Hello, hello, it's Hockey on the Beach, Daria,
oh it's me, Ken, and we are ready to discuss
what is going on in, around, and outside of the
Tampa Bay Lightning. Ken, you have to tell me,
how did you process that Buffalo Lightning game?
Buffalo Sabres Lightning, 102 penalty minutes,
15 goals, and it was International Women's Day.
Yeah, who would have thought? I think the Lightning
were just putting on the show for all the women
that were in attendance to honor them in some
way or another. But that was just a crazy game.
I can't remember ever watching a game where there
was 15 goals scored. That is just unreal. Unless
it was, you know, an amateur game or a peewee
game or something. You know, you get those kind
of scores. But that's what happens. As John Cooper
has talked about, and some of the players have
alluded to, when you get out of your system and
you make a mistake, and that leads to another
mistake and another mistake, and before you know
it, the puck's in the back of the net. Buffalo
got the win, but they weren't really any better
in any aspect of the game than the Lightning
were. I mean, you give up seven goals, you're
supposed to lose. Not win the game, but the Lightning
were right at Buffalo's level and even just a
little bit worse. I thought the Lightning, I'll
be honest with you, when they took that two -goal
lead and it was in the third period, I thought
they were going to pull it out. I thought, okay,
we're going to get this one. And once you know
it, I was let down again. But it was good to
see last night's win, though. But yeah, that
Buffalo game was just absolutely crazy. Yeah,
we can say they recovered, but I hope that it
will last. Because overall, what is it, like
eight games and only two wins? And the problem
is pretty much the same from game to game. The
Lightning that we knew before the Olympic break
and the Lightning later on, it's like two different
teams. Goaltending, okay, I don't want to even
get there. But the problem is defense. Because
we discussed a lot the way everyone stepped up.
And that's probably the major factor that's missing.
They did great against the Detroit Red Wings.
Yeah, because it was time to regroup and recharge.
It's like, guys, you have to stop. Because at
the beginning of the season, when the Lightning
had a lot of issues, they probably, well, they
didn't lose their respect, but the teams were
like, ah, it's Lightning. Okay. But now all teams
know that the Tampa Bay Lightning is back to
their highest level. So they come here in Tampa
or whatever Tampa Bay Lightning is on the road.
Everyone is prepared. So the Lightning have to
be prepared too. The players have to step up.
Coaches have to be there too. Everyone have to
support each other. Yeah. And you're getting
everybody's best shot now. It doesn't matter.
Really, where you are in the standings, everybody's
trying to get those points to either get enough
to get into the playoffs or move up in playoff
positioning. So every night from here on out
to the end of the season is just going to be
a war. It's going to be a battle. It doesn't
matter if you're playing the Washington Capitals
or tomorrow's opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes.
You're going to get 110 % effort from those teams
because they are trying to... either get to the
playoffs in Washington's case or maintain their
playoff positioning like Carolina. So it's very
important that the Lightning bring their A game
every single night. And this little skid they
had, it reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day.
You're seeing the same thing over and over. I
went back to the beginning of the season. It's
like, well, this is just what we saw in October.
Same kind of play, same kind of mistakes, same
kind of lethargic effort. I think they went 2
-5 -2 to start the season. Vazzy was awful. And
then they got it turned around. And for some
reason, that Olympic break did something. I can't
put my finger on it. I'm not in that room. But
they came out from the Olympic break and... have
not been good until last night. Last night was
against the Red Wings, their best game since
the Olympic break. And if they continue to play
like that, they're going to put a lot of wins
together before the end of the season. Yeah,
before the Olympics, I think it was like 19 wins
in 21 games or something like that. It was really
awesome. And the Detroit Red Wings, yeah, I know
it's not a pretty team. I think the Lightning
got lucky too because they were short of a few
key players. Once again, it's not an excuse for
the Detroit Red Wings, but Lightning did great.
They basically tried to cover for the mistakes
that we've seen before. And it's not just when
we talk about how the team is doing the performance.
