Panther Pourri Stanley Cup Edition with Arda Öcal of NHL on ESPN

Arda Öcal of NHL on ESPN joins the show! That Star Wars shirt is a beauty isn’t it? We talk all things Star Wars, the Panthers Stanley Cup run so far, and Arda gives Netflix a great idea for what to do with Joey Chestnut.

hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Panther perie a Florida hockey Now podcast I your host Jacob langsam here with me as always are my co-hosts Alex Lopez and TJ Peterson and joining us today a very special guest from ESPN The One and Only Arda oal Arda how you doing today jent happy to be here uh I thought you might have invited me because I predicted the Rangers in a sweep uh and you guys just wanted to let me hear it uh which I am here to also accept uh and happy to tell the backstory behind that too because it wasn’t exactly like that but uh I did hear about that from Panthers fans I just want you all to know I’m sure we roasted you on our series post view what about what about that Rangers in four guys we didn’t though because that’s what we do after these series except for the ones where everybody picks them to win which fortunately this year there’s been two of them so relatively easy going but I remember that we I think that you had Panthers in six and you were the only one that had it right so I so yeah so I I all right let me pull the curtain a little bit here so I decid like predictions are hilarious first of all right like we all just agree that like we do them because they’re fun but then like if someone’s wrong you take them way too seriously just to troll people so like the first round I picked every series in a sweep every single one just just a troll go back and look the first round every single thing is a is a sweep and I was going to do that for the whole playoffs but then a couple people came to me and be like maybe you should take these a little more seriously and I was like all right fine I won’t you know do the bit so when we were talking on the drop uh with wish he brought it up he’s like so you just gonna pick the uh Rangers in a sweep now and I’m like yeah sure let’s commit to the bit and then that became like Panthers fans coming at me like oh so you’re you’re going in a sweep against us huh we’ll see and then as soon as the Panthers won game won three nothing they were like what happened to that sweet prediction huh and it was like you know what I gotta eat this I’m okay so that’s why I picked Panthers because I want I thought the Panthers win the series I picked them in six so so what I ended up doing was sweeps for round one in five for round two in six for round three and in seven for for the final so I just went up by one and nobody really noticed I also didn’t anything yeah yeah so I just just but luckily the Panthers one hit right so yeah that was perfect gotta pick seven games because ESPN’s got the cup final this year oh we would love seven games 100% 100% but it’ also be great for hockey fans right because it’s like not us well no no yes sorry it would be great for non Panthers and Oilers hockey fans sorry let me let me just be very very clearing your end in a sweep anyway like so you guys will be fine you guys are just fine you guys are cruising I was going to say I’m pretty sure Edmonton fans would love seven games right now yeah they would absolutely buddy buddy you win the first two games in the Stanley Cup Final you’re winning the cup 91% of the time crazy stat although I would be interested to see what happens to that stat when your first line Center goes down uh we still aren’t sure what the deal is with that there hasn’t been any official reports but before we get too deep Ara into the uh into the Stanley Cup Final talk there’s a more important question that we have for you because you Mr AR oal are also one of the hosts of ESPN’s never tell me the odds this is a very Star Wars friendly podcast oh join come come for you can see my lightsaber you can see my lightsaber in the background right there excellent I’m I’m looking at it right now excellent you’ll love to see it and by the way this shirt here for those watching in video this is the Panther Star Wars night collab uh shout out to adelyn and PR who’s one of the best PR people in the entire league oh yeah uh she gives us a lot of uh great players throughout the year and she’s just fantastic to work with I also I just texted her the other day and I said I have a mock drinking game every time I see her on the air because like she’s always she always seems to be like sandwiched in a position that you can’t get out of during an interview like there was one with I think it was Matthew kachu where she was just kind of in the corner and couldn’t get out of the shot because there was like things blocking her and I’m like you are right there and you were going to be stuck there for the duration of this interview and you are not going anywhere I think I think I noticed her going down the tunnel uh after the first period um on on uh on on Monday night yeah that was any I don’t typically play that game but I I did notice her she’s terrific but anyway she shout out to her for sending me this and I like to collect the Star Wars collabs across around league so this is the yeah the at at or the atat however you want to pronounce it for the Panthers that was going to be my first question is is it at or is it atat dude I lost this argument with uh my co-hosts Clinton Yates and Ryan McGee uh shows awesome uh Kelsey Pucket our producer uh they all believe that it is uh atat and I just trolled by saying at at and they just it just became this whole conversation I’m team atat yeah see AT-AT but at as a nickname sounds better I think like the correct pronunciation is AT-AT well it’s an acronym it sounds more appropriate like at at sounds like more work to say that’s the other problem like you have to think about saying at at you know you have to stop for a second at at so I I get it so I guess the the second question because Alex hijacked the first is we wanted to kick this off by asking you to rank the Star Wars movies and give us your preferred watch order oh my gosh uh the original trilogy uh so I’m a kid an 80s kid so the original trilogy will always have a special place in my heart so I’m in that zone