Alex Formenton turns himself into police | The Athletic Hockey Show

Intro [Music] he [Music] welcome to it everybody it is your Monday edition of the athletic hockey show as always it's I Mendes here sitting in one of the co-host chairs and it's Mark Lazarus doing a little pinch hitting for Julian McKenzie here I think did we give you a pinch hitter name like did what was the pinch hitter name we gave you last time oh boy why maybe I'm the only one I'm not hearing Mark Lazarus I'm right I think I chose Lee missil because I wanted to wear the tight pants Lee missil that's right there we go yeah Mark Lazarus stepping in as Lee misil and anybody under the age of 38 40 is like who the hell it's almost too old a reference for me frankly it's like I was like three years old when lie missil was a deal exactly so the two of us are with you for this Monday edition of the Pod we're excited to have a little bit later Eric low who works with uh ESPN in programming and Acquisitions and for anybody watching us live here on YouTube if you have any questions related to broadcasting in the United States ESPN the cable package all that stuff fire it in uh to us we could try to get that over to to to Eric we're looking forward to having that conversation but I think you know last we we probably should start with the most what's the word here new I guess newsworthy story of the weekend and and full credit goes to the globe in mail uh newspaper up here in Canada they were the first to report uh about the five players from Team Canada's 2018 World Junior hockey team that would be charged in London on Ario uh Alex forington's lawyer sent me an email LA on Sunday uh and I'll just read it out verbatim says quote the London Police have charged several players including Alex foron in connection with an accusation made in 2018 Alex will vigorously defend his innocence ask ask that people not rush rush the Judgment without hearing all of the evidence that is from Alex's lawyer Daniel Brown sent that via email so what I want to get into those is the column you wrote last week because when you wrote the column last week Laz we didn't quite know exactly who the names were we know at least one of them now is Alex foron his lawyer has has it said he's been charged and I want to go back to the Crux of your column because I actually think not all columns La trans translate well into podcast form but yours does because it was it was opinionated it came from a thoughtful place and I'm wondering for the people that didn't have a chance to read it What was what was your message that you were trying to convey as it pertains to Hockey Canada I you know the the fact that we're getting names put to this I Hockey fans need to know the names think changes the way it's perceived right it's been very easy for hockey fans to kind of pretend this is something that's going on in the background that it's not a current story that it's not something they need to think about but now it's going to be I mean we kind of know the names but we don't officially know the names right obviously forington's the first to that to become official but when Suddenly It's someone whose jersey you own when Suddenly It's someone who you've cheered when it's it's someone you know and watched on TV it becomes a little more real right a little more tangible it's not this esoteric you know you know thing off in the distance in the back of your mind it's much more front and center now and that's going to really I hope I hope and I you know I was openly wondering in the column because I don't have a lot of faith in this sport sometimes but I'm hoping that that reality will kind of force and and compel some of the changes that we've that you and I and a lot of people have been talking about for a long time about fixing this broken hockey culture where we raise these boys into young men who who feel they're Above the Law they're they're treated like Gods since the time they're 11 years old they they are put in these insular locker rooms and they never have they never meet anybody outside their own team the same coaches the same teammates for years and years and years they don't go to a regular high school they don't go to college and and at 18 19 years old they think they're just Untouchable and privileged and they do horrible things to each other to other people to women and I'm hoping that maybe the reality of this when it's names you know when it's NHL players and the math says there has to be NHL players here right five players charged only two players on that entire World Junior Team Canada did not make it to the NHL so these are names people know and I'm hoping that that reality will kind of be the wakeup call that this sport needs to really make some changes in the way that it goes about particularly raising young hockey players yeah you know what I and and it's so well put right because is an A culture of silence Institutional uh issue at play here and it's Hockey Canada obviously the governing body for hockey in in in the country that I live in that there's a culture of silence and I think it was the perfect kind of storm of power and silence and you know all of these things came together and I'm hoping like you said that we can detonate some of those um Dan Robson put it perfectly in his in his column the other day about how it's just time and time and time again Alex Formenton press conference everyone in power from Hockey Canada to the government to the police none of them stood up and did the right thing and this is what we saw with the Blackhawks with Kyle beach nobody had the fortitude the moral authority to stand up and do the right thing we've seen this in hazing incidents in the past we've seen this in other assaults in the past it's just this like you said the culture of silence is a really good way to put it that we protect the team and not the people the team is hurting and you know it's important that Monday February 5th so exactly one week from today seven days from now the police department in London Ontario will host a press conference and last I mean you've you've covered you're like me you've covered Sports and you've been around you're kind of a bit of a News Junkie like like I am have you ever seen an entity and in this case a police department announc a press uh conference basically 14 days in advance like I I don't ever like for something newsworthy I don't think I've ever seen this so and I think it's speaks to the magnitude the public interest all of these elements that are going to come to the Forefront on Monday I don't think I've ever seen that it's really usually it's like we're calling a press conference in an hour or tomorrow morning two weeks in advance it's crazy I don't know if that's because they want to give the the the the the the those being charged time to surrender uh time to what whatever it is but it it's a very unusual way of doing business here and all it does is just amp up the speculation more right you got two weeks of speculation everyone's trying to figure out who it is you go into the comment section of my column and Dan's column and everyone's nameing names because it's just that's the world we live in on the Internet is there is no patience for these kinds of things so it almost it feels like one more misstep doesn't it like let's just add fuel to the fire for two more weeks for no reason at all right yep and and you know I think it's interesting like so I wrote a piece on Forton that ran Sunday afternoon and the comment section was disabled and that was a dis like that was a direct and and I'm okay to have these conversations I think transparency is the key and I'm okay with that like I'll be honest with you I went into your comment section and Dan robson's uh yeah the comments were open on Dan's too and I just thought wow uh like what are we doing here like as you know Twitter or X or whatever you want to call it that's