Carolina Hurricanes Analyst Tripp Tracy (3/5/26)

0:00Hey, it's Bob Stoffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime. Welcome back everybody. It's 436 in oil country. We're a guest receive guest certificates to Japanese village. It's a true celebration for the census. Quality ingredients unmatched. Real side experience book. You see the JV Edmonton.ca as we head off to the River Creek Resort Casino hotline and welcome back to the show trip. Tracy longtime analyst for the Carolina Hurricanes. He's also a former gold tender at Harvard, which means we've had two former gold dinners from Harvard on the show in the last six months. Hello trip. How you doing? Bob, great to hear your vocals and even though I can't see you right now my dear friend, your legend in the studio. Could you please do your iconic playoff top gun glasses, airport term act pose. That's one of one. If you could do that for me.

1:05The greatest thing of all time. I wish I could see it doing it right now, but if you could do that for me, it would be great. Well, you're not the only guy that's ever there has actually been multiple managers in the league that have come up to me and said we actually took that in and showed our guys for a chuckle. The one in Florida where we had the Miami Vice going. And then last year we did personal Jesus in Vegas with Johnny Cash. So there you go. It is so legendary and you being there, you know, a true Albertan Western oculate guru. It's just perfection. And I think the first time why I texted you, you know, with the first time you did it in the Stanley Cup final in Florida. But then I think the hurricanes were in the east and the playoffs when I saw you do it to set the tone. Maybe that was Vegas, whatever it was. I'll say it again, Bob. It's one of one. Oh, Taya Flattery. Well, why didn't you ask me who the other golden year from Harvard was that we've had on the show in the last six months? Because I'm not as fond of him. Whoever it is as I am of yours. Well,

2:10I wanted to go back to you. What about half of Alberta is not very fond of him these days either. His name is Mark Carney. So there you go. But you did not, you, you actually played because Mark in fairness would say he was a third string goal tenor. He was on the team with Peach Cherelle was the captain of the team. And you were after Mark Carney and Peach Cherelle. Is that correct at Harvard? I was my background just was I would have met Mark a few times my my cousin Jim Farley is a CEO of Ford Motor Company. Yeah, I was walking my dog last spring. And he had a you know, the tariffs and everything. He had a meeting with the prime minister. And he called me, you know, just doing a little Harvard background. And I know that the prime minister mentioned it said some nice things to my cousin during their meeting. So that was pretty cool. Yeah. So you know, my cousin's a CEO of Ford. So is he the guy

3:10that bought into the Carolina Hurricanes today or was that you trip? I wish I knew who these anonymous down minority owners are. But every time I do come to Edmonton because I'm very proud of my cousin Jim Farley is a brilliant guy is humble guy. And I always send a video of the building here in oil country because there's such great representation of Ford all over the building. Oh, wow. I better watch that. Stuart Donald's going to hire you right now. Well done. All right. So here's the deal. And there's a and I think we should maybe explain this to the listeners. There has been a bit of a connection over the years between the Carolina broadcasters and the Edmonton broadcasters. And you've had some great broadcasters with very different personalities, which just added to it. You're a long time legendary radio broadcaster was who?

4:14Chuck Hayden. When I got the job at 24, drove me to the games in Greensboro. It is Buick stopping at the cigar outlet. And then you got you were so pretty they had to put you on TV and know that trip, right? And you ended up doing the games of John Forcelin who many people think might be the best play by play guy in the state's period. Like I mean, he obviously does nationally broadcast games on TNT. And despite the fact that he's really, really good. You know, I've always found this though. The best guys, they don't have ego. It's like Wayne from the Edmonton operation when he would travel with us for those four years. Yeah, he'd go and talk to Conor, but David and he talked to Eric Griba. And then he'd come and talk to Bob and Jack on the plane as well. That's just, but you're the privilege of working with John Forcelin. That must have been awesome too. We all have that dream trip. We've been wishing we could go on, but too often life or usually price gets on the way. That's why price line is here to help

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6:17The 10 years without the playoffs and Raleigh building empty a preseason game that maybe it wasn't even a broadcast. Maybe it was just a stream. And John with his preparation, his spontaneity to be able to tell stories, but you know, always no one to return to the call to put his analysts in a position to succeed. It could be a preseason stream with nobody in the building. And John would give you the feeling that it was a game seven. And he dragged into the fight with his excellence. All right. Awesome stuff. The hurricanes are having a pretty good year, aren't they? Again. Yeah, they really are. You know, when you, you capture it at this point, Bob, you know, to not have Jacob Slaven for the vast majority of the year, a bunch of other injuries to the blue line in particular early on. As much as Seth Jarvis means the team a pretty significant injury at a crucial time, hovering around Christmas. They have, they have really played well to be 23 games over 500.

