Noted - Episode 141: Camp Blues

0:00Lot'say for Keenan? That's me. Hey, you're a... Yeah. Buying a car online on Auto Trader? Really? But unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online, or at the dealership. Really? Wait, are you? Yep, it's Keenan. Able to finish in person without starting the process over? Really. Your info stays with you every step of the way. Cool. Enjoy. It's Keenan Thompson. Buy your car online on Auto Trader. Really. This episode of the Noted Podcast has brought to you by Olympia Cabab House. Looking for ways to watch the Blues preseason and-or regular season games? Olympia Cabab House is your spot. All right. Let's play some puck boys. This is noted at St. Louis Blues Podcast for fans by fans. David, it's been a couple weeks. Been a couple weeks since we last jumped on. I am Brendan List. My line made here, David Feldman.

1:01Jake is a healthy scratch tonight. He might be able to make it later, but it's really-it's less of a game time decision at this point, and more like an intermission type of decision. We're not sure he's got, you know, a heart heart, I think. I know he's been busy at work. I know he's had other things to do. David, been a couple weeks since we were able to catch up. We got the preseason. We got camp underway, which that only means one thing. Hockey is just around the court. I mean, it started. It is started, but the regular season is right around the corner, and I am so excited to just get hockey started. I know. It feels like, you know, all throughout like August, September, it's super quiet. Up until around mid September when camp starts, and then things finally, it's like, okay, finally, hockey is here.

2:01We can really get excited about hockey again, and it's just like, wow. Alrighty, it's just like two, where we're two weeks away from the start of the season. That's insane. It was a long summer. It was a long summer, but now we're starting to see the weather change a little bit, starting to get a little bit cooler. At least here in Arizona, I know it's probably starting there in St. Louis too. It just makes you feel like this is like hockey is coming. And like, great, I'm super happy that NFL has started, and we get to play fantasy football. Yada, yada, yada. Don't care. Don't care. I need hockey. I need my hockey, and it's so great to be able to watch a couple of these preseason games. Been some really interesting developments. I would say it's gone kind of chalk for the most part, David. What's been sticking out to you from these preseason and early camp notes here?

3:02Yeah, I only got into a watch like the highlights, you know, of the preseason games. I haven't been able to actually watch the games themselves. I am interested in tomorrow night in the third preseason game. I do want to watch that game because I think there's some interesting things going on. Some real competition. But honestly, I think the competition is really interesting. You know, all the different line combinations and sort of the changes. There's a lot of movement, particularly at the bottom of the lineup. The third line, the fourth line. Lots of competition. There are lots of players that are making a case for themselves. It's interesting. Very interesting. Yeah, and I think we kind of knew coming into this camp that those bottom six roles were a little bit unpredictable. Right? I mean, the top six top top three, that's locked. That's locked and cocked. There's nothing that needs to be messed with there.

4:05Second line, you kind of figure it's going to be Miss Mason McTavish, Mick Michael, and someone else. Maybe Pavo Bootsnavich, maybe neighbors. But then the third line and fourth line gets a little bit more here. I would even say the fourth line is a little bit more settled than the third line. So there's a ton up in the air, David. And I'm just so curious. Like reading some of the news, seeing some of the highlights. Who has kind of been sticking out in your mind that maybe you didn't see coming into camp as a potential contender to make it happen. I don't think anyone had doing Peterson as someone that they even thought about as a possibility of making the team. I'm not sure I knew who that was coming into camp. I did. I did know I follow my blues prospects closely. And he's one of those guys who's been in the system a long time. I feel like he's been with the blues for ages at this point. I don't know how old the guy is. But I feel like he was drafted either in like the early 2020s or maybe even late like 2019 timeframe.

5:14But he was always a guy. I mean, that was a pretty toolsy player because he was big. He was fast. And he had, you know, a little bit of skill to his game. And I think he's there. I think the blues are really interested in him. I think he's. I'm really interested in him. I think he's. Showing a lot of camp and I think they want to get a good look at him as a potential player in the bottom six of our lineup. So I'm, he's a really interesting player because again, he's. He's got the size. He's got the speed. And it sounds like he's got a good head on shoulder. So those are the three things you need to really be an impactful hockey player. 24 years old. 64 209 pounds. I mean, those are the measurables that you absolutely love. We love that in St. Louis. That's the type of player that we are looking for on a forward group. He has been with the team for quite a while.

6:15Just haven't heard a lot about it. I don't know what, what, let me see if I can find what year he was drafted. I'm not. It's probably 2020, right? If he's 24, 2020. Yeah. Right. 24. Yeah. Yeah. Like these guys that have been in the system for six years. And they're finally getting a chance now to make the team. That's. You don't see that very often. Honestly, you know, guys, it's stay on the in the system for that long. Yeah. I mean, but he's still pretty young. All right. Yeah. So you know, that's what I'm saying. I mean, I know you're putting up with the team. I mean, I think the team has been in that window of kind of the rest of the guys on the team right now. But yeah, I definitely did not have him on my radars. Are there other people that you were like, man, this guy is making a case for himself. And conversely, are there guys that you thought were going to make more of a case that are now in Springfield? I mean, I thought Justin Carp know God sent them today.

7:17I don't think he didn't do anything in the playoffs for Springfield last year. He's got a spend some time there in the AHL and really prove himself. So that to me isn't, that's no surprise to me. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in a full season in the AHL. I think it's gonna be great for him. I think it's gonna be great for his development. It's just there's ever gonna be a spot open there. I mean, we're not gonna put him on like the fourth line. You know, his ceiling is higher than that and he's, we're gonna try and give him that time. He's gonna give the ice time in the AHL and he's gonna have some opportunity. He's to really grow his offensive game. So I think it's gonna be interesting. He's gonna be a player to watch for sure. I think, yeah, other players that I thought have had good showings in the preseason games.

