Hour 3: Matthew Knies Trade Package & Marc Denis

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2:05Off of the way. Dots and snores. Second of the night for Noah Dotson. Never miss a moment. TSN 690. You're listening to afternoon nap experts. Connor McKenna and Sean Star. The morning show on TSN 690. All right, we're back. It's Habs breakfast time here on the morning show. It's on a game day. The Habs in the Least tonight. What better time to have a juicy trade rumor or potential trade that wasn't on the table? The Habs in the Least don't do a lot of business with each other. But Kent Hughes is a modern man. And if the best steal on the table is for a guy who happens to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, why shouldn't you make that deal? Scared money, don't make money, Sean. Oh, I love that when you say that. Matthew Nice. According to Marco Domingo in a conversation with Sean during your podcast yesterday, right?

3:08Yeah, came out yesterday. Yes. And then Nick Kiprio. There's also on this on last night here on TSN 690 when we heard it at seven o'clock. And then Nick Kiprio's on SportsNet as well. Now, I don't know if Elliot Friedman addressed this on 32 thoughts. I know on Saturday night Friedman had mentioned that he had a theory on what it was that the Canadians were working on the mystery trade. But it sounds like some pretty reliable sources are saying they were close to a deal for Toronto's Matthew Nice. Now, who is Matthew Nice? He is a 23 year old player who has size. He has a contract to under $8 million right right around very similar to the contracts that your Isle of Cowsky coaxically. And Nick Suzuki has signed six year deal. So five years remaining after this one. And the numbers are as follows. He had an 80 game 35 points season as a rookie in 2324.

4:10Last year in 78 games played 58 points including 29 goals. This year 61 games played 51 points. 16 goals so far this season. 63 to 32. I was just looking at the last big name involved in a Montreal Toronto transaction. And no disrespect to Sammy Blair or Michael Pizzetta. Thomas Blacanas. Yeah, February 25th of 2018. Okay. So it doesn't happen very often. Yeah. First of all, Yes. What do you think of Matthew Nice? I like the player. I think he's a desirable target. I think, you know, what it says about and he would round up. I think, you know, if the Canadians are looking for that for that piece. Top line player are going to see him play next off. Austin Matthews tonight on the leaves number one line. I think you'd be a great finishing piece. And I know you didn't ask me this question, but I'm going to say it anyway. I think what it tells me about this speculation around Matthew Nice and Ken Hughes.

5:11He is big game hunting. He is looking to socket dinger. And we know he's got. He has the cash. And by cash, I mean assets, picks, prospects ready to go. He's got it to make that type of deal. And I think if you're a Habs fan corner, I think it should be very exciting that your general manager is is looking to make a home run. He's looking to do it again. Like he did with no adopts in last summer. Yeah. I do also think that we should keep our feet on the ground when it comes to evaluating this player. I really like the player too. Yeah. Having said that, we're not. We just had that conversation superstar, not a superstar. This is not a superstar player. This is potentially a star player. I think a very good player. Six, three, two, 30 guy can score you 20, 25 goals in a season. Guy that can get you as 65 points maybe in a season. That is a terrific ad, especially when you take the size package into consideration. For a team that frankly is starved for it.

6:13You know, he's not Brady Kachuk, but he's definitely not scared to play a physical game. Yeah. And I can see why he can't use if, in fact, the speculation is to be believed was interested in trading for this guy. Well, yeah, he checks, you know, for the reason you just finished mentioning and the age and the contract, it again, it's very, I love the patterns. And it's very consistent with the pattern and the Canadians have been telling us what they're trying to do here. If it's almost perfectly into it. And I think in unlike Robert Thomas, it's a player profile that they don't necessarily have or at least don't have enough of. I think he would instantly be a top six player for this team. Yeah. The question, of course, is the big one. It's, you know, what would it cost? What would it have cost to acquire this guy? And it's really hard to get a handle on this. It seems if we can look at what Brad Chiliving was getting up to as the least general manager on Friday, he was scrambling. I mean, maybe there's a reason that they couldn't put this thing together

7:14and it was he was desperately trying to get something, anything for Scott Lawton, that he was trying to get something, anything for... Nicola Waw. Well, that he took care of a little bit earlier in the day. But there was the two trades that came in late. It was Bobby McMahon was the other one. What did he get a second and a fourth for him? So he was busy just trying to get something for those guys. Oliver Ekman-Larson was another player who was widely speculated to have been available. He got to think that the Canadians might have been interested in that player too, who definitely fits in. And he wonder if that might have been about a package or something like that. But anyway, because there's been a lot of talk about a right shot defenseman as being something that the Canadians were hot after as well on Friday. But what was the acquisition cost? I mean, I have no idea if we're going to speculate here. I think we can say, first of all, if Michael Hage was a non-starter in the Robert Thomas discussion, with all due respect to Matthew Nyes, he's not Robert Thomas. He doesn't have an 86-point season under his belt.

