Let's do it. Let's go. Hockey. Cold Tampa. What's
up? What's up? It's Daria and Ken. Barbie and
Ken. Also me. How are you doing? It's extremely
cold. I mean, I am still freezing after the stadium
series and I don't understand what's going on
in Tampa. It's that global warming everybody
keeps talking about. Haven't you heard about
that? But it's not warm. It's freezing. I know.
Actually, they had to not use the word global
warming. They had to use uh climate control or
some other word like that because when they use
global warming then people were expecting the
temperatures to just rise all the time and of
course that's not the case climate does change
and if you go back and you're a student of history
every so many years there's a cooling down period
and then there's a warming up period and then
a cooling down period and we're just in one of
those cycles we'll go out of it 70s next week
and then it's spring break middle of february
and we're off and running with this nice Florida
weather. And here we go. Weather lesson for you
kids. That was a bonus. No extra charge for that.
Okay. Tell me, Ken, how was it? How was the stadium
series? Because you told us last time you're
going to watch it at home. So how was it? It
was fantastic. It was one of the most exciting
games that I have watched. And I've watched...
A lot of Stanley Cup games and playoff games
with the Lightning, but this one was right at
the top. And I think the nation took note of
that as well because it was the highest game,
regular season game, watched since ESPN has had
the NHL contracts. And they've had the NHL contracts
at four different times since they've been televising
sporting events. 2 .2 million, 2 .3 million watched
it. A great game. entertaining engaging and it
had everything that you wanted in a hockey game
if you want scoring there was a lot of scoring
if you wanted some roughness and some feistiness
you had that if you wanted a goalie fight which
is extremely rare i might say you had a goalie
fight you had a comeback you had a team that
was all but dead in the second period and the
fight was the catalyst that inspired everyone
to come back and give it their all. And they
ended up winning it in a shootout. Great game.
Awesome. And if you want it to be cold, it was
cold. It was really cold. Yes. Yeah. I think
everybody was a little worried going into the
game a couple of weeks prior. Once we got closer
to the game, we knew what the temperatures were
going to be, but without that roof over the stadium,
like they had down in Miami. They were concerned
that the heat might interfere in the heating
of the day with the ice. And it wasn't that way
at all. It was pretty much perfect conditions.
Even Kucherov, who did the pregame skate the
day before, said the ice was absolutely horrible.
But on game day, he had a nice game. I think
he finished with four points. So he was able
to adjust to the quality of the bad ice, as he
calls it. So I think it was a great event. Again,
spotlighting. the city of Tampa, and it just
shows what a first -class city, you know, Tampa
is. We can put on these big sporting events and
just be a huge success for the teams and the
families and the fans that come here to enjoy
that. But once again, it's so much to say here.
Tampa is a very sports -oriented city all over,
and you can really feel the vibe. Because even
right now, if you watch the Florida Panthers
games, All of those fans, they just don't go
to the games. Empty seats. You cannot see that
in Tampa. Even at the beginning of the season
when the team was not doing so well, I haven't
seen that many empty seats. No, and that's one
of the things about the Tampa market that drives
me crazy. They're willing to sell to the highest
bidder the tickets for an event. It doesn't matter
if it's baseball. You go to baseball, Yankees,
Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies. You go to football
when the Jets and the Eagles and the Steelers
and the Bears come in. And the same way with
hockey. Montreal, Toronto, Boston, the Rangers.
You live here. Cut the freaking cord. Okay? You
don't live there anymore. You come here. You
want to enjoy our sunshine, our warm weather,
our beaches. As they say in Boston, Forget about
it. It's Tampa now, all the way. So we have to
do a better job of getting some more homegrown
fans and people that grow up with the teams.
The other thing I think that contributes to that
is most of the teams that you see being represented
from out of town in the Tampa market have a very
long history. Tampa's got a very short sports
history. I mean, the Rays, Only been around,
you know, 30 years. The Lightning, not much longer.
The Bucks started in 76. That's very short when
you compare their tenure to what some of these
other dynasties and original six teams in the
NHL have. So that has something to do with it,
too. But hopefully we get there and it'll be
a majority of Tampa fans here as we get this
playoff run kicked in after the Olympics. And
you already talked about the ratings, right?
