Sabres/Lightning beautiful chaos + these GM's should be fired

0:00Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Drop in the Clubs. I hope everybody's doing well. I'm doing fantastic, which is surprising, considering the last three, four nights has been a cavalcade of just the old game. Who's going to barf tonight, my house? Who's going to wake me up in two in the morning and let me know that they're not feeling going to just get sick everywhere first? First night, it was just a little babysitting beside me. I'm like, whoa, okay, we got a baby barf in Riverside, and it was just trickled its way through the house. One kid, after the other kid, after the other kid. And it's not great cleaning up sheets in the middle of the night and doing laundry and trying to not wake up everybody else while also trying to have some decorum and soothe the child.

1:05But it is what it is. And last night, I think I had reached my breaking point and I rolled over and I said, can you handle this one, honey? I really got to get up in the morning. And lovely, beautiful wife that she is. She said, I got this. Don't worry about it. So she took care of the barfing child last night that I think was so fear. Yeah, because it still came and got me. But yeah, it's been a while the last couple days. And on top of that, the trade deadline. I got to do the trade deadline at bleach report with Benedict Arnold. Trader treasonous himself, Tim Werner's burger joined me on bleach report. He graced me with his appearance, but it was a lot of fun. I got to break down all the trades. I thought this podcast alone was going to be just trade deadline breakdowns, which GM's fumbled the ball, which GM's, you know, pushed your teams closer to a Stanley Cup who was moved, the returns, all that stuff. But then there was a game Sunday. And I was glued to the TV. And I had my playoff game for my men's league Sunday night. So I had

2:08to do a rewatch. And I don't usually do this. I get home from my Sunday night mentally, which was playoffs by way, by the way. And we lost, which is a whole issue because, and I don't want to blame it on the referees. But the ref threw out one of our best players in the beginning of the second period. And we were winning. We were having a good game. As soon as that guy gets kicked out, we go from having one strong line and then one very, very weak line to having one okay line and still one very, very weak line. And we're playing a team that has two good lines and one okay line. And it just our team was shambles. We, we couldn't recover. We pushed it to three three. And we needed to win. So we're pushing a little bit. They got the four three winery at the end of the game where that was that. But boy, oh boy, where was that ref just horrendous apps. I don't usually complain about refs very often throws a guy at a men's league for arguing about a penalty. He wasn't, he didn't get thrown out for a dirty hit. He didn't get thrown out for anything on ice related.

3:10And to play it was, he gets tripped a blatant trip. He looks up at the ref. He goes, where's the, where's the call? Maybe he's language a little bit more colorful. But instead of the ref deescalating, he dumps fuel on the fire and starts getting it into with, with the guy on my team. And I'm sitting there, literally from you to me away. Well, who knows where he listening? But for me to the computer away, he's like closing the gap. I'm like, skate away. Then he first he gives him a 10 minute was conduct. I was like, just give him two minutes. Give him a penalty. We need him. And then my guy's like, what do you do? Like, still arguing in the knee throws him out of the game. It's a men's league playoff game. And he throws him out of the game because the guy's upset about getting a penalty. His language wasn't even that colorful. Anyways, we lost moving on. Like I said, I was going to do a podcast about the trade deadline. And I still will touch on that because I do firmly believe some GMs need to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof. But then I get home from a men's league game. I'm a little hot.

4:11I'm checking the ESPN plus app. I'm like, okay, what's going down? Who's winning? Who's losing? And I see the box score of the Sabers and the Lightning. And I go, this is an interesting one. And I don't do this at all ever. I go back and I rewatch this game and I start watching it at 10 o'clock. I'm up to 1 a.m. watching this game. And it was fantastic. And people always say, oh, you know, hockey is so funny. You always just have these sayings. And you know, maybe you think about it's maybe don't they don't say maybe I'm just doing this for the podcast. But I have heard that we look into things and all these little things, the meaningful points of the season. And maybe they don't mean that much. I will tell you right now unequivocally. Going into that Sunday night game, it was a big game. The top two teams in the Atlantic division, Sabers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. I think they were tied with 82 points of peace. Two teams that arguably are the two contenders, the two favorites to come out of the Eastern