8:16Exactly, it doesn't play center. When life gets unpredictable, preparation matters. In medicine, it's all about staying alert, ready for whatever comes through the door. On the road, it's no different. That's why Volvo designs vehicles to help anticipate risk, reduce harm and protect lives. The Volvo XC90's advanced safety systems inspire confident decisions wherever the road takes you. The Volvo XC90's for life, proud sponsor of the pit podcast. Learn more at VolvoCars.ca slash safety. I would think that the Canadians would not have been willing to part with Hage, unless it was in a deal where the plus plus plus was less.

9:30What else, what do you think? What has your gut tell you that the Leafs might have been interested in getting from the Canadians here? There's part of me quickly considering that if we go the whole way and that this was actually going down in the final hours before 3 p.m. on Friday, I wonder part of me, and maybe it's a bias, Ken Hughes and his sharky NHL player agent passed. I wonder if he used that as leverage, depending if the Leafs were truly desperate to make an impactful move. If there was a way holding him, waiting, waiting, waiting, and seeing if he can get him at the last minute to bend and make a deal that they might regret. I wonder if there was a power play move there on behalf of Ken Hughes and Jeff Gordon running this ship and maybe trying to get one over on Bradshaw living, right? But I think ultimately when we wonder about what would it take, we go back to last year in the aftermath of Mitch Marner leaving for Vegas and the speculation and the rumors and the talk around a Michael Renton and before he went to Dallas that he was offered for Matthew Nies.

10:30And they said, no, Carolina said, no, not happening and we know what happened thereafter, right? So I guess if we riff off of that, what would it take? And, you know, right away the first name that came to my head, and I'm not saying I wouldn't do the deal and I don't think Ken Hughes would either. I think they're asking for Yoraislav Kowski. I really do. You know, you're asking for Lane Hudson. You're asking for a star, borderline star NHL player to come back because I don't know. Does Toronto really, if they're going to, let's say, take a, let's say a Michael Hage or Zorovsky or something like that, they're going to take a player with zero NHL experience, plus a package of picks. To me, you know what that says? Bye-bye Austin Matthews. Bye-bye. He's leaving. They're going to trade him too, right? Are they really going to aggressively tear it down to that level? But then why are they even, why are they looking at trade Matthew and eyes

11:31in the first place? Like, because maybe they are, right? Because maybe they are. And as we've pointed out already a couple of times on this show, the, the, the rather big horses up front and knee-lander and Matthews have NMC's full no move clause. NICE doesn't have that, that, that, that kind of barrier in his contract. But can we also say that when it comes to Slavkowski, that, that's a non-starter. It's a non-starter. You're calling? Yes. Because we're to, what we're, we've been told here and there's a lot, we're doing a lot of speculating. Exactly. Yes. But that, they're a deal, they were apparently close to a deal and that it sounds like maybe NICE was the, the, the only player we know, I don't, I say no. Yeah. We don't know. But that we're hearing was involved. Yes. Is if Brad Chaleving says we want Slavkowski, they're not getting close to anything. So what were they close to doing? And I think you make a good point about the, the least waving the white flag. From what I understand, the company line right now is that the Toronto Maple

12:32Leaves believe this year was a one off. And, or at least it's wishful thinking, or at least that's what they're sort of saying publicly, that they are not saying we're done and that we're rebuilding. They have not come out and said that and that. For that reason, it's just, it doesn't really make sense that you would trade away Matthew NICE. But as you point out, he's already been involved in trade rumors involving a significant acquisition a year ago. That's it. There's clearly the Toronto Maple Leafs. This guy's not an untouchable to Brad Chaleving in his land of Mary men. So I don't know, like if Carolinas said no for rent and for NICE. So you go a rung, you go several rungs down from that, you know what I'm sure about that? I mean, that, that was the speculation. Wasn't it Mariner? I thought it, I mean, we could double check this, but okay, I, you know, I think part of the package there was Mika Rennon, but, you know, are you going off something you read recently? Recently, yes. Okay. Yeah.

13:33But you're probably, I don't know if, how close to the Noah Dobson kind of price tag, are you looking at, you know, a pair and you're trading way more first round picks, would all of her cap it in be a part of that would, would, again, you bring up Michael Hage's name. Do they want, you know, Kate and Goole, do they want NHL bodies? Of what you're saying is what they're thinking that they believe this year was the outlier and next year they believe to be back into a, you know, a more competitive picture. Then yeah, it's going to cost you NHL bodies because the, here's the thing. You know, we could talk about, yeah, Matthew Nies is not Robert Thomas, I agree. But you're, you're buying the best years of this player with still room to grow. He's only 23 years old and he's got a 50 spot under his belt. And like everybody else in Toronto, he's having a down year for a lot of different reasons. But not that far down. You know, you're getting a 23 year old player already under contract. Yeah, looking at you pay, I think you pay a premium for that. Yeah. So I guess both things are apparently true because I, I, my, my alarm bell went off there