It's not only about the goals. It's also about
the lack of scoring chances. When your team shoots
only four times, In a period six times. I mean,
you do not expect that from a team like Tampa
Bay Lightning. That's just a very different caliber
of the team. Yeah. If you go back to the Columbus
game, they tried to focus on not taking chances
like they had been when they won those 19 out
of 21 games. Everybody kind of stayed home. They
weren't going to do stupid things. But, you know,
Columbus is a pretty good young team. And that
caught up with them. So I think they found out,
you know what? We just have to take chances.
We have to, you know, get up and down the ice.
We can't, you know, stand around. We have to
move. And if we're going to, you know, take a
chance, it's going to cost us. Well, it cost
us. But at least we know we put in, you know,
the good effort. Now, last night, they were on
it offensively, defensively, goaltending, special
teams. You know, the penalty kill is another
area that was just sorry, especially against
Buffalo and Columbus. They allowed like nine
power play goals, eight power play goals. That
is unreal. Sometimes the Lightning don't allow
that many in a given month over the course of
the season. I think Detroit was 0 -1 last night,
so you got to start another streak somewhere.
0 -1 is a good place to start. Yeah, good to
see a win last night. It looks like Vazzy was
back on top of his game. The other games that
they really lost badly, Buffalo and Columbus,
those were really two of the first two games
that McDonough and Hedman had played together.
Oh, no. Slow, not getting to the puck. A lot
of turnovers. Now, last night, they played better.
It was a better, but my question is, are we going
to see that effort from those two aging defensemen
in the weeks to come? Got another big game with
Carolina coming up Saturday and then you go West.
Yeah, it's not easy. It's not going to be easy.
So you got to get it dialed in and the lightning
for some reason have never been good in Seattle,
Vancouver, those kinds of places for some reason.
They have trouble winning in those places. And
then they've got to play at Edmonton. And Edmonton
can put five goals on you before you even break
a sweat. So it's not going to be an easy road
trip at all for the Lightning coming up. Well,
I hope that Nikita Kucherov will get more support.
That's one guy that we should talk about. Yes.
Not only he deserves his second Hart Trophy.
I mean, I can talk about it for days that he
was robbed the previous two seasons. Absolutely.
Because, yes, McKinnon, blah, blah, blah. He's
the NHL star. I agree. But people. Please pay
close attention to the rosters. Nikita Kucherov,
that's all the mistakes, all the sufferings,
that struggles that we discuss right now. Nikita
Kucherov is the only one guy who is trying to
lead the team. And he needs the support. McKinnon
has all the support in the world. He even has
Cale McCart next to him. So, no, please don't
even go there. Like, half of the team... are
nhl stars so no nikita kucherov not only he has
1100 points now yes the seventh player to do
that he is and he did it in less than 900 games
because he only has 862 games under his belt
shoulder whatever so he is doing great and he
has like you said 106 points right now he is
only well He still needs to put out a lot of
work, obviously, but he needs to focus on himself
and don't care that McDavid is still up front
and do not care that McKinnon is behind him.
Right. If he just focuses on playing his game,
he'll be fine. That's when Nikita Kucherov is
at his best. The other thing that you mentioned,
he got robbed of the Hart Trophy, and he very
much should be in the conversation this year.
And I would even say... a frontrunner to win
the trophy is he is not media friendly. He hates
the spotlight. He doesn't get in front of the
cameras. He's not going to be out there talking
about his game or the team and flaunting his
game. And I think the national media, the folks
that do the voting, they hold that against him.
And he gets the reputation of being sullen, of
being not pleasant. not a a good guy to to be
around you can't talk to him you can't communicate
with him you can't ask any questions and you
know that couldn't be any further from the truth
but that's being held i think on the national
level against him is the fact that he's just
not media friendly but let me like focus on a
few points especially from someone who understands
the culture first of all it's not his job stop
forcing him if he doesn't want to do it stop
doing he's doing his job on the ice he's done
a lot for his team and for this league stop forcing
everyone when it comes to social media and everything
that's going on it's too much already we don't
want to eat that anymore leave him alone there
are people like nikita kucherov and you cannot
break his personality or character just because
you think so the other big part listen to this
and i think we've discussed that before um media
votes for that right And right now, because of
the political issues, it has nothing to do with
sports or journalism. I cannot vote there because
all the Russian -speaking journalists are left
off. because of the politics. Once again, I have
nothing to do with that. So most of the people
who vote, they're Canadians. So obviously they
want McKinnon to win. It's not even McDavid because
all the previous seasons they were pushing hard
for McKinnon. So it's anyone, just not Nikita
Kucherov. And I feel really bad because it's
like no one can stand up to him. that's just
wrong and like we live in such a world that that
is obsessed with social media here and there
nikita kucherov is different and he doesn't want
to do what everyone else is doing he doesn't
want to be part of any tick tocks or trends you
will not see him or find him anywhere it doesn't
mean he's a bad person once again he's doing
a lot for this team and for the league people
love him all over kids They want to be Nikita
Kucherov. If you walk around Tampa, you probably
do, you will see most of the jerseys they have
either Nikita Kucherov or Andrei Vasilevsky name.