5:12Conference, two drastically different mindsets. The Tampa Bay Lightning were coming into that game saying, okay, we, we need to squash this little kid. We need to test them. We need to push them. We need to put them in their place. We need to show them that this is our conference. We're the Tampa Bay F and Lightning. You do not come and take our crown when we're still at the top of the pile. That's their mindset. They're coming in two buffalo, two dominant, two bully to win the game and to get back to Florida. The Sabers on the other hand, they're coming into this game to prove something. We're tied with the the lightning. There's only 20 games left in the season. We're here. We're queer. Deal with it. And they want to stand their ground. They want to stand up to the bully and say, listen, this is not not this year, baby. Like we're a new team. Maybe in years before you could have rolled us, but not this year. And the puck drops. And it was the mentality of the Tampa Bay Lightning where it was we're literally going to go through you. This wasn't a skill first period. This was a first

6:18period of the Tampa Bay Lightning saying, we're going to run you through the boards. After every whistle, there will be a scrum and we will initiate it. And you're going to take face washes. You're going to take jersey jabs. You're going to take slashes, cross checks in the back of the back. It was everything and more you could imagine. It looked like a playoff game in the first period. There was hatred. There was fighting. And in years of old and correct me if I'm wrong, the Sabers might have backed out. They might have flinched a little bit. But not this year. And the beautiful thing I loved about this, it was their captain. It was their beautiful, beautiful red headed smooth skating captain, Rasmus Dahlene, that just stepped up and filled the void. And he fills the void in a big way. He got abused this whole game mind you. But he was just tip of the spear for the Buffalo Sabers where Darren Radish and him were going at it. Rasmus Dahlene had enough. And he drops the mits. The guy

7:21doesn't fight. He shouldn't fight. He's a Norris level defenseman year on year on year. He is one of the best defenseman in the game. And he's the guy who starts to charge with the Buffalo Sabers. It was almost like enough is enough. I need to set the tone. Darren Radish, he slashes, tuck and then Brandon Hagel comes in and there's this big scrum and Dahlene grabs Radish and they fight. And he's not a fighter mind you. But it sends the tone. And if you're on the Sabers bench and you're watching this and your first line is out there and your best defenseman and captain is out there and they're going to battle and they're doing these things. Holy hell, does it Jackie what man? Like it gets you going. If you can watch those guys do it, you're like, oh, here we go. Like away we go. And so that fight gets out of the way. Next thing you know, Buffalo is on the on the board. Josh Dahlene in the power play one nothing for the Buffalo Sabers. In the first period, other than that one goal, it's scrums, it's fights, it's hits, it's after

8:27the whistle. It's literally every whistle there's scrums. And this is Tampa Bay Lightning trying to get under the saber skin, trying to make them blink, trying to get them off their game. Eric Chernak fights Sam Sam. Who did he fight? No, Eric Chernak gets a fight a later in the game, Sam Kirk fights Saberin and then Brandon Hagel fights Peyton Krebs. And then there was a bunch of ruffing and misconducts and casterling and Kutrow Slash and guys in Samuelson and Bull and Byram. It was just a mess. And then the second period drops and it's castering a Chernak. And then Cory Perry and Malinstein fight and they're all great fights because there's hatred. There is absolute hatred between these two teams. The intensity was there. The rivalry has begun. And this is where this is where you think the Sabers blink because we've been to all these penalties. The Sabers methodically are taking advantage of the opportunities that they're given because like I said, Tampa is being very aggressive after the whistle. They're they're slashing,

9:29they're hitting, they're facewashing. So the Sabers are getting power plays. Are they at one nothing power play goal, two nothing power play goal, three nothing power play goal. Cory Perry answers back on a meat, tidy little backhand goal by the way. Then Alex Tuck gets a shorthand and goal four to one. It's four to one. The Sabers have four special teams goals. And this is where you think, okay, now it's really going to get out of hand, right? Four to one made way through the second. Now Tampa is just going to, even if they haven't already, they're going to pedal to the metal, goon it up. No, not so fast. Not so fast. Nikita Kutraff on that very same power play scores. Then you can tell the tide starts to shift a little bit. Zemga Skirgetson back home scores a nice one in the slot. JJ Moser, he capitalizes off a turnover. It's now four four at the end of the second period. And this is the gut check time. These guys go back into the locker room. It's four four. You were up four to one. This game should be done. Bed. Put this baby to bed. We get the W. We just have to ride it over