8:17Kaskiyomaki, we hear a lot about him over the course of a year or over the last year. As a guy who again is a little tools, he has some skill, maybe a little bit of a nose for goal. He's kind of shown up in these preseason games as someone exciting player to watch. I don't know that he has a great shot of making this team, but it just kind of seems like he keeps, he just keeps blipping on the radar. And every once in a while, you hear Kaskiyomaki when you watch him play, you say, this kid can play some hockey. The other player that I thought, we've heard a lot about as well as Zaktine. Zaktine continues to make an impression. It's just, don't really see how these guys are going to make the team. And David, to your point, dating back to last season, we have so many guys who profile as middle six, slash bottom six NHL defensemen.

9:20You just don't have enough room for these guys unless someone really, really elevates them above the crowd. And right now, I'm just not seeing those guys outside of Dylan Peterson, really. Yeah, yeah, I think, I do think we mentioned defense. I think the defense is pretty well set. Our six players, I think Theo Linstane, Craig DeHambie came in, set an excellent camp. I love it. Really easy solidify himself with Cole and Preco. He's going to be a top four defenseman to start the season, which, now that's great. I like Theo Linstane. I'm excited to see more Theo Linstane. Yeah, I'm thrilled to have him in our top in our defensive core this year. So yeah, what have we said recently about puck moving defensemen? We need him. We need him. We need him.

10:21And what did not Doug Armstrong, but Jim Montgomery, what did he say? Who is the best first past defenseman out of the blue zone, out of our zone, out of our defensive zone, he said it was Theo Linstane. He didn't hesitate. We got a lot of veterans on the back end. It kind of makes you like, ah, like why? You know, like why is he guys who have been here in the league for 10 years. They can't make that first pass. I mean, you know, it doesn't make you think a little bit. But let's look at the positive. Theo Linstane is that puck moving defenseman. I think that we've been looking for for a little while. He's taken a huge step over the summer. It sounds like he's worked really hard on his game and he's coming to camp ready to play. Right where he left off, I think last season where we looked at him, he said, he had some pretty flashy stretches, if I can say there. I mean, there were times he was getting into scoring positions where you're just like, man, this kid knows where to be

11:24on the ice. He's making good plays. He's not a liability defensively or at least Colton Peraco is picking up a lot of the slack. You know, he's there as an experienced back end defensive defenseman in allowing Theo Linstane to do the things that he can do. Now I think we are seeing the progression, the evolution of Theo Linstane into a player that can play. I mean, it would be crazy to think they're not going to be any hiccups. But the way that he's slated to go as a top four defenseman, that is a quick ascension in the Blues organization for Theo Linstane. Yeah, I don't think any of the town evaluators out there. I mean, none of them were very high on Theo Linstane. I don't think any of them really thought of him in much when we drafted and weighed in the first round, however many years ago. And even when he got over last season, I don't think anyone was, you know,

12:25had very high expectations outside the Blues organization. So I think this could be a good find for the Blues. I think Theo Linstane, I mean, look, you know, it's a very interesting, we know our defensive core kind of lacks some of that offensive ability that you might want to see in your defensive core. But sometimes you don't have to, you know, necessarily be an amazing offensive player, but you have to do something to contribute, you know, at least get the puck going the other way. So having a player that can, you know, make that great first pass, that can get the puck going the right direction. I think that's something that is a very welcome addition to our blue line. So yeah, I think Theo Linstane's gonna be a definitely a big player to watch for us this season. We need him to be. We actually need him to be. We need a lot of players

13:25I'm thinking Logan Mayu, we need him to be an offensive threat coming into the season. We know it, Brobert can provide. I think I'm looking at the Cam Fowler, Brandon Carlo combination as one that's a little bit more exciting than I gave credit for when we first made the deal. I'm pretty sure you were like, what about Brandon Carlo? I was like, ah, I don't know, like whatever. It's, I don't know what to say about it, but I think I'm more excited than I was when the deal went down. It makes more sense to me now. Yeah, everyone when we made the Britain Carlo deal was like, why are we dealing two third rounders for this guy? But I always kind of saw the game plan with Brandon Carlo. Like he's always gonna be someone where he's gonna, you know, slot in towards the back end of our defensive fairings. He's gonna be a steady four, so hopefully back there,

14:26he's gonna be a good veteran presence. And you know, you need it. You need it. And you know, one of two things is gonna happen either, we're gonna compete and you're gonna be very happy that you have a Brandon Carlo on your team or you're not gonna compete and you can just trade Brandon Carlo and try and get some of that draft capital back. So that that was the game plan there with the Brandon Carlo trade during the NHL draft. And personally, I didn't have any problems with it. And I think Jim Montgomery literally came out and said, like the most exciting, you know, the biggest, I don't know if you call it the biggest surprise, but one of the things that he was most excited about was that pairing of Brandon Carlo and Campowler. So looking forward to seeing more of that in the regular season. You know, I don't know if that's him just blowing trumpet, smoke up my butt or if it's real. You know, like I do think there's a lot of tire pumping