where the original trilogy like this is obviously with Nostalgia glasses okay like I’m looking at it from my own personal Journey the original trilogy obviously was a big part of my childhood and I cared deeply about it I did not have the initial vitriol that a lot of people had for the prequels um I appreciated them for what they were so I was not one of those that was like oh this doesn’t feel right and you know the whole I was completely cool with them uh I’ve grown to appreciate the sequels even more watching them more and more um but I have loved the one-off movies like Rogue one I thought was terrific uh even solo was a lot of fun like I look forward to those and I got to be honest man like my favorite character period is Grand Admiral Thon like by a mile so if he’s a big part of the deep cut oh dude Thon is the absolute best like I I love the Timothy on books I was gonna ask if you oh dud he’s i i i he’s on my bucket list of people I want to meet and just talk to because I I Thon is such a deep character like we could talk about this for hours I actually did it not to drop any like not to be like flexing on people but like I did a TED Talk in October and Grand Admiral thraw was like a third of my TED talk like I like hockey was one a third of it and Grand Admiral Thon in Star Wars was another third it was very very random but but my point is if Thon is part is is the main villain or like one of the main villains in the upcoming Dave filon that uh time era movie like that Mandalorian era movie then I’m I might have a new favorite already like I’m so pumped for that yeah I I I mean I was so disappointed when we weren’t going to get the thraw Trilogy as the sequel trilogy and then they totally redeemed themselves by making him the main bad in Star Wars Rebels so I so good yeah I S A finish Rebels I’m behind on that so good so good and like like we have so many unanswered questions like after Ahsoka you’re like okay well what happened after they went to the unknown regions you know like to parid or wherever they were in like that 10-year time frame like there’s just so like I can’t wait there’s going to be more thraw Thon tent coming up I’m so pumped for that’s fantastic if you haven’t trademarked that you need to because that that’s fantastic Star Wars comes at be like hey we need this back we’re g to use this like what are you doing trademarking our stuff I mean I wonder if that’s taken as a Twitter handle yet uh oh good call just make it a thraw fan account and call it Thon tent yeah yeah I like it I I will say one of my favorite scenes in the entire the entirety of Star Wars is the the scene in Rebels Obi-Wan and Darth Maul’s last fight for as short as that is it’s like a 15 second scene it is genuinely one of the best lightsaber fights in the entire series I I love it but my issue with that fight is I needed Freddy Prince Jr to explain it to me and once he explained it to me and in a podcast hit he did now I’m like oh my God this is amazing but in the moment I didn’t get it and I’m I’m I mean I’m not a like a gigantic Star Wars fan where it’s like I know everything where like you know someone does a fighting stance and be like oh that’s obon oh that’s Luke that oh that’s you know Vader I can’t do that I’m not that much like into it even though I’d like to be but like I I needed that fight explained to me by someone who was and that’s how I got to appreciate it so I I I get where you’re coming from Jacob but like the fact that I needed it explained like just kind of takes it down a couple notches I will say this though like Star Wars is very good with catering to all levels of fandom like the Easter eggs are in abundance but even Leslie Hedland before the acolyte like she created the acolyte right and she essentially said no homework necessary you could start from Ground Zero as a Star Wars fan and you will appreciate this show and then honestly like the third episode as we’re recording this just dropped and like the first two episodes were terrific like the fight scenes are awesome you have like Carrie an MOS doing like Matrix callbacks like it’s like the coolest thing like I just love the aesthetic of it like there’s a lot to love about that and but but it but like to the point though like you can be a Star Wars fan at any varying degree where you already knew that about um you know you see 100 Easter eggs in an episode of Ahsoka or the Mandalorian and you’re getting Goosebumps about it or you just miss them on you know hear them after the fact whatever you know right yep fun May the force be with us May the force be with the Florida Panthers I take a moment I just want to take a moment to for all the fans that are listening to this right now that are strictly Florida Panthers and they are not Star Wars fans and they had to endure us talking like 20 minutes about Star Wars I’m fine with it I’m okay with it I just wanted to you specifically the Florida Panthers fan that is not a Star Wars fan thank you for for for getting to this point I promise you we’ll talk about Sasha barov and serge bski and everyone else but thanks for letting us talk about Ahsoka and you know the Mandalorian I think the the particular crosssection of our fan base the people who really listen to us they get it they’re they’re they’re us I mean the intro to our show Arta is the podcast where we’re supposed to talk Panthers hockey but sometimes you don’t they are the the people who listen to us regularly are they know the deal they know what’s going on so if you guys go to game if there’s a game five will you guys be throwing wamp Rats on the ice that’s a great call how we never made that how never we made that joke in how many years of doing this podcast that’s season eight yeah um I’m already executive decision when things settle down we’re having Arta on for an offseason podcast where we only talk Star Wars yeah yeah I’m in I’m in I’m so down we’ll get ember to do another video game podcast ARA to do a full Star Wars podcast Jameson to do a Collectibles podcast we we’ve got we’ve got a slate for the summer got a whole summer off season there you go so ARA the Stanley Cup Final you know the the whole reason we’re all here sure um heard Panthers are up to nothing and as you mentioned that is a 91 1% uh