10:32a period and a half. All of a sudden, holy hell, the lightning score three goals in five minutes. And we have to go into this locker room. It's gut check time. I'd be so interested to be afflying that wall who stood up and then just started reading the riot act. Or was it confidence? Were they just, you know, we got this. We've been, this is what we've worked for. We're a different team this year. Well, whatever it, whatever it did, it did not work because the third period starts. And Nikita Kutraff comes out of the gate one minute in and scores. It's five four. Five minutes later, Brandon, Brandon points scores. Holy six four. Damn, games over, right? Here. Oh, here comes the old sabers. We tried. We pushed. We gave it a good show. But this is Tampa's conference. We're second best ain't bad. Not so fast. Sam Carrick scores 30 seconds after braiding point six five and Brandon Hagle. I'm going to talk about him in a second makes it seven five. There's 10 minutes left in the game at seven five. Tampa Bay. This is it. Game over.

11:37Like the, this is two time Stanley Cup champion. Four in a row Stanley Cup appearances. Tampa Bay should ice this no problem. Kutraff, headman, Gensel, Hagle, points, McDonough, Chernack. Like these, these are playoff tested vets who know how to close out a game. Not so fast. Oh, Captain, my captain, Rasmus, Dalian, Gordio Hattrick. He gets a minute close or seven six. Jason Tucker on a break away. Seven seven. We're going overtime. Now, one minute later, Josh Don on the power play seals the win for the Buffalo sabers eight to seven. The crowd goes wild. I go nuts at one in the morning, sitting in the living room trying to be quiet. I'm jacked up. The sabers ice this game eight to seven and arguably win the greatest regular season game. We have seen in the NHL in a long time.

12:39Definitely this year, arguably this was the best game of all sports all season. Playoffs included. This game had everything you wanted and more. There were goals, there were lead changes, there was fights, there was animosity, there was beautiful, you know, offensive play. We've threw out. It was a Shakespearean drama. Top to bottom from start to end. It was, it was an awesome, awesome game. And I talk about galvanizing a team. This is it. If we look back, if fast forward three months, four months and the sabers are in the Stanley Cup finals or have won the Stanley Cup and we go, gosh, what was the moment? Like was it, you know, in December when they fired Kevin Adams and they go on this huge winning streak? Well, you know, was it the was it this was it that it's this game right here. It's this game March eight, I think it was. And they stood up to Tampa Bay, took Tampa's best shots and continued

13:41to roll through them. And that's it. This this is galvanizing. I talk about loving to be in the locker room. How fun would it have been have been in that locker room after they get that W with all these young kids and all these, you know, kind of veterans who have been there a few years, the Thompson's, the Dones, the Zuckers, and then you weave in there a Josh Done who's just been a revelation. You think these guys miss JJ Paturka? Not a chance. Not a chance whatsoever. Like this was a great game, an absolutely beautiful game. And if you're not on the bandwagon yet, you need to be like that this team is this team is good. And it wasn't, you know, just the top guys. It was everybody. Taged Thompson out there throwing hits like every time he was on the ice, you could tell he was involved. He had bought in like he was finishing checks. He was in the scrum. He was doing everything he could to lead his team. It was Dahlene. It was Thompson. It was Zucker. It was everybody. New edition Sam Kerrick was playing a big game. The Logan Stanley up in the

14:46press box throwing threats out like, well, we play these guys again in April. We'll see what happens then. Scotty Savage and watch out. Gonna be gonna be a little tougher guy than Sam Kerrick. So it was just a fantastic game going back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brandon Hagle. You know, I talked to him on Max Domey when he attacked. Was it really great from Ottawa? Last week, I'm watching with dirt bag. He is because he just jumps guys and doesn't stop and just keeps throwing, throwing, throwing. There was a play here. I think it was the second period when Hagle grabbed Dahlene. They got tied up. Dahlene's Stockholm cross checked on the knack, whatever. You know, tensions are high. Hagle for whatever reason just snaps. And oddly enough, this is the anniversary. It was the same day of the Todd Bertuzzi attack on Steve Moore, where he grabs it from behind, punches him in the back of the head, drives his head into the ice, breaks bones in his back, you know, just a terrible, terrible thing. So Hagle goes absolutely crazy