essentially one big comment section right that's all that is and like I don't know where like I don't know where I stand on comment sections because I don't want people to think that I'm like know suppressing your right to express your opinion it's not that I just don't know what we're adding sometimes on comment sections on these types of stories now you want to talk about uh you know Chicago and why like just from a hockey perspective Connor Bard in the cder trophy you want to have the comments open for that so Minnesota fans can jump in and say no no Brock Faber is the guy that's okay it still turns into a aess pool of comments about other topics too anyway when you do that yeah but but I think in these cases I don't know where you stand on this I'm okay with the comments being turned off I really am my the comment section and almost everything I write is such a waste of space now at this point because of all the various things that we touch on I think you experienced this to some degree too uh but I I guess if I put my editor hat on right now if I go back to a previous life and I and if if if a topic like my my my column was a column it was an opinion piece right and if I'm allowed to talk on it then so should our readers whereas yours that particular one was a news straight news y if you're writing a news piece it doesn't require the the the the uh comments we don't need to comment on the facts but you can comment on my opinion you can comment on Dan's opinion I think that's probably the way we're looking at it I no I haven't talked to anybody in the company about it but I feel like that's probably the logic behind it and there's some that makes sense to me you know if you're writing an opinion piece not just here is because you don't want to have people commenting on facts and trying to spin them their own way you wrote a fact yep and you know I wrote an opinion and you've written plenty of opinion columns and you've seeing what the comment section becomes but I think that's the idea if we can talk about it then they should be able to talk about it too yep and that's absolutely fair and you know so I'm working with Chris Johnston on something for this like we want to look at you know instances where what happens when NHL players have been charged criminally like what what is history say You know what last when we were digging up the story you know what I completely forgot about was seian varlamov right with the Avalanche was charged with kidnapping and I think it was third degree um domestic assault or domestic violence yeah and the NHL allowed him to travel and play with the Avalanche for two months while the charges were like he had been charged charges eventually got dropped but I think it just shows you uh that was 11 years ago I I I don't know what the NHL's reaction is going to be to this I would just say I would be very surprised if any current NHL players if they are charged criminally by the London Police on Monday I don't see a path to them playing in the NHL this season I see a suspension that's that but again that's my opinion that's a that's an educated guess right yeah I mean you know we we like to think that we move forward and that we get better at this uh Patrick Kane played during his whole uh while his whole you know sexual assault uh you know investigation was going on right that was a Civil Trial was it not civil not Blackhawks took a lot of criticism for that for allowing him to play that and trotting him out during training camp to Big Ovations and stuff the Optics were very bad on that and it's something that that every you know the league has to we now you know as we move toward a society who you know thankfully is starting to believe women more um you need to let the the justice system take its course and sometimes that means sitting someone and I know there's there's innocence until proven guilty of course but there has to be some you know rationale behind whether you let a guy play through that or not uh well like I said throughout the course of this week and in the next week we will certainly have a lot uh to to handle with with Hockey Canada and we will be on top of it uh with the athletic as I mentioned Eric low senior uh manager of programming and Acquisitions on the NHL on ESPN is set to join the Monday edition of the athletic hockey show so I think we got him there we go we got him Eric welcome Eric Low joins The Athletic Hockey Show yeah Mark good to see you how are you today hey we are uh we are great thanks for taking the time because you know I was just saying to like LZ and I are both kind of you know we're news junkies we're hockey junkies uh I grew up like I like I love that old NHL on ESPN theme song from back in the day that was my ringtone on my phone for like 15 years was it really love it so we're we're super happy to have you on because you know we want to pick your brain on some you know broadcasting topics and I'm gonna start with this one because and and this is going to be my Canadian bias coming through but I I'm curious Eric if you look at the NH right now and if you ask people who are you know two or three of the biggest stars in the game I think the answer would be Conor McDavid and Austin Matthews I think they're certainly in the top five those two guys hands down yeah so how do you guys as an American Network balance we gotta showcase the biggest stars in the game but uh oh they play for Edmonton and How do you navigate playing Canadian teams in the US Toronto how do you how do you guys navigate that as as an American broadcaster well it's certainly it's certainly a balance right um not having the home markets here the uh us certainly plays a factor in terms of viewership but that doesn't mean we ignore them altogether they are electric players they're the faces of the league uh they'll certainly be on display this weekend in Toronto and um from our perspective the way we treat the the Oilers and the Leafs in particular is uh we always try to uh identify their dates when they travel here domestically uh earlier this year when the Oilers made their uh trip through the tri-state area they took on the devils the Islanders and the Rangers three games in four nights uh and seemingly they haven't lost since they came back against the devils in Newark um you know we try to identify those opportunities to showcase the high quality talent that these guys are especially with Connor and Austin um with the Maple Leafs we picked them for a game when they took on the Capitals in uh October when we did the uh first ever Frozen Frenzy and the maple leaf at the capitals uh in the o'clock window for us was the most viewed uh NHL game involving a Canadian team on cable since 2017 so the the name and brand uh name and brand recognition of both McDavid and the Oilers and Matthews and the map beliefs I think is translating for us TV audiences we just need to be strategic as to how we pick those games and where we slot them on the schedule why why Why wouldnt you put a Maple Leafs Oilers game on American TV wouldn't you be able to put a Maple Leafs Oilers game on American TV it those are the two and Austin Matthews being an American Star and all that like what is it just there needs to be a floor with a certain audience like if you have the Sabers if you have the the Bruins if you have the Rangers if you have the Blackhawks there's a certain floor to the ratings is that one of the factors do you think you would would it I mean would it be a disaster if you put two Canadian teams on there no it wouldn't be a disaster to be great hockey I think the um the thing we're always balancing here at ESPN is we have a a wide variety and a huge portfolio of of content right here uh we're the worldwide leader in sports for a reason we cover seemingly every sport there is and finding the availability to get a game on TV that syncs up with the NHL calendar uh can be a challenge at times