It says a lot. Even when you go to Washington
before the game and you can pay closer look what
people wear, Nikita Kucherov will win. It's not
even Alex Ovechkin. It's Nikita Kucherov. And
once again, being international, believe me,
more people know about him. And did you see the
size of Russia? Yeah, right? So it's not Canada.
It's Russia. And it's like all of those political
stuff have to be left over. He's doing his job.
He's great. And even the players, the coaches,
professionals, when they try to... create the
perfect player most of the aspects they will
take from nikita kucherov mcdavid what everyone
would say he's yeah he's the fastest one no not
we can't say anything over here but it's great
but all the other other aspects it's nikita kucherov
so please leave him alone he was supposed to
win last year he was supposed to win a year before
that he has to get his well -earned trophy this
year. Even last year when he didn't get it, he
was laughing because he was already like, okay,
you're right, whatever. I'm already used to that.
Yeah. Well, the other thing with Kucherov is
he does not score a lot of goals like a McKinnon
or a McDavid, but what he excels in and what
he is the best at is setting up his teammates,
giving them chances to score. he's probably going
to have over 100 assists this season, or right
around 100 assists for the season. And that's
just phenomenal. If you ever watch him on the
ice, and I know you do, unless he's got a breakaway,
he has always got his head up looking for the
puck, and he's looking for somebody before he
even gets the puck to pass it to and set them
up. try to get a goal or make a play. That's
the game of Nikita Kucherov. And I think he gets
penalized for that. He's not going to get you
a lot of goals, but if you sit back and you just
analyze his game and watch his passing and the
way he sets up the other teammates around him,
there's no one better, in my opinion. Yeah, I'm
not saying that, you know, people cannot keep
up. But the way Nikita Kutcher produces right
now, if only his teammates would score every
time he sets them up, it would be like seven,
six goals every game. And to prove your point,
he has 391 goal and 707 assists. So, yeah, he's
working for the team, not for himself. He works
for the love of hockey and for his team. Mm hmm.
Absolutely. And that's those kind of players
in this day and age are really hard to come by
when, you know, social media is constantly wanting
your attention for something. And the guys that
score the most goals or the most points are always
in the spotlight. The guys that do the dirty
work, set up their teammates are good passers,
put their teammates in position to score and
get some points. They're not heralded quite as.
nicely as your pure goal scorers like a mcdavid
or a mckinnon well another person we should talk
about andre vasilevsky once again it's not because
i'm russian and they're russian but you cannot
ignore the fact that andre vasilevsky is now
number two after legendary marty brador because
he has nine consecutives 30 plus wins Hold on.
Nine consecutive seasons with 30 -plus wins.
And Marty Berdour has 12. So Andre is 31. So
he has, I mean, he can definitely beat that record.
Let's go, Vazzy. Yeah, it would be nice to see
him. The thing I'm concerned with Vasilevsky
is his health appears to be breaking down just
a little bit. You know, he's in his mid -30s
now. He was out. Last season, couldn't participate
at the start of training camp. Well, he wasn't
out last season, but before this season started.
He missed time training for the season because
of his back and the situation with that, and
then he missed playing in the preseason games,
and that's why he had the rough start to the
season. He seems to have weathered that storm,
and now... At least last night, we saw the Vazzy
of old and the Vazzy that we saw when they won
the 19 out of 21. So the only thing I'm concerned
with, and I think the only thing that'll stop
him from setting all kinds of records once his
career's over, is his health. If his health holds
up, absolutely. But he's starting to, you know,
get those chinks in his armor, so to speak, that...