15:49and grabs Rasmus Dahlene and just starts throwing haymakers from behind. And Dahlene is obviously not engaging. He looks, Hagle, right in the head, right in the eye, goes, I'm like, no, I have my gloves on. We're not doing this. Hagle was not taking it over an answer and just starts swinging away, which is nuts, which is absolutely crazy. And he gets three, four, five, six, just unobstructed bombs to the back of Dahlene's head. Dahlene goes down, pile up and soos. The goal tender for Buffle jumps in. Like, it was, rightfully so, it was a lot. And he gets four minutes. Whoa, double, double minor roughing. That said, it's a little too much Brandon Hagle. And it just solidifies my point where, depending on who it is, the weight of the penalty is different, which I don't think should be the case. If you replace Brandon Hagle with someone who's a little bit bigger, even in that game, if it's a Karek, if it's a Sabaran,

16:53if it's a Kessel Ring doing that, if you're just grabbing somebody and throwing bombs and he's not throwing bombs at some Joe Schmo, some fourth line Schmuck, it's Buffle's best player. It's their captain. And he still only gets four minutes and penalties. Like, what are we doing here? Hagle should be thrown out of the game. He should be suspended three to five games. That's, that's not part Hockey. I'm sorry. That was too much. For me, I was just like, someone A needs to grab Hagle and just teach him a lesson. And maybe that's not Hockey either, but I was fuming that Hagle was just skating around wheeling nearly after that incident. That's your captain. This is a Lindy Ruff coach team. I am shocked that no one made him hold him account to that. Maybe they will in April. But damn, was I upset about that? And for him to only get a $5,000 fine, it's just laughable. They need to address that fine situation because a $5,000 fine for Hagle is just like blowing his nose. He could care less. But aside from that,

17:58aside from that play by Brandon Hagle, where it was just like, it's too much. Like, it's too much. It should not have happened. That guy's a hell of a player. Like, I watch Tampa, not as closely as I watch others teams, it's because I don't like him that much. He's so good. Like, he is incredible. And I remember when he got traded to Tampa Bay, everybody was up in arms. He's like, what do you do in Breeze Boat? Two first rounders for this guy. I guess a little steep. Fast forward to now. Hagle is one of the best players in the league. Like, top 25, you would think top 30? Maybe 40. Top 40 players in the league. Okay, he's incredible on the forecheck. He hounds the park. He has a very good offensive touch. And his motor doesn't end. Like, he is, he is a noticeable player out there. Braden Point, kind of it's lost. Kutroff is definitely noticeable. He just so incredibly skilled. Gensou, you lose him a little bit. Hagle, you notice in every zone

19:00of the ice, offensive to your zone, neutral zone, defensive zone. He is just a water bug out there who has good hockey sense and is just tenacious. He's a hell of a player. So when you look back, it's like, well, you gave up to two first rounders and ended up being Olivier Moore and Sasha Boyvair for the Chicago Blackhawks. If you were to ask Julian Breeze Boat, if you would do that trade again, hey, you're not going to get this, you know, a pretty good player in Olivier Moore. And then a prospect in Sasha Boyvair, would you do it for Hagle and Taylor Radish? Oh, sorry, not you. You gave up Taylor. Would you do it for Hagle and a fourth rounder? Oh, yeah, I would do that trade all day long. Hagle is special. He really, really is. Like, that is a great trade for both GMs involved. They really did good work. And now transitioning to current day GMs, this trade deadline, kind of excited going into this one. A lot of GMs needed to make over their teams. A lot of GMs needed to just fire sale.

20:05We need to address some issues. We have a lot of guys that are performing our teams losing. So we need to just kind of sell everyone or sell somebody. I'm looking at the Rangers. I'm looking at the Leafs. I'm looking at the Devils. Potentially the Flyers. West I'm looking at the Knucks and the Flames and the Hawks and the Blues and the Jets. There were a lot of teams that needed a remake. New faces, new places. We'll see how this works out. So coming into this deadline, I was excited. And on the flip side, there were a lot of teams that could use some help. You know, Minnesota, try to keep up with Dallas and Colorado. Who were the Edmonton Orleys, the Vegas Gold and Knights floundering with their gold tender situation? You know, new teams on the block trying to make their stamp on this Western conference, Seattle and Utah, maybe LA and San Jose, trying to vault themselves in a Stanley Cup contention. In the Eastern Conference, young teams maybe get some veteran leadership, maybe get some

