Hello, hello, hockey fans. It's Daria Miranova
and Ken Filler. Ken, say hi. Hello, everyone.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoying
lightning hockey as they come down the stretch.
Yeah, because that's all Ken cares about. I want
to talk about the Florida Panthers. I'm just
kidding. I don't. No. Yes, let's talk about hockey
on the beach, also known as the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So things are going pretty well on one side.
Previously, we talked about the away trip. It
was a good one. Three wins out of four. There
are some issues, but we're just going to talk
about them later. Then the Lightning comes back
home. And I'm sure you can see the same thing
that I do see. Defense! What is going on? The
last two games, John Cooper and his coaches,
whatever. stuff they decided that it would be
a great idea if they start the game with the
third line which what does it mean it means that
it's gonna set the mood and what did we have
we had a lot of fights and if you pay attention
nikita kucherov when the game is too aggressive
nikita kucherov doesn't produce much because
it's not his game and unfortunately things didn't
go well Against the Minnesota Wild. Yes, you
can say, ooh, they got the win. Yes, it's awesome.
But they got punished for everything they started
on Tuesday. They got it back on Thursday. Ken,
what's going on? I'll use the excuse they were
still a little bit tired and had heavy legs on
Tuesday against Minnesota, even though they won
the game. They started off, as you know, against
the Wild, very sluggish. The other thing, too,
this is a hard time of year to win games. 20
of the 30 teams or even 25 of the 30 teams are
still battling for a playoff spot. From now on
through the rest of the season, you're going
to get everybody's best shot. Seattle is right
in the mix for one of the wild card spots or
possibly a third place. playoff spot in their
division. They brought it all. And I was surprised
they had a 2 -0 lead at one point. And the Lightning
should have won that game. I looked at the score.
It was 2 -0. Shots on goal. And the Kraken had
like nine shots on goal. Maybe this was in the
second period. And three goals allowed. That's
not going to win you playoff games. And definitely
you're not going to have a long playoff run allowing
three goals. on nine shots. Things seemed to
settle down after that. Lightning got their legs
under them, and they had pressure on Seattle
all night. I mean, you can talk about the defensive
breakdowns, but I don't know how many shots they
missed as a team. You know, they had Grubauer
out of position, just missed the net, hit the
post, couldn't get the shot off. It wasn't a
very good offensive performance. Let's just say.
So I lay that more on the offense last night
against Seattle. And Vaz is going to take a little
bit of the blame because you can't be letting
in three goals on nine shots. I was at the game
on Tuesday. And at first I was really surprised
because last year when Minnesota was in town,
it was very empty. I mean, the fans wise. And
on Tuesday, it was insane. so many girls i guess
everyone is so excited that queen hughes was
in town i'm i personally don't see anything special
but i guess the girls other girls do and so i've
seen a lot of t -shirts a lot of banners and
things were so wild it's like minnesota wild
wild yes they were so wild it actually looked
like they have more fans than the tampa bay lightning
you know when the team gets out for the warm
-ups, like the Pimple Bay Lightning side was
emptier than the Wild side. I was like, what
is going on here? It was not the same picture
last year. So I'm not sure if it's only all because
of the Queen and also because of the Olympics
and the Wild are doing better right now. But
I was surprised. It was wild. Wild, no pun intended.
I think the other thing with Minnesota, too,
a lot of those northern teams, it depends what
time of year they come to Tampa. It's the height
of spring break season, so a lot of folks from
Minnesota thought, you know, let's go down to
Tampa, get warmed up a little bit, we'll see
the Wild play. The Wild are a much better team
this year than they were last year. They're pushing
Dallas for that second spot in the Central Division.
Colorado's going to win that division, hands
down. But Dallas is in second. Dallas and Minnesota
right now, they're not separated by a whole lot
of points. So I think their thinking is the Wild
gets on a good roll here toward the end of the
season. They can move up into that second spot.
And when you're doing well and your team's on
a roll. you tend to travel a little bit better
and who doesn't want to go to florida in march
when you're still freezing your arse off in minnesota
it looked like the minnesota wild wanted to say
you know here we go we're so tough we don't care
about you guys and we're gonna show you all and
that's what they did but when the lightning actually
played hockey the minnesota wild couldn't get
to them Nikita Kucherov and his line, you know,
the guys are so fast. That's what you do. You
just fly, go there. Do not focus on all the fighting
and on the penalties. Because after the first
period, it was like the Lightning got first.