success rate we’ll say of going on to win the cup what have you seen from the Panthers in particular that’s really allowed them to get to this point two wildly different games stylistically uh each ending with the same with the same result so what what have you seen out of the Panthers what have you seen out of the Oilers where do you think we go from here uh Evan Rodriguez essentially stole all of the force from Conor McDavid uh in this series scoring three goals to the McDavid dry cidal combination of having none uh what I’ve seen this is why I believe that this series could honestly be a sweep and I don’t think people would bat an eye about it games one and two are very different game one I want to actually let me even rewind from that first thing I loved the I know that as fans we were clamoring for the Stanley Cup Final to start I loved the extensive break that both teams got because both teams started fresh yeah and you could tell they were rare into go in the first period of game one like they looked fast sharp and like honestly as far as sty Cup finals go like that’s what you want you want the two best teams or teams that earned it to be at their best at the height of their powers to to Duke it out to play for the most beautiful trophy in sports so I liked that as a neutral fan I loved that yeah and the Oilers threw their best punch they won in every statistical category they outshot they out chanced they out hit they out blocked they won more faceoffs they lost three nothing the Panthers made the most of their opportunities Sergey bosski was awesome the Oilers couldn’t solve Panthers win game one but the narrative after game one for a lot of hockey fans was well hold on if the Oilers continue to play like that for the rest of the series then the Panthers are in trouble so it was almost like a shaky Onin nice game one Victory which you don’t often yeah that’s not often The Narrative after a three nothing Victory but but you’re absolutely right that was a correct narrative I mean if you dive a little deeper you see some things the Panthers did well especially in the later half of game one to kind of not be as one-sided of a game that you know you just look at it and say oh hey Bob stole it I mean you still absolutely need to credit Bob for shutting out the Oilers and you know stopping a bunch of great a chances but at least the signs were there that hey the Panthers aren’t going to get steamrolled the whole series and need to steal four games to win to win it it was you know we were talking about it is the Panthers aren’t going to play this bad again like they’re not going to make them you know the sloppy mistakes they made in game one and game two they didn’t they you know no they was the complete opposite they they played amazing they won in every statistical category and they took it to the Oilers the Oilers couldn’t they scored on the first goal Hest soft goal the Sergey bossk’s first uh five hole goal this postseason right like he hasn’t let in a goal in the five hole I believe this whole postseason and then finally finally lets one in he’s let in the majority of his goals high that was the other thing in game one the Oilers couldn’t get a they did not get a high shot on goal they missed the net a few times high but they did not register a high shot on goal and in fact those two breakaways were I think it was left pad on boski and he made like The Identical save those two breakaways I was in the first right so in game two the Panthers just made the most of of the opportunities that they had and to it’s kind of funny so do you remember in the Rangers series where zabana Jad had that chance I think it was in game three where he hit the crossbar and a lot of Rangers game four sorry thank you thank you Alex uh so game four a lot of Rangers fans told me after that they felt that was the turning point and they even said it before the series was over they were like to us that’s when the powers of the Rangers sort of escaped their bodies it was like that was the the the the turning point of the series or sort of like the we don’t believe the Rangers will get out of this anymore kind of thing and to me you could make the same case for that McDavid Breakaway because he like beat out Matthew kachu okay like he like outmaneuvered him got the puck and couldn’t solve bosi let me ask you staying there for a second because I’ve seen a lot of Oilers fans complaining that that should have been a hooking penalty penalty shot I’ve watched that play a thousand times and yeah it was a bit unorthodox with kachuck literally sticking his stick in between uh mcdavid’s legs to kind of put a try to put a a clamp on McDavid stick I didn’t see a hooking there he doesn’t get the hands he gets right in the middle of the shaft and push and pushes down on this on the stick that’s not hooking that’s a good stick check in my view but you’re the neutral Observer even though you’re in a panther shirt for the night what did you think on that I’m pandering okay this is called cheap heat I’m pandering to the crowd all right people I also love the shirt uh I did not see it as a hook I didn’t study it I didn’t watch it a 100 times to to be very very clear I did not see it as a hook I will say this though if McDavid went down I think it would have been a different call yeah he probably would have gotten a penalty shot if the stick was between the legs and McDavid went down whether you and I’m not like saying like if whether it was a legitimate trip or whether it was a I don’t think McDavid is the type to embellish but like let’s just say he fell he he gets the Superstar call there whatever you would you would say in that moment referees either pointing to the pointing set of rce or or a power play yeah there was a similar moment in game one also where uh I think it was Zack Heyman with eblad defending him where it looked like eblad did get the stick in and had himman gone down before he attempted the shot I think there would have been a hooking call there too it was a similar moment but two different players so a very interesting I mean good on the Oilers for not for not just taking the easy Dives uh and good on the Panthers for you know playing strong enough defense in those situations where there aren’t you can’t