Stars Sign Jordie Benn & National TV Schedule Revealed | Spits & Suds

welcome into another off-season edition of spits and suds I'm Gavin spittle of 105.3 The Fan joined by ep ringside chap shots d magazine you see them all over the place the name of his book we win here which tells the story of the Texas Stars and some cool Dallas Star Stories that's on sale right now the book's called we win here it's Sean Shapiro enjoying this off season for just a few more weeks it's so cool to see some training underway on social media the guys getting ready for another big year yeah it's uh it's we've reached the end of August if you're listening to this I mean you're likely I don't know what our listeners habits are exactly I mean obviously many of you listen as soon as we drop it I know but for most of you who are listening maybe for many of you maybe listen on your ride home or uh on the holiday weekend we've made it to September uh where we will make it to September in about eight hours or so and uh it's uh there'll be actual they'll be regular season game they'll be they won't be regular season games they'll be preseason games uh but they'll be actual hockey on the ice in front of us and uh our law our long wait is over and uh that's exciting I'm looking forward to getting back into the rink on more than just the occasional drop in basis right now yeah I am as well and we're doing this thing that we were just talking about Sean called fan Phenom and there's one tonight if you if you listen to this podcast when it drops uh it's at Fat Daddy's in Mansfield where um we try out potential people and when we were at Twin Peaks last week uh a cool spits and suds listener came up and said love the podcast and they said hey when are you going to talk about some of the prospects coming up I'm like oh we've done that and he's like oh man I'm four episodes behind but I'm gonna catch up and then and then I had another person say it's like just listen to the last three episodes thank you so much and I guess you could do that in the off season um because we do have a lot of topics that are evergreen but it is just so cool that people are willing to go back and listen to some some of the former podcasts as we get ready to kick off this season and the stars were in the news I'm really really kind of cool whether it works out or not the Dallas Stars have signed Jordy been to a professional tryout contract now Sean tell us what a professional tryout contract is and we're seeing this throughout the NHL right now Cassian just assigned a PTO with the coyotes so we're seeing more and more players uh this is the time of year where they get signed to PTO so explain the process and then let's get into the likelihood of where Jordy Ben is going to end up yeah it's uh TOS or professional trial contracts is uh professional tryout is what PTO stands for is uh they're basically at the NHL level um they are training camp spots and they are opportunities twofold for the team it's the chance to bring some more bodies in um bring some more bodies in have guys uh compete maybe win a job for the player it's a chance to to come in showcase themselves to that team but one of the things about since it's a tryout contract there's no there's nothing there's no other strings attached to it so uh Jordy Ben for example is on a tryout contract with the Dallas Stars there's absolutely nothing stopping Jordy Ben from Tomorrow signing the NHL if the Florida Panthers I just picked a name out of a half the Florida Panthers called tomorrow and wanted to offer him an NHL deal there's nothing stopping him from signing that so it's kind of a it can be kind of a win-win for both sides and to the uh uh the uh it's it's a space that very most often they really and to be clear with everyone most often They Don't Really lead to much of anything um they they really extend to the typical PTO is a guy who's in Camp who will be there for a little bit and if anything maybe they sign an AHL deal um rarely do ptos actually win NHL jobs um one of the one of the rare examples and one of the guys who has uh who has shown kind of who has one of the rare examples of the the guy who's who you could call Mr PTO is former Dallas star Alex shazon who has done oh yeah kind of the improp done the improbable multiple times he uh he was uh able to uh after a couple after after his time and after the trade from Dallas he was in Ottawa I think it was Calgary and then Alex shazon went from he went into Camp before the 27 2017 season with Washington on a PTO and uh who won a job by uh won a job in Camp and ended up winning the Stanley Cup that year um still didn't have a job after that and the next year and had a couple successful years in oil or with the Oilers that started on once again on another tryout contract after a couple times with odd with with Edmonton still looking for a job signed a deal signed a trial contract with Vancouver turned that into a job last year with Detroit he uh actually was in training camp with the coyotes on a PTO in the preseason couldn't find a job with the coyotes um Midway through the season signed a professional try out with the AHL club for Detroit and side with the Red Wings um that's out and now Alex chaison's actually on a PTO with the Boston Bruins now heading into camp this year I can't I don't know for sure because I'm not sure I haven't gone and parsed through it and everything like that but I would imagine Alex shaison turning four ptos into full real NHL contracts has to be the high bar for what uh what a player can do um the more typical story is you go back to the 2017-18 season in Dallas and people may remember the Stars had RJ umberger in Camp with the Stars during the 20s before the 2017-18 