Frankly Hockey's Frank Seravalli (3/23/26)

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. How many discounts does USA Auto Insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount, safe driver discount, uh, new vehicle discount, storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit USAA.com slash Auto Discounts, Restriction Supply. Spring starts at the Home Depot, and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300, like the next grill for burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the Bob from the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply to Home Depot.com slash price match for details. Good afternoon everybody. Bring Griffith sitting in for Bob Stoffer. For the up and to know there's a touchdown in Utah, they'll be ready to take on the mammoth

1:01in which the mammoth game. Hopefully not two mammoths coming up tomorrow night. We'll have all the action for you right here on 880 Chad. Don't forget the River Creek Resorting Casino hotline is always open to you at 780-4518800. It's brought to you by the River Creek Resorting Casino. Do not miss the musical comedy of Shorgen J. It's coming up on the 23rd of May. Tickets are available at RiverCreeResort.com. Also the Ashley Fine Floors text line is open and of course you can find all the new floors. You always want to just drop by their showroom at 143rd Street and 111th Avenue. Their opens Monday through Saturday and of course you can also go to Ashley Fine Floors.com for more details and you can find us on X. Yeah, it's real simple. The handles are the following. At Oilers Now. At Bob underscore Stoffer. And at Aiden Gennem underscore. Frank Sirvalli is brought to you by Summer's Drilling Your Trusted Water Well Expert since 19. I got a double check. Is it that long?

2:011917. Wow. Visit summersdrilling.com and it can also request a quote today. Joining us is Frank Sirvalli. This is new for me because I can actually see you today. It's scaring me actually. Probably others more than you I would have. All right, let's get to it because I'm taking a little bit of heat because I wish Connor had just found a way to not go there on Saturday night. That's just me. I don't like public finger pointing. Somebody says, well, you media guys asked him what he thought. And he just said it. I don't like throwing people under the bus. I've worked inside locker rooms in the NHL level. Keep it inside. Just my thinking on it. Like I say, I'm taking some heat though, Frank. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that. The town's passionate. Well, and I love the passion, which is why I love coming to Edmonton and spending time in oil country. But at times, I think people see it through whatever lens they want to. And I think it's deserved to at least have the conversation.

3:05I don't think anyone thought following Saturday night's media availability that Connor McDavid truly didn't mean to wait into the direction that he did. I mean, look, I don't think anyone in sports media, myself included as a rocket scientist, but I think we were all picking up what Connor McDavid was putting down, which was he's the second player, essentially on this Euler roster this year. And second superstar to more or less make a dig and torch his head coach in Chris Knoblock. And to see it any other way, I think, would be naive. And McDavid even acknowledged himself today that when he read it, that he could understand why someone would make the connection that we all did. And look, he's an incredibly bright guy. I don't think any of that was said by accident. And I joined in the same emotion with you, which is essentially what Connor McDavid did on Saturday is make Stan Bowman's job a lot harder,

4:08make Chris Knoblock's job a lot harder, and also made, yes, Connor McDavid's job a lot harder, leading the Edmonton Euler's because there's a lot that's left to read between the lines. And I don't know at this juncture with 12 games left in the season, whether that's the dirty laundry that needed to be aired this weekend. And I get it. There are a lot of fans that are not in favor of the way the coaches, you know, employing the players out there. There's a lot of fans that are not in favor of the way Stan Bowman is maneuvering around trying to fill holes in this line up. I get that. But sometimes I think right now the focus is just going to be, we'll be better Tuesday night against Utah and just kind of go there. But hey, listen, it's a tough one. I will say one thing that hearing Connor referred to the pillow fight in the Pacific. I thought was that was entertaining. That one made me laugh a little bit and he's not wrong on that one. No, it was also the most benign thing he said by a country mile. I mean, look, I think the big thing that I keep coming back to is