um you know for us we're always trying to figure out those opportunities and on ESPN Plus for us here in the states we have a product called NHL power play on ESPN plus so that if you're an American fan that wants to watch the Oilers against the Leafs it's a blackout free National telecast on espm plus um at the tip of your fingertips so um would we love to get them on TV sure but do we have options for fans to be able to see it if they really wanted to see that matchup ESPN plus is that destination for fans here in the United States in in How do you balance the need to have known commodity teams that same vein how do you how do you you know balance the need for having known commodity teams like you know your predecessor NBC Sports lean very heavily on Chicago during those Glory years and the Rangers and the Bruins and the Caps vkin Crosby all that and the need to develop fan interest in like Florida and Dallas two of the best teams in the league that probably are not terribly attractive to a TV a national TV audience well I think it's twofold right the the Panthers last year went on a absolutely magical run and they captured audiences here especially game seven against the Bruins in the first round I think it topped over three and a half half million viewers for our friends over at TNT with game seven on that Sunday uh Sunday night um you know and developing uh those Brands I think you know the Panthers for us are a team we're obviously keeping an eye on we have them in Prime Time against the Rangers in March on ABC for a eight o'clock game that we're certainly excited about uh Matthew kachuck has certainly turned himself into a star um a good American Bor and hockey player there and uh devel Ving those names and turning them into household names and uh achieving the brand recognition between them and their franchises that's part of the promotion process for us so we're obviously always keeping an eye on those new and upand cominging stars Connor Bard for us uh with the Blackhawks certainly helped uh Elevate opening week for us where we had the the Blackhawks and the Penguins on opening night in the 8:00 window that was the most watched indoor Reg regular season hockey game on record so for us it was perfect right you have him going to an original six Market but yes to your point getting those brand names to elevate the call middle tier of of franchises for US Hockey audiences that's obviously part of our uh promotional process here as we work through the second half of the regular season you know Eric something Wildcard playin games I've always wanted to ask a network uh executive when it comes to hockey is I've watched how Major League baseball has really embraced the Wild Card playin and it sort of it feels like it's made for TV sure and I'm wondering what's the appetite or is there has there ever been a push from ESPN or as you call them your friends over at TNT uh to maybe push the NHL towards guys it would be amazing theater playin games made for TV game 83 is that something that would be palatable for for ESPN um well look any sort of scheduling related conversations about adding games to the schedule is obviously a league and an NHL players Association conversation um you know from from our perspective I think the regular season um uh in the National Hockey League is is great the uh 82 games every Point matters is is a big part of the drama coming down the stretch last year we all remember Pitts B had to beat Columbus and Chicago to get into the postseason and they failed to do so and as a result you had one of the most magical wild rides ever in Stanley Cup playoff history with the Panthers upsetting the Bruins in the first round and going all the way to the Cup Final um I think what we did look at in the offseason heading into this this current year was implementing this Frozen Frenzy concept where you had 16 games scheduled on a night where every team was in action and you st stagger the start times to create a mini hockey holiday for fans uh not only here in the US but in Canada and I think it was met with tremendous Fanfare and it's something that we're looking to continue to uh work towards maybe doing it multiple times next year to try to innovate the scheduling of the NHL regular season without having to go down adding more games to the schedule we all know It's a Grind for a lot of the players 82 games it it goes over the course of six to seven months I think the Frozen Frenzy is something that we can maybe continue to innovate and build upon to create those mini tent poles that drives casual fan interest throughout the regular season and I'll also add I think the inseason tournament on the NBA which is kind of what everyone's uh comparing it to I think it solved a problem for the NBA which was guys were uh kind of uh taking nights off or rest issues and as you guys know in the NHL it's it's a badge of honor to play every game and and they really try to make sure they're in the lineup for every game regardless if it's game seven or game 82 and I I think the inseason tournament on the NBA solved an issue there that I don't think there's an Staggered start times issue in the NHL you mentioned staggered start times that is a real sticking point for you know the sickos out there that like watching every hockey and not just their own team the ESPN plus Surfers that every game starts at the same time so they all go to intermission at the same time how much influence does ESPN and I guess TNT have in maybe massaging that a little bit because I know that that's decided by the individual teams the Blackhawks one year went to seven o'clock starts I loved it the the fans who live in the suburbs complained about it and they the 100 level was half empty every game so they went back to 730 starts which I hated but how much influence do you have on that can you like nudge the NHL in that direction or not well we made a a strategic uh uh for a strategic approach and decision on our NHL uh on ESPN plus exclusive games this year where uh as you guys know there's typically a gluttony of 7 o'clock Eastern Time Zone games that all begin at the same time and the first and secondary missions all hit at the same time and you're kind of sitting there wondering oh is there another game on and there isn't so for us when we're doing an Eastern time zone game exclusively on ESPN plus we specifically put that game time at 7:30 pm Eastern Time to allow for the fan who is a subscriber ESPN plus to be able to bounce around from game to game so that there's non-stop hockey ACC and early returns for us are showing that people are staying within the ESPN plus ecosystem longer and watching HK hockey longer than they were last year as a result of that decision so for us we think there's a way to work with the game times to allow for more continuous hockey action to happen um we also work with TNT uh and our friends north of the border at Rogers when it comes to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoff schedule where you have upwards of four games per night if we have a double header or TNT has a double header we try to stagger it so that it's game times at seven and 9:30 eastern time and then the other network will have them at 7:30 and 10 which allows for that ability to to go from game to game and keep up with all the live action as you guys know the hockey in April is so much different Viewer questions than the hockey in October on the on the on on the other hand I will speak for the entire Central Time Zone we hate hate those 8:50 p.m. local time starts hate them more than anything in the world just so you know I I recognize it yeah it's he's got it don't worry he's got it good for everybody else in the country but we hate them oh man um actually Eric we got a couple of questions from our our viewers here who are kind of watching along with us here uh this one comes in from uh a username AES and the question