15:27happening, right? Like in Camp, in preseason, you kind of need to pump some tires unless you're Rick bonus and you're walking into an absolute shit show in Columbus. I feel like he's gotta do some PR work, you know? And it's true, like if you're, you know, if you're Monti and a reporter asked you, like who's the most exciting player that you've seen so far in camp and he just goes, you know, I don't think any of these people really have been excited Brandon Carlo. They're so up in the morning. That branded car, though, there's just something about him, that defensive defenseman. If that's the most exciting thing about the camp so far, again, it's like, eh, you see. That's not great. You see, like if you're really looking at the opposite, right? You're hearing what he's saying, but what he's not saying is no one else looks good. I mean, I don't think that's what he's saying,

16:29but it is kind of like that's kind of hilarious. I mean, I think when he's like, I think they're asking him, like who the most dominant players were and they were all defenseman and gold tenders. So just like, yeah, that's that's kind of what I expected that we were not getting, we're not seeing that dominance out of the forward lines quite yet or maybe we'll never see it. I don't know, but I think it does take a little time to develop some chemistry on the forward lines. I mean, that first line's clearly generating chances in this preseason. I don't think they've scored any goals yet, but they're generating shots. Snuggler is putting in shots on goal. Dylan Holloway is getting shots on goal and it's only a matter of time, but it does make you question how good the depth is on this team, but there's a lot of turnover, especially, I wouldn't say especially in the top six, because, but I mean, what?

17:30Two out of six, one third, one third of the top six has been turned to over. You know, it's, I think it is going to take a little bit of time there, but we need to get out to a good start. I think everyone knows that and we're going to need some, we're going to need some cylinders firing for that to happen and it can't just be the first line coming out. I was, I was reading the athletic, you know, they do their sort of projections for the season and they kind of went over the blues projections and, you know, they were, the athletic basically projected them about right where I would have them as well, which is the athletic has us as a mid 80s point team for the season. And, you know, the, the strengths of the squad, I think, you know, I agree where it's, it's the top line that's going to be probably our biggest strength as we have a very affordable top line.

18:31I mean, the, the price that we pay on the salary for the top line is comically well relative to probably what they're worth. But that's good business. It's great business. The weakness though is the, the second line is largely improving. And I don't, you know, I don't expect them to come out hot. And it's going to take some time and I don't know if I don't know if it's ever really going to get there this season. I hope so. I think the one thing I'm concerned about on that second line are there play drivers on that second line? Are there play makers on that second line? Obviously, every single one of those guys, whether it's even neighbors or Booch, Navitch, every single one of those players is capable of scoring 20 goals. We've talked about this before, but it is, can they drive a line? Is there a player on that line that can elevate the others?

19:33It's hard to say, but you know, I, what I will say is a lot of people, a lot of pundits seem to think Mason McTavish has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder has come into the season ready to play. And I'm hoping he's adding some elements to his game, whether that's a little bit more 200 foot presence, whether that's a little bit more foot speed, he does have playmaking qualities in there. I'll say it's largely on proven like you said. I do like that Mason McTavish is a hungry player. I don't, he's certainly someone that's not satisfied and is working hard to get to where he wants to be. I think some of these players like, you know, they, when we turn athlete and you've been doing this for like a longer period of time, yeah, at some point, I think you kind of realize where you are and who you're like kind of slotted in as and you kind of get,

20:35I don't want to say complacent, but you sort of do. You sort of get complacent. You know, I don't think Mason McTavish is one of those players. I think he's still trying to continue to prove to everyone that he is, you know, at top six four or maybe even. My name is Shannon Maldonado. I'm the founder of Yahweh, a gift shop from the lens of artists and handmade objects. I chose Shopify because when I was testing other platforms, it was definitely one of the most user friendly. It was important to me to think about where we would be in the future. All of the tools for reading your sales, like planning inventory, they're just right there on your dashboard. For anyone starting a small business, the biggest thing I can tell you, it doesn't have to be perfect. Shopify can help you build upon it. Start your free trial on Shopify.com. Better. So I like that hunger and I like that he spent the off season working really hard on skating. He's trying to become, you know, like you said, a more of a 200 foot player, not as much of a liability on the defensive side. And, you know, he's also trying to be a, you know, a strong contributor on the offensive side.

21:39He still wants to, you know, again, just prove himself to everyone to his new teammates. And, you know, I don't know. Just because you have that driving you doesn't necessarily mean you're going to succeed. But I'd much rather take a risk on someone that has some talent and that has the drive versus, you know, someone that's probably more complacent. And that doesn't have the same ceiling. I think that's really well said, David. Let's just take a quick short break here from our sponsors. And we'll be right back talking a little bit more about that drive on this team. And who's got it and who doesn't? I mean, look, we talk about guys that just don't accept their role. Guys that just don't accept what other people view as their limit. To me, I never saw Dylan Holloway in Broberg when we offered she did them

22:39that they were eventually going to be first line players. I didn't see that for them. I thought Dylan Holloway could be a great, great top six winger. On that second line, he could be phenomenal. I thought Broberg, potentially a second line pairing on the D side. And now I'm thinking to myself, this guy's the number one defenseman. He's our number one guy. Dylan Holloway earns himself an assistant captain, moves up to the first line. I'm thinking a point per game is not out of reach for this kid. I also want to give more credit to Theo Lindstein, who just wasn't on anyone's radar. Wasn't on any pundits radar. Wasn't on the organization's radar as someone who could potentially make their way to a top four defenseman on the blues and look, I know that's indicative of maybe the defensive makeup

23:40in the lack of top end talent on the blues, which I would argue, but regardless, that's a kid that just didn't accept that Springfield was his ceiling or a third line pairing defenseman was his ceiling. Doesn't look like he's just happy to be in the league. Looks like he wants to keep pushing. So, I also think that Jake neighbors is in this category as well. Jimmy Snuggerud is in this category as well. These guys just, they work extremely hard. They work after practice. I saw videos coming out, Jake neighbors doing skates in the summer, working on his agility, working on his foot speed. And this is early in the summer. This is when everyone is still in France and Spain and doing great trips. No, Jake neighbors is in the lab working.