21:05tertiary scoring. They want your old Canadians, the Boston Bruins, having a surprisingly solid season. Maybe other teams trying to help their vets who are, you know, the last kick at the can, who are surprisingly in playoff contention, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Redwicks, help those guys out a little bit. And then obviously the Perennial Contenders in the Eastern Conference loading up for the playoffs because you would think after years of just falling short, you would realize what you're missing, the Carolina Hurricanes. So I was excited coming into this deadline, not only that I got to say, you know, see my own my old bud Tim and we're on Bleach Report and I love livestreaming. I think it's a lot of fun. But there was, there seemed like a different tone in the Eastern Conference. And I was excited to see how GM's particularly in the East would react to that opportunity. Because in the West, I think we can all agree. It's a three-headed monster, monster in the West. It's Colorado, it's Dallas and it's Minnesota. Central vision is absolutely juiced. One of those teams should come out of the West. I don't think Anaheim or Vegas or Edmonton

22:09or any of the other teams in the Pacific can compete with those three teams. They're just, they're just too strong. So that's a foregone conclusion. It was just an arms race in the West for those three teams. But in the East, it feels a little different. It feels like this is a year where someone else can step up and grab hold of this this conference. You know, there's there's no Leafs, there's no Panthers, the capitals are down, the Tampa Bay Lightning, there's a question mark surrounding them. So is this the year for the Red Wings to make that leap? Is this the year for the Sabers? Is it a sneaky year for the Penguins or the Islanders to jump up and you know, grab hold of this division? Where is this year for the Carolina Hurricanes to try to finally slay the dragon? Finally, finally take that next step into the Stanley Cup finals. When more than one game in the Eastern Conference Finals could this be their year? So I was cautiously optimistic heading into this deadline. And I should have known better because I sat there for hour after hour after hour

23:11expecting things to happen. Expecting GMs to make a move. And it did not happen. It really did not. There's a couple deals leading up to the, you know, trade deadline, admission goes out and gets Conor Murphy that that's nice. You know, John Carlson goes to Anaheim. That was a shocker. That was a head scratcher. Then you know, the Sabers get Logan Stanley. They tried to get big, big defenseman from St. Louis, Colton, Pranko. That falls through and that exposed a whole other issue of GMs and maybe people leaking things to the media when they should. That should have never been released. That's a bad look for the NHL as a whole. But there was some trades leading up to this deadline. Or I was so, I was cautiously optimistic. Conor Garland, friend of the show gets dealt to Columbus. David Peron goes back to Detroit. So, you know, I was getting a little excited. And then the trade deadline morning starts. And it's just like, okay, what are we doing? What are we doing? Nothing happening. Nothing happening.

24:15And they just stayed that way. You know, obviously a couple, couple moves. Brighton Shen goes to the islanders. And then you got Justin Falk going to the Red Wings. And then after the, after the fact, got Nazim Codry going to the avalanche. But other than that, it's, that's it. Like a lot of just strange, like AHL guys, fourth line players who might not play in the playoffs or it's just like, what, what are we doing? And it just kind of, it kind of irked me a little bit. Not because I'm a podcast or not because I'm a pundit or whatever. But if I'm a GM in the NHL and I'm trying to, you know, improve my team, I should be expected to do something. And so that's why I'm going to, or my little segment is these guys need to be fired. Like this, this is your job. Your job is to improve your team. Your job is to win the Stanley Cup. And if you know what's not happening this year, your job is to game plan for next season. And that means getting prospects.

25:18That means getting draft capital. That means shedding salary cap to position yourself for a run for next season. And I'm going to start with the guy who I think I should be fired yesterday. It's Stan Bowman with the Edmonton others. So Stan Bowman comes into this season with the enviable position of having Conor McDavid for two more years. Conor McDavid signs a team friendly deal at 12.5. He still has the two best players on the planet. He's got Evan Bouchard. He's got Stuart Skinner. You know, he, he rolled back the whole group. Yes, he lost some depth, but you still have an incredible team. Season starts Edmonton falters. They're struggling. You know, win, lose, win, lose, win, win, win. It's just not a not a great season for the Edmonton others. And it's glaringly obvious what they need. And they need defensive help and they need gold tending. They're, they're, they're bad defensive team, like an atrocious defensive team. And to compound that, their gold tender is just garbage, like absolute garbage. So Stan Bowman before the deadline, he goes on and get Conor Murphy from the Chicago Black House. Great. You know, decent defenseman. You saw him in maybe