NE necessarily just make those calls obviously and you’re preventing preventing the goals from from happening you’re actually disrupting the shot attempts with your stick that I mean that’s the type of defense that Panthers been playing all season also that stick first check second uh style led by barov specifically should we get into barov see like like speaking of speaking of referee like speaking of plays like this is what I’d like to say about this uh Leon dry cidal got uh less of a punishment than Joey Chestnut did today apparently he’s not out of the competition just yet they’re apparently they’re saying like no we actually do want him and they’re trying to work it out because if yeah Joey Chestnut is not there because he he he he accepted a sponsorship from a rival brand yep and the fourth of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest committee the people they will not have Joey Chestnut compete so long as he is still representing that other brand so live golf for the hot tug eating contest going on right now basic the craziest situation there unbelievable it is Joey Chestnut though like you can’t have it without Joey Chestnut I’m sorry it’s true he’s he’s the goat he’s the LeBron he’s the Michael Jordan the LeBron James the Conor McDavid the Wayne Gretzky then again we had Sasha barov the Evan Rodriguez Sasha barov Evan sorry the Evan Rodriguez of hot dog eating that’s right yes however we did say the same thing when takuro kobashi was banned from the contest and it survived Joey Chestnut arrived and you know that’s true like it did take a while but he did go on a magical run you know what I want okay sorry sorry last tangent they should just have now that he’s if he’s not going to be in the fine fair if if he’s not in if he’s not in the July 4th I know that kobashi just retired just unretire for one specialty matchup just one just one more a retirement match between Joey Chestnut and Kobe AI put him on stage together and let them have one last you know goat versus goat the war the the the the the the war to settle the score this is it this definitively uh puts the championship on one goat that would be the the Jordan and LeBron yeah the Jordan versus LeBron of hot dog eating and there would be a definitive answer after this you know what that would remind me of in hockey is when Peter nedved unretired to play against yir yager’s clad in the I think it was the second division of the Czech Republic Hockey League that was like an epic game it was like eight to six and yogger had like five points and nedb had three points having just unretired that was amazing and I think that we would get that pretty much I love it but yeah that’s what I would do that’s exactly what I would do Sasha barov boys Leon Leon leaves his feet his elbow hits Sasha’s face uh Sasha goes down Sasha we don’t know if he’s gonna play for the next game let alone the rest of the series we we don’t know but Leon does not get anything other than a minor penalty I understand it’s the it’s the Stanley Cup Final I understand that the stakes are very high and I’ve also seen the narrative that dry side is clearly the second most important player on the Oilers roster so to take him out of the lineup would uh you know disrupt the Integrity of the Stanley Cup Final it would like hurt the Oilers very much yeah but so would barov like that that the fact is is that if we’re trying to get these kind of hits out of the game then there needs to be accountability and and and to me all of those things even if you’re making the case I’m not making the case if you’re making the case that it wasn’t a deliberate hit he left his feet elbow hits the face player is injured didn’t return to the game now it was late in the third so maybe he was going through concussion protocol and it it would have taken too much time for him to come back to the game but Paul marce said after the game he’s like look I’m not holding the guy back like we were down 2-1 right like I’m not going to hold the player back we need him those are my thoughts you basically made all of our argument that we talked about last night and on social media you you said exactly what it we we we all think is that hey there’s not a suspension because it’s Leon dry who’s the second most important player on the team down two nothing in the Cup Final um you know if uh Cody CeCe even though he didn’t play if Cody CeCe is the one laying that hit it’s a suspension like he’s he he’s out the rest of the series and because you know you just took out the number one player on your opponent um maybe I’m being a bit hyper probolic with saying it’s th the series but there is a suspension in my in my mind there’s no doubt in my mind that the fact that it’s Leon triell the fact that it’s the Cup Final the fact that the others are down to nothing changed the math now should it have absolutely not it’s ridiculous honestly like the panther you know not you you were saying 91% of the teams up two nothing in the Stanley Cup Final go on to win well that math changes when your best player your Sky Trophy winner your km favorite player the guy you can rely on to shut down Conor McDavid yeah is now now possibly out for game three and maybe longer um they haven’t said what it is but if you listen to Paul Maurice in his press conference today he basically said concussion protocol without using the words concussion protocol yeah and the reason I just to be clear the reason I said it was if he were to go into we don’t know the answer so if he had gone into concussion protocol Ray Ferraro talked about this on the broadcast the process would have taken 10 to 15 minutes right to go through the protocol so at that point in the game if was in protocol he probably wouldn’t have had the time to return to a game that ended in regulation right so I mean I will say Paul Maurice’s last update on the matter did seem vaguely promising All Things Considered um they’re not gonna give away State Secrets at this point but he kind of just did want to say like they’re not gonna really tell us anything actions will show us something we’re going to see tomorrow night or tomorrow after afternoon maybe morning I’m not sure if he practices um and then if he doesn’t practice we’re going to see if he travels and