And I also found this stats. Yeah. They'll actually
say that most attended pregame festival. I was
there too. Yes. It was crowded. The line was
huge. I, we had to stand there, I think for 40
minutes because in the winter classic in Miami,
it only took us like 15 minutes and the area
was much smaller, of course. But anyways, about
the TV rate, I mean, 2 .1, 2 .4 million. Ken,
I'm in shock. This is really low. I agree with
you. It is low. But when you do comparison by
comparison, that's an excellent number. I think
the, what was the... I can't think of the name
of it. The international series they had last
year at the All -Star break were the Four Nations
Tournament. The U .S. and Canada, I believe,
if I'm not mistaken, we had 15 million people.
The country watched that game. And they were
just going crazy over that. I mean, the Super
Bowl will get 100 million people. Yes. So it
just goes to show you that hockey still has a
long way to go. It's a fabulous sport. It's considered
more of a northern sport. But in the last 20
years, I mean, look at the growth in markets
like Dallas and even Phoenix. Even they don't
have a hockey team anymore. They hadn't for 20
years. Dallas is a good market. There's a lot
of minor league teams that are in some cities
now. San Diego, Houston, New Orleans. They're
trying to grow the game at the grassroots level.
And I think that's what it's going to take. to
really get the sport on the same level as even
NBA basketball. I mean, let's start with the
NBA. The NBA is third ranked overall in viewership
behind the NFL, and Major League Baseball and
the NBA kind of go back and forth. But if the
NHL could consistently generate those kind of
numbers from a rating standpoint, that would
be a good starting point and would be fantastic.
But they're trying. They're working. It's a slow
process. I cannot say that they're working and
trying really hard if the NHL blocks the entire
country or people who speak one language like
Russia, Russian. I don't want to be too political,
but it really matters. Well, that's more of an
international growth challenge than it would
be anything domestic here. Well, there's a lot
of Russian -speaking people here, and they still
prefer... you know, not the English exposure
and coverage but russian speaking and it's all
blocked but anyways let's not go there let's
talk about the fun part what about the outfits
it was really funny i was crossing the street
with my boys and i see that like a tourist bath
like real really regular bus like nothing special
about it but it was surrounded by police on the
motorcycles and i could see like the guys sitting
inside in those triangle hats i was like oh the
lightning then i looked at the And it was about
3 .30. I was like, no, Boston Bruins supposed
to arrive at this time. I'm like, hmm, why are
they wearing hats? Are they pirates? Isn't it
our theme? It's very interesting. And then, of
course, when I saw that little trolley, it's
not even a bus, right? What is this? Like trolley
car. Yeah. And I see the NFL players. I'm like,
oh my God, this is amazing. The outfits were
amazing for the Boston and for the Tampa players.
Yeah, again, I thought that the NHL and the organizations
did a great job of just coming up with something
that was entertaining, a bit different. It wasn't
the old tried and true boring thing. They really
stepped outside the box, tried to bring some
excitement to it. You know, they had Baker Mayfield
and Tristan Wirfs in the lightning jerseys, and
they were kind of leading the team into the stadium.
I thought that was... that without that was a
great touch and kind of got everybody fired up
and It was good it was fantastic the way they
did their entrances, you know what bothered me
Obviously, you know Nikita Kucherov and there's
another Nikita Nikita Zadorov. He is a giant
I guess he's a brutal mr. Brutality guy now like
he's very brutal not always placed by the rules,
but what? surprised me in a bad way how rough
and bad he was to nikita kucherov it's like you
are from the same country i understand that you
are playing against each other but it's so not
necessary trying to crush the best player in
the world near the boards that can lead to an
injury i referenced last night did you see with
makola last night kucherov is standing there
minding his business And then that blowhard coach
for the Panthers, Paul Maurice, oh, we only hit
guys with the puck. Get the freak out of here.
He took a chop at Couture. What do you think
is going to happen? I mean, it had been a fairly
clean game, I mean, up until then. Yeah. Rough
stuff. But, you know, a boxing match broke out
then. And I don't know why they have to go to
that. Level you're getting your ass beat. Just
take your ass with you. Go home. Paul Maurice
cannot take that I Don't know but I don't know
why players and it's not just you know, the the
guy you're mentioning but there's a lot of other
players that Cheap shot artists Tom Wilson in
the Capitals. I can't stand him. Okay, I Wrote
a piece one time he should not be allowed to
ever skate in an NHL arena again. All he does
is headhunt. That's all he does. He has no skill.