I mean, they got five penalties. And the Wild
got four. You know, I understand when you get
your third line out there. Yeah, it sets the
mood. But once again, they were supposed to play
hockey. They got so lucky that they scored three
power play goals and they were able to get back
on track. Yes. But like you said, when it came
to the Seattle game. And once again, it was not
the best performance for everyone in Nikita Kucherov,
too. We talk about him a lot because we want
him to do better. And the last three games, like
I said, it's been only one point each night.
Yeah, he's definitely cooled off a bit. He'll
get going, though, unless they play the Florida
Panthers miraculously in the playoffs. And then
he'll disappear the next fall. No, I'm kidding.
But that's been the way Kucherov has played.
in the first round of the playoffs the last couple
of seasons but to your point about the physicality
and the way the lightning come out to start some
of those games you and i have talked about this
before it was a given that last year and the
year before to a certain extent the lightning
had been bullied and pushed around in the playoffs
no one had an answer for that breeze boy went
out brought in some players that have a little
bit of toughness to them a little bit of sandpaper,
a little bit of an edge. And that's proved to
be good for the Lightning because now we have
somebody that there are a couple of players that
are going to step up when there's a egregious
hit, when there's something out of bounds that's
not part of the play. However, I think as we
get closer to the playoffs and the deeper you
go into the playoffs, when your skill set is
going to be more important than your physicality,
that physicality tool, if you will, in your toolbox.
And you can bring it out when needed. But you
don't want to use the hammer all the time. That
disrupts the flow of your game. It disrupts your
offensive system. You have guys out there that
maybe shouldn't be out there at that certain
part of the game. So physicality is a good thing.
You just need to learn how to use it. And I think
Cooper and the coaching staff will get on that
as we come down the stretch and get into the
playoffs. They'll be more mindful of when to
use that. Use it. Don't abuse it. Yes. Because
sometimes you're absolutely right. Because sometimes
it looks like they're overdoing it. Please don't.
Just play hockey. It's okay to, you know, punch
some guys around. Just don't overdo it and don't
focus on that. You know, stick to the plan. and
also it means injuries and we don't need any
injuries right now speaking of the injuries did
you see cory perry's face yes he got that blue
eye i've seen the fight i do have that i will
try to edit it actually i've seen it you know
like i said i was there it didn't look good and
immediately when he was able to get up i could
see that his face was covered in blood so i felt
really bad also you know it's just the same with
We just discussed the March Madness with that
seven, nine layer. And there's all actually really
funny reel on YouTube where Shaq O 'Neal, like
he's trying to bully a smaller guy. And the text
says, find someone your size. And then he turns
around and he's facing like chest of that. Canadian
basketball player from the Florida Gators. So
it was about the same. It's like that guy who
is much taller, younger, it's like, yeah, I feel
good about punching a 40 -year -old great player
who is smaller than you are, who just wants to
stand up for his team. It was just not necessary,
okay? Yes, there was a brawl before that, and
it stopped. So it's like, dude, why do you want
to continue? Stop. Do you feel better? It's been
a long time since Corey Perry got beat like that
in a fight. It was similar to me to when Buster
Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in Japan years
ago in that heavyweight fight. All the money
was on Mike Tyson, and Buster Douglas catches
him with one punch, and that's it. Corey Perry
doesn't get beat like that very often. He's 40
years old. He's another one of those tough guys.
But he knows when it's time to bring it and when
it's time to play hockey. He's smart about that.