14:37and it was like, when Marner refused to waive his no movement clause last year in a potential trade for Ranton and, and then Ellie Friedman apparently also reported that the leaves had a deal on the table that included knives for Ranton and, but they declined. Yes. And they went with the land in Stankovan, right? For Dallas and Logan, yeah, sorry. Yeah, Logan, and that was the deal that was ultimately struck. So, you know, what, what's the common thread there that would see Brad Triliving? And there's the other question, you know, when the Maple Leafs season ends on black Monday NHL version of it is he going to be the guy that's left to the curb waiting for the Uber to take him back to his house because he doesn't have a job in Toronto anymore. So, um, I don't, you know, I think it's fascinating to see what that potential deal. If we're ever to come again in the summer, as Ken, you said, maybe it's something they could circle back on and readdress and tackle it in a more aggressive way this summer. What Montreal is willing to, to kind of trade to Toronto in order to get, um, a nice top

15:42six talent in Matthew Nice. Okay. But it's Hudson, Demidov, Slavkovsky, it's nose across. There isn't even a negotiation in my opinion. I'm, it's like, oh, I mean, you can ask for whatever you want. Yeah. But the conversation kind of ends there. If that's where you're coming at me from, you're like, I want Slavkovsky and that's that. Well, I mean, it just, this is the part of it that just doesn't really make sense. Is that if, if what Toronto's asking is a significant player off the Canadian's roster, yeah, how does that jib with they were close to making a trade? Mm hmm. Um, and your guess, I guess is, is good as mine. Robert Thomas spoke yesterday. As we mentioned, saw that with Greg Wiesinski and Jeff Merrick on their podcast and, uh, made it clear that he was never asked to wave his no trade clause by the blues. I never asked for it, right? He, he didn't ask and, and Doug Armstrong never went to him. The Canadians face the Toronto Maple Leaf tonight.

16:42Uh, Marta Saint Louis, as I understand it, so sorry, just to catch you off there. Um, you're in a Michael Hage possible transaction, whatever else. Well, it's on whatever else. It's what is the whatever else. But yeah, look, I mean, I think I'm a first rounder for sure is going the other way. I would trade Michael Hage for Matthew Nies, because I hope that one day Robert Thomas, I Robert Thomas, I hope that one day Michael Hage can be as good of a player as Matthew Nies. Is he'll never be, he'll never have the size that Nies does. Unless I'm misinformed on the side of six, six, three, two, 30 here. I mean, so, uh, yeah, I mean, I would do that because I think it makes the Canadians a better team, not just now, but for the next six years. Um, anyway, poor Michael Hage, uh, you, yeah. The Canadians face the least tonight. Marta Saint Louis, uh, as I understand it, I was not at practice yesterday, but I, uh, understand that he was kind of given his guys the gears a little bit,

17:46which doesn't necessarily jive with the six, one and three record that the Canadians have in their last 10 games. But we've been watching these last 10 games. Uh, they've been fortunate to only have the one regulation loss. And that was an emphatic one of the seven five loss. They still battled that, right? Yeah. Uh, and they still made a game of it and tied it up at five five before they ended up losing at seven five. But this fire wagon hockey that the Canadians are playing. We've seen this before, and then we've seen them kind of work their way back into not playing so much fire wagon hockey. But as a young team, there's going to be ups, downs, ebbs, flows. And they are in fire wagon hockey mode right now, based on what happened on that California road trip. Obviously, that's not something that Marta Saint Louis is thrilled about. Um, but I guess that's why. Uh, because if I told you the Canadians are six, one and three and Marta Saint Louis is reaming them out on the ice there and practice history. You're like, well, geez, uh, what are you doing here? That's it. But obviously it's, this is not just a results oriented business.

18:47No, they got, but they got points nine of their last 10. And then stylistically, I get it. Um, I, I totally understand you're trying to sharpen your skill set for the playoffs. And you fire wagon hockey, um, you know, for this club, I, you know, and you look at the Eastern conference, I, I don't think that's this strategy that you hope to go into round one with. Yeah. But, you know, for me, and I know sometimes I'll come across as a fanboy. I just, I really like this coach. And you know, when you bring up the fact that he's been kind of hammering down on his players, I mean, he was such an intense player because he, you know, I guess based on the size and everything else, how much he overachieved based on what people thought he was going to be as a player, right? And look what he did. So if there's a guy that's going to come with an intense attitude, he's the guy that comes and passes the credibility test. You know what else about this whole stuff, whether, you know, he stops practice and he looks at his guys, is this too complicated? He asks, is this, does everybody get it? Or is it too common? There's a, everyone's like, oh, I got it. I got it. I mean, we, the team talks about it, the coaching staff, the management talks about more jam,

19:50more dog. I mean, this to me is how you teach it, like be intensive practice, demand more attention to detail, effort level output. And I personally, I read a lot into him kind of getting into his players a little bit and raising the standard and making sure everybody understands what they're trying to do on the ice in a practice session before a big gain. This is, you know, there's a lot on the line. There's a, there's a ton on the line. This is an audition time. It's, it's execution time. This is how you do it in my opinion. More on the Canadians ahead of their game against the Leafs, the goal-tending situation, such as it is with Mark DeNee coming up in 10 minutes right now. The Atlanta Hawks wanted to pay tribute to an Atlanta institution. Why did the NBA step in and say that they couldn't? That's next on the morning show. She's got game, a weekly show about women's sports with top athletes, coaches and leaders posted by Michaela Schreider and Vanessa Sanchez.