A lot of players, when they get to be that age,
they just can't do the things and play the same
way they did when they were 25. Well, actually,
it's very different for the goalies because they
tend to grow and develop later. So 30 is a perfect
age. But we can also compare it to Sergei Bobrovsky's
situation. We have to keep in mind that they
need to take breaks for that. Any team needs
to have a great, solid, reliable backup goalie.
Bingo. That's a huge problem because right now,
if the Tampa Bay Lightning fans want to be in
the finals, they have to pray for Vasilevsky's
health because if he's not there, if he needs
a break, we're screwed. I'm sorry, but that's
the truth. Oh, you're right. Yeah, you're 100
% right. Johansson was good to above average
to start the season. But the last couple of games
that he's been in, it's like, holy cow. You know,
if Azzy's out for an extended period of time,
you know, we're screwed. The thing with Bobrovsky,
I will say, is the Panthers have had a lot of
injuries. And I think... New guys in and out
of the lineup, you know, have really affected
the overall game that the Panthers play and have,
you know, allowed more shots and allowed more
pucks to get in close to Bobrovsky. And, you
know, he now granted he hasn't had the season
that he's had the last couple of seasons as a
goalie. You're paid to stop the puck. But at
some point when the guys in front of you break
down. You're hung out to dry sometimes, and there
is not a lot you can do. So I think if the Panthers
were healthy from the start of the season, A,
they would be in a playoff position, and B, I
think Bobrovsky would have a lot better numbers.
But I think the overall health of that team has
just affected his performance. Yeah, and he would
play less too because we know that he's going
to shine in the playoffs, but you have to get
there first. Once again, he's the part of the
team and basically three finals, two Stanley
Cups. He needs his break too. So when they signed
Tarasov, obviously they thought that he would
probably get better than he is right now. He's
better than when he was in the Columbus, but
he's still not the best option. That's once again
why Bobrovsky has to play more. Because I thought
that he will play less because he needs that.
It's the same as Panthers this week. They rested
same Reinhardt for one game. Because they wanted
to make sure that he has five days without games.
Because they are just scared that their leaders
will start breaking one after another. It's like
one guy in, another one out. Barbarovsky needs
that too. But unfortunately, it's a big thing
right now. Look around the league. It's like
we don't have as many great goalies. Or if they
are, they have to play all the time. Well, the
other thing with your goalie situation is if
you're a really good backup goalie and you put
up great numbers as a backup goalie, the next
year you're gone. You know, they might not, you
might say, hey, I can start here. This team's
offered me starter money and I'm going to go
here and start. So the pool for quality backup
goaltenders is not that great. And it takes,
I think, a certain... and a different mindset
to be a backup goalie. You have to go to the
rink every day knowing that, well, I'm not going
to play today. I'm not going to play today. And
then you go and the coach says, oh, yeah, we're
going to arrest the starter today, so you're
in. And then you have to change your mindset
and get ready mentally to play the game. So it's
a totally different, I think, mindset with a
goalie as far as preparation goes than it is
with the starters. You have to be ready all the
time. That's the mentality. It doesn't matter
if you're a starter or backup. You have to be
ready. And let me remind everyone that Sergei
Bobrovsky was in that position when he first
came to the NHL. It was the same for Team Russia
and Sochi. He knows that position and he earned
every bit of it. It's the same with Andrei Vasilevsky.
So I think it's just the problem of the days
that we're living. Because people focused on
I, I, I, me, me, me, social media, money, I want
to be the starter, not necessarily being able
to hold on to that pressure. Well, as you know,
Vazzy worked under Ben Bishop. So when Ben Bishop
was out and late in his career, he was hurt late
in the season where they had to use Vazzy extensively.
And he showed the Lightning that. We have a number
one goalie right here who has great potential.
I think we can afford to part with Ben Bishop
right now. And I remember that. People were pissed
when he ended up going to Dallas. You know, they
never thought that, of course, Vassie would turn
out to be the player that he is now. But those
same people would be the ones screaming the loudest
if a year or two from now something... you know,
happens to Vazzy and we have a great backup goaltender.