Ask him to score 10 goals a season, he couldn't
do it. 15 goals. Ask him to be part of the second
power play unit or be on the penalty kill. Nope.
Nope. He only knows how to headhunt and instigate
and antagonize. I guess in the sport of hockey,
you need a couple people like that on your team,
but they have to know. Okay, when's the right
time to jump in? When's the right time to bring
it? And when's the right time to pull back? Like
Marshawn or Sam Bennett on Team Canada. Yes,
you need to know when to stop. Stop word. Yeah.
Except for the one time where Shan, when he was
with Boston, did spit in one of the Lightning
players' faces. I forget who that was. That was
really emotional. That just got out of the hand.
But he's trying to behave right now. He's trying.
He didn't even play last night because he was
getting ready for the Olympics, which I cannot
say about Matthew Tkachuk. I don't know what
is wrong with that guy. Why are you trying to
injure Jake Gansel? You are going to be on the
same team, dude. You're going to be fighting
against Team Canada. You need him. Well, maybe
it is a situation similar to what we saw at the
end of the stadium series with Vazzy and Jeremy
Swayman. After their fight, lining up to shake
hands, they meet one another, they hug, they
embrace, have some small talk. Hey, how's the
kids? How's the wife? Hey, I'll see you later.
And there's no hard feeling. They just leave
it on the ice and go about their business. Well,
I don't know. Who votes for, like, you know,
after this season, usually athletics or NHLPA
ask who is the most hated guy? Mr. Tkachuk, always.
Yes. Yeah. Well, he brings that on himself. with
the style of play. And to be honest, I don't
think they care. I don't think they care. He
joins it. Yeah. One way or the other, that brings
them attention. If they have to be the villain,
they'll be the villain. They'll be the hated
one as long as they can somehow help their team
get that emotional edge, put their team over
the top. That's all they really care about. I
mean, it was a good game. Lightning won 6 -1.
That's ridiculous. I mean, that's too much, but
it was not the best game for Daniel Tarasov,
who also got injured. What was the injury update
on him? I did not follow up, but I actually...
because it's just the habit that's it he always
records stuff because you can also use it you
know for your media coverage purposes and it
looked like he pulled his groin a little earlier
yeah because you know there's a lot of movement
a lot of shots and he couldn't move but he tried
and he only made it worse like you could see
the moment when he was actually feeling discomfort
but he understand he still had to move towards
the right side and he did and that's it that
was the goal and he just couldn't get up after
that yeah yeah it i i was surprised because i
didn't think that that would affect him you know
like that but you know when you're goalie and
you're moving around like that if you are not
able to move laterally oh you're done yeah you
know you you're done so yeah that was i'm sure
maurice didn't want to put Bob in but at that
point in the game, you know, what what choice
do you have to just go out and finish the game
and Get out of there And it also a little upsetting
once again, it was an amazing game by Andrei
Vasilevsky He just switched his whatever it is,
but he is outstanding He plays like he owns the
world and it's little sad that he didn't get
that shot out, but it's okay it's still very
sad that he's not going to the Olympics. Nikita
Kucherov, they're both in their prime, and they
probably, from the entire team, Russia, for the
entire Lightning organization right now, those
are two players who should be there. They deserve
it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And don't forget
about Sergeyev, the other Russian defenseman
that was here a few years ago before he got traded
to Utah. I'm sure he would be... Could be on
that team as well. But I'm sure they're disappointed.
They're not going to be able to represent their
country. But at the same time, how often do you
get the chance to take a two -week vacation in
the middle of the season and just kind of chill
for a few days and do nothing? Now, you've got
to be careful with that because February 25th
will be here before you know it. So you don't
want to lounge around and have too many barbecues
and cookouts and get out of shape and not keep
your fitness and conditioning up because that'll
be not so good for you. If you step back onto
the ice for your first practice session, you're
winded, you can't go. So they have to maintain
some type of fitness and training, obviously,
during the break if you're not going to the Olympics.