20:51This week on She's Got Game, it's Women's History Month, which means the return of everyone's favorite segment for a dollar, name a woman. She's Got Game, Saturday afternoon at 1 on TSN 690. TSN 690 Traffic A tough go for the Met West. It slows from Longelier into DeCarrie with a stall at the Laurentian Audorude Eastbound Transcandidus from Cavendish with the stall at Coat de Lies, Northbound DeCarrie from Turkot, heavy up to the Metropolitan, 20 Westlows from Ongeringel to an incident at Ville Saint-Pierre, Eastbound side of the 20 Slows at 55th Avenue. It sluggish through La Salle on the 138 coming off the Mercier Bridge, Champlain Bridge backing up from the tracks. Spring come early, maybe for today, but Sunwing would say don't be fooled for real warmth and sun, book your escape down south with your travel agent or Sunwing.ca. I'm Debbie Marcellos from the CJA-D800 traffic. Start your day with sports and sarcasm.

21:51Good morning, show with McKenna and Star, TSN 690. All right, so um... I got to cancel my travel plan, so I wanted to go to Atlanta on Monday night for a magic city night at the Atlanta Hawks game. After discussion, inside and outside the NBA community, the collaboration between the Atlanta Hawks and iconic Atlanta strip club Magic City has been cancelled by the league. I don't think there was going to be any strippers. They were going to be doing a live taping of a Hawks podcast before the game, famed Atlanta rapper TI was scheduled to perform in half time, and spectators were going to be able to purchase Magic City Atlanta Hawks merch. And the club's famous lemon pepper chicken wings were going to be available during the game. Right, apparently this is too spicy for the NBA.

22:56And Adam Silver says while we appreciate the team's perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. And players, one player in particular was very vocal about not being a fan of this. Who? If you don't know, the king of half information. I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA communities said Adam Silver. The Hawks responded, they said while we are very disappointed in the NBA's decision to cancel our Magic City night promotion, we fully respect their decision. They cancelled the live taping of the podcast, fans who purchased tickets for that portion of the night will be contacted directly. They will honor any merchandise that was pre-ordered. The merchandise will no longer be available at the game. I would love to have one of these t-shirts or something. Yeah, Luke Cornett, the game itself obviously will go ahead as planned. They say as a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta

23:58with authenticity in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together, so the Hawks. I don't know, it sounded like a lot of fun. Yeah. It was, I didn't have a problem with it. Spur Senator Luke Cornett said that he criticized the pro-most arguing it didn't align with the need to protect and respect the women. But like you said, it wasn't like there weren't going to be dancers, right? It was just, yeah. I don't know. I mean, it sounds like a pearl clotster to me, this Luke Cornett, but what do I know? I don't think anybody's forcing anybody to do anything. Exactly. What can you say? Mark Dene is standing by and we'll dive back into the Canadians. Why is Sam Montaume getting the Senators game? He is getting the Senators game, right? They're not calling up a goalie for that game, aren't they? What a song.

25:03All right, let's see, Mark Dene joins the show right after this. We'll tee up the habs and leaves, talk goalies with Mark next. There are so many ways to listen to TSN 690 on your radio, 690 on the AM dial, online at gsn690.ca, by downloading the iHeart radio app, always free or through our podcasts in on-demand audio, whether you're at home, the gym, your car, or the office, take TSN 690 with you. We're about to the corner, who gets with a shot from the point upstairs at scores, it's 2-2. From distance, the ducks work the puck on the outside, and Buddhist equalizes the game.

26:03Yeah, if you're going to get burned by Radco-Gudas better on a long shot from the point than from him, you know, fallen on Sydney Crosby, like he did at the Olympics. You know what I mean? Now let's bring in Mark Dene with more on the Canadians ahead of their game against the least tonight at 7 on RDS. Good morning, Mark. Ouch. Good morning. What? Well, the memory of the Gudas falling on Crosby. Yeah, that's brutal. I remember it's bigger than game, you know, 61 in Anaheim on a Friday night. Indeed. I'll never forget Troy Crosby's reaction. He was not impressed. Whatever Sydney might have said about it afterwards, his dad certainly didn't like it in the moment. All right, even when your kid is 37 years old, they're 38 years old. It's still watching him, and as a hockey dad, it's a remarkable thing. One of the best things about Crosby is just 87, right? Just 87 is birth year. It's 87 on the back of his jersey. It's contract. It's 87-apit peanut butter sandwiches.