24:42And so, I love to see that. Are there more guys or... I mean, because I agree with you, David, like give me the guys who have the talent, but also have the drive. At what point do we see this drive aspects start coming to fruition for some of these players in terms of taking that next step forward? Yeah, that's a great question. And I don't know. That's a hard question to answer. That's an in the room answer. Those are the guys that could answer the question. Fair. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, there's some interesting case studies there. I think Pablo Gineve, which is always an interesting case study for that. Like, how much, how motivated is he? He's had two to three seasons where he's kind of been on the down trend. And at some point, like, is there that drive to still be an excellent player?

25:44Is there a drive to fulfill what the blues envisioned when we signed that $8 million per year deal? Yeah, and he's someone where we did see some of those more of those pictures of him really working hard. I think this might have been his biggest offseason yet where he's really trying to get into better shape and really be more of an impact player and really trying to change the trajectory of what he's been on because, you know, we talk about, you know, we like to talk about charts on this podcast. And it's just been going down. He has been very much in a downward channel. So, is he going to fight? Is he going to try and form a bottom and start trying to pick it back up here? I'm really curious, honestly. I think if there's a year for Pablo Gineve, to change the trajectory of his career, it has to be this one. This is, he's had a full off season, you know, we didn't make the playoffs. He had an extra few weeks in the summer to get that extra few weeks in training or whatever he

26:47needed to do. He to me, I think, is still a player very much to watch. If our second line is going to have success, I think, I think Pablo Ginevech, he's our best chance on that right wing, in my opinion. The curious case of Pablo Ginevech, I don't know what to make of him because, to be honest, he's been kind of like the bounce back player candidate for the last two seasons, let's say. And I do think in some ways, like he's, he's overperformed based on how critical we have been of him. Right? Like in some ways, he still ends up with 20 goals at the end of the season. You're scratching it. Like, how did that happen? He did not look good for large stretches of the season. So it's hard for me to, like, I got to see it because I'm not making any bold predictions

27:53about Pablo Ginevech coming into the season because I don't want to look like an idiot. And I like, I like to hear that he's worked hard because I think coming into last off season, I'm not sure that we saw a really athletic guy coming into camp. So he's clearly lost a little bit of foot speed. At times, it looked like he lost his hands. But then he, he, he, he's so smart. His hockey IQ, he's one of those players who is a smart hockey player. He knows where to be. He's always trying hard. I've never questioned his effort. His efforts there. It's just, is the talent still there? Well, that, that needs to be answered. And I think he is a good player. Is he what he was? Or will he ever be what he was? That he's working against father time here.

28:53And so he does need to work hard. He needs to work harder than maybe he ever has in an off season. But I'm, I'm wondering how that second line is going to go. David, because you got Mason McTavish, Conor McMichael. We barely talked about Conor McMichael this off season. Obviously, this is the guy we got in the package back for your boy, Jordan Cairo. Is it going to be enough? Is it going to be enough there? I, I, I want to be optimistic, but I'm not, unfortunately. I mean, you know, you, if all people know how smart of an organization the Washington capitals are. I do. So do you think that the Washington capitals are just sending away a guy like McMichael, just on a win? Like, there has to be that there's certainly a reason. Well, the reason was they could get Jordan Cairo. And I think that was a piece that really, really enticed them.

29:59And when I look at the Washington capitals roster this year, it is deep, it is fast, it is big. Outside of Jordan Cairo, who is not big, but he's got the speed, he's got the skill, he's got the protection of some of these bigger guys. I think he's going to have a huge season. And under Carberry, I think Carberry was just lickin' his chops. He's like, I can't wait to work with a player like this because he's coming off of a down year. I think we, we sold very low on Jordan Cairo. I do. So they were willing to, to give us a piece of someone who has had some success at the NHL level, who is young, who fits our, you know, our parameters of young core forwards. But it is unproven. And where he likes to score goals is right in the blue paint.

31:01There's not a lot of creation happening there. And I do feel like there's a lot of guys specifically on that line who score in the same ways. I agree. I agree. I can be on the perimeter there. And I, yeah, that's, it's very true. I don't know how that line's going to really function. And have everyone be able to put up point production. I don't know. But, you know, I think going back to Jordan Cairo, I mean, Washington recognizes that Jordan Cairo is a game changer. Yeah, it's game changing talent. And he's also has difference making talent. And I think that's like, in today's NHL, where the defensemen and gold tenders are so good, finding the actual like game changing, the true difference makers, that's really where I want to spend my money on in the salary cap. I don't know that I want to spend $6 million per year on a player that I don't feel like

32:02is a really significant difference maker. Like I, I think Conor McMichael can be a very solid player. I just don't, like I don't want to spend all the $6 million, $8 million deals on guys that I don't really feel really cut it as a top six forward. And that's his my opinion. I think Jordan Cairo is about to score 40. This I really do. I think he's going to score 40 for the first time in his career. I'm rooting for him in some ways, in a way that I've never rooted for him. Because, you know, like the thing is, is he needed a change of scenery. He did. He needed to go. And I'm happy that he's getting that in Washington. And I think a weight is going to be off his shoulders. He's with Wilson. He's with Ovechkin. He's with Strom. He's with Ryan Leonard. All of these other guys, Pierre-Luc De Bois,