I'm sure you know you're not talking about Nikita
Kucherov right now because he's probably already
practicing and training for the playoffs. Yeah,
he probably works out 365. Yeah, that sounds
about right. Four hours a day. He is ready. So
basically you enjoyed the game. That's what I'm
trying to get. It was an awesome game. It was
fantastic. I actually saved. I'm going to make
a. a collage. I have this photo collage on my
wall in my living room. It has a place for 10
pictures. And I picked out 10 pictures when the
Lightning won the Stanley Cup and put them in
there. Pictures of them raising the cup and in
the bay tossing the cup around and having some
fun. And I'm going to do that with the stadium
series. I've got a lot of photos saved and I'm
going to make a little collage and put it right
up next to that. Because it was just a A shiny
event and a real neat event, you know, just like
the Stanley Cup Finals. Ken, you always talk
about all the pretty stuff that you have, but
you never share it. Like, we still don't have
the pictures, videos. You have to start sharing
so I can actually insert it. I know. I will do
that. I promise. I just get busy. yeah and i
also got my john cooper 1000 game puck oh you
did they still have some yeah good good they
probably got some extra ones because i remember
when nikita kucherov got his 1000 points i was
i went to the store i think it was like in two
days and they're like oh we're out i'm like what
are you kidding They said that they only produce
2 ,000. I'm like, that's not fair. Nikita Kucherov
is a star. And they said that they're probably
not going to have any more. But in a few weeks,
guess what? They did. They actually delivered
more. That was awesome. Yeah. And I went to the
store yesterday. It was crowded. It was so hard
to move. The price is still the same. There is
no sale for the stadium Sears. And people still
buy it. So it's very popular. Yeah, it's a nice
colors, nice alternative. I have the black jersey
with the bolts on. I have the blue regular home
jersey, the white home jersey. I have the stadium
club series jersey. And there was another one,
I think they played in Nashville. So I have about
six or seven different styles. Lightning jerseys,
and you just never know when you'll get the urge
to put one on. You hate to wear the same thing
all the time when the playoffs are going on.
You like to keep it fresh. I do. Oh, I actually
wanted to ask you something more fashionably
personal. Okay. There's a lot of women, obviously,
out there. Some outfits were outrageous. and
like there was a lady she was really tall like
she was probably i don't know six five or something
like that and it looked like she's wearing jersey
with no skirt or shorts and high boots so everyone
was like what is going on here did she forget
to dress or what it was i i felt uncomfortable
i am i am very you know open -minded person but
it was like What is going on here? Am I still
in the game? You have to cover your children's
eyes. Yeah, I did. Yeah. It's like, oh, my God.
You know, I have a little boy here. Close your
eyes. And he's like, what is she doing? So I
don't know. Some fashionable choices. I don't
know, people. You have to be blocked. Get out.
Yeah. Well, if you saw. Not to change the subject,
but if you saw any of the fashion statements
that some of the women in the entertainment industry
were trying to make at the Grammys, you would
have bawled. That's all I'm going to say. Oh,
okay. So it's going there. Got it. Yes. Okay.
You know, what works in Hollywood on the red
carpet will not necessarily work. in tampa at
an outdoor hockey game i love it i love it yes
because players still cannot see you they're
a little busy yeah exactly they're a little busy
girls okay get busy yeah yeah what about another
outrageous event during this week Panarin, Artemi
Panarin rumors. I mean, he never made it to Tampa.
I wish he would. I even, like, created social
media posts. But I knew it's not going to happen.
Because knowing Artemi, his logic, and his family,
they only care about, at this point, only about
big cities. And obviously, after New York, there's
only one city left. Los Angeles. And yeah, Los
Angeles. But he would be so useful here. John
Cooper would find him the best spot. He would
open up everything that's holding back there.