5:13when Connor McDavid is alone at night with his thoughts. And he's trying to figure out how to get the Edmonton oilers to where they want to be. Is he sitting there blaming everyone else around him? Is he blaming the moves that Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson have made? Is he blaming his teammates? Is he blaming Chris Noblock and the coaching staff? I'd like to think not. I'd like to think that he's sitting there trying to figure out the best way forward, including himself on how to put this team in a better position for success. And he doesn't have all the answers as we've seen in the last two Stanley Cup finals. And as we saw again, perfect reminder at the Olympics in the gold medal game. And part of that, he has to wear himself. And I understand this grasses greener syndrome that I'm sure that he's feeling that he's reaching the end of his 20s and he's saying the prime of my career is now. And I've got heart trophies and I've got scoring titles and I've got hundreds of millions of

6:15dollars, but I don't have the one thing I really want. And with that, needs to come some self-interspection. And I think also a look at a lot of things. The interest and want to try and do too much at sometimes. Yeah. Also to control some of that frustration, which we just talked about, not putting another log on the fire at a time when things are teetering. This is all part of learning how to win. And no one said that it would be easy. I just don't think that anyone imagined that it would be this hard. This Friday, the time traveling comedy movie of the year arrives. Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice only on Hulu. The film stars Vince Vaughn, James Morrison, and Asa Gonzalez in a wild action comedy about one disastrous night that spirals out of control. And here's the twist. There are two Vince Vaughn's. Don't miss Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice written and directed by Ben David Grubinsky,

7:15streaming this Friday, only on Hulu, rated R. This episode is brought to you by Nespresso. Introducing Virtua Up, the latest and a long line of innovation from Nespresso. It's innovation you can touch, sense, and taste in every single cup. With a three-second start, easy open lever, and dedicated brew over ice button, it's even easier to enjoy your coffee your way. Sit for yourself. Shop Virtua Up exclusively at Nespresso.com. The captain too much here. He just said something probably shouldn't have said. He went back on it today, and I totally agree with you. There's nobody who's going to try harder for the Edmonds and Oilers in Conor McDavid. So close second would be Leon Drysaddle, so there's that. Let's move on though. Let's talk about the fact they've got a road trip coming up here. They're going into Utah. Utah's gold differentials like in the plus 20s. The Edmonds and Oilers are like a plus two, and then they've got to go into Vegas where it's

8:15always tough because the Oilers in Vegas don't like each other. These are two big games on the road, but maybe being on the road is a good thing, Frank. Maybe. I just think this team needs to find some consistency, regardless of whether it's home or road or on Mars or wherever in Arizona. Who cares? They need to find a way out, and regardless of what's been thrown at them, whether it's an injury to Leon Drysaddle, or the schedule was the big talking point at the very beginning of the season. Remember how many games they played on the road to start? It was like, well, things are going to get easy and normalized from here, and they're going to take off. And now they're on track for 89 points, which would be the lowest of any playoff version. Edmonds and Oilers since Conor McDavid arrived, and they need some kind of juice. They need someone to step up and grab this thing and run with it. And to me, you mentioned gold differential. It needs to start in their own end. And I'm not just pointing at the gold tending, although it needs to be much better.

9:19Sure. The strength of this Edmonton Oiler team was supposed to be their back end, was supposed to be this is supposed to be the best defense that the McDavid and Drysaddle Era has seen on paper. And it's been far, far from that. Tristan Jerry is going to get one of these games. I'm guessing it's going to be the more night from some of the stuff I'm hearing. And that makes sense. Because why would you throw them in against Vegas? Because the bar is set very, very high here emotionally and with everything else with the oiler fans. So perhaps if you're going to test them out again here, maybe tomorrow night is the night, but you got to figure out what you got faster. And you're going to have to start to ride the hot gold tender because what time is taking here? You're right. And I think they kind of put that stake in the ground at least momentarily saying that Connor Ingram was essentially going to get the starters workload. I agree. I think Utah makes more sense. Utah has had a really interesting up and down season as well. They've had a lot of nights where they've looked very pedestrian. They're not difficult

10:21to play against. They don't check well. They don't have the physicality that you would need to be successful in the playoffs, but they've got depth and they've got skill and then they've got the ability to skate. So I'd take my chances on a team that's binary either hit or miss with Jari and net and then see what happens with Connor Ingram in Vegas because I think either way depending on however you start them, you're going to learn a lot theoretically about both of them. When I was taking a look at the gold differential, for example, in the central Colorado, it was a plus 81. Dallas is a plus 51. Minnesota is a plus 31. You've got Utah holding on the top spot in the wild card positions at a plus 24. And Nashville is at minus 24. They're holding the final wild card spot right now with a one point lead on LA Kings. But you take a look at the top three teams in the Pacific. For example, the Anaheim ducks are minus eight. The Orders are plus one and Vegas is plus two. They're not going to get it done past the first round.