7:23Rod bring them more. I don't know that there's a coach in the league that gets more consistent investment. A team that doesn't beat itself on a, on a nightly basis. And I think in, in all the years that he's been the head coach, where he hasn't known anything other than playoffs. This is as good of a job as he's done. Is there a developing storyline this year? You played the position that is different than in past years because of the emergence of Brandon Bussie or conversely. Have you had some guys that have had some runs? And I'm thinking to, you know, co-check Cobb in the past. So what makes it? Does it, is it different this year with what you're seeing in goal? Well, it's in with the trade deadline tomorrow. I'm given this a ton of thought in my own head. And just matter of fact, Bob, I moved to a new house a couple of weeks ago in North Raleigh and the wilderness and my neighbor across the lawn is, is Cam Ward. And, you know, I watched the gold medal game with Cam as a matter of fact,

8:25called him about 25 minutes ago and told him that I was coming on your, your show. You know, it's, as I'm sitting here thinking about what may or may not happen with the deadline tomorrow afternoon, all Brandon Bussie's been able to do is win. He's, he's going to 25 and three. I think he's been swimming a little bit in his last couple of games. But, you know, thinking about how strongly I felt down to nothing in the first round in 2006, that Peter LaVie, a lot of the time had to go to Cam Ward as a rookie. And eventually wins the cons might. What they do share, there are a lot of differences, but what they do share is they, they both have tremendous self-belief, regardless of the moment, regardless of the circumstance, whether something good happens, whether something poor happens, that innate ability to move on. So I certainly have found myself reflecting back. There are some, there's some significant differences between the two gold tenders.

9:27But the self-belief element Bob is something that I think they, without questions here. Carolina plays as we're joined by TRIP Tracy, their long-time analyst, TRIP. They play differently than a lot of other teams. First of all, there's a term that a European club brought in soccer. It's called the Jürgen press. And it's just a hard force press to create turnovers. And the team that plays the closest slot in the NHL because of the puck pressure that they absorb all over the ice on the opposition are the Carolina Hurricanes. And do you think that's a difficult adjustment for teams to be playing at that tempo and pace in regular season games? In regular season, I do. You know, because you compliment it with, as I mentioned, that Rod finds a way and, you know, Rod be the first guy to credit his captain and his leadership corps. George Stalin in the committee for that full investment that it's a rarity,

10:27even in the grind of an Olympic condense season like this, Hurricanes beat himself. So you add to the pressurized style that they play. It's particularly effective in the regular season. There have been, you know, a lot of water cooler conversations as to whether or not it can be successful to win four rounds and 16 games to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I do see as the analyst Bob that they still, that's their ideology, but they have made some subtle differences in their diesel and coverage, specific spots where I think that they protect the interior of the ice. And it's nowhere near a quadrant. It's still, you know, the man on man that you're talking about, but they have made some subtle adjustments in their diesel and coverage in particular that I'm hoping will be very beneficial in the playoffs. You know, it's interesting. We've talked about this privately before. You know, I love zone defense. I mean, zone defense was created in the NFL because the cornerbacks cannot cover bullet bob Hayes when he came into the national football league in the mid 1960s

11:31when he was the fastest man on the planet. The NBA outlawed zone defense because the games were too low scoring. Soccer had a version of variation of zone D. And hockey was probably the last of the major sports that were team sports structure that way that played zone. I like zone defense and I just wonder with how games are managed. How they are officiated the further we go on in the playoffs and the further we go on in series, the officials don't want to impact the outcome of the game. And so teams get away with rubs and picks and does that affect teams that play zone or effect teams that play man more than an effect zone? Do you buy any of that? I'm completely out to lunch. No, I think it's a it's a very worthy conversation. And that's why I think just the subtleties that I've noticed that the ideology is still there

12:32Bob, but you know, there's been more help in the slot, especially from the weekside winger. And that Carolina has tried to create layers that maybe they haven't had deep in playoffs in the three eastern conference finals where they haven't been able to advance in 2019 that if the playoffs go along like that and you're right about that, that if there are picks, you know, if there are if there is having this again handled, they got layers that defense because in the slot and the scoring areas because of the subtle tweaks that I've seen so far this regular season. All right, the hurricanes by my count have about eight and a half million dollars of cap space. And Tom Dundin last year showed an absolute willingness to go and chase the big guns because he made a mammoth deal for me. Col Ratman couldn't get an extension there. But turned around and flipped it and got a bunch of assets back, including a couple future number ones. How sort of do you envision Eric Tolsky in his crew to be at the trade deadline here over the next 20 hours?

13:37You know, in real time, Bob, I, you know, I feel like I haven't spoken to Eric. He was with the team from home after the game in Vancouver last night. I feel like with these high prices that, you know, that Eric might right up to the deadline might be playing a game of poker and see if they come down. When I look at it, my number one wish would be because I thought it was an extremely effective trade deadline last year. In recognizing you weren't going to know this time, Nico Lance, and what you got. You have Logan Stan Copen, who you know, being the Western guru that you are amazed. He's been terrific. You know what he's done and beyond solid job at the centralized position, but you also got a couple of picks. And one of the picks was to use to acquire along with Scott Moro, Kendra Miller. And I love Carolina's left side. I do believe Jacob Slaven's the best defensive defense made hockey. I can't read Miller. Shane Goss is good. I've never seen him play better. Too way to hockey. Out of the indication is a rookies, a lefty, too.