26:21the second pair, maybe third pairing. He's a decent defenseman. And then he goes back to the well for the Chicago Black House. And he gets Jason Dickinson and Colton Doc. You know, I don't mind these moves. It gives up a hefty price. A second and a first. And he takes on Andrew Magiopani for cap relief. But I think that's a lot. A second and a first before the big trade deadline begins. He gets in there early. He likes these guys. And then that's it. And then there's no more moves from Stan Bowman, like not, not one. And when you look at this roster now, you go this team sucks. Like they, they, they really do. They're not a good team. Obviously top heavy. You got McDavid and giant side on the nougat hymen. Those are great players. But after that, it gets a little fit. Like you, you're telling me you're scared of their third and fourth line of a Savoy Dickinson cap and in Colton Doc. You got tread Frederick, Pod Coleson. Like whoever you want to throw on the third and fourth line, it's not scary. It's really, it's downright bad. And then on the back end, you have Ed Coleman, Bob Bouchard. I get that.

27:25Jake Walman has not had that strong over your Connor Murphy. The nurse is down to the third pairing with Ty Emberson. They just get exposed every single game. So it's, it's bad you guys. And then to make matters worse, we all know what's going on between the pipes. You know, Tristan Yari sucks. Connor ignoms sucks. They, they're both bad. There was no help there. There were gold tenders that were available that they could have got out on gods. And they just didn't. And who knows, maybe behind the scene, Stan Bowman was kicking the tires on other gold tenders, Abinnington, Abobrovsky. We'll never know. What we do know is that he didn't add anybody. And in my heart of hearts, I do know that Connor McDavid is, he's like one more year, I'm gone. I've had enough of this. Like that, that's it. We are regressing. You honestly think the answer to our question is adjacent Dickinson and a Connor Murphy. Make it get real. All right, moving on. Boston Bruins. Thought they were going to make a move.

28:26Don Sweeney gets Lucas Reiko from the Vancouver Connucks. Like what? And these are the, these are the moves that I just scratch my head where I go, why? Why are you doing this? Why is this even a thing? Why are you Don Sweeney? Calling the Vancouver Connucks and asking if Lucas Reiko is available? I don't understand it. I don't. Why? Do you honestly think this guy's going to make your team better? It just, it boggles my mind. So he should be absolutely fired. They had an opportunity. The East is, you know, it's there. It's there for the picking. And the same can be said for Thomas Jarrett for the New Jersey Devils. You need to revamp this team. You obviously had a down year. Things aren't going your way. You, you have Jack Hughes. But you also have some guys on the back end who have been thrown around in trade talks for a long time. And as we know, at the deadline, a right shooting big defenseman is valuable. And Dougie Hamilton

29:30should not be on this team. He should be, he should be absolutely traded. The Devils are out of the playoffs. They're like, they're in lottery form. They're trying to lose. They're tanking for picks. And you don't go and you, you, you go out and trade nobody. Tom Fitzgerald, like absolutely nobody. What, like what is the reasoning behind this? Are you gearing up for another run for next year? I, and this is, and please tell me if I'm wrong. I don't get it. I don't understand the reasoning by not trading anybody. Like no deals whatsoever. And you still have no calories cap, cap, cap space. You still are just mired with injuries. You still have the same decent decore that's aging by the second. You're telling me no one would take Brendan Dillon off your hands? You're telling me no one wanted Dougie Hamilton? Like those two guys are gone in my eyes.

30:32Absolutely gone. You couldn't maybe find find a home for a team of mire. Man, that one would be a little stretch, but you have to do something to change this roster. And you did absolutely nothing. The fact that he's not getting a little more heat. It's, it's crazy because this is a team that was a Stanley Cup contender two years ago. Oh, if we say healthy, we're very, very dangerous. I like the, I like this team. And they've just done nothing but lose and fail and get injured. Wash rinse repeat. You have to change this roster. You have to do something. So fireballman, fire swiney, fire Fitzgerald. And everyone's like, well, it's the salary cap. It's a CBA. It's hard to make deals. It's done no move clauses. It's guys had terms on their deal. It's hard to trade when guys have three, four years left on their contract. GMs don't want to lose talents. Really? You think so? Well, then how the hell is Chris McFarlane doing what he's doing? How? He goes out and gets Nazim Kadri and Nicholas