27:05Mark, Sam Motombo, and another difficult outing there on Friday night. I wanted to zone in on the fact that he makes these incredible saves in close, and was doing it again there on Friday. But it's these long shots from the point that seemed to be his kryptonite. What's up with that? He battled from in close, and he allowed the first shot in twice, right? In that game, one goal is that this allowed. Listen, out of 73 goalies I qualified from shots outside of the slot, he's 73rd, out of 73 for safe percentage, 930. So sometimes a simple stat is the easiest stat to wrap your head around, or toughest to wrap your head around, I guess, and that's the one, right? Dolbas is right at league average. He's 31st league average is 965, he's 967,

28:07so he's right in the middle. So not great, but that's all you want, right? Is decent league average goal tending? The inconsistencies have been really, really tough from all three goalies, really, that I've played for the Habs this season. As far as general, how can I say that, general body of work, depending on the indicator or the advanced or the fancy or the regular stats you're looking at, Montreal is somewhere between 21 and 25. So let's say they're 25th in the league, just to put it at worst. I mean, there are still, you know, 7 to 10 teams that are doing worse than the much rocket aids between the pipes, but it's such a hot topic, no doubt. As far as the long shots answer your question directly, to me, it's a lot of puck tracking, which, you know, was deficient, and it's not just the shot, right? The, the, the, the home goal, he's not even, I mean, the puck beats him right in the middle of the neck, because he's not positioned while he didn't see the puck.

29:08So it's a little bit, you know, hard work trying to find the puck on the, on the stick blade from the past before the pass or before the shot. That would go a long way, but also tracking it all the way to your body, to your equipment or to, if you want to exaggerate it all the way to the puck beating you and going into the goal. It's like the batter watching the ball go all the way to the catchers mid. That's kind of what I used to reference it to when I was teaching my younger goalies. Same thing as, you know, when you're teaching, you know, batting, you, you want to follow that ball with your eye in your head all the way to the catchers mid, and then you know, you're tracking the ball or you're tracking that puck. So that's something I'd like to see, but definitely a flaw in, in multiple games, no doubt about it, because as you said, it raises all the good things that he does in a game. It erases the fact that he battled after those two goals, the one this allowed in the one in and made some good saves. And all you talk about is, is, is the bad ones that went in instead of focusing on this team needs to clamp down,

30:11right? Now we're talking about, you know, Motoboy and rightfully. So is it inconsistencies and the long range shots is allowed? I'm no optometrist, but is it possible that it could be like an ice site problem? Is this just like it could be as possible? Is that something that the Canadians idea of any idea if that's something that they've explored or should explore? I mean, they have to, right? I mean, I know we do, I test every training camp. There's no doubt, but yes, there is definitely more, usually there's eye training as well. And I know that some Motoboy has done that in the off season. I mean, it's, it's a fast, to say the least, it's a fast-moving object. So it's not easy to track for Mr. Tulmone. But you know, it's, it's a different thing when you're talking about, you know, top-end elite athletes. Or so, yes, there should be some, yeah, absolutely. There should be some work being done there. But, you know, just to expand on this, I guess, before we move on, I mean,

31:15tonight is the 20-gain left marker against Toronto. And what about this? I mean, they're not the top of the class in the Atlantic division. You got teams like Boston and Columbus and Ottawa, Nipadet, your heels. What about the trust factor from, from the coach's perspective about playing sem, Motoboy? I mean, to me, Mark, maybe I'm wrong. Like, I had time for the conversation, you know, at the midway point of the season, got to keep going, got to try it, got to try it, got to try it. But am I overreacting to say 20 games left? My appetite for keep on trying is less and less. As it should be, but I'll, you know, as it should be, you know, 20 games, there's no doubt. I don't think you can have the double discourse of saying, hey, we were losing game, but the process games, but the process was important, we were playing well. Well, you can't say we're winning games, so we're fine, right? They're not playing well. That to me has to be at the top of the list. Now,

32:19as far as figuring things out, as far as who's going to play with who and, you know, who will be in the lineup, who's going to be your third bearing, you don't like Gouli playing the left and the right side, I'm going to, I'm going to shoot back at you. 20 games is, it's a long time. I mean, you know, it's tough to say what's going to happen tomorrow night in Ottawa, so 20 games is a long time. So there's still plenty of time as far as I'm concerned. When life gets unpredictable, preparation matters. In medicine, it's all about staying alert. Ready for whatever comes through the door. On the road, it's no different. That's why Volvo designs vehicles to help anticipate risk, reduce harm and protect lives. The Volvo XC90's advanced safety systems inspire confident decisions wherever the road takes you. The Volvo XC90 for life. Proud sponsor of the pit podcast. Learn more at VolvoCars.ca-safety.