14:38But I think the big picture requires some runway will require some patience. But I, I project them to ultimately be a top-pairing defenseman from what I've seen. We'll take some time. But when I look at it, if I had one wish as the analyst, if it's achievable, if the price makes sense. Now, Carolina historically has made their best deadline deals acquiring players with term. And there have been several that I could point to. It would be to try to make your right side on the blue line, Bob. As you know, it'll never be as formidable as your left side because the left side features Jacob Slaven. But if you could get a righty and then all of a sudden in whatever order you've got Sean Walker and Jail and Chatfield on the right side. Then I think you're really cooking. Would they revisit Dougie Hamilton or such ship sailed? Do you want my opinion as an analyst? Yes. My opinion as an analyst is and he's a fabulous guy.

15:38Dougie Hamilton, if your desire is to make the playoffs, he is going to help you big time. If your desire is to win the Stanley Cup, I don't think you're going to win. Well, that's pretty brutally honest. Who has Taylor Hall? Of course, as you know, number one pick over all 2010 drafts spent six full seasons here in oil country. Still has a lot of fans. How's he performed in Carolina? He has been an extraordinarily good fit. You know, he arrives, you know, initially, Bob, you know, almost an anonymous piece. I mean, I know a league MVP and the first over a pick of the Oilers, but, you know, because of the acquisition of Nico Ranson, and it was almost anonymously, it was part of the deal. And he fit in right away. But I'm watching him like, well, it's just excited to be out of, you know, a place that was having a tough time winning. Enjoy this time in Chicago and veteran Con of the dark and in a culture that, you know, was winning a lot.

16:45And he decides to sign an extension, start of the year. You know, he was in a depth role, never complained. He's an old school teammate. I love being with him on the plane that some of the old schoolers, the Jordan Martinuck, Shane Goss, this pair. He has an enjoyment all over his face. That is just a, it's terrific to see. And right now, I interviewed him in Seattle Monday night and asked him, you know, because he's playing with Logan Stankov and at Jackson Blake. And you can just see that they are trying to absorb everything that he has to say. And he's loving being a mentor. You know, I said, who is the guy that did it for you when you were an Edmonton Oiler? He said, orcoff. But I cannot speak with as much admiration as I should with how good of a fat Taylor's pen. Awesome stuff. Tripp will see you down there tomorrow morning. Thanks for joining us to the Oilers now. I love you, Bob. Thanks, man.

17:45That is Tripp Tracy, longtime Carolina Hurricanes broadcast. 452 in oil country. This is Oilers now. The all new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota. With a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for in the all new 2026 RAV4. Learn and shop more at toyota.com Toyota. Let's go places. Close your eyes, exhale. Feel your body relax. Let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800 contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And free. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste.

18:45Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts. You factor in McDavid and dry settle on whatever in boot shards become. By the way, is Evan boot shard in the mix to be a Norse trophy candidate? Texas on the Ashley five floors text line. 780-451-8800. Let's go to NHL today for elite promotional marketing your local branded merchandise specialist. Head to elite promo marketing dot com. Here's Aiden Gannum. Well, eight games on the NHL slate tonight for Canadian markets in the mix. The Toronto Maple Leafs play visitor to the New York Rangers. Winnipeg Jets host the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Calgary Flames are at home to the Ottawa Senators. Biggers field condors off today. They open up a two game in season series tomorrow with Tucson road runners in Biggers field and a ton of trades to talk about. One of the two trades that were up in the air because of no trade clauses went through. Mackenzie Weeger is a member of the Utah mammoth in return. Calgary gets three second rounders in the upcoming draft. Oli Mata and Jonathan Castania.

19:47The Ottawa Senators acquire acquiring former Euler Warren Fogel from the LA Kings. They get Fogel in a third in exchange for a second and a third. Dallas stars get Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a third round pick. And probably a big trade in the grand scheme of things. The Mitch Marner trade tree has begun. Nick Wah has been moved to the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional first rounder and a conditional fifth round pick. All right. If you're ready for your next adventure, trust new West travel. Alberta's family owned and operated travel experts since 1979. From European river cruises and all inclusivations to corporate incentive groups and luxury escapes. There are travel experts take care of every detail, making every trip stress free and personalized. Visit newestravel.com, your local travel experts for every journey. We'll head off to an 880 news whether traffic update with the Randy Kellburn, Louis de Russ coming up for GCL diesel to drop the pluck at hour number two. Two good and co-copy creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk,

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