31:32Swah. Two of the best centermen on the market. Kadri has turned left on his contract. Nicholas Swah was a highly coveted center and Toronto really, really likes him. But he still managed to go out and fill needs on his team. Very small needs, by the way. Like minimal needs and he goes out and knocks out of the park. Gets a cadre who slides right into that top line. Pretty nicely. Gets a Nicholas Swah who slides into that third line center role. Pretty nicely. And he doesn't have to pay through the nose for him. He just quietly goes about his business. So tell me how he can do that. McFarlane for Colorado can do that where everybody knows, you know, who he wants. But these other GMs can't do anything. That's the thing. It's they can do something, but they choose not to for whatever reason. And now we're staring on the barrel of a Colorado Avalanche who has McKinnon, Nelson, Nicholas Swah, Nazim Kadri, potentially for their four centermen.

32:34It's just as laughable. Maybe Kadri's not a centermen. I don't know why I keep saying that. But they got McKinnon, Nelson, and Wah. And then you got Nichis, and you got Kadri, and Nichis skin, and all these other weapons that they have in landascog. So it's just it's laughable when people say, well, it's just it's really hard to trade. I get that, but it's not impossible. Because the GMs that want to win Stanley Cups, they do it. Look at the four to Panthers for the last few years. Look at the Tampa Bay Lightning before that. The Colorado Avalanche. These guys make moves. And when they do, they pay off when they win Stanley Cups. So just just just stop clutching your pearls and saying it's impossible. Because it's definitely possible. Look at the Minnesota wild. We all knew they were trying to make a big move. And Billy Garen comes out after the deadline. He's funny. He's like, Christopher, he did not want to trade because he was trying to get Vincent Trocher. Like there's no secret that he was trying to find a centerman to play with those that top line. It just didn't happen. Drew, he was not in the mood. He said, but he still goes out. He gets stick felino. He gets Bobby Brink. He gets Jeff Petri. He gets Michael McCarrot.

33:36Like he gets pieces that are valuable pieces. Well, they'd be impactful players in the playoffs. Yeah, I bet you they will. They won't be their best players. Bobby Brink is a hell of a player. Nick Flinnell oozes oozes personality. He oozes just leadership intangibles. That's what he is. And then you get Michael McCarrot who's all stamp paper all day. I played with this guy in St. John's. He's got decent hands for a guy who's six six, but he's he's a prick to play against. I'll be completely honest. So how can he do that? Now, how can he go out and make moves? But stand moment makes one trade and that's it. You know, it's just those things. How can how can the Dallas stars go out and get Tyler Myers or really, really good defense going to get Michael one thing? I you know, so the idea that oh, it's it's not it's so hard. We can't make trades. I don't get it and I don't buy it. And I'll finish off with a couple of the GMs that I just think had terrible days. So the Philadelphia flyers, very similar to the New Jersey doubles. And Brier's

34:37done a good job. I'm not going to slight him for the years, you know, prior where he's really tried to revamp this roster and get it. We're going to guys and try to, you know, retool this team. He was dealt an unenviable hand. We had a couple of bad contracts, but you know, you trade Nick Delorean. That's it. You know, and I like to move by Nicky Delore going to Carolina. I think that was solid, but you have like, you're trying to revamp this roster. You're trying to make him win. And right now, this isn't a winning team in the NHL. And you do have some asset and some valuable stuff like Rasmus Reese to line in much like Dougie Hamilton should be gone. He should not be on this team. Like he has to be traded. I know he has one year left on his term, but like, come on. So I just scratched my head like even a garnet halfway. I know fans like him and they're valuable for their franchise, but at some point, you have to have roster turnover. And you have to get new blood in there because you can't keep rolling out the same top three lines and top 4D and expect

35:39it to be different. It won't changing the fourth line and the five six D men are not going to change your franchise. It's not going to change the outcome of the season. And that's what I think a lot of GMs do. They hold on to their top six, maybe their top nine, and then they just try to fill in the rest and it's like, oh, it'll be different. You're at least to that for years. It's like, will it be different? I don't, I don't think so. So moving on, some strange moves for me. The LA Kings were just all over this deadline. I did not understand where they were heading. And what they were trying to do, you know, I get a team fighting for the playoffs. I get a team trying to extend their window with their vats. You got your down to you got ANC Coppitz. I applaud them for that. But Kenny Holland, he starts it off by getting put air from the New York Rangers. Shocker. I did not see that happening. So I was like, okay, here we go. You know, they're making a move. Kenny Holland putting his imprints on this team. He came GM