is can we get rid of the live sports audio that plays on repeat during commercial breaks on ESPN plus now being in Canada I I'm privy to this but L is laugh seared into my brain he knows what it is so here we go it seems like the promotion's working um no I I think uh look I to be honest there's uh there are some heavier users of espm plus than most and as a result there are some times where the commercial inventory like can max out and as a result you end up with uh that that audio and that slate that comes through from time to time so I appreciate the fans watching very much uh and we'll certainly look into trying to make sure that it doesn't happen as often in the future for the Blackout restrictions record I watch a lot of MLB.TV and it's the same thing like like they don't show the local commercials so you just get these kind of like either the same two ads on Loop or like the same promotion on Loop and it just becomes white noise after a while we we'll we'll survive that it's okay okay we got another question here from Michael who's got a broadcasting question he says with the balet diamond sport situation and all the games being available on ESPN plus do you see this potentially Eric leading to the end of blackout restrictions um I think it's too soon to say the the media landscape continues to evolve seemingly on a almost like a daily basis with with regards to these uh RSN situations and I think it remains to be seen I think um there's certain rsns that are obviously thriving there are other rsns that are kind of uh going through the process here and uh I don't know if I can say definitively if they're going to go away or not okay Viewer question go ahead no I just we was gonna sneak in one more question from a viewer last I got one too that's all let me ask this one on behalf of Riley who says I love outdoor hockey Eric uh but the NHL has seemed to drop the ball with the winner Heritage Classic outdoor series how can the NHL get us interest in big events like that well I think um to be honest like I'm really looking forward to our second half of the Season where we actually have two outdoor games games this year happening within 20 hours of each other where the Stadium Series is at MetLife Stadium where you have uh Flyers devils and then Rangers Islanders on consecutive days you know fingers crossed we got a good weather weekend in New York and New Jersey so we don't have to worry about weather delays or anything like that but I I honestly think that the more outdoor games that take place it only helps fuel the fire for additional outdoor games in the future um and I I would think that over time as the um and I I believe you guys saw it this year at least here in the US TNT picked up the Heritage Classic and and distributed here uh in the States on on I think it was late October on a Sunday night here in the states which I don't think has happened previously so I do think there's interest we know that the outdoor game outdoor regular season games um out deliver the norm in terms of what a regular game would do so uh from my perspective the more big viewers ship events we can get on TV the better off we are as an industry Eric correct Sports betting me if I'm wrong but uh doesn't sports betting fall under your purview a little bit as well a little bit yeah how do you how do you about like like like I am I love gambling I'm a big table guy I don't bet on Sports I haven't since I was younger sure um how do you balance the the need to get all this out there and it's a big part of the business now we partner at the athletic with h you know with I think it's uhg yeah make sure I get that right MGM and uh you guys have your own thing going on now like how do you balance the need to promote all that and to put all the odds in and not turn people off because a lot of people are just like I don't care I don't know what this means there's a lot of people that don't understand what a puck line is and they feel like they're being bombarded with it at all times how do you walk that fine line um I think to your point it is a very fine line you don't want to alienate the viewer that just wants to watch the game itself but uh because the way it's evolving here in the states with over half the country now having legalized sports betting um I do think there is a an inherent uh educational process that needs to take place so that people do get more familiar with it um you know over in Europe it's old hat it's right they have it on during all their soccer matches and it's on during Golf and it's it's a just a part of the culture and we're still in its infancy here in the United States and I think you know uh early on in the process it's all about awareness play for brands of draft ESPN bet FanDuel Etc and I think over time it will start to normalize a little bit and people will start to understand it a little bit more I think but to your point uh Mark it's it is um there is a fine line the last thing you want to do is turn people off from the beauty of live sports which is destination viewing for a lot of people last thing you want to do is turn people off because you're not actually talking about the actual who wins and loses you're talking about what the guys in the desert are saying who wins and loses and that's sometimes a vastly different equation that that's the Al Michaels sneak you know that's what we call that you know the Al Michaels the the uh the late touchdown a lot of people were real happy about that last second go that's overwhelming yeah Most marketable US players exactly um hey got one more question from a a live viewer here Eric and uh Sarah wants to know who do you think could be some of the most marketable players in the United States you know you had mentioned Matt kachu earlier sure like who are some of the players the NHL right now you feel like you know what with the SPN we can Market this guy or these guys to our audience to help grow the game Jason Robertson Jason Robertson well Jason Robertson was gonna be on my short list I think um Jack Hughes is another one who and obviously his brother Luke and his other brother Quinn like they're they're everywhere right the brothers seem to be taking over the NHL um but I I do think um Jack in particular New Jersey uh he's a special player uh he's definitely going to be part of that franchise for years to come and I I I just can't help but think that he won't be uh you know once we get to 2026 and we'll see if the Winter Olympics were toh come to be with the NHL participating I there is no doubt that those two guys including and then Jason Robertson on top it those three should be front and center as part of Team USA moving forward I know it's kind of hockey tradition always look at what international rosters would look like should it come to be and you know it just it it feels like we're on the at least here in the US we're on the precipice of like the golden age for for us born hockey players to to get on the ice together suit up together potentially go win a gold medal together Growing up a Rangers fan yeah no it's GNA be fun and that right now I think if you did best on best boy it's hard not to say the Americans wouldn't be uh wouldn't be go tending yeah absolutely and and the offense and the defense everything so uh Hey listen Eric before we let you go I grew up a huge Montreal Canadians fan Laz was a New York island ERS fan I can tell in the way that you speak You're a hockey guy you're a hockey fan who is your team growing up who who your who is your team who is your guy growing up you know at the start of this interview LZ and I were getting along but I'm a I grew up a ranger fan and okay I I've matured don't worry I'm getting better no I I grew up a a New York Rangers Fan grew up grew up outside of New York City uh my dad has been splitting uh partial season tickets since I was in diapers and I growing up I played hockey and I had the opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden as a might before a Rangers game uh the Rangers played the Blackhawks that night and I still remember being up in the stands watching the game after playing on the ice the that afternoon and it just stuck with me and uh I'm a I'm a Rangers Fan at Hart now heart taught that I I can't argue with that that's pretty cool oh man so is it was like Brian leech your guy who is your guy uh Brian leech Mark Messier RoR I mean we could just run down the entire roster these are all like words in my brain still yeah I was going to say last just yeah yeah that's oh boy kovalev Nam chof Jay Wells we'll just go down the whole roster if you want I I saw Sam Rosen was in Ottawa on the weekend and I just see and I just I just love that voice right because you just think of Rangers hockey all those years all yeah it has been uh uh you know now working in the business you know how hard some of those play-by-play guys and analysts work behind the scenes it is a treat to be able to see Sam Rosen calling Ranger games for as long as he's done them and he still has his fast ball that it's a power play goal never gets old yeah no it's awesome it sounds great Hey listen Eric thanks for The state of hockey broadcasting dropping by it's it's it's always fun to have these conversations about the state of broadcasting and you know ways to grow the game and all that stuff so we appreciate you dropping by the podcast here appreciate you guys having me thanks guys have a good one all right you there goes Eric low he is the uh make sure I get his title right here as I as I think about what did I say senior manager programming and Acquisitions NHL on ESPN TV people always had the longest job titles I swear yeah uh but that was great and you know you could tell but you could just tell right away I'm like yeah this guy's a hockey guy like you could tell like and that's why I was like I I want to pick his brain a little bit on on who we grew up watching so if you can always sell that about ESPN I know ESPN gets lot of flack from fans for well you know they don't cover they only cover the NBA and the NFL but that everyone I know at ESPN is like a huge H it's like this there's like this hockey culture inside of ESPN that's been waiting to come out and it's been fun for to watch them actually get hockey and have all these people have an outlet for it now so if you were if I LZ I told you you could Cobble together your best alltime play-by-play team so I'm going to give you get the call you're play-by-play and your analyst if you want for fun you could throw at a a ringside reporter but who I'm going to give you and I'd love to hear from our listeners on this if you're watching give us your dream team that you would put together I mean I I I it's Doc and Eddie it's there always GNA be Doc and any I grew up watching Devil's games just because I could in New York just because I wanted to listen to Doc Emer like he is he is the number one guy he is the Vin Scully of hockey he's the you know who John Madden of whatever you want to call him he the voice of hockey to me I'm partial Eddie's a friend of mine I'm incredibly biased in there so that's but I think Doc and Eddie had that chemistry together Eddie's got the right mix of of knowledge and goofiness that you need in a color commentator um I'm a big Ray Ferraro fan I think he does a really nice job in between the benches um it's I mean off the top of my head I mean that might be my Trio I know it's modern I grew up with like jigs McDonald and Eddie Westfall and I'm very partial to them but uh I think we had it we were really spoiled for a long time with docan edti man I I for me it's Bob Cole Bob Cole in his prime yeah give me late 80s early 90s like that was you know into my like my childhood even past his prime he brought such a like a big game feel to everything you know oh yeah even calling this the the gold medal for Canada at Salt Lake City you know uh maybe as as Eric just said maybe he didn't have his fast ball but he was like Greg Maddox at that point he could still he could get by with the 87 mile an hour and with you I love Ray Ferraro I love like Chris Cuthbert is unbelievable yep I think G you know who's really good is gour Miller like oh absolutely gour Miller calls an unbelievable game for somebody like for somebody who covers the NHL like I do if I watch a gourd Miller broadcast he always teaches me something which is you know I'm not trying to say I know everything but I'm like I learn something off of off of gourd Miller but yeah I'm a big Ray feraro guy we're in a good ERA I play by play guys you got you know down here in the States you got like Brendan Burke who I think does the Islanders games now he does National games is phenomenal John forsland who's at the Kraken uh he does National games like there's not a there's a lot of like you who who's gonna be the next doc Emer there's so many candidates right now for people that could eventually kind of graduate into that number one clear you know voice of God of hockey uh tier there's so many good names out there right now yeah it's funny because Shawn mcdna does games right for ESPN yeah yeah and but I remember sha MCD from the early 90s CBS uh Major League Baseball like he was the voice of Major League Baseball like when the when when the Toronto Blue Jays won their two World Series the first one in 92 uh over Atlanta and then the second one in 93 it's Shawn MCD on the call with the Joe Carter home run with the uh Mike Timlin uh Fielding the bunt from Otis Nixon like that's Sean mcdunn now 30 years later he's doing the NHL on ESPN yeah and it's just it's just fun to hear the different voices do it you know it's just I just I I enjoy watching the Canadian broadcast because I feel like the the the tone is different it's it's almost like it's taken more seriously it's taken more objectively there's not the the homerism that I think permeates a lot of hockey broadcast these days in the states there's like a there's like a reverence to it in these in in the Canadian broadcast I really like tuning into the the sportset and TSN broadcasts now in the United States I'm going to Kenny Albert give you a vote like in terms of the most ver like there's not very many guys who can call hockey and then they like I said McDon did baseball like in terms of Versatility is there anybody better than Kenny Albert oh God and is anybody who works harder than Kenny Albert I don't think so Kenny Albert all of those Rangers games on uh you know the radio but then also does what uh no sorry TNT right is is Kenny Albert and then you know he for years he's done the NFL he's done like he boy to me Kenny Albert for versatility it's hard to I don't think people understand just like some of these broadcasters that do local and National how hard they have to work not Darren Pang only just to like un to to be speak knowledgeably about these teams the amount of homework that goes into it especially these multiport ones um like like you know Adam Amin doing uh NFL on Fox but also the he's the Chicago Bulls play byplay guy he fills in in college sports does everything but these hockey ones like Eddie EK and Kenny Albert they fly like 140 times a year yeah Darren Pang who's now the Blackhawks color commentator you know he's he's I'll see him on TV in Washington one day and then he's with he's with us in Seattle the next day like the amount of Miles these guys log it's really it's a lifestyle to be one of these National local it's one thing to be just a national and do like a game or two a week but people like Kenny Albert who do both and Darren Pang and Eddie EK it's an extraordinary commitment to the sport and they you gotta really love it to do it that much yeah and by the way our producer Jeff is telling us in the chat that Kenny Albert's got a brand new book out he does called a mic for All Seasons so give it a read