33:42The one thing I'll say is that I know by now is every time you've tried, you know, to go to one Gouli for an extended period, it hasn't worked out. All three of them have failed. So, you know, you have to find a share of the net. And to me, you know, you figure out who's going to be your starter game one and you go from there. What do you think? Sorry, go ahead. No, no, that's a, so there's a lot of, I know it's obviously 20 out of 82 is a smaller sample size, but to me, there's, it's a long time. And hockey speak, 20 games is over a month. It's a long time. Yes. Sean's brought up a couple of times this morning that the fact that it is dovish tonight, and I guess presumably, Montenbo tomorrow night, Ottawa being the more important of the two games, Toronto being the, on paper, easier of the two games. What do you think of the fact that dovish

34:43was named the starter tonight? I disagree. Ottawa is not the most important game, just for the same reason I just told you, every time there's a back-to-back, the second game is never the most important game. You have to, you know, you can't win both if you don't win the first one. So, take care of business, especially at home. Take care of business tonight. And then I'm not going to say it's trivial who plays tomorrow, but if you win tonight, then you set yourself up. And tomorrow night, obviously, it's Ottawa. And every time you play a rival, Toronto, Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, I guess you reset the counter, right? Because it's, it's a rivalry game. So even when Montreal was 31st in the league, it's always a tough game for the opponent, because it's a rivalry game. But listen, it's going to be a tough one for Ottawa. They, they got nine out of the 10 points on a five-game road trip. They're, you know, they either spent the night on the plane or they're going to spend all day today on the plane, and they got to play Montreal tomorrow night coming back home. So, you know, energy should be, you know, top end for Montreal, no matter who plays. And I heard you guys right before the break, whether it's Dolbech, whether it's multiple, whether it's Fowler, it doesn't matter. It's not trivial,

35:44but somewhat to me tonight, that's the most important game. When tonight, you figured out and you go from there. So, I mean, you know, based on that answer, I mean, is it, can I guess that if Dolbech and the Canadians play well tonight that there's a world that exists that Dolbech could get the net in Ottawa Wednesday? Or no. But I don't know why. Why would you do that? You're not going to play back to back in the playoffs. Well, just like you said, you can't win two in a row if you don't win the first one. So, if you win the first one, right? Yeah, when the first one, and then, yeah, and then the second one, it doesn't become unimportant, but, you know, just, yeah, it doesn't matter to me. As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't go back to back. The weekend is a little different because there's no traveling. And, and I say this all the time, it comes from we got to play 77. The night thought I didn't play enough, right? Like I want it to be in there every single night, playing in a Western conference, travel, time zones. It's a different world today. And every time this season, you've, you've tried and go to one guy for repeated starts, it hasn't worked out. That's, that's the lesson you should know. So, don't repeat it. Don't just share

36:48that like it's fine. And if you need to call up Follower, there's no player limit on your roster. Go ahead and do that. He played well on Friday, but what I would caution against is just brief little talks with Marco Marciano there on the road or whatever. I mean, he's missed two weeks. He's lost a lot of weight. He was really down by a virus and he's only played one game, Follower. So, give him time to get, get his, get his bearings back. He played really well on Friday. Great. I haven't played more than one good game before you call him back up. Like set him up right if you're going to do that. So, I'd be totally comfortable. I know it's, I'm not saying, please, like, there's a difference between saying San Montaubo has played well and saying that I wouldn't thrust or put any of my, you know, Dolbache if he's, if he wins tonight, it's great. I wouldn't necessarily put him in, in a tough situation if it's not set up to succeed. Maybe it's an easy game tonight and maybe you do go back to that. I have no problem. To me, it's not about energy. It's about the body of work. So, there's two ways to go about it, but

37:51it's fine. You're going to have to play more than one goalie for the next 20 anyways. Yeah. And what about this? When the Canadians drafted David Reinbacher a couple of years ago, we've heard a lot about the plan and sticking to the plan. I bet they were planning that in 2026, he would be playing on the right side of the blue line in Montreal. Obviously, the best laid plans. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he's playing very well right now. What do you think of David Reinbacher and whether the Canadian should look to him as he plays his strongest hockey in the American hockey league? Do you just let him stay down there and cook or do you consider bringing him up to help solidify things on the back end of the blue line? Yeah. I mean, maybe a few games. Obviously, it hasn't been easy for Gouli to play the right side. I think Hudson plays better on the left, but can play the right. So yeah, maybe a couple of games. Absolutely. Now you have only five call-ups, regular call-ups until the end of the season. You always have to remember that

38:52as well. So you have to keep a few for injuries. We're talking about regular call-ups, not emergency call-ups. So you have to, you know, you have to be careful how you go about your business. And then Levas and obviously in a playoff spot as well. So you don't want to deplete that team. To me, Rymbacher, it's about mileage, about getting games under his belt. Great. Then plan for him to be on your roster next season. You know, that's, it's great. It's fine. It's perfect. Some players, especially the fence, take longer than others. That's great. That's fine. He's playing well. He's healthy. Good. Let's keep it that way. If you think he needs to be, not he needs to, but if you want to reward him because he's played well and he stuck to his guns and he's worked hard and the reports you're getting from Pascal Van Sinese is the ultimate pro. Give him a taste. Give him a taste of what he's going to do next season. But, you know, have him be an important part of the blue line down there. Absolutely. I'm fine with that. I'm okay with that. Interesting, too. And I just, you know, I don't want to sound like, you know, Mark's not saying, I don't think Connor is,