33:03all of these other guys are going to get the attention. He's not going to, he's just going to be quietly putting in goals. And they're going to love him. They're going to love him. They're going to love him in Washington, 100%. So I'm not saying we got fleece. Because I do think Connor McMichael is a good player. But I do agree with you. Is he top nine or top six player? I'm not sure about that yet. When we first traded for him, I was thinking, I really like the deal. I really like it. As things have gone on, it's just been really quiet around Connor McMichael. It's been really, I just haven't heard anything. It feels like. It feels like one of those things where you trade for a player. And it just, you know, that first year, you get him, you're a little underwhelmed. That's kind of how I get the feeling that this is going to go with Connor McMichael. As I just feel like, he's going to be a little bit underwhelming this season for us.

34:03But I mean, hopefully he's more of a campfowler where you trade for a guy and he just comes out and just has an absolute explosion of offense. Like that's obviously the hope that would be great. But there's also times where, I mean, you see it measuring baseball all the time where you make like a deadline deal. And you don't get exactly the player you're hoping to get. We're hoping he's a Lance Berkman. We're hoping he's Larry Walker back in the day when the Cardinals made those trades at the deadline. Maybe now like a Justin Falk or Braden Shen. Like I don't think either team that acquired those two players who were particularly happy with the end result there. I think we in St. Louis kind of knew what was going on there. And we're like, this is a good deal. This is a good deal for us. And as much as I do love those players, you know, like, hey, if you're going to sell and you're in the market is,

35:07you know, overpaying for guys, it felt like a good opportunity for us. And it was, and it was, it proved to be a good thing in the long run, I hope, for the St. Louis Blues. David, we're going to hear from Draft Kings real quick. The weight is over. Football is here and so is Draft Kings. Draft Kings is now live in all 50 states. One app, every sport nationwide. New Draft Kings customers sign up with code THPN. It's been five bucks to get $200 in rewards within 21 days. And it includes all markets. That's code THPN for the hockey podcast network. In partnership with Draft Kings, the Crown is yours gambling problem called 1-800-Gamber, 1-800-My Reset. Connecticut call 8-887-89-7777. Visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill, Casino, and Kansas.

36:09Bettax pass through may apply in Illinois, 21-plus. Void in Canada. Bet with Draft Kings sportsbook to get bonus bets that expire in seven days or trade with Draft Kings predictions. To get predictions dollars that expire in one year. Event contract trading involves risk of loss. You should know that. Predictions offer void in New York. NAMW withdrawal rewards issued as $50 click to claims every seven days for 21 days. Terms at dkng.co-offer. Limited time offer nationwide based on sportsbook predictions and free-to-play sports contest availability varies by state. David, I have a question to ask you about Pavl Buchnevich, who is, you know, we've talked a little bit about. But I'm curious, do you see him finishing the season on the second line? Oh my gosh. Because I don't. I don't see that happening. I hope I'm wrong. I have root for, like I naturally root for Pavl Buchnevich.

37:11I think he's a hilarious community. He's a nice guy. I love the guy. I want him to succeed. I really do. But, like, I, there, it's probably, I don't know. Can you say it's like 50-50? I have no idea how this is going to end. But I think most of Blue's fans would probably tell you that, you know, likelihood, Pavl Buchnevich isn't going to finish on that second line. But I don't know. Who do you see potentially? I mean, number one, I just want to go back to, I love Pavl Buchnevich. In terms of the interview, there is no better person on the Blue's roster to deliver a sound bite that lives on in Blue's lore. I mean, he single-handedly got banister fired. All it took was one post-game preference. He is so wickedly funny. I just love his sense of humor. And he knows he's funny.

38:12He knows he's hilarious. I don't want to see Pavl Buchnevich go away. I would love to see him be successful. And not just for the team. I love the guy. I want to see the guy succeed. Having said that, who in your mind could be one of the possibilities? Because I'm looking at a guy like Jake Neighbors as a potential second line forward. We saw at times last season that that might be too much to ask. And he might not be ready for that kind of commitment. We're not ready for that kind of commitment. I think Jake Neighbors is the possibility. You know, before I give my answer, I just want to ask, how is it possible throughout all these years that there hasn't been like with Blue's marketing? How have they not taken advantage of having Pavl Buchnevich? I feel like he should have his own segment.

39:13Used to, butch sessions. They got rid of it. He used to sit down and interview other players. He interviewed John Kelly. They used to do it. They did. Yeah. And last season, it was like talks with walks. I feel so it was, you know, Nathan Walker. They've tried to do some things, but yeah, dude, we got to really play that up. We got to play it up. I agree with you. He needs a full on comedic segment. Like, it's like not even trying to be serious. They just need to be straight up Russian comedy. Just get him in the sauna and give him a microphone. Get him in the Russian Baza in his element. And let him cook. Just let the dude cook. Because for free Pavl Buchnevich. He's a free Pavl Buchnevich. Yes. He's a content king. He's a content. Yeah, totally is. I need more of him on my, in my social media.