Oh, we're going to, you know, trade Vazzy or
we're going to let him go to another team. Oh
man, that burned Benchmark Arena down. But that's
the cycle. You know, that unfortunately is the
cycle. And that's just the way it goes in the
NHL goaltending world. and people just want everything
right here right now because when andrei vasilevsky
was leaving russia his salavat you live team
in the khl to the nhl people were telling him
do not go There's no spot for you. You want to
be in the NHL? Stay here. You're going to get
all the fame and money in the world, which is
not true, but still. But no, he wanted to prove
everyone that he's NHL worthy and he built himself
and his career. Right. And that says something,
too, about him and the person that he is and
his overall... mental status, the way he looks
and processes things. Yeah, there was no spot
for him, but I'm sure he had the mindset, you
know, I'm going to go over there and I'm going
to create a spot by my play. And I'm going to
show people that I deserve to be a number one
goaltender. And he's done that and been very
successful at it. And he'll be in the Hall of
Fame someday. I'm certain. Sure. Okay, we've
talked a lot about the Russian NHLers. Is there
anything you want to add? I don't want to be
the person who's going to, I don't know, say
the negative stuff about our captain. Say our,
like, you know, he's my neighbor. Victor Hedman,
I mean, he's a nice guy. He's awesome. It's just
he's not in the best. shape of his career right
now and I don't want to be the person who talks
about that every week so I would ask you to bring
up something positive before we say goodbye and
see you later well no there's there's a lot of
positive positives with Victor Hedman it's just
not his game on the ice he's an excellent mentor
for the young defenseman he can show you how
to do it he's a good leader I think in the locker
room, he's been there. He's done that. There
is not anything I don't think that Victor Hedman
has faced in his NHL career that he could not
comment on or be a mentor or be a positive influence
on some of these young Lightning players that
are going to experience something for the first
time come mid -April. And that's going to be
the NHL playoffs. And they're going to find out
that everything gets... Cranked up a couple of
notches when it's the playoffs. It's not like
the regular season. But I think Victor Hedman
still has a lot of value and some things to add.
It's just not as a first -line defenseman. Maybe
third -line defenseman. You know, cut the minutes,
keep him fresher. You would think that he would
be extremely fresh because of all the time that
he's missed this season. But he's... His body,
I think, is telling him, hey, you just can't
do it at that level anymore. And you know what?
That's okay. It happens. We shouldn't begrudge
Victor Hedman for that. He's doing the best that
he can, but physically, the body's telling him,
you can't do that anymore. So it's time to take
more of a mentorship role and a leadership role
on the team and just accept the minutes. that
are given to you as as they are yeah he has to
take care of himself and his health i just think
that john cooper and his assistants were in a
very strange position because when victor headman
was injured obviously everyone was waiting for
him but we saw how other defensemen stepped up
and when he was ready to go back it just felt
like they were pushing him to be victor headman
at his best and obviously he was not ready for
that and it's like he needs to be there on the
ice with the team at the same time he cannot
do that at the same level that he've done three
five years ago and so it's something coaching
staff and victor headman have to figure out together
because there's no pressure there is no rush
if he needs to take his time off or Obviously,
John Cooper is not going to bench him, but I'm
sure, and that's the way I wrote it for Tampa
Bay Sports Journal. If it was some old school
coach, he would just bench Victor Hedman in a
second. The amount of those turnovers and bad
situations, unlucky passes, it's just ridiculous.
But John Cooper is not going to do that, and
it's not working properly for anyone right now.
So they really need to figure that out. No pressure,
Victor Hedman. headman we still love you we just
really understand that there have to be some
adjustments yes in your mind is victor headman
a hall of famer a first ballot hall of famer
let's go yes victor headman yes of course of
course it doesn't matter that right now once
again he is not 15 or 20 years old anymore it's
normal his body took a lot and so we accept that
and just it's like like you said there's still
a lot of positives understand it's probably very
hard for the coaches who've been through with
him all of that they build this franchise together
and it's like oh you know we're gonna play victor
only for 10 minutes i understand that it's mentally
and physically probably feels weird that's why
they just cannot get to that point yet but they
have to because he needs support too well the
other thing about somebody like victor headman
A lot of those type of personalities and those
players, they come to a resolution in their mind
where they admit to themselves, you know, I'm
not the player that I was. I can't do the things
that I can do. However, here's what I can do.