Well, you had a couple of problems trying to
get him to Tampa, number one. The first thing
was he wanted an extension. And the Kings ended
up signing him for $22 million, two years. That's
an average of 11 mil a year. What kind of cap
space does the Lightning have right now? That's
the second question. They don't, okay? So that
kind of prohibits that player and that type of
math from working with Tampa. I was thinking
about it. You bring in somebody like Panarin,
a lot of times it takes a while for them to get
into the flow of things with their new team,
you know, become part of the culture. And everything
is just clicking right now, man. Cooper's got
his hands on that team. He knows the pulse of
that team. Everything that he's doing right now
is working. And even though you can possibly
bring in a talent like that, at the end of the
day, is the move going to help you this season
and also help you down the road? And I don't
know that that would have been the case with
Panarin. Short term, yes. Long term, I don't
know. I was only talking about today, right now,
because we would need extra power for play. And
I was hoping that he will be able to open now
because he really wants that Stanley Cup. I just
don't. I'm happy with the guys that we have.
True. Hegel, Kucherov, Gunsel, you know, even
Radish got 32 points, you know, as a defenseman.
That man. is the most improved player this year
on the Lightning team. So as these young kids
come up and they get an opportunity, I'm hoping
that they will develop. I'm still waiting on
Connor Geeky. I don't know what he's buried in
Syracuse for. He was the big player and piece
in that Sergachev trade. Had a little cup of
coffee with the Lightning. They sent him down
to Syracuse. He's never been back since. Now
his brother's a pretty good player for Boston.
Morgan, his brother Morgan's doing well. I would
trade for his brother because his brother is,
I don't know, he just looks better. I'm sorry,
but our gig is very raw. But, you know, these
young kids are coming in and I think that they've
bought into the system. They're not trying to
be something they're not. They're not trying
to, you know. maybe be the big stars that they
are down at Syracuse. I mean, look at that line
last night, the fourth line, Douglas, Finley,
and Sabourin. If we would have talked about that
line and said, hey, you know, these guys are
really going to play an important part of this
lightning team this season as we go down the
stretch and make that push for the playoffs,
people would have looked at us like we have four
heads. You know, what are you talking about?
But here we are. And we would not be in the position
without, That line, because all that line does
is bring a lot of toughness, tenacity, physicality.
They're not afraid to do anything to help the
team win the game. They don't care about scoring.
They're not there for the accolades. They are
there to do whatever it takes to help their team
win. And that's what the Lightning was missing
the last couple of years. Especially in playoffs,
yeah. In their playoff series with Florida. They
had nobody that would stand up. Nobody that would
answer the bell. They get run off the ice by
the Panthers, you know, and trot off like a dog
leaving the yard with the tail between their
legs. It's like, this isn't, you know, it's not
the way it's supposed to be. Now, give Breeze
Boy credit. He realized that, and he took some
steps to... correct that and bring in some guys
that are really going to, you know, help the
culture and the chemistry of the team and help
that overall toughness. And, you know, we've
seen a whole different Lightning team this year
in that area compared to what we did the last
couple of years. So with the Panarin thing, yeah,
he's there to score goals, help you on the power
play. Other than that. That's about it. He disappears
in playoffs. That's true. Everything you said
is 100 % true. The grind lines win playoff games
in hockey a lot of times. It's not your superstars.
Yeah, they'll be in the scoring, but you got
to have them guys that are going to do the dirty
work, take the hit, put the hit on. And I think
the Lightning have a good crop of young folks
on that team and young stars that do that very
well. 100 % too. It's a little bit too late because
I wish we had that fourth line last season, especially
in players, because I've been screaming about
it. Like, why don't you use the guys from the
Syracuse Crunch? Come on. We need toughness.
And when it comes to Artemi Panarin, I think
I was a little bit selfish and thinking more
about him because it turns out he's already 34.
He is. He's old. Oh, my God. Yeah. the time actually
is going down now. He's really have to start
thinking about the Stanley Cup, not the money.
And so I was like, oh my God, he will be able
to reach his potential with John Cooper because
he's amazing. That's probably the only coach
who would be able to do something. Or Cannavale,
Mr. Cannavale, Anaheim. But no, he chose L .A.
But for our team, yes, it's amazing what John
Cooper has done. It's like, from being one of
the worst teams in the beginning of the season
to the best one, I'm like, yes, this is why this
guy is the legend. Well, here's the thing about
John Cooper. This is his best coaching job that
he has done during his time in Tampa this season
because he has had to put a different lineup
out there, sometimes almost. on a nightly basis.
He's had to rely on a lot of kids from Syracuse.