11:25Well, that's the interesting part about the Pacific Division pillow fight is that someone is guaranteed to emerge and make it to the West final, which, you know, if you're Connor McDavid, you can sit there and poke fun and you can say the part out loud that we've all been thinking for a while. But I'd have to think that it also, you know, the first part of his statement, which was we're really grateful to we should be grateful to play in a division like this. As bad as things have been, everything is still right in front of this team. They still have the ability to get a favorable first round matchup. They still have the ability to get home ice. They still have the ability to go toe to toe with the Colorado avalanche or Dallas stars or wherever emerges from the other side of the bracket and get back to a third straight Stanley Cup final. Perhaps by then everyone will have found their mojo. You can flip the switch when it comes to the postseason and it's not like any of these teams in the Pacific really scare you. I still think Edmonton, regardless of what the standings dictate, is the team to beat in the

12:25Pacific. Now, whether or not they become that tough out in the postseason remains to be seen, but they have the makings and the gumption and the playoff know how to be able to get there and do it. But I'd like to see more cohesion. I'd like to see more connective tissue. I'd like to see this team not be so disjointed on a night tonight basis and they're going to need to find that and the good news again is that they've got like four weeks to figure it out. And they're pushing back to they're not being pushed around. I kind of like that as well. But the other thing too is that the bar is not set particularly high the way the season's gone. So maybe this is the year where they succeed and they push themselves all the way to a Stanley Cup. You never know. But I got to ask you before we let but I was just going to say and button real quick to say that is not I don't care what the regular season looked like. Like let's be abundantly clear about what the expectations were for this team heading into the season, which was after two consecutive Stanley Cup final appearances. The goal wasn't just to be a playoff team or to win the division or to

13:28have one round of playoff success. The goal is to get back to the Stanley Cup final and win it period full stop end of story. I want to ask you about three teams before we let you roll here because Buffalo has been so much fun to watch. San Jose has been a fun team to watch. The ducks have been a fun team to watch for me this year. Are all three of those contenders or pretenders? What do you think? I would say so you asked me sabers ducks and what was the 13th? The other one is the sharks. I'd say all three of them are pretenders respectfully. All right. And by the way, you could sign me up for seven games of sabers and ducks because I think that's the best kind of river hockey you could get. Both those teams trade chances like nobody's business, they both have high-end offensive stars and the ability to really make the game interesting. And as you mentioned, fun to watch. San Jose just doesn't have the depth. I give full credit to Macklein celebrating for carrying this team on his back as far as he has. The fact that they were

14:30even in this pillow fight is they've exceeded expectations. He's closing it on 100 points. He'd be a select teenager to do that, one of only five, I believe, if he could make it happen. It's a shame that they weren't able to really step up and grab that mantle because you see a team like Nashville slide into the second wild card spot now. I think it's impressive what their vets have done. Steven Stamcoes and Ryan O'Reilly and perhaps Philip Forsberg have laid. But the Preds don't impress anyone. And the Kings have just basically said, here, you want to play off spot, come and take it. And same thing with the Seattle Kraken who have faded significantly. I think we were all kind of hoping, rooting, wishing to see Macklein's celebrity and the sharks get that shark tank buzzing again. Doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. I'm looking forward to seeing what San Jose does in the future. Buffalo and Anaheim will be playoff teams, but I don't have them as realistic threats to go on deep runs in part

15:35because of the way that they defend. Well, it's going to be a fun four weeks. That's for sure, and everybody's starting to sweat bullets around here, which is, hey, listen, that's all part of the fun too. I hate to say it. I like to watch fans kind of pacing a little bit. So it's great stuff. Great stuff with you as always. Thanks for your time, though. Today, Frank. Thanks, Brent. Take care. Okay. Frank, Sarah Bali, joining us. Our oilers now, headliner, who's brought to you by Wilhawk Beef Jerky. Others will try to imitate, but nobody can duplicate the great flavor of Wilhawk Beef Jerky only, only available in LaDouc. Yeah, that's good stuff. Hey, don't forget you can catch exclusive video clips, like if you just joined us in the middle of this interview with Frank. That will be available at some point. We've got video clips, highlights, and much, much more on the oilers now, ex account, and also 880 Cheds YouTube channels, proudly presented by Legacy Heating and Cooling. And some guests and oilers now receive gift certificates to Japanese village. It's a true celebration of the senses, quality, ingredients, and unmatched grill side experience. It's just a fun place to eat, and your seat is available.