that will definitely give us an indication I I would be pretty surprised if he practiced and then did not travel but you know I guess the stranger things have happened like Evan Rodriguez having three goals in the Cup Final and nobody else having two but the Panthers defense have two it’s true Panthers defense have two and the Oilers Superstars have none no here’s the other thing with Leon though is that like he’s experienced the other side of this too where yeah which playoff was it where he was playing with a a compromised leg was it was his ankle or or I think it was two years ago yeah they were hacking and just like Absolut like he was he literally had to change the way he played the game on the Fly because his leg was so compromised like it was it was a really really rough situation for him in that Series so he’s he’s definitely seen that side of it too right like where he’s been yeah you know targeted and I I like I don’t think it was intentional I will say that much as far as you know he’s been on the other side of it I don’t think he was trying to injure barov I don’t think so either I agree but the fact is it happened though like the thing is is like unfortunate like here’s the thing unfort like it’s like it’s like a high sticking penalty to me right yeah yeah there have been a lot of high sticking penalties this these playoffs where it just kind of looked careless like the player like if you’re watching on video right on Monday where which yeah like it just looked like the player just loses control of their stick or just doesn’t have the the perception of where the stick is going and it accidentally hits a player in the face and you’re just like that did not look like an intentional right rarely are they ever intentional but like sometimes it’s like like they it looks like oh an NHL players should have control of their stick in that moment or something to that effect you know it looks just wild so we’ve seen a lot of that uh in this postseason yeah I I think when you combine all the things you already said he left his feet he extended his elbow and made clean contact with the jaw like it all amounts up to something that is an obvious suspension in any other situation than the one we’re in yeah so Arta the the natural follow-up question to all of that becomes with the pieces remaining on the board should barov not play at least game three how do the Panthers follow that up how do you how do you defend Conor McDavid without your Sky winner if you’re the Panthers what do you do in this situation to account for that loss the the the Panthers in game two across the board did a great job of preventing a lot of passes into the middle of the ice in the offensive in the Oilers offensive zone they did a great job with that I I think other than the McDavid Breakaway how many high danger chances did the Oilers have in game two literally zero that was the only one of the game like you could not have made that point better you picked out the literal one high dangerous chance they had I looked it up I mean there you go so like it’s like look Sasha barov is the best 200 foot player in the game right but also Conor McDavid is the best player in the game and it’s a team game so the I I’m pretty confident that Paul Maurice will be able to devise a scheme and a system with the amount of depth that the Panthers have uh to be able to find a way to confine uh McDavid and dry sidol and and quite frankly the rest of the team uh because they found success in doing that uh they’ they to to me it’s it’s funny it’s not even like like the biggest thing for the Oilers uh coming into this series I I thought was steuart Skinner if he’s average Stuart Skinner the Panthers would just you know completely Feast on the Oilers if you get an average or Worse steuart Skinner because there’s like the Jackel and hide of steuart skinners right before the benching after the benching after the benching he was amazing and if you get that steuart Skinner then the Oilers have a chance if you don’t then the Panthers will just be way too much because they have too much offensive Firepower right but this hasn’t been on steuart Skinner it’s been on a lot of things game one people were talking about Cody CCE and Darnell nurse and how uh they were on the ice for both of the non-et goals and that Sam Bennett literally like dumping and chasing it himself and beating the entire team and making a great pass in front like you know like that doesn’t ofen often happen right do Evan Rodriguez to Evan Rodriguez to irod the man they nearly flipped it in game three or game two as well almost unbelievable so but but and then you know making the changes that the Oilers did didn’t work Panthers still come out strong so game three to me is going to be very very important if the oil the oiler is going to have a rockus crowd it’s going to be super loud in there it’s going to be sold out the Moss Pit’s going to be rocking like it’s going to be uh a crazy environment and a really tough one for the Panthers the Panthers win that one even it’s a close one you know like e to me either the Oilers are winning five to one or the Panthers are winning in like overtime and that’ll be it then game four is like six nothing and you know get ready to raise the cup yeah that’s how I pivotal game four territory here you know pivotal game five everybody always says that but I I feel like you’re right that a team that has very consistently been at its best in the third period you’re probably not looking at that team as being vulnerable to dropping a three nothing series lead so the Oilers probably gota do something serious in this next game especially because we’re probably gonna see the worst aversion of barov we’ve seen in this series maybe that means he’s completely invisible oh God what a terrible game for him you know he’s making no impact blah blah blah but I want to kind of make the argument here that it’s not as significant as I initially thought maybe just me because we’re going now to Edmonton where Chris noblock is going to have last change and something that I’m sure that he would have been hyperfocused about in this matchup where everybody healthy that was healthy in game one would be how do I make sure that I get Conor McDavid out there for as many