And for this man to have 600 wins, over 600 wins
now, been to four Stanley Cup finals, winning
two and not even be coach of the year one time,
somebody should be taken out back and horse whipped
for that. That is a travesty. It really is. But
Cooper is just... He's not one of those hard
-ass coaches. He's a player's coach, but he's
a good observer of people. And what I mean by
that is he looks at his group. He won't necessarily
play the best people together, but if you are
really well with... This person over here, you
have good chemistry. We're going to try to play
you together and see what happens. We'll give
it a try. He's done that late in some games with
his line combinations when he's tried to come
up with a new line that can play more minutes.
He's put some guys in and out just to see what's
going to mix well, how they're going to react
to it. That's what he does. really well he steps
back looks at the whole picture and says okay
there's a little bit of chemistry here yeah they're
not the best individually but you put them together
and there's some kind of magic he's a philosopher
that's a philosopher yeah creative thinking it
all all of his background really works yeah and
i'm sure his law background helps him because
he's able to to bloviate and explain his changes
in the lineup why he's doing what he's doing
and how it's going to work out he's probably
very good yeah he's used to solving problems
analyzing paying attention to little details
like you said things that people don't necessarily
look at and not from the hockey standpoint yeah
you you have to part of your job now as a head
coach and as a leader of an organization obviously
to make sure you're you're putting the best product
out there but also have your Pulse on your people
every day. Know what's working, what's not working,
when to make a move. I'll give you another example
just recently. Victor Hedman came back Sunday,
Stadium Series, against Boston. The first couple
of Boston goals, especially that one goal, I
mean, Hedman, he just got toasted. And it's like,
oh, my God. Is this because it's his first game
back? He's 35 years old now. He's losing the
step. What's going on with this? He has been
an amazing player for Tampa. He'll be a Hall
of Famer. There's no doubt about it. But everyone
gets to that certain point in their career where,
hey, you know what? You can't play first -line
minutes anymore. And Cooper dropped him to the
third line with Carlisle. Because you have Radish.
Radish and Moser play, and then you have Chernak
and McDonough. So those are your defensive pairings
now. And that was a good move, putting Hedman
on the third line, because he was on the first
line. That would create some problems. And Cooper
was smart enough to realize that. And I'm sure,
you know, he had conversations behind the scenes,
which we're not privy to. But as a professional,
you take the coaching, you're part of the team.
He's still, you know, an excellent mentor. For
the young defensemen, for the youngsters on the
team, a good player coach, if you will, take
some of the guys under his wing, but to play
those kind of minutes and expect him to play
like he did 15 years ago, I don't know if that's
feasible because we all lose a step at some point.
I'm glad that you talked about Victor Hedman.
If I forget, please remind me to go back to him
because I wanted to talk to him. to talk about
him uh so once again john cooper versus paul
maurice i mean the level is not even there anyhow
hockey wise personality please anyways when i
went to the winter classic obviously we all know
that kachuk was skating at that point barkov
was trying to there's actually one thing he was
skating behind the closed doors and whenever
people saw him or they were passing by they were
asked to leave the area because no one wanted
to see that barkov was skating by himself Yeah,
I do have some inside information. So anyways,
and I would expect, I mean, it's a big deal.
It's a big deal for the team, for the city, for
the NHL. So I expected Matthew Tkachuk or Alex,
Sasha Barkov to have some sort of participation
with the team. I don't know, touch the ice, something.
But they never did. When it comes to John Cooper.
Obviously, he understood how important that is
for Victor Hedman. He actually skated like two
days before. It was his first time since December
9th and after surgery, taking the ice. And he
was out there. He really wanted to try it. Yes,
at first, it was really interesting how they're
going to put it together. And like you said,
Victor Hedman was not great at a first few shifts.
And obviously, if you put the star back, Darren
Reddish was playing less, and it did not look
good. I was sitting out there and yelling, please,
bring Reddish back, please. He needs to be out
there. It doesn't look good. If we go back to
the game against Buffalo, once again, it's mesmerizing.
