching for a head coach.
49:26
Apparently, Derek King still remains an option. And I just I hope beyond hope that he is not hired as the full time head coach. Because even though the Blackhawks are entering a full on rebuild, which we will get to in a few minutes, I know I only have about 10 minutes here left on this recording, but they need a coach who will instill a good work ethic and a good system for the kids in the lineup going forward and really be able to develop the youth that comes through this team. And Derek is not that guy.
50:31
He doesn't really take . . . what what am I trying to say here? He doesn't really admit when he's at fault.
50:45
He doesn't own up to a whole lot and take accountability, I guess is what I'm trying to say. And even though he may be funny, and tell jokes to the media, he really does throw his players under the bus and really shits on them.
51:14
Especially one where he was talking about MacKenzie Entwistle, telling him that he needs to play in his skill bracket.
51:24
And maybe he does think he's just making jokes and being funny, but they rubbed me the wrong way. And I know other people have thought the same thing. And maybe the players do as well. Or maybe they think he's just this great, funny, Uncle Derek, that's awesome.
51:42
But he doesn't have a system. He doesn't motivate his teams to come out and play hard.
51:50
And I don't know, if you want to hear all of my thoughts on Derek King, you can go back and watch the video when Jeremy Colliton was fired, and he was called up from the IceHogs to be the interim head coach. But I hope they just cut ties with him.
52:09
Bring in an actual NHL head coach that can instill some sort of system and motivate the players to go out and play even though this team is going to be rough for a while. And I also hope that Derek doesn't get sent back to Rockford, because Anders Sorensen and Peter Aubrey did a great job once he left. And the team started playing a lot better. So I hope he just stays far, far away from the IceHogs.
52:40
And I hope he has not given the head coach title in Chicago, because they can make all the roster moves they want and all the trades they want and all the signings they want, but it's not going to get any better as long as he is the coach.
52:54
So there's my rant on the coaching side.
52:58
And a lot of people have wanted Bruce Cassidy to come to Chicago. But one of the . . . one of the qualms I saw about him from Boston fans and people who follow the Bruins was he doesn't give young guys as fair of a chance. And while you do see that from a lot of different fan bases around the NHL, if that is true, then he's not going to be a good fit.
53:31
And I would assume he probably doesn't want to go to a rebuild after having success the last six years in Boston and getting to the playoffs every season and taking the Bruins to the final in 2019.
53:45
I wouldn't put my money on the Blackhawks landing and one of the bigger names in the offseason for the head coach spot being Bruce Cassidy or Barry Trotz.
53:58
But we'll see what happens.
54:00
As long as it's not Derek King, and as long as that doesn't mean Derek King goes back to the IceHogs then, yeah. It's gonna be a very interesting offseason for the Hawks which brings me to these Alex DeBrincat it trade rumors which have been increasing in number a lot recently.
54:26
You have some of the bigger guys in "hockey insider land" quote unquote, saying that DeBrincat is going to be traded and it's only a matter of when, and not if. You have that coming from Frank Seravalli. You have Friedman saying it. You have a lot of people saying that Alex DeBrincat is going to be traded. And I could see it happening. It probably will happen, and I just want everybody out there who is a Blackhawks fan to prepare themselves for that. Because it is going to suck. And it is going to hurt and it's going to be bad.
55:10
But this team seems to be going full tear down full rebuild. And if they are doing that, then they aren't going to be good while Alex DeBrincat it is in his prime. He is 24 years old right now. And that's still very young. But by the time they would be competitive, he could be 30, or close to 30 or pushing 30.
55:41
And maybe he is better served going somewhere else where they can be competitive and actually use his goal scoring and his skills. And again, I don't want Alex DeBrincat to be traded. I want to be able to watch him here in Chicago, because he was a fun player to watch. He's a great hockey player. And he has only gotten better in each of his seasons. Of course, you have the goal scoring. But he's a great penalty killer. He's really improved his two way game. And he's really becoming an elite star in the NHL.
56:21
And when it happens, because I'm now going to say when, not if, when it happens, it is really, really going to suck. So I need you all if you are a Blackhawks fan to prepare for that.
56:37
Because we all love watching Cat, and he's a likable guy, and always smiling and fun and great at hockey. And one of the reasons to tune into the Blackhawks when there are not many reasons to do so.
56:52
But if Kyle Davidson can make a good trade and get some great draft picks and prospects back, then you have to believe they are going to do something good with them. And we saw that trade with Brandon Hagel, where they sent him to the Tampa Bay Lightning, they got two first round picks for him and two young players.
57:20
And I have to think that if the Blackhawks trade Alex DeBrincat, which they don't have to they aren't pressed to do so. So they hold the advantage there. It's not like they're being forced to because of cap reasons or because he publicly requested a trade.