And going forward, you know, I think he'll be
a little more judicious about where he chooses
the spots to get involved or just to let things
go. But that was a bad one. Yeah, I feel bad
for him anyways, because it's like it was too
much. It was too much and it was just the start
of the game. It also like from my side, I could
see that a lot of shots. Vasilevsky was facing
a lot of shots that he didn't need to just because
the guys were not focusing on their work they
were focusing on the fight and obviously the
Minnesota Wild was bullying the guys but that
was their job that's what they wanted they just
wanted to distract the lightning and they did
a great job in that but luckily the lightning
got the win okay speaking of the injuries it's
not necessarily the injury but we talked about
victor headman a lot too and he hasn't been playing
since vancouver i think it was march let me see
in my notes somewhere it was march i can't find
it now so it was march something anyways and
so he only has 33 games this season one goal
17 points it's a very complicated season for
him injuries surgery also i mean you have to
care about the human side and his favorite dog
passed away you know olympic pressure there's
just a lot going on and also when he came back
after his surgery obviously he could not you
know play the game he used to and he could also
see that He cannot fit in right now. There is
no spot for him, too. Anyway, something is going
on. Yeah, he has a leave of absence right now
from the team. And we just wish him, you know,
to get back on track, obviously, but also just
the best wishes and whatever he and his family
is dealing with. I just wish them the best. No,
absolutely. I mean, he's been everything that
you want. in his 17 years as a member of the
Tampa Bay Lightning. He's been a great defensive
player. He's not so much now, but when you look
at the scope of his 17 -year career, been a great
defensive player, been a great leader in the
locker room, been good in the community, and
now that he needs to take a break and refresh
himself, both physically and mentally, I think
he deserves that. And the fans and the media
need to give him that space to get well and to
recoup, get over what it is that happens to be
the issue at the time. And when he does come
back, hopefully he'll be a little bit of the
old Victor Hedman of old. He's 35 years old,
so he's not going to play like he was at 25.
But the time off and, you know, just refreshing
himself, hopefully he's got a couple of good
games left in him. And we talked about it a lot.
You can listen to our podcast, Hockey on the
Beach, on Apple, Spotify, and pretty much anywhere
you can find it. So, like I said, we wish him
the best. And like you said about the community
outreach, I kind of just figured it out. season
the camper bay lightning doesn't have that many
fan fans events as they usually do i'm not sure
why do you think it's maybe because you know
the team is still in the process of changing
ownership and obviously things internally they
are changing so the franchise is not as as they
usually are i mean everyone is still nice you
know things are happening but it just used to
be so much more you could see the players around
you know they try to produce different shows
events here and there it's just not this season
you made a good point that could be due to the
ownership change and jeffrey vinik his ownership
style was totally different than the owners that
we have in place jeffrey vinik was first and
foremost let's get into the community let's be
about the fans let's do all these different things
to bring the fans in and build the organization
a lot of times when you're got investment brokers
and those kind of folks running the team all
of a sudden the almighty dollar becomes most
important a lot of the events that you have seen
in the past cost a few dollars to put on they're
not going to put out you know that that kind
of money i'll give you a you know example with
these investment brokers for most of my adult
life i was in the restaurant business the worst
thing that could happen if you worked in a restaurant
was to hear that your restaurant chain or your
restaurant was being bought by an investment
firm what it meant was All of a sudden, your
expenses, your labor costs, your food costs,
all those expenses were going to be slashed in
half. And these idiots were going to sit there
and wonder, how come sales are down? How come
nobody's coming in the door? Why are things the
way they are? Well, let's talk about this. businesses,
and trying to put their stamp on them. Because
the only thing that they worry about is the almighty
dollar. They do not worry about anything else.
Don't try to tell me any different. I'm not going
to believe it. I've seen it happen too many times.
Too many times. Okay, and what do you mean by
that? What's your conclusion? My conclusion is,
as Bob Dylan sang in the 1960s, times, they are
changing, folks. And this is a new ownership
group. They're going to do things a little bit
different than Jeffrey Vinnick. Let's face it.
We've been spoiled by Jeffrey Vinnick. Not only
does the commissioner of the NHL praise Vinnick
for what he has done in the community, for how
he runs the Lightning. Organizations in other
sports have looked to Jeffrey Vinnick as an owner
and asked themselves, how can we run our business
similar to what he does, where we get a lot of
fan support, where we're the number one team
in the community? How do we do that? This new
ownership group, they always say when they take
over, Oh, we just want to keep things the same.
Yeah, nothing's really going to change. But bit
by bit, little by little, as you pointed out,
things are changing a bit. And this is only year
one. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, the
Lightning fan experience is going to go down
the toilet and just be absolutely horrendous.
