WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 Welcome in, everyone. Today, we are jumping right 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:05.599 into a really fascinating historical cross -section 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.679 of sports. Yeah, a massive turning point, really. 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:09.419 Right. We're looking back at the comprehensive 00:00:09.419 --> 00:00:14.599 records of the 1984 -85 NHL season, and our mission 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:17.100 for this deep dive is to extract the broader 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.039 storylines, the underlying shifts in how the 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.379 game was played, and the off -ice evolutions 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:24.920 hidden within the standings of this specific 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.809 year. We are going to figure out exactly why 00:00:27.809 --> 00:00:30.190 the 68th season of the National Hockey League 00:00:30.190 --> 00:00:32.630 was such a, well, such an earthquake for the 00:00:32.630 --> 00:00:34.929 sport. It really was. If you are ready to analyze 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:37.829 the mechanics of the mid -1980s NHL, you are 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:40.789 in the right place. OK, let's unpack this. We're 00:00:40.789 --> 00:00:42.530 talking about a timeline running from October 00:00:42.530 --> 00:00:46.109 1984 to May 1985. Right. And just looking at 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:48.549 the sheer scale of the historical data, this 00:00:48.549 --> 00:00:50.429 wasn't simply another year in the record books. 00:00:50.509 --> 00:00:52.950 No, not at all. When we analyze this specific 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:55.189 80 game regular season, we aren't just looking 00:00:55.189 --> 00:00:57.609 at who took on the championship. The data from 00:00:57.609 --> 00:01:01.329 this season shows us a league that is literally 00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:04.420 bridging two distinct eras. You have the final 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:07.200 remnants of the old guard bowing out, entirely 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.840 new global influences stepping in, and an offensive 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:14.560 dynasty hitting a peak that forces us to reconsider 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.560 what is mathematically possible in a hockey season. 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:20.260 Yeah, reconsider is the word. We get to explore 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:22.780 the tactical and cultural shifts of the sport 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:25.980 during this exact window of time. Looking at 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:27.980 the Edmonton Oilers' stats from that year, I 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:29.760 mean, the numbers are hard to wrap your head 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.359 around. Yeah, that's an understatement. The Oilers 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:34.680 won their second straight Stanley Cup this season, 00:01:34.739 --> 00:01:36.980 eventually beating the Philadelphia Flyers four 00:01:36.980 --> 00:01:39.959 games to one in the final series. But their regular 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:42.379 season production completely breaks the curve 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:45.519 of modern hockey. It's absurd. They scored 401 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.519 goals in an 80 -game schedule. 401. That is an 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.079 average of over five goals a night, every night. 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:54.700 And right at the center of that offensive engine 00:01:54.700 --> 00:01:57.099 is Wayne Gretzky. Of course. He finished with 00:01:57.099 --> 00:02:00.480 208 points, logging 73 goals, and establishing 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.599 a brand new league record of 135 assists. What's 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:06.659 fascinating here is the context of that dominance. 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:10.139 You know, to score 208 points in a single season 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:13.189 is an... astronomical feat, but the records show 00:02:13.189 --> 00:02:15.729 he reached the 200 -point plateau for the third 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:18.909 time in just four years. The level of separation 00:02:18.909 --> 00:02:21.229 between him and the rest of the league is perfectly 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:24.139 illustrated by the hardware he took home. In 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:28.379 this 1984 -85 season alone, Gretzky swept the 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:30.659 Hart Memorial Trophy for regular season MVP. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.500 Right. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:37.539 The Art Ross Trophy as the top scorer. The Lester 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:40.000 B. Pearson Award for the most outstanding player 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.159 voted by his peers. And the NHL Plus Minus Award. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.280 Swept the board. He essentially monopolized every 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:49.139 major individual metric of success the league 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:51.689 tracks. In a single year. And building on that, 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:54.409 it wasn't a solo effort, which is what made defending 00:02:54.409 --> 00:02:55.949 Edmonton an absolute nightmare. Oh, exactly. 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:58.389 Gretzky was setting assist records because he 00:02:58.389 --> 00:03:01.069 had elite finishers surrounding him. Jerry Curry 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:03.969 scored 71 goals and finished with 135 points, 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:06.250 ultimately taking home the Lady Bing Memorial 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.610 Trophy for sportsmanship and excellence. Yeah. 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:10.750 Then you factor in Paul Coffey from the Blue 00:03:10.750 --> 00:03:13.680 Line. Coffey was a cheat code. He really was. 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:16.939 He finished with 121 points and won the James 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:19.620 Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's best defenseman. 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:22.979 A defenseman putting up 121 points in a single 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:25.620 year completely disrupts traditional zone coverage. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.539 Completely. Listen to this specific stat. On 00:03:28.539 --> 00:03:32.000 October 26, 1984, in a game against the Detroit 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.819 Red Wings, Coffey scored four goals. He became 00:03:35.819 --> 00:03:38.479 the last defenseman in the entire 20th century 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:42.050 to score four goals in a single game. It forces 00:03:42.050 --> 00:03:44.969 you to wonder how opposing coaches even strategized 00:03:44.969 --> 00:03:46.830 against that roster. I don't think they did. 00:03:46.990 --> 00:03:49.009 Right. I mean, you have Gretzky orchestrating 00:03:49.009 --> 00:03:51.449 from the center, Curry finding the soft spots 00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:53.750 and coverage on the wing, and Coffey jumping 00:03:53.750 --> 00:03:56.310 into the rush to create odd man advantages constantly. 00:03:56.509 --> 00:03:59.110 Yeah. Preparing a defense for an 80 -game season. 00:03:59.690 --> 00:04:01.750 Knowing you eventually have to face a team that 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:04.250 averages five goals a night changes the entire 00:04:04.250 --> 00:04:06.689 geometry of how the game is played. Opponents 00:04:06.689 --> 00:04:08.530 were forced to either try and engage in a track 00:04:08.530 --> 00:04:10.949 meet. Which usually ended poorly. Which ended 00:04:10.949 --> 00:04:14.129 terribly for them, yes. Or find a way to completely 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:16.680 disrupt the rhythm physically. trapping them 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:18.959 in the neutral zone or punishing them along the 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:20.639 boards. But see, the Flyers actually had the 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:22.379 best record in the league that year. They did. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.459 They finished with 113 points, which was four 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:28.399 points ahead of Edmonton. They racked up 53 wins 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:30.600 under their coach, Mike Keenan, who won the Jack 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.800 Adams Award for best coach. But looking at their 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.220 roster, they didn't have a Gretzky or a Curry. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.079 How did they pull that off while the Oilers were 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.600 dropping 400 goals on everyone else? Keenan implemented 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.730 a highly demanding physical system that relied 00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:49.129 heavily on discipline and punishing forechecking 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:52.189 rather than pure open ice skill. He maximized 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:55.269 the talent he had by ensuring his team just outworked 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:57.449 the opposition. Makes sense. But a system like 00:04:57.449 --> 00:04:59.529 that only holds up if you have elite goaltending 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:02.589 to erase the inevitable mistakes. And that is 00:05:02.589 --> 00:05:04.689 where Peli Lindbergh became the great equalizer 00:05:04.689 --> 00:05:07.370 for Philadelphia. He won 40 games that season, 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:09.930 really standing as the backbone of Keenan's structure. 00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:11.730 Here's where it gets really interesting with 00:05:11.730 --> 00:05:15.110 Lindbergh. He won the Vizina Trophy. for the 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:17.769 league's best goaltender. But it wasn't just 00:05:17.769 --> 00:05:20.490 another award. He became the very first European 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:23.750 goaltender to win the Vizina. Such a huge milestone. 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:26.350 For decades, the goaltending position in the 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:29.430 NHL was heavily dominated by North American players. 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:32.990 Lindbergh breaking through that specific barrier 00:05:32.990 --> 00:05:35.730 and being recognized as the absolute best at 00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:39.009 his position signals a broader global shift in 00:05:39.009 --> 00:05:41.459 the talent pipeline. It is the beginning of a 00:05:41.459 --> 00:05:44.000 true international expansion for the sport. Right. 00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:46.500 North American scouts and general managers had 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:49.000 to fundamentally change how they evaluated talent. 00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:51.519 Once a European goaltender proves he can not 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.660 only survive but dominate the North American 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:56.740 style of play, it opens the floodgates. It really 00:05:56.740 --> 00:05:58.339 does. When you look at the global game today 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:00.819 with elite goaltenders coming from Finland, Sweden, 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:04.240 Russia, that paradigm shift traces directly back 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.540 to trailblazing moments like Lindbergh's 1985 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:10.439 Vizina win. That theme. of a shifting landscape 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:12.540 is visible right from the start of the year too 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:16.279 let's look at the entry draft held on june 9 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:20.879 1984 at the montreal forum with the very first 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.399 overall pick the pittsburgh penguins selected 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.819 mario lemieux oh wow yeah taking lemieux first 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:29.259 overall wasn't just a great pick it was the arrival 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:32.399 of a generational counterweight to gretzky absolutely 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:35.139 In his debut season, playing for a franchise 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:37.620 that had been severely struggling, Lemieux stepped 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:41.079 onto the ice and scored exactly 100 points as 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.279 a rookie. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy for 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.839 Rookie of the Year. The immediate impact of Lemieux 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.699 is undeniable. But to fully appreciate the timeline, 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:52.600 we have to look at the departures happening concurrently. 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:55.279 Right, the other side of the coin. Exactly. The 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.480 historical records provide a stark contrast to 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.959 Lemieux's arrival by detailing the retirements 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.519 at the end of the playoffs. Butch Goring and 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:06.000 Brad Park both retired after the 1985 postseason. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:08.199 And that's significant because... Because Goring 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:10.600 and Park were the last two active players in 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.439 the entire NHL who had played in the 1960s. The 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.720 juxtaposition there is incredible. The 1960s 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.259 NHL was a completely different universe compared 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:23.220 to the high -flying 400 -goal 1980s style. If 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.800 we connect this to the bigger picture, the 1984 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.879 -85 season literally bridged two distinct eras 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.699 of hockey history. Goring played his final playoff 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:36.180 game just three days after Park's final game. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.120 Wow. On one end, you are officially saying goodbye 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.319 to the 1960s veterans, players who started their 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.680 careers before widespread expansion, dealing 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:46.740 with different equipment, different rules, a 00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:49.019 much more grounded physical style of play. Yeah, 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.680 the old school game. And on the exact same timeline, 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.180 Mario Lemieux arrives, drops 100 points and signals 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.459 the future. It is a seamless changing of the 00:07:57.459 --> 00:07:59.990 guard, all contained within one schedule. And 00:07:59.990 --> 00:08:02.089 Lemieux wasn't the only notable debut. Patrick 00:08:02.089 --> 00:08:04.889 Roy, Ed Olsik, Kirk Muller all played their first 00:08:04.889 --> 00:08:07.949 NHL games that season. Meanwhile, legends from 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:10.110 the older physical era like Terry O 'Reilly and 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:12.050 Daryl Sittler were playing their last. Yeah, 00:08:12.110 --> 00:08:14.810 a true turning point. It was a true turnstile 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:17.589 year. But the evolutions weren't limited to the 00:08:17.589 --> 00:08:20.170 players on the ice. The infrastructure of the 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:22.550 game itself was facing some long overdue changes. 00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:25.269 There is a detail regarding the officiating that 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:27.930 highlights just how stubborn sports culture can 00:08:27.930 --> 00:08:31.449 be. Oh, the helmet thing. Yes. Referee Andy Van 00:08:31.449 --> 00:08:33.950 Helleman became the very first on -ice official 00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:36.610 in league history to wear a helmet. The fact 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:39.710 that it took until 1984 for an official to wear 00:08:39.710 --> 00:08:42.909 a helmet is remarkable on its own. Seriously? 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:45.409 You have a sport where slapshots frequently exceed 00:08:45.409 --> 00:08:48.009 100 miles an hour, massive physical collisions 00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:50.690 happen continuously, and the officials are navigating 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:52.970 that chaos with zero head protection. Nothing 00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:55.090 at all. Van Helleman finally decides to prioritize 00:08:55.090 --> 00:08:57.519 basic safety and puts on a helmet. What stands 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:00.120 out isn't just that he did it, but how the league 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.559 reacted. While a few officials soon followed 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.080 his lead voluntarily, helmets did not become 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.159 mandatory for all officials until the 2006 -07 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:12.179 season. That is over two decades later. It highlights 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:14.519 how deeply entrenched the traditional culture 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:16.600 of the sport was at the administrative level. 00:09:17.439 --> 00:09:19.960 Even when presented with an obvious practical 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:22.460 safety improvement introduced by one of their 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:25.080 own on the ice, the league as an institution 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.399 delayed universal enforcement for another 22 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:31.779 years. It's wild to think about. It is a stark 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:34.379 reminder that while the physical game was evolving 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:36.559 at breakneck speed with players like Gretzky 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.259 and Lemieux pushing the limits of skill, the 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:41.539 administrative and cultural changes off the ice 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:45.019 moved at a glacial pace. It's the classic we've 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:47.399 never done it this way before mentality overriding 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:49.740 basic logic. Exactly. Now, let's look at the 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:51.740 business side of things, specifically the broadcasting 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:54.139 rights, because the financial landscape was evolving 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:56.659 just as fast as the on ice product. Definitely. 00:09:56.759 --> 00:09:59.399 In Canada, this was a major year for television 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:02.139 distribution. For the first time in over a decade, 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:05.679 the CBC was not the lone Canadian national broadcaster. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.200 While Molson breweries kept presenting Hockey 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.379 Night in Canada on Saturdays, a rival brewery, 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:13.559 Carling O 'Keeffe, started airing. Friday night 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.179 games on the CTV network. Oh, a brewery battle. 