absolutely PTO and umberger was here and Ken Hitchcock talked very nicely about about his about his play and all of that stuff but ultimately the Stars didn't sign him and he decided that he didn't want to go the minor league route and he retired from the game um other PTO recent examples are a couple years back um the Stars had Stephen Nason in Camp on a PTO and Nason and the Stars weren't a fit but Nathan ended up uh deciding to sign a minor league deal with Pittsburgh and ended up uh and then had a couple has pieced together a couple nice years with Carolina and things like that so um the Jordy Ben scenario I think to kind of get us back Center on this Jordi been signing with the Stars to me feel it's a win-win for both sides it's a the stars get to bring in a veteran defenseman who will add competition to camp and will push guys and everything like that and shorty Ben who has remained and lived in Dallas since his time with the Stars um gets a chance to try to extend his NHL career while still living at home and that's kind of what this is um I personally don't expect Jordy Ben to be a Dallas star this year I just I don't see it playing out that way um I think people I think the stars are if Jordy Ben is wearing a Stars Jersey this year I think it's more likely it would be more likely something AHL related where AHL related where the texts were Dallas assistant GM and Texas GM Scott White would look at and maybe offer him an AHL deal to see if he'd be interested in going down there and playing um I think the Stars defense is kind of two uh and we've talked a lot about how you camp black Nils Lundquist you can't you gotta let Thomas Harley run wild this year so I don't think Jordy Ben fits with Dallas this year but Jordy will be playing to try to impress another NHL team and then he'll probably have the choice of does he want to keep going does he want to try to sign with the Texas Stars or is it time to hang him up and enjoy living I mean give Jordy Ben a ton of credit he's a guy who was undrafted um started his career during that 29 2009 10 season with the Allen Americans no one really expected anything from him actually sorry he played with the Allen Americans 2019 but played I think the year before he was in Victoria in the ECHL um give Jordy credit for everything he's done in his career because it's a career that and it has nothing to do with his brother I that's one of the things I always laugh at people will talk about him being Jamie's brother and everything like that but everything jordy's done is Jordy Ben has done his career he's earned and it's a great story and um it'll be good to have him in Camp it'll be good to see what happens but at the end of the day um I think it's this decision is going to come down to does Jordy Ben want to keep playing pro hockey or is it NHL or only and that's going to be his decision at the end of Camp I think for those wondering if you're wondering you know why he can't or why he will struggle to be on this team hasten and Lindell hawkenpaw Suiter Lundqvist Harley and Hanley is your extra defenseman and you also sign Gavin beiruthur in the off season to a two-way so he could go to Texas or be up as an extra defenseman So you you're kind of already there as far as if someone gets injured you have beirutha and Hanley in but you know nice to have an NHL vet um around and a fan favorite too so that's always good too yeah yeah and he's I mean he's he's like he was okay like he played I think it was a dozen games or so with uh with Toronto last year and he was okay in that time and um it's just it's a it's at this point of when you're the Stars I don't see what the economics of the situation I don't see what Jordy Ben brings anymore that Joel Hanley and Gavin bayruder don't and Joel Hanley and Gavin bayeruther are a a little bit younger someone you planned around and be bringing in Jordy Ben adds another roadblock to a potential like we talked about kind of the GM having to be the adult in the room sometimes I don't think you want another veteran defense Jim nil needs Nils Lundquist to play so I don't think you want another veteran defenseman around right now that makes it gives you another option not to play Knowles Lundquist if that makes sense yeah well it absolutely does and the NHL has announced their National broadcast schedule and going to the Western Conference Finals and having an elite goal scorer an elite defenseman and an elite goalie will give you 12 games and uh that's impressive because you look at the Boston Bruins who were the class of the class in the regular season and they got 13. so they're up there with Vegas Boston as far as number of national games and I think that's a a massive tip of the cap that the NHL and ESPN and TNT are saying we want the Dallas Stars on our Channel it is it's it's it's always funny right whenever these these schedules come out and everything and it's not just the Dallas fan base it's I see it for fans across across the sport right it's always funny it comes out and it's like the damned if you do damage if you don't reaction where it's like there's like oh no they're taking away my broadcasters or oh no they like it's it's it we're not respected enough and I actually think the Stars actually may have the perfect balance where you're still going to get uh 70 games of your local broadcasts you're still going to get uh you're you're still gonna get that and then you're still going to get some national love too and um I think it's uh I think it's a good fit and uh it is it is a testament to the Stars have are an exciting team they play a more exciting style now and I think from the American broadcast perspective when you've when you've got a core that's built around