But there's little things that they will change
and the fans won't like it. Unfortunately, just
the way it is. I want to see what it's going
to be. It's not even excitement. I really want
to know and I want to see what's going to change.
Well, you pointed out one change. Less community
events. They do with the fans. Less community
events. Let's hope it doesn't affect the payroll
and the money that they're willing. to pay the
players when the contract's up, when they have
a chance to bring in a marquee talent. We're
going to see what's going to happen here real
soon. Not with Jake Gunsel, but with Darren Radish.
Oh, that's a big one. And he's making $650 ,000
this year. Now, that's a lot of money to you
and I, but for a hockey player and for the way
he has played, Defense, that is a pittance. Hold
on, hold on. You don't know that's a lot of money
for me. It is for me. It is for me. I'm not ashamed
to say it. It is for me. Yeah, I could live well
on $650 ,000. No, it's not as much as you think.
I know it's not. It's about half of that by the
time you pay taxes, your agent fees, and all
the other nonsense that you're required to pay.
But you get my point. And the Lightning has to
decide, are we going to give Radish this new
contract? Yeah. Or are we not going to re -sign
him? And if we do re -sign him, what is he worth?
Five million. What's your guess? Five million,
five years? I would say five to six million dollars.
Yeah. Now, I'm going to tell you something else,
too. As a fan, my answer would be, I don't care.
Just re -sign the man, okay? Let's just get him
for the next, you know, five, seven years. Let's
get him on a contract. I mean, who was it that
signed that contract a couple of months ago?
Was that Moser? Yes. That big contract too? Yes,
that was heavy, yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you're
Darren Radish, you're sitting there, hey, what
about me? Hello? You know, and Breeze Boy spoke
about it. And he said right now there's no defenseman
in the NHL that's playing like Radish that has
a contract that they can look at that would be
similar based on his years of experience and
what he's done. He is a little bit older, so
you have to ask yourself, is this just a one
-year run? Is this the kind of performance we
can expect from Radish in the next two, three
years? all that stuff comes into play and believe
me the folks in the lightning front office are
thinking about that as they decide you know what
to offer him how many years how much money etc
he evolved and like i just want to point out
that he's 30 years old and he has 20 goals 45
assists in 64 games and it's not even about that
you can see that he is really confident he's
a changed player that's great but i just hope
he in his heart he feels like you know tampa
is his number one spot because if it is he will
be able to manage this deal it's you know it's
not only about the agents it's not only about
the front office i understand that people want
to get as much as they can but he also like ask
nikita kucherov he wouldn't want to go anywhere
He will be very flexible. He lives here. He loves
it here. He doesn't want to go anywhere. But
the other thing about Radish, too, not so much
with the contract, but I believe that I saw 20
goals this season. I think with his next goal,
he will break Victor Hedman's record for goals
by defensemen in a season. I believe that's right.
So we still have... A few games left in the season,
odds are he's going to get that. Good for him.
Yeah, absolutely. I just hope that they can appreciate
it in terms of the new contract and they will
be able to get that deal. Because it's still,
he evolved for sure. Yeah. Because Darren Radish
in previous two seasons wasn't as powerful as
he is right now. You could really see he was
working off season. And whatever he was doing,
whatever he was coaching him, it really works.
Good for him. And the partner's chemistry, obviously,
too. Let's just, you know, before we go off the
air, talk about Nikita Kucherov a little bit.
We have two 40 goals. 40 goals, 121 points, plus
45. Jesus Christ, in 67 games. I understand that
McDavid, you know, got him again. He has 121
points and 41 goals. But please, people, when
you do the math and pay attention to all the
details, Nikita Kucherov done that in less time.
And his plus minus is so much better. Although,
yeah, it's not like his entire team is playing
for him. You know, it's teamwork. It's not just
one person. Yes, there is a franchise phase.
Yes. But still, it's a lot of teamwork. Anyways,
what do you think about that, Ken? I agree 100%.
In fact, I wrote an article on my website. Talk
about it. On why. Nikita Kucherov should be the
MVP. And I break it down. It's not so much about
scoring. They have an award for that. It's called
the Art Ross Trophy. But the MVP is, to me, for
the player that makes the team better. How do
you enhance your teammates' role? How do you
make them better players and, in turn, makes
the team better? That was the crust of the article.