How did they do it? I don't understand. Victor
Hedman, I think he was on the ice for all three
goals that went in, so it did not look good.
against the florida panthers it was a different
victor headman you could see that he is getting
ready for the olympics he knows he has to be
the leader most of the time even the way he skated
all the smooth angles you can see he's trying
he's mentally and physically setting himself
up for the winter olympics that's amazing that's
being professional he was amazing yesterday so
many shots from the blue line he is trying to
get in shape also there's another thing a few
days ago so the game was on Friday right I think
on Wednesday Victor took his young I think it's
his youngest son I'm not sure he's about four
years old he's just learning to skate so he was
actually the power pole ring in Tampa and he
had a private session his son so Victor watched
the most of it and you know it was good quiet
A few other private coaches were out there. But
all of a sudden, you know, his parents came in.
He was flooded by the parents, fans. Everyone
was taking pictures. And you could see he was
very uncomfortable because he was there. Yes,
he's Victor Hedman. Yes, Tampa is all about hockey
and sports. But he was there. As a private citizen,
as a dad, watching his son and trying to focus,
to see things around, just relax. And even though
he's a nice guy, he had to take it all as a professional.
But you can see he was really uncomfortable because
people just don't respect privacy. No, they don't.
And I was at the arena. This has been a few years
ago now. It was preseason. They were getting
ready for their first. regular season game in
Brandon, and it was open to the public. And when
the players came off the ice, it was like, whoa.
I mean, it didn't matter who it was. Everybody
just, you know, can you sign my stick? Can you
sign my glove? And it's like, guys, let the players
have a moment here. Relax. Let them breathe.
They just got out of the ice. Let them breathe.
Yes. You know, to your earlier point about Cooper
and, you know, Hedman's skating, getting back
to this stadium series, it was such a big event
in Tampa that at one point, I'm not sure if it
was the day of, the day before, somewhere in
that time frame, everybody that was up with the
lightning got to skate. on that ice. And I remember
John Cooper making a comment. He said, hey, you
know what? We've had a lot of people that have
had a big part in the success of this organization
and making sure that Tampa gets this marquee
event. So why not just let them throw on a uniform,
go out there and skate? You know, it's just unfortunate
we can only, you know, dress the 20 players or
whatever it is we're going to dress for the game.
But let's let everyone, you know, at least participate
in it a little bit and, you know, have a little
fun with it. yeah that's john cooper classic
yeah excellent okay the i would say the most
important question right now can we are going
towards olympics who are you gonna cheer for
it's so complicated because yes i wish all the
best to john cooper even though i don't like
Tom Wilson being on that team. At the same time,
yes, I do want Team USA to succeed, but Method
Kachuk bothers me. And I know many people who
are actually, I am Russian -American, but there's
people who are actually, I don't know, third
-generation American. And they say they're not
going to cheer for Team USA because they hate
Method Kachuk and the way he plays against Tampa
Bay Lightning. No, I think you have to separate
that. I'm a nationalist first, as most of us
are. Be careful what you say now. Well, what
I mean by that is, you know, I want the USA to
win. We're going to root for the USA. I am. We
want good things, good things to happen. But
if the U .S. is ousted and Canada moves on, I
have no problem rooting for Canada. I mean, Cooper's
coaching. good Canadians that play here in Tampa
on that team. So I'm going to go with USA number
one, Canada, and then let's just draw some names
out of the bag, throw them in the air and see
where they land, who we're going to root for
after that. No, tell me now, who's your third
choice? What about Victory Headman and Sweden?
I don't know that they have enough offense. But
those are Swedes. It's all about being good in
defense. You know, you just don't let other guys
to be out there. I think the dark horse is Czechia.
Interesting. Yeah. That's who I think the dark
horse is. I would put Czechia third and then
Sweden fourth. I think they weren't as good since,
like, Japanese Olympics, Nagano. It's been a
while. Well, it's been a while. Yeah, there you
go. Yeah. But the U .S. is not favored. Canada,
of course, is favored in most of your betting
institutions. Now, on the women's side, the U
.S. women are favored. They're favored to beat
Canada again for the gold. But for the men, it'll
be really, really close. I would expect a U .S.-Canadian
final. And I think Canada will probably win.