Jason Robertson an American kid from California Jake ottinger an American kid from Minnesota and um it definitely helps your pull with uh the espns and the Turners of the world and uh that that's good right like you want to be that keeps you as part of the conversation that puts you in more of the national conversation and it is it also by kind of uh it does connect it's you want Miro Haitian to win that Norris Trophy yep you gotta he's gotta be seen he's got to be seen More Often by the general hockey writer and um the general hockey writer just to kind of give you an idea of how a general hockey writer's viewing typically goes and I'm talking about the general writer I'm not talking about I'm the guy because the the people who vote for awards for the Norris and the heart and stuff like that they're they're writers and some of them are National writers but most of them are are beat writers covering their particular team and to give you an idea of how their typical life schedule works you really only pay attention to the team that you cover all the time day to day that's just the reality of it that's how you to be an expert on the Pittsburgh Penguins you have to pay only attention to the Penguins most of the time and but the NHL is set up well where Wednesday nights there's that showcase and that's when you kind of sit back and be more of a fan and stuff like that and same thing with the Saturday afternoon game occasional and stuff like that so the more the Dallas Stars are in those showcase Marquee games the more mirror hey skinnins night tonight Brilliance will be seen by the voting populace and I I it would be a fascinating study Gavin to see if anyone's ever won the Norris um on a team that didn't get many national TV games in the modern era it would be a fascinating thing to look at because I think it has I don't think I I would be I would love to kind of look to look into that but I don't really know how I could but that's that's a random idea that popped into my head right now this is why we do this podcast so yeah absolutely so I would say to you Stars fans this is a really good thing and if announcers come to town I understand if they get a mispronunciation it's okay it's okay folks don't worry about it you're on national TV you know who else fought to be on national TV the Golden State Warriors they don't have to fight anymore merch off the chain you know they won the Championships so if the stars can continue to do what they do and the prospects are coming I mean we're talking about the building blocks are there and you can clearly see that the NHL ESPN TNT slash ESPN streaming slash Hulu everyone realizes the Dallas Stars are somewhat becoming a team of Interest nationally it's a beautiful thing it really is now the other complaint people are going to have is people have to realize that this is the central time zone because there are some late games I understand what you're saying but when you break it down 8 30 p.m home start same thing happens to the Mavericks Vegas golden knights at Dallas Stars people need to realize that's a couple of reasons one there's going to be an East Coast game first and then second if you ha you have to cater to the Stanley Cup defending Stanley Cup champions Market as well so 830 is a 6 30 start in Vegas so that's why they do that so it makes sense on that level uh Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche once again because of the time zone that's an 8 30 start and uh they have another one this one uh at Colorado Avalanche 9 p.m and then the Wednesday April 17th which will be one of the final games of the year St Louis Blues at Dallas Stars 8 30. that's a little tough to swallow um but hopefully that comes down well hopefully the stars are in command of a playoff position on Saturn on uh April 17th right Sean yeah yeah so I mean but you know we we hope so yeah we can't complain I mean that's that's there's afternoon games on there there's some really nice Prime Time games so just enjoy it and what you're getting not only is the national attention what I really appreciate is the talk in between periods from the analysts about the Dallas Stars which creates a lot of content from podcasts and radio stations and other media Outlets across the country talking about the Stars it's uh no it's good and this franchise is in a good spot right now moving forward they are um like if we were to do a like Gavin if we were to go and be like hey we each get to pick a couple franchises as ones that we would wanna like I don't know play Monopoly with or whatever where it's like hey this is this is ones I'm betting on on on the next 5 10 15 year future for this franchise like just I I would be hard-pressed for us to think that we get past Pick Five without picking Dallas and so the stars are they're they have forced themselves into the National Hockey conversation I feel like they're going to do that more this year with um coming off last this past season and I think I mean we gotta you can't undersell the potential Jason Robertson impact I think that's something that's really going to heat up even more you had 100 more than 100 points last year set a franchise record he's he's an American he represents um he represents kind of what we want to see more and more in this sport of he's not just a white dude he's he's a Filipino American he's he's someone who is having success um I have a uh I don't know if I've told the story on this podcast or not but I have a cousin who is uh who who was born in the Philippines and never really watched much hockey or anything like that but uh he goes he actually goes to North Texas and uh he was someone who he's never really cared about hockey but I saw him and my uncle a couple weeks