39:52and I know I'm not, you know, it's not all on San Montenegro to Connor's question about David Rymbacher insuring up the defense. There's a lot of, you know, structural issues there about, you know, to your point about right side, wrong side, strong side, so on and so forth as they try to find some internal solutions. And with that context, internal solutions with Alexander Texier getting ahead of Zach Bulldog after the Olympics. And then Texier now hasn't played for a good stretch of games. Zachary Bulldog's offense has dried up. He hasn't scored a goal since December, late December. But do you see a guy lately post Olympic break that is doing other things that have kept him in the lineup? If so, what are those things? Yeah, it's, to me, Jerry's still out. And I know he's, I mean, he's still young. I like the line created by accident, maybe because of one Kirby dog bad game and trying to get. Slap back and going and reuniting the first line. I like

40:54the line that was created by accident there. I think that bullsick doc and Evans together have worked out. I don't know what you guys have been seeing with the I test. I think they've worked out because I think they've been able to bring enough physicality, responsibility and some offense as well. That I understand keeping bullsick in the in the lineup. I do believe he can create with pace, physicality and his shot. Now I'd like to see more than, you know, one shot a game. You know, if, if that, I'd, I'd like to see one a period from bullsick in a limited role. Granted, but I'd like to see a little bit more of his strengths come to the forefront and that comes from urgency. It is true identity is not solved yet. I don't think we know what he will be. He's still a young player. So Jerry's still out. What he brings is, as I just said, pace, physicality and shot is shot not so much. Physicality. Okay. I don't like when he jumps before every single of his

41:55checks and he's, you know, he propels himself and kind of turns his back a little bit. I like a little bit more straight forward, but that's me nitpicking here. I've seen him play since he's 14, 15, maybe 13 when he's playing against my sons. So, you know, I know the player. I know what's there, but the pace and the shot is, is what really brings offense to his game. I'd like to see a little bit more of that. But I do like the combination of Evans, Budsick and Docs and they've been put together a couple of games, go a few games, go three games, I think. A lot of talk over the last few days after the Canadians ultimately didn't do anything on Friday on trade deadline day and the yesterday, the name of Matthew Knies coming to the forefront is the potential mystery player that they were close to acquiring. What's your takeaway from all of this stuff, including the lack of activity from the Canadians on Friday? Yeah. Well, we talked about increment by high prices on rentals, made it almost impossible, tight cap situation. We've talked about that as well for this year. No goal you were traded. So, I don't think there's any sense wasting any time about that.

42:58Sure enough, the defense I would have liked. I thought there were some candidates out there for the right price, although probably expensive if you're thinking about bridging the gap until Ryan Bakker is ready. But, you know, to me, so the moves that can't use tried to make were impactful moves. You said, Matthew Knies, I know that's the name that's floating out there, whether it's somebody else, it's an impact player. So, that's a big move they were trying. They would have been outliers, making that big move for a player that changes the make-up of that team. The players that were that ended up being traded. Sam Carrick and Nicaragua and these players of the world, Montreal kind of did that earlier, right? Would they know in Tixie? So, that's how I see it. So, they didn't do nothing. They just couldn't make any trades, but they work really, really hard from what I understand. But, not being able to trade Patrick Linay,

43:59being crushed against a cap, kind of prevented from doing anything else, right? So, they're staying in the path with that group. I think that's a jolt of energy by itself. To me, what's really, really worrisome is this is a group that's allowed a lot of goals on counters. So, that's after giveaways and a lot of goals on rebounds. That's not how you win any NHL playoffs. They, you know, 6, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3s. They become two to one and three twos in no time in the playoffs. So, you have to figure that out. It goes way beyond. And I know it's fun and kind of not easy, but it's kind of fun and efficient to single out a player, especially a goalie or a defenseman, but this is a team mentality. Don't swing for the fence every single time. Sometimes, and I love the intention of trying to be the difference maker at this shift, but a lot of times, it's going to happen in three shifts from now. What do you do until then? Are you being safe for you? Try

45:00in every single time to score and then you're opening up the flanks and you're leaving rebounds up in the highest lot, and you're letting the other team counter. And if you're not, it doesn't matter who plays goal, though, bash, multiple, follow, or cacken in myself, you, Sean, it doesn't matter if they're not cutting down four or five of those scoring chances of game. They're not going to win. They're going to go. They're not going to go past the first round. It doesn't matter. My hips, my hips mark. Very tense. It doesn't matter. You know what I mean? Like, coffee is scoring 50 great stories. Suzuki, I've absolutely great. So Fkowski best here. Sure. Hudson, more than a point of game. Yeah. If you're not cutting down four or five scoring chances against, you're not going to win. You're, you're going to be out in the first round. I'm sorry. I know it's, I know it's boring. And we're getting a very entertaining brand of hockey. Listen, I tried to stay awake through Vancouver Ottawa last night. It was boring. But it ends up being a one nothing win. You know, and that's usually how you're going to, to win when the going gets stuff. And there's no room. There's no time. But the Canadians can't become that team. Can they? In the next five, six weeks?