I feel like there should have been a like if if his name was Mike I think that would be I feel like there's a better pun or something that you know yeah I feel like we could have done better than mik I think we could have done a better I'm sure the content is really good the title sometimes I can speak it from experience sometimes the publisher has a little more say in the title than you think yeah exactly exactly um I want to talk about uh some things going on in the NHL right now listen the Edmonton Oilers they do it again they they beat Nashville on Saturday right to run the winning streak to 16 games man so I got a question for you how much would you want to spend the day with Jay Woodcraft right now like like not in an evil way but it's really funny you mention that I was just in Edmonton with the Blackhawks just like three days ago and I asked a couple of the beat writers I'm like has anyone talked to Jay Woodcraft about this and Jay Woodcraft apparently he is completely on radio silence like he's a guy who was very accessible and would respond to texts and would take calls and stuff from reporters he is completely underground right now uh probably out you know partly because he's probably upset about it but also probably out of respect and I'm sure he wants to work in the NHL again so he doesn't want to ruffle any feathers but he's got to be just bleeding from the bottom lip from biting it so hard at this point because we all saw this coming right like we knew that the Oilers weren't as bad as they were in those first 12 games these teams go through cyclical nature and yes the defensive structure is better now than it was before but also they're just getting goenda made a few more stops in those first couple of weeks Jay wiro might still have a job so it's got to be really difficult as a head coach to see especially a successful head coach to see the team do this well uh after you get fired yeah like I i' I've always thought that would be such a fascinating story to talk to a coach or like because you know you're you're split right because on one hand you want to see the individuals that you coached be successful sure yeah that but the other side of human nature is I wouldn't mind if you face planted because then you'd see it wasn't me I'm not the problem exactly like like who is it that got fired for Craig baru the blues one was it Mike yo is it Mike yo or Davis Payne yeah yeah no Mike yo I think you're right that got a feel when you got them in last place someone else comes in and they go and they win the Stanley Cup that's got that's got to be a blow to the old ego a little bit oh yeah Michelle terion got fired mid-season Dan BMA came in and took them to a cup right it's funny though you you're talking I mean this is Edmonton media so take it with a grain of salt because they're never happy but you know they're like yeah but they're not really dominating they're kind of like squeaking these winds out they're not really you know destroying these teams really oh my God a row man come on oh man so they have a chance to tie the NHL record of 17 consecutive wins set by the 93 Penguins who got David vck out of the sure did baby they damn right they did without even Pierre ton because a dirty Dale Hunter yeah H Ray Ferraro setting Aaron Portzline up uh David volock on that play that's right they've now tied the a bad time for the break for the Oilers isn't it yeah they they they get a break and now they come out of the break they get Vegas so that'll be an interesting game but they tie the record of their one shy of the alltime record but they've now tied the checks notes 2016 Columbus Blue Jackets the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016 2017 reeled off 16 consecutive victories uh from November yeah I'm just double checking the dates November 29th 2016 to January 3 2017 I'm not trying to be factious I'm not trying to be cruel I'm not trying to be mean I'm just being honest I don't remember a single thing about that winning streak and I say I said to you guys earlier before we join the show I'm not sure Aaron portzline remembers that winning streak he of course covers the Columbus Blue Jacks first I am asking I am begging the listeners who are either you're paying attention to us live drop into the comments or send a note afterwards the athletic hockey show at gmail.com give us one like distinct memory or something to jog our brain to recall this winning streak look last you Columbus is is I mean geographically not far from Chicago not in the same conference do you have any recollection I remember it happened I couldn't tell you any details of it for me it's like you know my my first 24 games on the NHL regular season Blackhawks beat the Blackhawks didn't lose they went 210 and three I remember everything about that street because I was covering it I was involved in it uh the Columbus one I do not remember I mean I I I remember it happened but I couldn't tell you I couldn't even tell you who was on that team right now but this is this is the thing about the NHL the NHL regular season kind of like this someone was showing me the stats the other day the Oilers have won 16 games in a row and they've made up eight points on the Canucks eight because the Canucks keep winning too and it's just so hard to make up ground in the league remember the what it was the Buffalo Sabers just a few years ago won 10 games in a row and they missed the playoffs yeah like this this the the the the the difficulty of racking up points in a loser point system is that these things become less memorable because these teams don't run away with every they just they just kind of Fade Into the the the the the ups and downs of the regular season so I'm looking at the 16 17 Columbus blue dragons and like like they're statistically like they didn't have a single player get more than 62 points their leading score Cam Atkinson 62 points that's it was that a torella team it was a torella bobovski team bobovski a 931 safe percentage that'll do it and I believe he won the vzna trophy right that year so well that's what tordella did right he just he just coaches you to get to overtime and make sure you get at least get one point out of every game so you're not you're not you're not going to score 120 points playing for John tordella no so the the jackets they win 16 in a row the Penguins as I mentioned they got David Voli out of the playoffs by the Penguins the jackets they only won one playoff game MH that's what I'm saying the regular season is not a barometer for success in the NHL we see it time the Boston Bruins just came off the best regular season ever and they lost in the first round like this is what we see in the NHL time and again so you know I know Oilers fans are always waiting for the other shoe to drop on them I'm sure they're not getting carried away but don't get carried away right so what's the what's the cut off now if you're an Edmonton fan at what point do you want this to stop so that there's like a reasonable reset for the playoffs like you don't want to go into the playoffs having won 39 of 41 or something do you like I don't think that's gonna end well well you always hear about peeking at the wrong time right and you know January is not the month to be peaking you know they needed this obviously because they started out the season so horribly so like this was this is one of the more significant long winning streaks I think we've seen in modern NHL history because they needed it this was a team that was almost dead in the water uh until they had something like this but yeah you you want to be peing in May and in June you do not want to be peing in January and it's just this is just not sustainable I don't care how good you are I don't care how many of the best players in the world you have you're not going to win at this rate forever you're going to regress to the mean so yeah I think if they come out