back and he told me they're big Jason Robertson fans because hey there's someone like us who we can root for and that that's like I think that Jason Robertson impact um I I really think that's going to go a long way for this uh for this team's popularity especially if he continues to put up points like he has because he's got a personality that he's starting to show more and more of too um it's a full steam ahead with Robertson I think yeah there was also some time changes announced too that really caught my eye uh Saturday December 23rd at Nashville now a 1pm start that could be an early Gavin spittle Christmas present I want to go to Nashville and the other one if you're thinking ahead for Valentine's if your lady has a massive Dallas Stars fan or for you ladies listening because of Sean not because of me but because of Sean's sexy voice Saturday February 17th against the Edmonton Oilers at home a 2 p.m start those to me are two delicious games so I love the I love the Day game I do too I love the Day game for on on a from a now I love them even more so because I have kids it's it's such a great like hey it's a family it becomes a family game it becomes a game where you can get kids out I mean how great is that right like as from a Dallas perspective you got a day game the Oilers coming to downtown on a Saturday you can take the kids to go see McDavid that's so cool like that's that's cool uh on a as a more on a more adult perspective I always enjoyed like it's great it's like the it's it's gives you similar to the Sunday the Sunday football Vibe where you get to go watch the the one o'clock game and then you get to kind of just have the night cap at home and watch the Sunday Night Football game and that's what those like those Saturday day games are always like for me hockey wise where you get to get to go to that game one o'clock two o'clock whatever it is and go home you still have the night you can go out to dinner you can watch some more hockey more casually it's I love the Day game I would I wish teams played more day games because I think it would I I truly think it would grow the game I think it would be um I think if the league focused on that a bit more I think it would be great I personally very Pro Day game no you're absolutely right in fact on December 9th so two great day games the golden knights come to town against the Stars that's an amazing Sports weekend you have nights at stars and then the next day you have Eagles at Cowboys what an awesome home weekend for sports fans here in DFW so you have the Vegas golden knights coming for an afternoon game and then you have the Oilers coming uh for a home game so that's uh that's real special so that's good that's good yeah absolutely that's a nice that's a nice that's a nice little uh I'm sure around that time Gavin we'll be talking this is a kind of a test week between between those two opponents so yeah we'll be talking why Jason Robertson's better than uh Conor McGregor I don't think that conversation will come up but yeah we we can only hope okay so another reason why there are so many uh National games is because really exciting nhl.k.com came out with their uh rankings did you get a chance to look at them I have looked at them yes what did you think let's start with goaltending as Jake ottinger shows up in the top ten um let me pull it I want to make sure I have this right here this is their uh they have two rankings they have and I don't want to throw people off they have the fantasy rankings yeah and then they have what they think are the rankings yeah because and those are those are two I think people we need to be very clear to people right the uh the fantasy hockey rankings are a much different thing right it's something where um I actually uh have to pay more attention to it this year because I am I have a good friend of mine who invited me into his uh keeper fantasy documents so I'm I'm playing I'm actually playing fantasy hockey again for the first time in a while Gavin and and Gavin I'll tell you um it's a keeper league and I'm taking over for the guy that finished last in the League last year so I'm getting Connor Bedard at number one in the keeper leak so it's well I I'll update P I think it's we're still gonna be in a rebuild year on uh on that team but I'm gonna get Bedard number one in that League nice uh fantasy in so they had if I remember if I've got the list am I looking at if I'm looking at the right list um there Jay gottinger at number seven yes on this list yes and the um how they ranked these goalies the kind of etymology of how they got to it is interesting to me because it's not a list of the top 10 goalies just from last season if that was the case Linus omark would be number one right like after the year he had last year in the Vesna he would clearly be number one um this is to me more of a list made by their panelists of goalies they would pick if they're building a team like I think that was kind of the the way you would look at it and I don't mind ottinger at seven agreed I don't mind him at seven I let's let's give the let's give the top yeah so we had number 10 was Thatcher Demco in Vancouver number nine was Philip Gustafsson with minute the Minnesota Wild eight was Alexander George you have with the Colorado Avalanche seven zottinger uh six is Linda solmark with the Bruins UC Soros number five for the Predators Conor hellebuck um number four that number in at number three Ilia Sorokin not with the Islanders number two Igor sturkin with the Rangers and then number one Andre vasovski the Tampa Bay Lightning um to me where the debate comes I I I I'm a firm believer that the three best goalies in the world right now are those three Russians I I think that's