So much is going to ride on goaltending. That's
what I wanted to say. They don't have Bradore
anymore. Yeah. You get in big games, especially
deep into the playoffs, we've seen a goalie just
be able to steal the game or steal a series,
be the MVP, and that same kind of thing can happen
in a short tournament like the Olympics. So it
really depends on how the goalie situation plays
out, who has the hot hand. who's going to ride
that hot hand really to determine if it's going
to be the u .s or canada but i think one of those
two teams are going to take gold and the other
one will take silver oh we'll see are you going
to adjust your schedule because of the olympics
because you want to see the games i am three
o 'clock must see tv that's when the games are
going to be here in the states three o 'clock
in the afternoon actually 3 10 p .m now the canadians
are going to be in the morning there's like 11
11 a .m., 10, 40 a .m. start time. Something
like that. But the interesting thing is, unless
I am mistaken, the U .S. does not play Canada
in the first round. You know, usually they play
them in the first round and then they go to the
round robin and get into the semis and all that.
They don't play each other. So they will not
play each other until it means something later
in the tournament. So that's kind of interesting,
I thought, maybe a little. corking the schedule
cool well thank you so much i was really looking
forward to it yeah i think we got another good
one and next time let's focus on the olympics
and remember like we discussed we're gonna build
team russia roster too like fantasy roster that
would be good yes yeah do you remember i know
you remember this do you remember nikolai hobby
bolin of course he was here of course yeah What
is the story? That's it? You stop? No, I'm just
thinking, you mentioned we have to build the
Russian roster and all these Russian players.
I mean, I don't think we can use him because
he retired, Ken. He'll be a goaltender coach.
Yes, the last time I checked, he was doing it
in Russia, but I'm not sure if he was really
doing it or just holding the position. But, yeah,
occasionally I see people wearing his jerseys,
so it's really sweet. As you handicap the Lightning
goaltenders, though, throughout their history,
at best, I think he would probably be third.
Pazzie would be first. Ben Bishop would be second,
I think, and then Javi Blum third. Interesting.
What about Matthew Garron? He's a very big part
of Lightning culture right now when it comes
to Lightning youth hockey development. So that's
a pretty cool thing. That is. Yeah, and it's
neat to see these guys once they end their professional
careers that they love the city of Tampa so much
that they want to stay here, raise their families
here, put their roots down here, and then get
involved in the community. Try to grow the game
of hockey. Yeah, I haven't seen Garan out anywhere.
You know, you see Marty St. Louis occasionally
when he's not coaching Montreal. He'll be in
and out. LeCavalier, same thing. Anderchuk, who
was on the pregame show. See him. Pat Maroon's
now getting more involved. But you really don't
see him much. Well, now I'm going to break the
news to you. He was actually very active during
the stadium series too, but I guess behind the
scenes. So he's someone who really cares about
hockey initiatives, what's going on in the community,
but he's just not flashing his face out there.
And that's perfect because not everybody wants
to be on camera. Not everybody wants that spotlight.
They're content to work and do their thing. you
know out of the public eye and that serves a
purpose too and a lot of times those kind of
jobs are just as important as the ones in front
what everybody can see and what everybody's paying
attention to If I was a goalie or if my kid was
a goalie, I mean, I would always get the private
sessions with him. It's really interesting that
people don't realize that. I understand that
not everyone is like a history geek like you
and I, but still, I'm like, oh my God, NHL goalies
here? And you can actually skate with him? And
his rate is not even that expensive. That's amazing.
I just like seeing the guys get a hold of the
community. Buy what the Lightning is trying to
do. Help them grow the game of hockey. And I
think that's fantastic. The only negative thing
I would say, I live in Hernando County, Spring
Hill. And the closest ice rink is in Westlake
Chapel. That's about 45 to 50 minutes away. That's
a long drive for kids up here. wanting to learn
to play the game of hockey and drive back and
forth for lessons a couple of times a week. And
then if you have games, there's, I think, Wesley
Chapel. There's Clearwater. Brandon's way too
far. There's one in Odessa. I don't know if there's
another one anywhere or not. Those are the only
four that I know of right now. But they need
to put something at the other end of... the other
end of pasco county not the busy end where you
know up towards hernando county because hernando
county is growing i mean it's one of the faster
growing areas you know in the state and i think
it would do well maybe we can build the ring
you call your people and i'll call my people
let's do that ah that's amazing thank you so
much for your time as usual see you later alligator