16:39Just track them down at jvadminton.ca to book your reservation. That's it. We'll take a look at the out of town scoreboard and the injury update. What we come back right here in Orders now on 880 Cheds. 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 you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure. Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with price line, download the price line app or visit priceline.com and book your next trip today. Go to your happy price, price line. LinkedIn is pretty great at a lot of things, like helping you tap into the latest trends and insights in your field. We cannot stop your coworker from tapping her pencil. LinkedIn can help you find new jobs that align with your career goals. We cannot help you find the source of that weird smell in the office fridge. Yeah, and while we can't stop your coworkers from bringing their hobbies into the office,

17:43LinkedIn can help you bring your career to the next level. LinkedIn is the network that works for you. I would say the support for me is around 35 to 40%. All the rest of you say, lay off the captain. Okay, well, we're going to move on. We're not going to keep going after that one. Lots to talk about with Craig McTavish coming up after the top of the hour. Talk a little bit about how important it is to make sure that your goal tenders are going into the playoffs on the right vibe. And right now, a lot of people are a little nervous about that. Hey, let's take a look at the out of town scoreboard around the NHL. There's just one game on tap tonight. It will be Rimer against Shasturkin. It's the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden tonight to take on the New York Rangers. That one gets going at 530R times, so we'll be watching that one carefully. Mostly for the Ottawa Senators who still kind of have a shot at it. New York Rangers. It's been a bit of a disaster a season, but that's the only game on tap around the NHL tonight. Look at the Oralistow injury report brought to you by James H. Brown injury lawyers, the heavy hitters of injury law. Okay, so let's start things off with

18:48Trent Frederick. Obviously, his estimated date of return is around the 28th of March, but he is out. Leon dry saddle. We know the situation there. He's on the injured reserved and his estimated return will be the 20th of April. That will be the start of the playoffs. Golden doc, April 4th is what they're starting to take a look at. That's what we're hearing. Matthias Janmark, obviously under going some season ending surgery will not be back. So his estimated return date would be the 15th of September, I guess, if you wanted to look at it that way. And Curtis Lazar, looking like he could be back by the 2nd of April. So that's this coming weekend. So we'll we'll wait for that. But that's what's the situation with the Edmonton Oilers when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers now injury report brought to you by James H. Brown injury lawyers, the heavy hitters of injury law. Don't forget you can catch exclusive video clips highlights and much more on the Oilers now ex account and also on 880 Cheds YouTube channel, which is probably presented

19:51by our friends at legacy heating and cooling. And don't forget, I know it's getting close to dinner time. So why don't you think of role pizza? Because role pizza is pizza pasta and so much more, you can get a $10 bonus for every $50 gift card purchased. So make sure you check them out online, go and visit rawpizza.ca. Hey, also I see they've got another trip going. I'm talking about newest travel. They've got a 14 day tour through New Zealand. I've always wanted to go to New Zealand more than Australia. I know that's going to upset some people in the text line because there's already people mad at me today, but this trip through New Zealand looks sensational. It's coming up in November from Auckland, sparkling shores to the adventure capital of Queenstown. They'll also be exploring the bay of islands and ride the scenic Alpine train through the southern Alps and your trips could include flights with air New Zealand, which I hear great things about. First class hotels, meals, local guided tours at entertainment. For more information on the New Zealand tour, contact newwest travel at newwesttravel.com. Take it a break. Craig McTavish joins us when

20:55we come back right here on orders now. Two teams, one cup. The prime time stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi finals, Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tiger's Jupiter links. Keep up, it's playoffs. Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2 and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and on the ESPN app.