And this is the way that I can impact the club
now. And this is what I'm going to do to the
best of my ability. And I think Victor Hedman
is that kind of guy. He's going to do whatever.
He can do whatever the team asks him to do, whether
it's play less minutes, play on the third blue
line, mentor the young defenseman. He's going
to do whatever. If it helps the team win some
games and have a deep playoff run, that's what
he's going to do. We wish him well. Absolutely.
What else? What else? Well, we're out of first
place now. Buffalo's in first. By a couple of
points, though. So that's nothing to sweat just
yet. And Detroit is, I think, a couple of points
behind. Now that four -point swing with the Lightning
winning and Detroit losing, that was big last
night. So that gives us a little bit of breathing
room. But Montreal is lurking right after Detroit.
They're a point or two of one another. Spring
hockey, as I always said, it's the best time
of the year. You find out the pretenders from
the contenders, and I think we're going to find
out that the Lightning are contenders. I'm looking
for a deep playoff run this spring. Well, I'm
expecting them and Colorado Avalanche back in
the finals. Yeah, I can see that. However, I
would not discount the Dallas Stars. The Dallas
Stars. Dallas is only six points behind Colorado
now for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Nobody talks about Dallas. Not anymore, because
they've been disappointing the previous seasons.
They were contenders, and then when it comes
to players, it's like... Well, the other thing,
too, is when the spotlight's on you, you can't
fold up like a cheap suit when the pressure's
on. And there's some years where they've gone
out, in the first or second round of the playoffs
when they had a lot more talent than the team
that they were playing against. But Dallas is
one that I would watch. Anaheim is a tricky team.
I don't think they can unseat Colorado, but they're
going to give some people problems, I think,
in the West. So the Ducks are another team. And,
you know, God bless them if Utah can ever get...
on a consistent run where they can string some
victories together, you know, they could be a
problem down the road for some teams out West.
I don't mind about the Dallas Stars. It's okay.
Let's go. That's fine. And you may be, you know
who I'm really disappointed in out West? Who?
Edmonton. They have done absolutely nothing to
improve their defense or their goaltending. I
mean, yeah, they swapped Skinner out for the
guy from Pittsburgh, but they're in the same
spot. They haven't improved. They lose games
they have no business losing, and they'll get
lucky and win games they have no business winning.
I can't figure that team out. And the last couple
seasons when Oilers played the Florida Panthers
in the Stanley Cup Finals, I said if Edmonton
had a decent goaltender and a locked -down defenseman,
they would beat Florida. But they don't want
to invest the money, for whatever reason, in
a quality defenseman. I don't get it. No, they
need a goaltender. Goaltender number one. And
defense. Their defense sucks. But they're not
great either. In the same way with the goaltending.
They're just average. And you know what happens
when you're average. You know. Yeah, you can't
expect that McDavid will produce 10 points a
night and that's about it. All on his shoulders.
Okay, awesome. What about defense? What about
goaltending, guys? You know you have a problem
when you lose the Stanley Cup final and one of
your players is the MVP of the Stanley Cup final
like McDavid did a couple of years ago. I mean,
granted, he had a fantastic series, but it just
goes to show, you know, you lost and this guy
did so much for your team and nobody else did
a darn thing that we have to make him the...
We're going to vote him MVP of the final. Oh,
you just reminded me about another great point.
Corey Perry, because when it was announced that
he's going to be back to the Tampa Bay Lightning,
the first fan's reaction online that I saw was,
oh, yeah, great. We're going to make it to the
finals, but we're going to lose. Yeah, I know.
Yeah, yeah. Corey Perry will carry that with
him to his grave. Stay away from him if you want
to win the Stanley Cup. If you want to go to
the Stanley Cup final, get him on your team.
But if you want to win, you better find a way
to get him off your team before the Cup final.
I just think he's had some bad luck with the
teams that he's been in the finals with. I mean,
on paper, I mean, those Edmonton teams, I mean,
they were really no match for Florida when you...
broke down the roster, you know, position by
position. And Corey Perry is one of the guys
that if you have the kind of players that you
need to have to win a Stanley Cup, he's one of
the key ingredients. We've seen it already in
the short term. He's been back with Tampa. I
mean, he stands in front of the net. He battles.