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:18.399 Yeah, they even split the playoff coverage and 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:20.860 the finals between the two networks. The shifting 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:23.700 television landscape is a direct reflection of 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.720 the sport's exploding commercial value during 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.039 this era. You have rival networks and rival breweries 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.799 fighting for broadcast territory because the 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.559 product, this high scoring superstar driven game 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.879 was incredibly marketable. People wanted to watch 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.799 it. The regional monopolies were breaking down. 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:43.919 And we see this exact same financial evolution 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.100 reflected in the United States market as well. 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:49.980 Right. The 1984 -85 season was the third and 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:52.700 final year of the league's U .S. national broadcast 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:55.799 deal with the USA Network. The ensuing bidding 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:59.419 war brought ESPN into the picture. They signed 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:01.320 a three -year agreement with the league, bidding 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.639 about twice as much money as USA Network had 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:05.559 been paid. That doubling of the broadcast rights 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.120 fee is the critical metric. It tells you everything 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.480 you need to know about the league's growth trajectory 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.740 and its penetration into the American market. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.860 Huge jump. During Wayne Gretzky's absolute prime, 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:18.519 the NHL wasn't just breaking scoring records. 00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:21.059 It was becoming a premium television property. 00:11:21.629 --> 00:11:24.429 Moving to ESPN meant higher production values, 00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:27.870 wider distribution and a shift from a niche broadcast 00:11:27.870 --> 00:11:30.889 to mainstream sports coverage in the United States. 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:33.590 Which is massive for growing the fan base. Interestingly, 00:11:33.809 --> 00:11:37.090 USA Network wouldn't televise the NHL again until 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:40.870 the early 2000s after they were acquired by NBCUniversal. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.320 So this season really marked a definitive pivot 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:46.039 into a much more lucrative, highly visible future. 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.179 So what does this all mean? We have analyzed 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.740 the standings, the staggering points totals, 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:53.340 the rookies, the retirees, the off -ice safety 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:56.980 changes, and the TV contracts. Let's pull all 00:11:56.980 --> 00:11:59.320 of this together for you, the listener, who has 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.639 been tracking these moving parts with us. If 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:03.500 we synthesize the historical data we've covered 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:05.860 today, the key takeaway is that the 1984 -85 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:08.799 NHL season was a spectacular collision of the 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:27.450 past and the future. And the players leaving. 00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:30.149 Right. You watch the final active players from 00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:32.950 the 1960s skate off the ice for the last time, 00:12:32.990 --> 00:12:35.690 right as Mario Lemieux steps on to claim his 00:12:35.690 --> 00:12:38.009 Rookie of the Year trophy. And off the ice, you 00:12:38.009 --> 00:12:40.409 see the birth of modern sports broadcasting economics 00:12:40.409 --> 00:12:43.929 with networks doubling their bids alongside the 00:12:43.929 --> 00:12:46.649 painfully slow introduction of basic safety gear 00:12:46.649 --> 00:12:49.710 for officials. It's a comprehensive cross -section 00:12:49.710 --> 00:12:53.159 of a sport in total dynamic transition. It shows 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:55.899 how looking at one specific year can reveal the 00:12:55.899 --> 00:12:58.379 DNA of the modern sport being formed right before 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:00.899 your eyes. Thank you for coming along on this 00:13:00.899 --> 00:13:03.059 deep dive into the archives with us. Whether 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:05.320 you are prepping for a trivia night or just love 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:07.019 understanding the mechanics of how industries 00:13:07.019 --> 00:13:09.500 evolve, I hope you found some valuable insights 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:11.889 in the stats today. This raises an important 00:13:11.889 --> 00:13:14.169 question before we sign off, something to consider 00:13:14.169 --> 00:13:16.970 about the broader evolution of the game. We talked 00:13:16.970 --> 00:13:20.529 extensively about the unbelievable 401 goal offensive 00:13:20.529 --> 00:13:22.809 explosion of the Oilers, but think about the 00:13:22.809 --> 00:13:25.110 long -term reaction to that dominance. Okay, 00:13:25.169 --> 00:13:26.629 where are you going with this? Did the sheer 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:30.070 scale of Edmonton's offense in the mid -80s inadvertently 00:13:30.070 --> 00:13:33.879 force the rest of the league to invent? the suffocating 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.799 trap defense styles that would eventually choke 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.580 the offense out of the game entirely in the late 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:43.200 1990s. Oh, wow. Sometimes peak innovation on 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.320 one end of the spectrum forces an equally extreme, 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:48.179 almost destructive counterreaction on the other. 00:13:48.409 --> 00:13:50.929 It's an interesting cycle of action and reaction 00:13:50.929 --> 00:13:53.389 to analyze in any competitive field. That is 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:55.889 a phenomenal point to end on. Did peak offense 00:13:55.889 --> 00:13:58.950 directly birth peak defense? We are going to 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:00.570 leave you with that lingering, thought -provoking 00:14:00.570 --> 00:14:02.629 question to chew on. Thanks again for joining 00:14:02.629 --> 00:14:03.669 us and keep diving deep.