minutes as I can where he’s not being covered by Sasha barov so now that’s just going to happen he probably had had all these recipes to cook up McDavid minutes against Bennett londell or stenley and now that’s probably just going to happen so it’s something that would have already happened and I think that they’re they’ve had success with Al barkov despite how pivotal he is to what they do he’s also not the most you know reliable guy in terms of playing 82 games a year I don’t think he’s done it in his career maybe he has but certainly hasn’t done it in the last few years and they still have won games with him out of the lineup I believe they have a winning record and also we have seen him with the cage this year ncaaa bar barov was uh something special bubble barov TJ bubble bubble barov and and the thing you’re missing TJ is Gustaf forsling still exists in the world I mean as great as barkov has been against McDavid he’s been just as good and he could play more dude P PK called him maybe the best defenseman in the league right now like that’s that’s High Praise win from a Norris Trophy winner but also like who saw that coming did you guys as Panthers fans did you see this coming not this as someone who also followed the Blackhawks when I was younger uhhuh uh and knew you know the eight games that forsling had played for them no I I never could have seen poring becoming a Bonafide first pairing defenseman just just another another in a series of phenomenal Diamonds in the Rough by Bill zto and a staff and you know that just goes to show you like goal tending depth goal tending depth wins cups they always say that right yeah but like to me it’s like you either have to have rookies or people or players on like entry-level deals that are playing like to 10 times their Val uh salary you know like they’re getting paid 900,000 but they’re worth 9 million kind of thing like Dallas had a couple of those right with Wyatt Johnson and Jason Robertson yeah like like players that you’re just like wow like they’re out playing their contracts right now or you need re these revelatory players like the Rangers had lafranier who had like amazing postseason Gustaf forsling is the perfect example for the Panthers like there’s just players like that swag or exactly yeah for heggy like just amazing or as long as Niko mikola shoots on bosski then scores then plan the parade I I mean if there if there wasn’t a sign in the world that this is the Panthers year it was that 13 seconds where Nik Mika goes from potentially being on an alltime you know ESPN Not Top 10 scoring on his own net in a Stanley Cup Final to scoring on the correct net literally 13 seconds later like what was your reaction to that shot I I literally said oh [ __ ] like in the like I saw me go back end and I was like screaming [ __ ] [ __ ] like everything and because like I’m a goalie like I saw that happen I’m like I’m not expecting this is this is disaster and then it doesn’t go in and then they Rush down the ice and and obviously you can ex you know guess what happened next yall want a fun stat about n always he’s got five goals this season regular season plus playoffs three against Edmonton I was going to say how many against the Oilers that’s great there it is he had a two goal game against Edmonton the regular season this year Conor McDavid scored twice too so it was like man the two great greatest scorers in the league going at it McDavid and Nik mola wait was was one of those goals one of those mikolo goals that that like hilarious sequence where the P bounced off of someone an Oiler stick on the brobergs it was broberg oh man that was the most like Benny Hill goal I’ve ever seen in my life they they don’t ask how they ask how many that’s right and the answer is five three of them against the team they’re playing in the cup final one last oers related question for you art as we we try to wrap up um TJ was just touching on it how like you know they got the Oilers have to find a way to get McDavid and dry Sidle easier matchups but I feel like that’s the only adjustment they’ve had so tried to make so far is let’s just put McDavid and dry cidal on the ice as much as possible I mean he played 25 minutes on Monday night yeah and the highest Panther I think was forsling at 20 like does nolock have anything else in the bag or is it just going to be hey McDavid and dry cdle get out there every 30 seconds and and and make something for me well they’re their two best players so you hope that they would activate in some way they have to in order for the Oilers to get back into this series it’s just not going to work otherwise uh but Chris noblock has had a great postseason like steuart Skinner activating him after sitting him and playing Calvin picker for a couple games uh just to give him a reset uh it absolutely worked he split up CC and nurse in game two like he’s been he’s been tweaking the lines Adam Henrik got went to the second line he brought in Sam Carrick for Cory Perry like he he’s been trying some like he’s he’s trying to shuffle he’s he’s trying to figure out what works but honestly guys I this is what I said about this series coming in if both if if McDavid and dyle were at the height of their powers and the height of their production and steuart Skinner was great that team can beat uh a on par Florida Panthers team yeah but the Florida Panthers probably 80 games out of a 100 could beat the Edmonton Oilers with their depth and Sergey bosski if all the players played uh to what you would expect them to play but a lot of players are out kicking their coverage right now like they’re they’re they’re playing uh well beyond what you would expect and that’s a good thing for the Panthers they just have too much they have too many pieces they have too many players that can contribute in look Evan R Rodriguez is the perfect example of that like there’s too many players that the Oilers have to try and contain and they don’t have the depth to match and so to answer the question directly we’re going to have to see if they if the lines are shuffled again we’re going to have to see if um that last change will benefit and how McDavid and dry cido will be deployed I loved uh noblock pulling the goal tender with five minutes to go too because