of the break and they you kind of want the record that'd be cool go win a couple of games and then just have like a normal three to one loss and then just go and win it like a 67 667 win percentage the rest of the way you'll be fine so they tie the Columbus record 16 wins in a row the one that we don't seem to remember but but Columbus was in the news this weekend uh for for different reasons and more serious reasons LZ is Patrick l there forward uh the team announced he is entering the NHL nhlpa player assistance program line a posting on Instagram uh after careful consideration and discussion with my support network and team I have recognized the importance of PRI prioritizing my mental health and well-being hockey has been my passion and my life but I have come to realize that in order to perform at my best I need to take this time to focus on myself so Patrick Lan is going to step away you know it it's so strange last just not a week ago I told somebody uh in the Press Box in in Ottawa young reporter named Alex Adams who covers the uh the Senators for the hockey news I said that and Alex a big whank fan I said and we're just talking about line I said you know Patrick l seems to me like a young man who just he needs to step away from this game like something something is off and I'm so happy that it feels like now there's the space for guys to do that I don't think Laz even six years ago seven years ago you could do this but this young man I think he just needs to step away he just needs to step away because there's a tremendously talented charismatic confident player there that isn't being able to be himself right now well be being rich and famous does not prevent you from being human right and everyone deals with mental health you know Mental Health struggles from time to time and you know depression you know is does not discriminate if it whatever whatever he's dealing with mentally whether it's just a confidence thing whether it's a an exhaustion thing that you see a lot of people go through I mean it's there's a lot on the mind and on the body of a professional athlete and like you said I'm glad that we're seeing more players willing to acknowledge that and to prioritize their own mental health over you know got to do it for the team got to do it for the team because it's better for the team in the long run if you're better in the long run so you're right five six years ago you know we would have heard how soft he was right and how he's he just he's not mentally tough enough for this league and yada Yad y we don't hear that as much anymore there's still some Meatheads out there that'll talk like that but I think we have a much better understanding of of you know the universality of all this right and so we're seeing more players step away take care of themselves do what they have to do to get themselves as right as they can be and then come back hopefully feeling better and playing better as a result so good on Patrick l for acknowledging that it's really difficult in any Walk of Life to acknowledge that but let alone when you're in the public eye like you're a professional athlete and you know what a what a time in Columbus right you get the line a story and like we said I think this is the right thing for the young man just step away but you have their their top defensive prospect there David yich telling Aaron port line I'm an NHL and he was looking at while you cover kinsky right and and and and he's like look at look at him he's getting his playing time other people are getting their nimich is getting his playing time I want my playing time Elvis mlin is like ah I gotta get out of here uh you go back to the Mike Babcock situation boy it's like it's like a monkey Paul went off when they hired him is it yeah and so like I don't know what happens here now in Columbus obviously the season is a wrof what happens now I I don't know what happens here but you I think yarmo kealan at some point has to be held accountable for this team's Perpetual failures to some degree right like it seems like like there are some markets where the GM is never blamed and you know he went out and he hired Mike Babcock and he started this kind of snowball here so I don't know I don't know if it comes to that uh I I think frankly what Urich is doing is kind of of great I'm glad to see a player advocate for himself like that and you know not have his agent do it but do it himself just talk like a grownup and say look I believe in myself I believe I should be playing in the NHL he didn't throw anyone under the bus he wasn't whining he wasn't complaining he saying I know I can do this and I want the opportunity to show that and I think I want to see more players do that I don't think that's selfish I don't think that's an ego trip I think that's someone who believes that he can help this team and believes he belongs out there uh I I like seeing a player advocate for himself like that so this isn't all terrible but it's a lot of drama right now around a team that is also awful and when you have drama like when you have drama around a good team it's kind of fun drama when you have drama around a bad team The Vibes are real low right now we got to trademark that the phrase drawful when you you're dramatic and awful drawful you don't want know anything about that in Chicago or or Ottawa don't know what you're talking about no no clue the drawful podcast yeah exactly uh it's fun because the the guy line is always you know taken second overall in that in that draft in in 2016 you always get compared to the the guy taking first overall and in his case is Austin Matthews and Matthews is having another signature season 40 goals you get the 40 goal Plateau over the weekend in 46 games is 70 and like is 70 now like the the what's the word looking for the Target is 70 the new 50 exactly that's what we're going to be telling ourselves in about 20 years from now 20 well I guess 23 years from now be like ah 70 is the new 50 but but like he's got 40 and 46 uh 50 and 50 doesn't like I mean boy he'd have to score 10 goals in his next four games it's doable but not not not likely but is 70 goals a realistic Benchmark now for for Matthews I feel like it has to be right that's got to be the Target because if you get 60 right now it's like well yeah of of course he got 60 like he was always going to get Auston Matthews 60 yeah 70 is like he's got to keep this up for a full year he will get 70 he's on Pace for it so if he can pull that off I never ever thought we'd see a 70 goal scorer again in the modern day NHL goalies are too big and too good uh defenses are too good coaches are too smart but Matthews you know he can he just has this uncanny ability it's not just his shot it's the Savvy that he has around how' he Ed that shot that's what we're we're starting to see with Conor Bard like he could be kind of a player where he can create a shot from anywhere but not just a shot but like a great shot uh but Matthews is that guy right now and uh I'd love to see him get to 70 because it's just like it's just incredible we have 150 points from McDavid last year 70 goals possibly from from Austin Matthews like I just never thought we'd see these numbers again in the NHL Jaimie Ben won the scoring title with 87 points nine years ago 87 points I think cooch's at like 86 right now yeah and it's not even the All-Star break like it's just it's incredible what these guys are doing and I love it and they're doing it against you know very big gigantic padded goenda they're not doing it like it's not like like I love Mike bossy don't get me wrong but he was shooting against a different kind of goalie than these guys are right now so what Austin Matthews is doing is absolutely ex it's just extraordinary so here's what I want okay I want Matthews to get the 70 goals because I think that's cool like with you I didn't think we'd ever see that again I wanted to get