He whacks you. He'll go into the corners for
the pucks. And he's 41 years old, I think. And
he's still super fast. He's great. He doesn't
care. He's another one that's just going to do
whatever it takes to win. He doesn't care what
his role is. If it's to get loose pucks in the
corner, if he's to be an agitator in front of
the net, if he has to fight, doesn't care. He's
going to do it. He shouldn't have left. I mean,
he didn't want to, but I was... very mad when
they let him go and look at this he's back i
told you guys do not let him go he is great when
corey perry left what happened to the lightning
in their first playoff series for two consecutive
years okay you have no no toughness whatsoever
you have no edge to your game you want to play
you know speed hockey you want to have the fancy
passes Well, that's not going to get it done
a lot of times in a rough and tumble playoff
series. I still have that video when, obviously,
when Tampa Bay Lightning were playing. the florida
panthers last season you can not season playoffs
you can see every game during every single game
they were trying to stop nikita kucherov obviously
it was all about getting under his skin blocking
him playing bad against him refs did not necessarily
did a great job and i do have couple videos on
my phone from the games even brett marchand and
the problem was no one stepped up from the tampa
by lightning it was It was horrible to see. And
Corey Perry would never allow that. Well, the
guys on this team, some of the guys, they will
not allow that either. Yeah. You know, you have
Lilliburg. It's now, but it's now. We've missed
two years like that. We have to struggle watching
that for two playoffs. Well, I think Julian Breezeball
finally came to his senses and said, listen,
we got to get tougher. Yeah. We have the skill.
But what we don't have is the sandpaper grit
and those kind of players, the third and fourth
line players that you need in order to win the
Cup. They didn't have that. And I think this
year they've reconstructed their roster where
they do have a little bit of an edge once you
get past the first and second line. And even
some of your guys that play on the first and
second line, I mean, look at Point. I mean, you...
Look at Hagel. Yeah, Hagel, they'll drop the
gloves in a minute, and it's game on. And that
used to not be part of their game. You know,
they would just sit there and take it, and that'd
be the end of it. But I think the other infusion
of those kind of grit and sandpaper guys that
Breezeball has had on the roster, you know, Corey
Perry, one of them, the young kids, you know,
from Syracuse, The big guys, they were third
and fourth liners probably at Syracuse, and they
come here and they're third and fourth liners.
They're doing the same thing. They're not going
to get pushed around, and they're going to stand
up for themselves. And I think the league has
gotten the message, and they know now that if
they want to play that game with the Lightning,
there's going to be a price to pay. Finally,
so yeah, everyone seems to be prepared. Just
make sure that you also follow the rules because
we don't want to see the Buffalo Sabres game
again. No, no, we don't want to see that. And
talking about having a little toughness and a
little bit of grit, you said, you know, we got
to follow the rules. Let's make sure we're not
taking, you know, cheap shots and losing guys
for, you know, a game or two. at the most important
time of the season. You know, let's stand up
for ourselves. Don't overdo it. Physically, right.
But let's be measured and let's do it within
the rules and within the structure of the game.
And if they do that, they'll be fine. Yeah, let's
do it. Sounds good. So I guess we'll talk to
you later next week when the Lightning will face
their Western opponents. Yeah, the Western team.
They got Seattle. And then they go to Vancouver
and Edmonton. You know what's really crazy? I
was looking at the schedule. They have a game
in Edmonton now. I did not see the time on that
game. But the very next day is a Sunday and they're
home to Nashville. It's like, why would you make
a team play in Edmonton, which is one of the
worst places to get to? And it's far. i've heard
horror stories about you know well we have to
take 10 connecting flights to get to edmonton
uh you know reporters when they uh panthers and
oilers with the cup they're just complaining
about it you know all the time takes forever
to get there you know i i don't know why you
would schedule a home game after a a west coast
game it just doesn't make any sense but It is
what it is. I'm going to get there. I'll see
you later, alligator. Go Bolts. Thanks for listening
to the Hockey on the Beach podcast.