fair between vaselasquez Durkin and Sorokin it is the Golden Age of Russian goaltending um I think you could make the case after those three I wouldn't be opposed to having not injured at four I don't mind him at six I wouldn't mind him at six I think between him and sorrows and hellebuck I think that's your next three um I don't disl I mean omark had a great season last year take nothing away from all Mark's season but he played with time to historically good Bruins team and I think we saw how he got exposed in the playoffs a little bit um but ton sure to me is at the spot where the question is is he the best North American goalie in the NHL that's a great he's in that conversation it's either him or hellebuck or the one of the two are the two best North American goalies in the NHL and I think this past season I think on your passed hellebuck and I think it's I think he should I would have him in my top five I would right now I would have the top three they have I would have UC Sorrows four I'm a big UC Sorrows guy I think he's he's incredibly you see Sorrows as a guy I'd love to see his numbers on an actual good team because what he does in Nashville is incredible he's special and that yeah and then I would have uh ottinger not in German hello book that's kind of the range I would have and I think I think that's I I'm open to the debate on that and the discussion on that I I just think this past year was the year that and sure passed hellebuck for me and whenever we do have that next Team USA best on best tournament I think ottinger will be the number one I think hella Buck will be the number two as long as it happens within the next three years and because obviously it's who knows with international hockey right Kevin we hear this change all the time but I think if we were to pick a Team USA right now Jay conjure is my number one over Conor hellebuck with hellebec obviously being a pretty good number two yep I think it was a solid list I I agree with you uh I'm also going to say it's a solid list as far as Defense number one kale Makar Avalanche number two Adam Fox with the Rangers number three Miro hashkinen so those are your top three and I think the advancement of Miro this past year was terrific specifically after the All-Stars break I think he took his game which was already heading in that direction but I think it he took it to new levels um and had a career high uh year uh that said um I think three is good uh I think Adam Fox is a Norris candidate every year as is as is kale Makar I mean wanted to get your thoughts but I think a solid three for Miro at this you know at this point at his age very good I no I I'm okay with three I honestly for me I was actually more I was more surprised he was at three just based off you look at the other ones in the top five um Makar Fox Hedman yossi uh I was surprised he was above Hedman and yossi simply not not for my money but for the panelist money absolutely I was I was surprised he is ahead of them because he hasn't won an Oris Trophy and so he's the only one in the top five that hasn't won the Norse um and so I thought he would have gotten a little bit of what seems to be like this Charlie McAvoy treatment where mcavoy's at six and I think McAvoy probably should be at four on this list um but uh McAvoy and I thought he so I think it's it's he's right in the spot he should be he's in that it's between if if I was to pick any defenseman in the NHL right now I'm picking Caleb a car that's just the reality of it you're picking kill Makar I'm picky kill my car but after that my conversation in between Fox and Haitian and his is a good one it's a good debate and it's right where he should be and it's uh to me it's also more telling of like these lists while they don't determine who wins Awards or they're a lot like college football rankings Gavin where by it's a lot easier to win the Norris Trophy when you start the year at number three on a list like this yep right like it's it's like it's uh it's like it's why everyone complains about college football rankings before the season they're like they haven't played a game yet yeah and you're like well it's like uh and you're and you're like all right well but it helps escalate and put teams higher than they should be and everything like that I think this is a fair ranking for Miro and it helps set a fare bar for what the season should be for him I agree and then when you go to centers you know I mean we talk about them a lot on this podcast but we mentioned Miro Robertson and ottinger and coming in at number 13 as far as top NHL centers rope a hints which I thought it was great that he got that recognition yeah it's I think hence had we obviously appreciated him and appreciated him watching him in Dallas and everything like that but I think his performance in the playoffs uh his play down the stretch really started to swing people to kind of realize what he does on a night to night basis so yeah so absolutely and when you say wow but he's 13 I mean listen to these names number one Conor McDavid number two Nathan McKinnon number three dry sidel number four Austin Matthews I mean these are NHL stars five Sidney Crosby Jack Hughes of the devils Braden point of the lightning Jack eichel I mean the names go on barkov from the Florida Panthers Pederson from the Vancouver Canucks and Tage Thompson who had an amazing year for the Sabers so it's not like I don't know how much higher hints could climb but you know once again what's cool and getting National recognition that Robertson pavelski and hence line um which is cool because when the top NHL lines come out you always see that at the top of the list so that's another reason why the stars are being featured on so