40:14I think all the Russian like Torpchenko has a little bit of comedy as well. They just have that like little bit of just like, I don't know what you know, they should just say, Qua. But they shouldn't say, Qua. Yeah. They shouldn't say, Croft. It's just like a little bit of the edge, like that little comedic edge there, like you can't teach it. It just like comes naturally to them. It's just incredible. I think when it's that cold in Cypheria, you need to like, like you need to have a sense of humor about it. Right. Otherwise you're miserable. It's dark. It's cold. I thought they survived out there. Yeah. And it's that it's that then a little sharp sense of humor. 100%. Cypheria, even in Russia. Like what am I saying? Probably sounds so. I don't know the history of Cypheria. I don't know either, but I'm all of a sudden sweating

41:14that I've. Oh, it is. No, no, it's Russia. Okay, sweet, sweet. Region in Russia. Thank God. It's like how ignorant do I sound right now? Close, close call. Close call. I never, I never, I never died. Cypheria, it's a place. Beautiful. Beautiful. Give me your answer, David. I'm curious. I still really like Yonatan Bergerin. That's my guy. I don't know. You do. You know, there's only been one good, like, goal so far in preseason. And that's Yonatan Bergerin just passing it to himself and scoring. Like sometimes when you don't have good playmakers with you, you just have to be your own playmaker. And that's, you know, Yonatan Bergerin. He's just, he's going to be his own playmaker sometimes. You know what I will say about the blues is, we do a really good job of burying skill players. We do. We really do. We really do.

42:15I mean, you look at taxi A, right? Taxi A, we're trying to slot into like a third line, fourth line role. What are we doing? What are we doing? And then you see him go to Montreal and he has some success. I mean, he had, I think he had a pretty good playoff. So I'd have to look at the numbers. But his playoff numbers weren't bad. He put him numbers on the regular season too. So yeah, that's, that's a prime example. It's taxi A. And I mean, Mr. taxi A. It just, so with Bergerin, like, yeah, man, give him some, give him some opportunities to succeed here. Because there were times last year where you're scratching. Why is he scratched? Why is he scratched? He's the only guy on that third line producing any kind of offense. David, as you love to say, I love my offense. What the hell was going on?

43:16I know this, this team, I tell you, like, we, you know, sometimes when you just don't have talent, like you need to find ways of, you know, generating something. So in order to generate energy, we go out and we, you know, we get these big physical bruises, guys that hit hard, guys that fight. And that's our way sometimes of that's how we try and stay engaged and gain energy. Whereas teams like Washington or teams like Colorado, it's like, they gain energy by actually scoring goals. Like that's how they get their energies is through offense, like actual pure offensive skill and playmaking. And we just, we have a bunch of guys that I feel like are just like, they like the hit, they like to check, they like to bruise, they like to get in front of the net. But we don't really have the skill players, the sexieries don't make it in the same way as clues. They get, they get shipped off to other teams that want to play offense. If you're not like a bonafide first line player, they'll just be like, yeah, you're, you're

44:20third. You're third line player and you don't hit people hard enough. Like you just, you're not going to cut it in the St. Louis organization. And look, I do think that we just, but that is kind of winning style hockey, but you do need high end scoring. We see that that works. You look at, you look at Carolina. Yeah, they fly around. They've got a bunch, like their depth is insane. I mean, that kind of, that team is like the prototypical. They just have a bunch of high end second liners on that team with, with the, that's, you know, selling short for sure, but that's a good team. They're a great team. And that is a team that wins championships, right? So we see that it works, but you do need some time. It's like Texian, man, four goals, four assists in the playoffs last year in 19 games. That's pretty, hockey's hardest.

45:23And he's playing third, maybe second line minutes, maybe a little bit of power play too. Like did he even see the power play on the blues team? I don't very, very minimal with it was, I can't even remember him on the power play. So when I look at guys like Yonatan Berger and I just say, I, dude, I think you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know, because he can play. Absolutely. That, that, that preseason goal was a beauty. But are we just going to sit him if he doesn't play defense? And I, I know that that's important. I, I yelled at Kyru all the time for not playing enough defense. But I'll be honest with you, David, if, if Kyru was scoring 40 and 40, I would not care. I really wouldn't. But I don't know. He's just on the wrong team. He's on the wrong team. He's on the wrong team. He's on the wrong team. He was. And he was. He absolutely was.

46:24So Yonatan Berger and it's like, yeah, dude, I do think that that second line could use some playmaking ability. But what that second line really lacks is defense. That could be a real issue. And Yonatan Berger and is not, I do see him trying, but I don't see him. I just think that that's a, that's a defensive liability. Every single one of those players on that line is a defensive liability. I don't know much about Conor McMichael. I think he's a little bit more of a 200 foot player. But yeah, that's really meek to have it. And as you throw Berger in and there's this like, well, you know, they're not, they're not going to be very strong defensively, certainly. And I don't know how good they can be offensively. So dude, is that really a very good second line? I, but I like where you're going with it, though, David is like, they need a playmaker. They need someone who's going to be able to drive play from the perimeters. And we've seen Yonatan Berger and do that. He's tried to. And he's been somewhat successful. But then he'll

47:30sit out the next game for some unexplained reason. He'll go one in one and you're just like, oh, okay, I'm excited to see Yonatan Berger and on the lineup sheet. Oh, wait, there he is. He's not even the minus player, by the way. He's not even close to like, he's usually be like an even player or even like a plus player. And he'll still get benched somehow. It's just like, the dude didn't have a negative effect on the game. And he's still somehow getting bench. I don't understand it. It's hard to understand, David. We are not smart enough or hockey gifted enough to understand it. There's something going on there. I mean, I think it was the same thing when we had a Perunovitch or Skydipi, like Skydipi would have the same thing where he's just like, he'd have like, it looked like he was a sound offensive game. But it would be running the play. Wouldn't be a negative player whatsoever. Wouldn't give up a goal. But like, because there's a few moments where just like, I guess the coach wasn't like certain happy about certain things.