the Oilers are the best the Oilers are the absolute best man Advantage team in NHL history so might as well take advantage of it right didn’t work out but I thought it was a smart move yeah so those are my thoughts about that The Limited we have for for that that particular instance it limited because coaches are so timid about pulling goalie super early but the data shows that the earlier you pull your goalie the more likely you are to score so I I think it’s a very welcome change to see a coach like noblock and you know a younger guy a newer guy behind the bench to do that yeah to to because it’s always these the younger coaches who cause these Paradigm shifts the league and that’s one that I think will create a more exciting on Ice product yeah Ju Just to put a bow on it he he created a five on four in a situation where the Panthers could not ice the puck or I mean you could but four on four yeah exactly yeah that was absolutely the right plan it needs to happen more often yeah Arta I have uh I have one final question for you here as we uh as we as we come to the end of our wonderful show should the Panthers hit on this 91% chance that they have to win the cup historically there are a lot of a lot of very fun great interesting heartfelt whatever uh storylines for the players across this Panthers roster who are you most excited to see lift the Stanley Cup on the Panthers roster specifically Paul Maurice number one easily by far uh I he’s been highly entertaining all postseason uh he’s uh very honest Earnest heartfelt uh with his answers and thorough and thoughtful I also love that um his son is broadcaster with the everblades who just won the Kelly cup for the third straight time and he’s got I love the joke about how you he’s been a broadcas for a couple years he already has two rings two years um but but I but the reason I bring that up is I I just love the uh Paul Maurice uh taking the time to say you know if it was my kid asking an NHL coach question and the NHL coach was a jerk in an answer I wouldn’t like it as a dad so I try to not do that as much as possible you know despite that position being an absolute pressure cooker and you know everything that you have to deal with so I appreciate that very much coming from Paul Maurice yeah um in terms of players on the ice I like that Kyle ooso will finally get a cup uh he’s a he’s a people he’s he’s he’s probably the we love the players been around forever and fin get to raise a cup like Maurice andos are the exact’s that guy now Jesus he’s that I know I know I know the Stars had a few of them too right like they had the was it Ryan sud mat Shane Jo um pavi Let me let me throw this back to you guys though if the Panthers win the cup will the Matthew kachuck celebration surpass the Alex oetkin celebration no because I it’s not possible possi waited so long to to lift that cup I I don’t think it yeah oh so you think it’s a longevity thing I think that plays a huge factor in for being the greatest goal scorer of a generation and having to wait what was it 12 13 years to to finally win a cup that that celebration is unmatched I mean even even Gary Ban’s little monologue leading up to it where where he said you know was something along the lines of Alexander oetkin you are finally a Stanley Cup champion like everything surrounding oie skating up to and lifting the cup was just NHL iconic there’s GNA be no Matthew kachuck fountains or anything like that no that I don’t think we’re getting but I think that him on the ice after the Cup Final might surpass it the celebration outside of the Arena won’t okay because I I think at the parade he like if they hit on the 91% chance of course he’ll go on the stage of the parade and he’ll say this is going to be so much sweeter when we win it again next year something along those lines that’s the kind of guy okay okay yeah I I I think there will be a party I think it’ll be a great but it’s going to be like hey we’re just going to be at the Elbow Room until like no they’re going American Social they’re going American okay American Social Elbow Room even though I know kachuck likes Elbow Room they’re going to night he literally wor an Elbow Room shirt on uh was it NBA Countdown yes but unbelievable unbelievable so you’re saying so you’re saying that Matthew kachuck at the parade on stage uh will party less than David Pasto winning the World Championship in the CCH in czechia because he David past was out living his best life I don’t think I actually saw any of those ction it was that’ll be my homework it was loving life it was awesome he was just it was the happy he was the happiest hockey player for in the world for like a week yeah I think it’s going to be very smug on that stage very smug for sure smug is the correct word thank who are who are who are your guys like who who are you most happy if the 91% hits to go along with that like who who are your whose cup rais are you looking forward to the most I have like five answers is the like Paul Maurice I’m so glad you led with Paul Maurice because that would have been been my first answer yes you know he’s he’s the losingest head coach of all time but he’s also among the winningest head coaches of all time because he’s just been around forever and he’s come so close so many times and now he’s he’s he’s almost ready to to to taste it uh Maurice is such a great answer barov and eblad I kind of pair barov and eblad because they’re the same reason you know they’re they’re they’re the Homegrown kids who have been around for a decade plus you know this is this is e bl’s 10th season barkov’s 11th they’re they’re the core the heart and soul of this team and have been for a long time and to see them win with the Panthers will just be so rewarding and then Oso for the same reasons and finally uh the one player that I’m really looking for the the player that I think is honestly most likely to cry as he lifts the cup Sergey bosski and I will go completely on Brandon stay number one is Bob yeah two uh going to go bit outside the uh the mar the outside the gra and say Luongo yeah because you know I forgot that luo gets to play here that’s true yeah and and I’m looking forward to the Luongo tweet after he wins the cup and what joke he’s got uh that’s going to be