46:04Unless they play Vancouver at 16 shots on goal. No, I know. That was the other point. I know it's the worst team in the league. But well, they can't become, but if they can't become that team, I mean, they're going to lose in five to Buffalo or Tampa. So how do they do it? They, well, they need to, they need to have a mentality of every time I'm stepping on the ice, I'm not trying to go in score. I'm trying, sometimes when I'm up one nothing early in the game, I'm just trying to not give up a scoring chance until the end of the first period. I know it's boring, but that's how you're going to win, especially with the goal tending you've been getting. Listen, I, I hope I didn't sound like I was protecting the goalies. I'm just saying, there are other things. Now that you know, you're, you're not stuck, but now that you know, this is your group, you need to figure this out. I mean, giveaways and rebounds. And listen, it's the rebounds. It's not on the goalies. By the way, the Koreans are right league average for the rebounds given by their goalies. They're 31st out of 32 for scoring chances on rebounds. It means they're not cleaning out the front of the net. We've been talking about this for three

47:06weeks. It's not just on the D either. So how do you do it? You need to have a philosophy of not wanting to spend time in your zone. And sometimes, you know, not trying. Sometimes Lane Hudson can't pinch down in the neutral zone. And, and Slav can't, you know, try a blind pass down the middle because it's going to create opening on the other side. Sometimes you just got to eat it, take the check, move it up, get the neutral zone, get a change. I know it's boring, but that wins hockey games. That's the next step. I mean, playing this way, you're going to make the playoffs and you're going to play in the first round. I don't think you go any further than that. Rarely has it happened. You guys still there? Yeah. I know. I love it. Now it's great statement. I don't know. I live my life in the gray a lot, but I think to me, this is pretty black and white. I mean, show me a team that's one playoffs nine to nine to eight or eight seven. I know eight seven was Buffalo in Tampa, so you can bring me back back in my face.

48:08I wasn't a playoff game. No, I mean, I wasn't a playoff game. Exactly. Well, that's why I wonder, you know, I mean, we talk about whether it's Jacki or Strubel and Jacki with, you know, the brutal decision behind the net on Saturday night. Sure. And then falling. But how important are those guys? Like the fifth, sixth defenseman, they don't get a lot of time, right? Compared to the top four, we talk about a playoff scenario. Ten is usually the number for teams that have a good makeup. I like much y'all stop for. I think, uh, Gully, Gully playing his best hockey would help. I think we've, we've seen that in some games. I thought he played really well against the islanders. I thought he played well against Colorado right before the break. I liked his last game against LA not so much against San Jose. Definitely not against Anaheim. I mean, definitely not Matheson and him were really, really tough that game. So you need everybody going. There's no doubt. Um, but, you know, as long as, you know, as hockey has been hockey, the sixth defenseman in the fourth line, you have to make, hey, whatever you're getting his ice time and then try to try to win

49:13another shift. And, you know, I know, but the one off you're talking about Jacki there, I know it was brutal and then he really tries to come back and falls by himself in the corner and you're like, Oh, no, tough look. He just compounded. I know it's a tough one. And I don't know if you're like me, but you're watching him. You're like, Oh, no, that's his last shift, right? He's not going to see the ice again. So you feel for him. But, you know, it's an example as a team. I'm not saying, well, Jack, I definitely not on that. But, you know, it's an example of, you know, protect that puck. And sometimes, you know, yeah, it sucks. And you want to have the puck. But sometimes you'll just have to rim it and chip it. Because the next shift is going to be the one where you score, not this one. If the chance is there, risk reward, absolutely go for it. Absolutely. You have a two on one. You're not going to dump it in. But yeah. So that's it's a change in philosophy. I think that would go a long longer way than nitpicking on as we should be. Because this is Montreal. This is a hot market. But who's going to be your six minus? It's struggle is a jockeye tonight. Who's playing gold tomorrow? When there's a game tonight,

50:15I focus on being here, being where your skates are. Try to play that game. Don't give Toronto any life. Try to be try to have a clean game in Montreal. I try to have a clean game at home. Wow. Would that go a long way in your team identity? Go moving forward. Mark, we'll be watching tonight. It's the Habs and the Leafs 7 o'clock. Matthew Knies at the Bell Center as a member of the Leafs future. What'd you say? What? Hey, okay. Cheers. That's that's Mark to me. Too bad. We're out of time. We'll go. Let's go to the other side of things. Mike's icebergers in town actually covering the Toronto Maple Leafs. And well, we'll talk about an interesting deadline day. The fact that Brad Treleving says we will have a plan. They apparently don't have a plan now, but don't worry. They will have a plan. What exactly might that plan be? Let's see what Mike's iceberger says about it when he joins the show next year on TSN 690. Hi, I'm Dan Robertson. And I'd like to take the time today to talk about something I truly believe

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