36:41just last summer. And then he follows it up by trading Warren Fogo, trading Cory Perry, and then he just sit there and do nothing. So I was just scratching my head like, what are we, either out of the outside the playoffs right now looking in. And then at the very last second, he trades for Scott Lawn from the Toronto Maple Leafs. I like this move. For a third rounder, that said, it's a pretty good value for Scott Lawn. Obviously, expiring contract if they make the playoffs becomes a second, but not a bad move by Kenny Holland. But what are we doing? Like you traded the way, Cory Perry, you traded the way Warren Fogo, and you're replacing them with the Scott Lawn. No, I don't mind this move, but it's just head scratching. It's like, what direction are we heading? Are we adding? Are we, are we trading? Are we punting to next year? Are we making a push for the playoffs? It was, it was very, very strange, but it's kind of part for the course for Kenny Holland, where it's just like, nobody really knows what he's doing. But in my eyes, it's just what a, what are we doing here? And last but not least, Patrick Alvin with the Vancouver Connux is a very bad GM. He has mismanaged this roster ever

37:48since he became GM. He is just terrible in the press. He's terrible negotiations. He is bad asset management. He's just all in all of bad GM. But coming into this deadline, there was hope like, okay, we, we have some pieces that we could get rid of. Evander Cain, we can trade, maybe get rid of a jaked breast, maybe a lice peterson, time for him to move to greener pastures, we got some pieces in the back end. This team is atrocious. Like their last place in the NHL, no signs of getting better whatsoever. It's time to revamp this roster. And we have some good young players that other teams would be interested in. And so he goes out and he swings through the fences. He trades Lucas Rikle and Connor Garland. That's it. One guy, Connor Garland, who is just the heartbeat of your team doesn't give up. Great player that's going to be fantastic for the Blue Jackets. And you get a second and a third rounder for him. Woof. And then you trade Lucas

38:52Rikle for a six rounder because why? Well, I don't understand. But that's it. That's it. That's all. No more. And that's it for the Vancouver Connect. So next year when the season opens up, they will have the exact same roster that they have right now. They will have the exact same roster that they had when they started the season minus Connor Garland. And everybody will go, oh, I hope we'd play better. Oh, boy, I hope things are different. They won't be. That your Demko will still be in and under the lineup. He'll be hurt. Phillip Headle probably won't be playing. Patterson will still be bitching and complaining. DeBros will still be a huge disappointment. Brock Bester will still be a decent option as a goal scorer. And they'll still be in last place. So the fact that Steve is that he still has a job is shocking. He should be fired. Maybe this offseason, they're going to relieve him of his duties. I hope they do. Because shit, man, like do something. Like it's just, it hurts me a little bit, but whatever,

39:58it doesn't hurt me, how the deadline ended, it's going to be exciting. Out West Dallas stars, Colorado, Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, tell me who you think's coming out of that division because it's just, it's just incredible. Those three teams in the Eastern Conference. Tell me who you think's coming out of the East. I think Buffalo has it wrapped up right now in Carolina. I didn't touch on them too much because they didn't do anything at a goal score for pizza. Go out, pay through the nose. Go get a Robert Thomas. Mortgage your future. Like go all in. Try to get someone who's a difference maker. They didn't do anything. Do they have enough to get through the Eastern Conference, even though it's wide open right now. Tell me in the comments below who you think's coming out of the East, which one of those juggernauts has come out of the West. All in all, I was left. I was left a little disappointed at this deadline, but I'm not disappointed in you. I appreciate your support. I will be back later this week with an interview with Wayne Primo. Sleepy Good Career. Look up this guy's stats. Sleepy Sleepy Good. Went to this Stanley Cup finals with the Buffalo Sabers, played with the Maple Leafs for a while. Good dude too. Looks like Clark Kent. So we'll talk to him on Thursday and let's hit everybody. We'll talk to you next time.

41:01Thanks for listening. I appreciate it. Cheers. Thank you for listening to drop in the gloves. You're a giant sky.