48:33Even though nothing really came of it, he gets the bench. It did kind of seem like every time he was on like a goal went in, he was on the ice. Eventually. It did kind of seem like that. Like, I will say it created an important. It's on the ice right now, isn't he? Yup. Yes, he is. It did get there. It wasn't originally like that. When he was the first, I feel like when he was first, Skydipi was first, you know, with the blues. I felt like he was actually like, he's a positive player. I think he was like a good, had a pretty good plus minus to begin with. And then we started losing confidence in him and Skydipi, I don't even think he's in, he's not in the NHL right now. I think he's exactly as an NHL. I think you might be rum in the NHL runner. I think he's a Tucson road runner. Probably. Not sure. But the next year Matthew Schaefer comes into the Islanders, takes his number, takes his job. Maybe he wasn't as gifted as we thought he was,

49:43but at times he looked good. We just don't, I mean, I will say, Theo Lindstein looks kind of like the same player to me. Looks very similar, except he's got a little bit more size. And I do think he's capable on the defensive end. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think he's going to get the same amount of love as the Skydipi did on this podcast, but we're still definitely fans and still very much looking forward to seeing what remains to be seen. Like, you guys can see it. The other team, Theo, Theo, steen, Theo, what could we, well, what workshop a nickname for the team? The divorce, Philip Rober again, just to come up full on, you know, a full on relationship with Theo Lindstein, that could happen, you never know. I don't see it actually. I just, there are two lefties, but I like the Swedish connection there. I do, but I liked what Mayu and Broberg had cooking. It looks like we're just running it back straight, except for Brandon

50:48Carlo. David, what was the last thing on our agenda before we put a bow on this thing? Before we blow the final whistle. I don't know. I was thinking about the special teams, because I think that's going to be big. Probably one of the two or three biggest factors of whether or now we're going to have a successful season is going to be special teams. It's definitely every time we have three and cake breakfast. We talk about this every season. Yeah, yeah. So we got a new, apparently we got our new special teams coordinator, our new power play coordinator out there. So needed it. It was depressing watching our power play. It was, it was painful. And, yes, I shed some tears about how bad we were on the power play. I had some long nights, not being able to sleep thinking about how ugly and how it after our power play was.

51:54Dude, that is where Mason McDavish does shine a little bit on that half wall. He can play out there or he can play in the bumper position. That's a different look for us, because I will say, as much as you love Jordan Cairo, he wasn't that good on the power play. He was terrible on the power play out in the wide. He was awful. We needed someone to enter the zone with the puck and he just was not capable of doing it, which makes no sense because he should be. I mean, it could just be the special teams coordinator. Honestly, yeah, you know, look at St. Louis City and their success. And there's really just one change they made from last season, which was they got a new head coach. And it's like the talent. I mean, up until recently, when we acquired two new designated players, like St. Louis City, it was not like a particularly talented team, especially without those two designated players that we acquired mid season. But we acquired a head coach that actually knew what was going on.

53:01And it was actually, and honestly, it just seems like an overall, this really strong head coach. That just shows you how important coaching is. You know, if you think head coaching and coaching in general is important and soccer, then you better believe it's also important in hockey because they're just, they're pretty similar. But it's so we're, I don't know, like, I mean, I think how hot of a seat Mount Gummary has the start of the season. I think it's an interesting thought. Because I think if he like sticks, you know, does okay, sticks around 500, I think he'll be fine. But if he tanks, if we start the season and we're just terrible, I don't know. I could see a situation where Monte just gets the, gets the boot. Last season was really disappointing. And it did seem like he took a step back specifically because he was a victim of his own success. He came in the year before and it just seemed like he was, he was going on pure vibes. He was singing on the bench.

54:09He was running the same lineup over and over and over again because it was working. And we marched into the playoffs, took Winnipeg to seven games. And again, he was just, he was just rolling on vibes. But then the next season, you're changing the lineup so many times out of the season, out of the gates. It's a different lineup, different line combinations every single night. And you're just like, can these guys build chemistry at some point? Like, are we going to find that? We're not going to, we're never going to find it. It was a, as a last cause. It was, but look. So he's a victim of his own success. And in that season, we made the playoffs. I don't think we, I think we expected to be somewhat in the bubble, maybe close. But last season, there were times where we looked like we might get the top overall pick. Dude, I like, I made a fool of myself last season because I predicted that we were going to have

55:10like what, 100 to 600 eight points or something ridiculous. Yeah. 170. I made a fool of myself. That's why I come into the season. I come into the season. And I'm like, I'm not going to make a fool of myself again. Reserved. I, I deserve all the Christmas that I got. No, I'm taking you, you're more reserved coming into the, not that you deserve. No, I deserve the criticism for us too, but I wasn't in believing that little San Luis was going to have a great season. Sure. But the only reason, sorry. No, go ahead. That's going to say the only reason why I didn't think we were going to get over 100 points was how good all the other teams became and how good the central became, even though it was good before, it got better. And these young players that are coming into the league are making immediate impacts. And we just again had too many what ifs and we still have too many what ifs. There are guys out there who are high on the blues that love the, the, the moves that we made. And I like them too, but is it enough in this division in the Western