pretty funny that would be great face reveal that’s going to be the joke he’s gonna post a picture of himself holding the C he’s goingon to say I practiced doing this 14 years ago now I finally get to right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah exactly I practiced this between games three and four in 2011 uh for two hours and I can finally put it hey that never happened by the way that never happened oh God no no of course it didn’t can can I can I say a really quick Luongo story just really really quick so I actually one of the gigs that I had before I got to ESPN was I worked for the Canada version of The Weather Channel very random uh in Canada it’s called The Weather Network uh and I worked in Vancouver so when I got the job uh I went through training and one of the things they did was they showed me that clip I don’t know if you guys have seen it but it’s of a weather report and the weather reporter is doing streeters and they happen to find Roberto Luongo not knowing it’s Roberto Luongo and they just do a Streeter on the weather and Roberto luanga was there no name key nothing just like as if it’s just a general Vancouver citizen Kon yeah nothing just talking about the weather and that’s amazing they show me the clip and at the end of it they’re like don’t do that I don’t think that would have been a problem for you yeah I I did reach out to the Canucks uh to try and recreate that but I couldn’t get it done which is which is a shame that would have been funny but he’d do it now oh you absolutely would I I’ve got the clip ready to play as soon as we’re done recording I’m going to watch this yeah yeah yeah it’s it’s pretty funny I think jome MCA has one like that in Boston too uh very similar where the reporter just didn’t know it was J MCA but anyway yeah and didn’t we have the Blackhawks GM at the draft like I think a year ago oh yeah doing a random bit on the the draft right davs that’s right Kyle Davidson was do yeah oh jeez all right TJ I don’t think you’ve given your answer answer you know every everybody that you’ve said is is very high on my list here’s another one that is even more obscure than Alex’s and and if he had this position I think that he would be doing it you always talk about the guys that have been on the team the longest Rob Talis has been here forever been through so much that’s true Talis has been through a bunch of GMS even more coaches that was talk about a stall War of the staff yeah that was my third person but we get there because you know we got sidetracked talking about Luongo but yeah he’s been here the longest he he’s been like the fan base has wanted him fired a thousand different times and you know us included like we have to take our lumps I never said that I’ve always been a Rob TOS fan but I also I went with the flow on that one all right uh I’m gonna try and land This Plane because we’ve taken way too much of your time ARA all good all good PL plug your stuff where can everyone find you uh what do you got coming out soon other than this podcast well for the rest of the cup final we’re doing uh lives on the NHL ESPN Tik Tok so come hang out uh 6:30 Eastern yeah so right before the point we just hang out for half hour just to talk a lot of people asking uh it’s kind of funny it’s like half people asking about the cup final but then the other half is so what’s going to happen to my team in the offseason like it’s very varied based on you know hockey fans which is cool uh so that and then uh in the crease after the games on ESPN plus and then the drop with me and wishinsky afterwards we just post it on our YouTube Channel Wherever get your audio podcast but that’s really it boys thanks for having me I’ll happily uh come back on in the offseason when you guys all have Cup Rings and we can talk about Star Wars for two hours and you can let me know how the parade was and do now do you guys get a float on the parade like do you guys follow in your cars like how does this work we will have absolutely no Presence at the parade outside as fans for yourself no presence my ass I’ll be there well if adelyn lets me and we all know how great she is so I think I got a chance I’m going to Trail the parade on my bike you know not not that we know what’s gonna happen it’s two nothing I haven’t practiced lifting the cup yet but we are treading in uh very dangerous territory by talking about the parade oh God yeah we are I know but at this point you know the plan the parade jokes have to start becoming real at some point and up two nothing in the final that was a plan the parade joke though that was a joke for sure yeah you can see me cringing the goalie Superstition in me is absolutely horrified at this entire conversation you you’d hate watching uh games with me then because like the Panthers would go up one nothing five minutes into the first period And I turned to be like man bosski shut out oh i’ murdered him i’ murder five minutes in look it worked in game one exactly see I was right five minutes into the game my dad mentioned as we were walking into the stadium and I almost like told him to go home oh goodness that’s good speaking of superstitions I do want to remind people that the Penguins touch the Prince of Wales which is the one that the Eastern Conference wins Prince of Wales Prince of Wales they touched it Nashville didn’t touch the trophy that year we all know how that ended so come on some superstitious stions are just dumb but also Paul Maurice well actually was it to barov where barov was like Paul Maurice told not to touch it for two years in a row and they last year barov like cradled that thing yeah after this they decided to touch it yeah but you had to do something different you had to make not this year might difference they just got that no touch in the trophy mentality you know built different Etc all right so folks where are they rating us five stars oh boy uh rate US five stars on uh on uh the you know just rate as five stars on the ESPN app while we’ve got ARA on the show wherever wherever you get the the podcast on YouTube wherever hey this was fun boys I really appreciate it uh thanks for the time it was uh thanks for the invite I had fun already even more than generous with your time thanks so much for coming on