And Kucherov does that really well. Now, before
we move on, I don't know whether you heard this
or not. This is reported by Jeff Merrick, who's
an NHL reporter. And this guy, not Jeff Merrick,
but he's quoting a guy. He has got to be one
of the biggest ignoramuses that I have ever read
a quote from or heard in my life. He ought to
have his voting rights taken away from him for
the Hart Trophy. What he said, yeah. He says,
oh, Kucherov had a two -and -a -half -week break
for the Olympics. Everyone else was playing high
-level hockey and came back tired. He's had a
chance to refresh himself. Sir, you are an idiot
if you wrote that. I mean, if you want people
to take you serious as a hockey analyst and a
journalist and a reporter, you can't be putting
out nonsense like that. You just can't. I have
no other words to say. I mean, the man's an idiot.
I actually love your article. Yeah, obviously,
it's been pretty loud. You know, the quote that
you just... renounce that's how i'm gonna relate
to that pronounce that quote and you know no
matter how you're trying to play with this and
we discussed that a lot it is a little bit of
political and saying once again oh he had time
off well first of all he didn't if you actually
walk around tampa everyone knows that nikita
kucherov works non -stop although you know some
people maybe don't follow NHL that closely but
you know even the reporters who don't live in
Tampa area and don't know much about the city
they've heard about it that Nikita Kutcher was
working out really hard with Adam Oates non -stop
non -stop even if it wasn't for Oates he would
still be working out he's shooting he's skating
he does everything to get better every day he
did not have any time off he works or All year
long. Although, if we go back to the politics,
unfortunately, once again, why did Nikita Kucherov
did not go to the Olympics? Because of people
like that, who say that they're not going to
vote for Nikita Kucherov because he had two weeks
off. And why did he have two weeks off? Because
some other guys... Maybe I should call them idiots
too. They think that it's Nikita Kucherov's fault
what's going on around town. And just to make
this matter even more spicier, I can tell you
this. Nikita Kucherov doesn't travel to Russia
right now. He spends all his time here. So please
stop making this political and give this man
the well -deserved heart because this is a joke
now. It's the third season in a row. Yeah. No,
absolutely. And if that's going to be your mindset
toward players, you're not being objective. You're
putting your personal feelings into how you feel
about a player instead of looking at everything
evenly across the board and then casting your
vote. Bottom line. You are fired, man. You are
fired. You should not have a vote. Go vote in
your high school league for MVP if that's your
thought process. It doesn't belong at the NHL
level. I read that article. It was hot. Go read
it. Tampa Bay Sports Journal. Go read it. It's
awesome. I can see that your heart is pumping
up right now. So I want to ask you about what
is going on with all this basketball story with
the USF. Once again, I read another great article
by you. And I was like, oh my God, Ken is making
really great points. What is that with all these
coaches who think that it's okay just show up
here for one season and then like, oh, you know,
beach was fine. Now it's time to move on. Yeah.
Well, in USF, the S stands for stepping stone.
Unfortunately, that's the way it's been with
Alex Golesh leaving after a couple of seasons
and Brian Hodgson. Here's the thing that just
irritates me about the whole situation. On day
one, when these coaches have their opening press
conferences. They say how great USF is, how wonderful
of an institution it is, how they have everything
they need to win. Brian Hodgson, the coach that
just left for Providence, he said USF has things
in place as far as facilities and behind the
scenes work, the meal programs that are better
than some big universities. USF is ahead of that.
three four days after the season see you folks
i'm off to providence i don't i don't understand
there there's there's a big disconnect and the
bigger thing is what is what is wrong with usf
why are they having this problem recently now
rob higgins he's the ceo of athletics i think
he's great okay that does a great job and you
saw What happened when Alex Gilles left? It wasn't
a couple of weeks. Brian Hartline was hired as
the new football coach, one of the up -and -comers.
Hodgson leaves. Boom. Less than a week later,
we have Chris Mack as the new head coach. And
it was funny. I thought it was kind of funny.