the 70 goals last but I don't want him to get to a 100 points because I think that would be awesome that way 70 goals and like 27 assists and it's not out of the r of possibility he's got 40 goals and 18 assists right now who who was it was it was it Brandon Peri on the Panthers a bunch of years back had like 24 goals and two assists yeah he was the sa young right everyone was like sa young 24 and two uh don't you think that would be pretty cool if he got to 70 but didn't get to 100 points it' be pretty funny because then someone in Toronto would be like he's a self selfish player he's not a good team player he's a locker room cancer get rid of him send this American back to America send this American back to America like I he should he shouldn't be passing he should be shooting every single time the puck is on his stick because he could score from literally anywhere he should be shooting the the the unselfish thing for Austin Matthews to do is to just keep shooting he's that good yeah he like like to me he's the guy that like I wonder if if you know if he does get to 70 or whatever if at the end of the year he's going to be closing in on 400 goals I wonder if when we start to have the kind of oetkin kind of talk about he might take a run at the all-time goals record right like yeah I think we're we're we're we're gonna be there if he gets the 70 goals right I mean yeah I mean he's still so young right now that it's so far off but he's certainly start Can anyone score at this rate starting his career out of pace that's going to put him there that's going to put him there at a pretty young age too like we're talking mid-30s he could be starting to threaten this if he keeps this up now that's a big if can can anyone score at this rate is he always GNA be on a team that's with so many great passers so much talent around him uh is the NHL gonna kind of regress back defensively the way it did in the 90s and 2000s uh will injuries play a fact there's a million things that could that prevent him from doing it but it won't be skill he's got the skill and the ability the talent the desire the motivation all that stuff to become maybe the greatest goal scorer we've ever seen and just a little fun fact for you and the uh the listeners I mentioned Matthews it'd be awesome if you got the 70 goals and not to 100 points three players last in NHL history have scored 60 60 goals in the season but didn't get to 100 points okay any guesses 60 goals and not 100 points not 100 points so obviously fewer fewer than 40 assists P bore no but that's a fantastic guess because he he had back toback kind of he was in that go range God I don't know a bossy nope all right nobody wants to listen to me guest okay no no I I'll give you one hint there's one active player one active player active player with 60 goals 60 goals and not 100 points it must be oetkin then right and it's not oetkin oh for God's sakes and it's not Matthews I Stam Co yeah Stephen stos oh there we go oh producer Jeff just got that in the comments too 60 goals 37 assists for Stam Co s player terrible teammate can't win with him um the other two guys Reggie leech with the Broad Street Bullies and the Flyers 61 goals 91 points I was not gonna guess that and a Mustachio Lanny McDonald wow 66 goals 32 assists 98 points so even 60 goals like candy back in the day man yeah uh so even if Matthews gets to 60 and not 100 points he'll join McDonald leech stand what's really incredible is Matthews is doing this and he's kind of only on the periphery of the MVP conversation this year right because of what Nathan McKinnon is doing because of what Connor heluk is doing like we're not really talking about Matthews in the heart race and he might score 70 goals what a year this is proving to be man you know somebody in Toronto should write Austin Matthews is he un is he rated can you imagine oh my gosh oh God the the backlash I I I I want to make sure comments are open on that story yeah that's right we make sure enable the comments hey uh before we go I want you to know LZ there's only one count them one game in the NHL on Monday and yours truly will be there you lucky man you it's Ottawa it's Nashville and I can't even I was trying to think of a great tagline I'm like I whole rest whole rest of the league is in Mexico right now and you're gonna be at Nashville Ottawa you lucky oh my God Ottawa Nashville uh coming your way this week now I know just before we let you go you are Allstar bound this week am I not am I right I am yeah heading up there Thursday morning so so if you don't mind me uh just give us a little tease here for the uh the audio like what what what kind of well giving everything away but like what are you hoping to accomplish when you go down for um uh Allstar week well I like I love going to All-Star week I go almost every year because the the media day there you get these guys in a relaxed setting now nothing's relaxed in Toronto so this might be a nightmare yeah but like in South Florida or Vegas it's very relaxed you get these you know all the best players in the world and you can ask them anything all the stupid stories that I love writing about you know like this this is my time to shine baby I got some dumb questions for you guys why do you why do you use the tape you use like this is the time to do it I love it this is exactly that's where I love going I'm really hoping I was in I was in Columbus and 2015 the last time they did the player draft when everybody got really really really drunk drunk right they got so drunk and that's what I want to see like I I'm excited about the revamp skills competition I think it'll be a lot more interesting these guys will actually care about it this year because a million dollars is still a million dollars but what I really want to see is if the NHL lets these guys get drunk again because if they don't it's gonna be the most boring thing any of us have ever seen no they won't they won't let them you know going be awful the only reason to do this is because it was really funny in 201 what's the like does the NHL have a partner beverage like like white claw or something like it's bringing out of red Solo cups that entire time in 2015 yeah was they didn't even make any money off of it yeah they should be having like you know Bud Light or Molson or whatevering hands they probably have some official Seltzer of the NHL this this is you know not not to get like look at my old guy yelling at Clouds here but hockey players don't really drink anymore man they sit there and they drink their bio steel and they go to bed at 8:30 p.m. to make sure they get a full 10 hours yeah like this is like 10 years ago guys were you you'd be out and about on the road and you'd see the players at the bars all the time now it's not they don't do that they go and they have their like you know grilled chicken and brown rice with sweet potatoes and then they just go to sleep with a warm cup of milk like I'm not even sure they half these guys drink that'll be in the All-Star Game oh man and that and that's their cheat meal that's the worst part exactly all right Hey listen safe travels to Toronto we look forward to uh to catching all your coverage there thanks for pinching uh pinch hitting LZ mazili there you go pinch hitting there you go I'll take it okay hey we we'll take you for the the hour that was awesome listen thanks for doing this thanks everybody for listening to this Monday edition of the athletic hockey show uh our guy Jesse gringer will drop by alongside Dow goes Brown Sean McAdoo on the Tuesday edition of the athletic hockey show we'll get you then uh thanks for listening to the MonDay show leave us a rating and review you know we would appreciate that you can follow us on YouTube at youtube.com theathletic uh hockey show and right now get a one-year subscription to the athletic for $2 a month when you visit the athletic.com hockey [Music] show