56:12Conference? I'm, I'm going to be reserved too. I'm going to hold my predictions because I'm not sure what this is going to look like. And I do think Jim Montgomery has a lot to prove. I do think we still have an issue bearing good talent. And I do need to see more line chemistry. I do need to see us playing more freely in terms of offense, in terms of letting the defensive guys get into the rush, get into the offensive scheme. Because at times last year, we just, we, we looked like we were, like you said, we were trying to win a two one three two game. And we didn't have the goal tending at the time to be able to pull that off. I do think we have it coming into the season. I'm very excited to see what Joel Hofer does as the quarterback on the back end. Absolutely. I, I, I have high expectations of for Joel Hofer. I think he'll, he'll do very well this season. But I think he made

57:16a very bad point where I think we were last season very much a victim of our own success. I think everyone kind of came in thinking that it was going to be easy again, that it was going to, that they didn't have to really work as hard in the off season. They were already in the good spot. They were, you know, I don't know what it was. But I think there was a mindset that things were going to go a certain way. And they didn't necessarily, you know, they just didn't happen that way. You have to, you have to come in and really feel like you have to prove something. And hopefully the season's different. Hopefully, you know, we get back to where things were. Hopefully my gummery has figured out, you know, learned some things from last season. He's changed the coaching staff around. But we were really counting. I think Jim Montgomery and his coaching is one of the keys to the season. I think he needs to have a really good season behind the bench and really do some things to, you know, improve special teams, improve overall,

58:17just the way we play. So yeah, it'll be a sexier hockey team. I will, I always hope for more offense, you know, me. I just want us to play a sexy hockey game. It's not going to happen. I know it because we just don't have the players for it. We don't have that. We don't have the personnel. But, you know, hopefully this, you know, hopefully this physical, intense, you know, hard-checking team. Hopefully that can work. I don't know. It's effective. It's effective. It's effective. It's effective. I think the biggest thing we have going for us, and I know I've said this before, when we lost to the Jats, I thought that was going to be a motivating factor. It actually proved to be the opposite. It proved to be, hey, we're way better than we think we are. And people came into the next season. Like you said, thinking it was going to go a certain way. It didn't work as hard as the new off season. And we got shlacked. And the low point for me was

59:21the Black Hawk game where I think it was like 7-3 and it turned into a lay-up line. Now I was thinking myself, yeah, good teams don't do this. Good teams don't lose like this. And, but the second half of last season kind of leads me to believe, okay, we're not, we could be good. We could be good if we find some depth scoring. The best thing to have happened to us last season was not making the playoffs. I really believe that. The best thing to have happened was Mason McTavish getting traded to the Blues. We've got a lot of players that are extremely motivated who have a very specific idea of who they are and they have not achieved it. It goes back to what you were saying earlier about guys like, yeah, Mason McTavish, I believe it was, where it's just like. McTavish, Bruce Nebich, all these guys, they got to prove something. I think, yeah,

1:00:22and also all the competition again, for the bottom six, forwards and all that. The young guys trying to keep their jobs. We haven't talked about the award of worst key yet. I still feel like he spent like 45 minutes on him like two weeks ago. But I don't want to start it now because we're not going to. But again, I just think the competition is a good thing and I think that having something to prove is a good thing. Motivation is important. So hopefully all of that leads to better results. I do think it's interesting when you talk about the center group. You talk about Pia Souter and Dallow Borodivorski. Those bottom six centers right now, it looks like it's isolated. There could be some talks here. And I know like you said, bottom six players that are surplus to requirements right now, I think it's going to be very interesting to see what happens

1:01:22over the next couple of weeks because I'm hearing whispers that players are being shot. Yeah, I, you know, the thing is like, this team never had the opportunity to like sign or trade for a true like top six forward. So what happened was we got an abundance of these like third and fourth line forwards. And we spent probably a lot more than I would like for them to be quite honest with you. And now it looks like we're going to have to ship some of these away or just let them. I don't know either play my liners or go to the way waivers. It's, it's not really my favorite situation that we're in right now. But it's not bad, dude. Our contracts are not an issue. It's not in terms of being able to go out and getting, you know, paying a star player. We can do that. It would just take the star player to be willing to come here. Right. All of the players requesting trades are all the free agents. None of them have St. Louis Blues on their list right now. And if

1:02:23we win, that could change. But and that's what I meant was like, I mean, we don't have the opportunity not because we don't have the calf space, but because players don't want to come here. Or they're just in the other that players that might want to come here aren't on the trade line or infrashing. So yeah, well, Jake seems to think we're getting Conor McDavid. So yeah, yeah, it's like, yeah, I could go after Conor McDavid. I'm like, Jake, you're like, what? We would be like, we would be instant contenders. I'm like, yeah, dude, any team that has Conor McDavid is going to be instant contenders. Why is he choosing St. Louis? Why would he choose to come here? He can say him. It's like, yeah, dude, there's a lot of teams to compare him. Yes. So we'll see. Anyway, this has gone long, dude. I love you. And next week, we will talk a little bit more about Dallowboard of Dvorisky's suitor. Let's see how these trades go.

1:03:25If any trades get done from bottom six players that are surplus, it will be interesting, but I'm so excited for hockey, man. It's coming up quick. Yeah, it's an interesting lineup for the next game. I think tomorrow night, they're already posted the lineup. A lot of competition. All the players that are pretty much in the competition for those bottom six forward spots are going to be in the lineup. I saw Adam Yardcheck is going to be in the lineup. So it's going to be an interesting one. Yeah, I'm excited to watch it, man. Hockey is back. We are back, baby. All right. Thank you to our listeners. Thank you to Olympia Kababhouse, our title sponsor. Thank you to DraftKings and the hockey podcast network. We are just thrilled to be a part of this amazing community of hockey podcasts. Guys, this has been real. Thank you all so much. This has been noted.