They hired Miss Curry, the women's coach at Alabama.
to come to USF. And within 48 hours, they announced
the hiring of Chris Mack. So Rob Higgins is on
it. His motto is all gas, no brakes. And he exhibits
that in the way he works and the talent that
he brings in. But one thing is holding USF back.
And it's up to Rob Higgins to make it happen.
And I know he's working hard behind the scenes,
but it can't happen quick enough. USF, has to
get in to a bigger conference. They have to get
into the Big Ten, the Big 12, ACC, or the SEC.
Those are the four big ones. Rob Higgins has
to make that happen. Until that happens, unfortunately,
the struggles are probably going to continue
with coaches leaving before their contracts up,
with players. Leaving for bigger Neil money that
had committed to USF. That's just the state of
college athletics right now that we're in. It's
unfortunate, but I think that's the truth. So
basically, it's all about money, no pride. I
mean, hello, it's Tampa. It's beautiful here.
USF is a great school. I just cannot believe
that a person is ready to pay off $2 million
for breaching a contract. Let's call it that
way because that's breaching a contract. You
signed it. You committed. And now we're like,
oh, whatever. Two million. No problem. Let me
ask you. If I told you you could go to Providence,
Rhode Island or stay in Tampa, Florida, which
one are you picking? I can even tell you more.
I can give you an example. Some of the players
that were drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning,
they are sent to Syracuse, and some of them are
sent to Orlando. It's the CHL affiliate. And
some of the players, they prefer to stay in the
lower league just to be in Florida, in Orlando,
close to the beach, in great weather, than suffer
in Syracuse. Because they get paid the same.
Does the sun even shine in Providence before
June? Does the temperature, like, get above 50
degrees before June? I mean, I just think of
Providence kind of like Seattle. Miserable, drab,
dark, rainy, 300 days out of the year. You know,
July 1st hits and everybody says, okay, folks,
let's go to the beach. We only have two or three
weeks. It's going to start getting cold again.
Well, good luck. I know. But, you know, God bless
Rob Higgins. We got a good man in Chris Mack.
Has a lot of experience. He's been to the NCAA
tournament numerous times. Yes. Took a team to
the Final Four. His press conference will be
Tuesday, which will be the last day of March,
to officially introduce him as the new head coach.
And I'm sure then we'll learn more about what
attracted him to the South Florida position style
of basketball is going to be what kind of folks
he wants to bring into this program etc so i'm
looking forward to that that means we're gonna
have more next week and maybe we can even use
some of the videos yeah real quick can i just
talk about john cooper for a second of course
make it big yeah he coached i i think what was
it his 1000th game um recently Yes. Where's my
puck? Where's my puck? Yeah. Anyways, Cooper
has the highest win percentage in NHL history
for a coach who's only been with the team 13
seasons. Cooper had his 13th anniversary with
the Lightning this week. That's right! And Cooper
is second in NHL history among coaches with the
highest win percentage after games coach. He
has the third most regular season wins in history.
He's at 611. He was the second fastest to win
600 games. He did it coaching in 1 ,044 games.
He has 11 postseason appearances in 12 seasons.
And the man has never won coach of the year.
What is wrong with you people? NHL hockey writers
should be ashamed of themselves. Ashamed. They
should be. And it was December 31st. Tampa Bay
Lightning were facing the Anaheim Ducks. Let
me remind you, 4 -3 win. Yes. So I just wanted
to... That's a good one. And end on a positive
note here with... With the best coach in the
NHL, John Cooper. Absolutely. All I can say this
year, not only the Tampa Bay Lightning should
get at least to the finals, but John Cooper finally
will get his Jack Adams award. And Nikita Kucherov,
hard, hard. Don't forget, he's coached in four
Stanley Cup finals, winning two of them. We need
three. Repeat. really consecutive but that's
okay yes right yeah so nothing else to add Cooper
should win coach of the year Kucherov for MVP
of the season and I'm doing an article now getting
my research together on why Cooper should be
coach of the year the same way I did with Nikita
Kucherov Yeah, do it. Let's do it. Don't forget
to share so I can actually use all of the links.
Yes. That was awesome, Ken. Thank you so much.
Hockey on the Beach, Tampa Bay Sports Journal.
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