57:41
If, and or when, they trade him, we have to believe that Kyle Davidson will come out with a another big trade like that and bring in assets that will help the Blackhawks rebuild and become competitive down the road, which is what they seem to be wanting to do is to fully rebuild.
58:09
And it's going to be hard after last offseason and what Bowman did and was allowed to do before he was fired.
58:16
There's a lot of bad contracts on this team. And it's going to be difficult and there's going to be quite a few years that are tough to watch as a Blackhawks fan, but we have to hope that Davidson truly does have a plan and that Danny Wirtz is on board with it. And we are just going to forget about Rocky Wirtz.
58:44
So, yeah, Alex DeBrincat likely being traded either at the draft, I would say, or apparently Frank Seravalli said again today maybe at the trade deadline, which I really hope that's not the case because if we have to keep talking about this til the trade deadline, I am going to lose my mind.
59:05
But yeah, prepare yourselves for that.
59:08
In better news Jalen Luypen and his Edmonton Oil Kings have a 3-1 series lead over the Thunderbirds, of Seattle. Of course. They lost game one to them, but now they've won three straight. Game five is on Saturday and they have the chance to capture the WHL title and they have a shot at the Memorial Cup.
59:30
And in the playoffs so far for the Oil Kings Jalen Luypen has played 17 games. He has 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points. So that's awesome for him. And he's had 2 assists against the Thunderbirds so far. So congrats to Jalen and the Oil Kings. Hopefully they can get that next win and move on. That would be great.
59:55
But before we wrap up here, just a quick look at the AHL, because I know I am at one hour exactly here on the raw recording.
1:00:06
We are in the conference finals here as well.
1:00:09
And out East, we have the Springfield Thunderbirds, the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, taking on the Laval Rocket, the affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens.
1:00:18
And Springfield has a 2-1 series lead over Laval. They won Game Three 6-3. So it will we will see what happens there.
1:00:29
And then in the Western Conference Final we have the Chicago Wolves, of course, the affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes taking on the Stockton Heat, the affiliate of the Calgary Flames. And the Chicago Wolves have a 3-0 series lead there over Stockton. They won Game Two 3-2. And game three, Alex Lyon got a shutout, and they won 3-0. So they have a chance to sweep that series.
1:01:01
And let's just go over the schedule then.
1:01:04
Tonight, Friday night, in the American Hockey League we have game four between the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Laval Rocket. And we have game four between the Chicago Wolves and the Stockton Heat. With a win tonight Chicago wins the series and moves on to the Calder Cup Final.
1:01:27
On Saturday, we have game five between Springfield and Laval. If Springfield wins tonight on Friday, they have a chance to close out the series on Saturday. If Laval wins tonight, then they even up the series and it will continue past tomorrow.
1:01:45
And we also have game five if necessary between the Chicago Wolves and Stockton Heat tomorrow.
1:01:53
This weekend in the NHL, there are no games on tonight, which is strange.
1:01:59
But tomorrow, Saturday night, we have Game Six between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning down in Florida. Tampa has the chance to close out the series.
1:02:12
The Rangers really got to dig deep and find something within themselves to come back and battle and win game six and maybe game seven back at the garden.
1:02:22
So that is your schedule for this weekend.
1:02:25
That is the unfortunate part with being so late in the playoffs. There are less games on and only one NHL game this weekend.
1:02:33
But that will be all for this episode of The From Center Ice. Happy Hour. Thank you all so much for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed this episode.
1:02:45
I hope you've all had a great week. I hope you all have a great weekend.
1:02:50
We will see if we have these all of these three series left concluded by Monday for the Cozy Cast or if some of them will still be going.
1:03:03
And yeah, that'll be interesting to see for sure. Hopefully at least one of them is still going and that one being the one in the NHL here.
1:03:14
But yeah, thank you guys so much for tuning into this episode. If you want to find more From Center Ice, go to fromcenterice.com. There's links to all places, you can find this over there. If you are listening on a podcast app, please give me a rating and a review. I would appreciate that greatly. If you would like to watch on YouTube, but you are not you can do that. That is youtube.com/c/fromcenterice.
1:03:42
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1:03:53
If you want to follow us on social media, you can find the links for those platforms either in the description on YouTube or in the show notes on your favorite podcasting app.
1:04:05
And yeah, that's gonna do it for me in this one.
1:04:10
So, Happy Friday. Happy . . . Happy Hour.
1:04:15
Happy Pride.
1:04:16
And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
1:04:20
I will catch you on Monday in the From Center Ice Cozy Cast.
1:04:25
Bye guys.
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