many national uh games so that's pretty awesome and then we shift finally to the top NHL wings and uh Jason Robertson pretty high on that list uh which is uh wonderful I gotta pull it up right now uh was he number six Sean they did they did it as uh let's see he came in at actually number five when they talk about him led the stars and goals assists points uh NHL first All-Star team most by a Dallas Minnesota North Stars player since medano uh just goes on and on talk about his age at only 24 18 points and 19 playoff games to reach the Western Conference Finals so nice little uh attribution to Jason Robertson as well so this was this wings or what was this particular was this both wings or was this because was which which Wing was this for was this for they have it listed as top 20 wings right and left so they have top 20 centers top 20 wings top 20 defense and then they have top 10 goaltenders okay that makes sense I was cute so you want you want me to do the list yeah what was what was that top five again okay roll way ahead all right so number one pasternack from Boston number two Matthew kachuk and the unreal year he had kuchara from Tampa Bay uh Miko rottenin from the Avalanche then Robertson and then after Robertson uh Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs uh Corel the thrill Minnesota Wild Ovechkin at number eight Panera number nine from the Rangers and rounding out the top 10 Brad Marshawn of the Bruins yeah it's pretty no I think I think that's fair for where he is on that that's uh I would uh but good point I'd like to see left wing and right wing I I know that nowadays in the NHL a lot of positions are interchangeable so to speak as far as you see some wings move into Center and you know likewise but at the same time yeah it would be nice to see you know because I mean I'd like the power forwards to get some credit too well yeah and it would be I mean it would be interesting to kind of like since we still have an NHL end of season All-Star team not the All-Star team the end of season All-Star team um which is what really really kind of matters um for this it would be interesting to see how how that all works out how that shakes out because like for example uh to Chuck right he's probably Chuck right now is would be your first it's shock would be your first team left wing right now going into the season so to kind of break it down where if you were to try to handicap that race of left and left and right wings and all that stuff it would be interesting to kind of break that down a little bit further so yeah no you're you're you're absolutely right uh I was looking real quick because you mentioned Connor Bedard and just wanted to throw this you know on the list uh let's see because the Central division is going to be really interesting because there are some quality prospects in there we already knew it was going to be tight but you know I think from a Central Division standpoint I guess the St Louis Blues would be the the last as far as you know a team where you're going and you're like wow these players are greater I get to see but I mean you know being able to see Conor Bedard you know a few times a year that's that's pretty special despite that the Chicago Blackhawks are building you have a very young team in Arizona um with some good youth that are coming in as well so I think you know while it's a tight Division and we look at the other divisions and say if the Dallas Stars played in this division they'd be doing better or you know something like that at the same time I I really do think that you know from a fan perspective the fact that you get to see Colorado several times a year you get to see the Wild and the kind of rivalry um and then you get Chicago who's going to be coming up with Conor Bedard you know some real good matchups to sink into Chicago is going to be a problem in about three years yeah that's when it's gonna be like they are behind Bedard we talk about Prospect stuff right now they have a they have another um Frank uh Frank Naser who is uh would probably be Frank Naser would probably be the top ranked Prospect for 17 or 18 of the teams in the league um and he's obviously being with Bedard being there he's he's he's not for Chicago um Chicago's got a lot of that Prospect pool in Chicago is actually deep a lot of times we talk about a deep Prospect pool and it's people just lying to themselves the Chicago Prospect pool is actually deep and they've got a window here that's kind of starting here and it's going to start slowly opening I think kind of next season and in the year after and then they're going to be a problem because they're going to be uh right now it's fun to watch Connor Bedard and Company to come to town because they're it's still going to be a one-man watch this future best player in the world before he is the best player in the world type scenario three years from now three four years from now it's gonna be oh geez we got Conor Bedard coming to town and it'll be like when Conor McDavid comes to town now where you start to get worried about what he's going to do to you yeah what about Logan Cooley in Arizona there's there's some chatter about how well he's performing I feel bad for that kid honestly like I understand I understand athletes the pressure and expectation and everything like that but um the coyotes themselves have gone and said the number one Prospect in the world I don't know if you saw that one yeah the coyotes called it that and I I think he he may have a chance to he may be if if you're betting on the Calder Trophy this year he may actually be a good sneaky not even a sneaky just be a good bet to win the calter trophy this year based off being a he's a year older than Bedard so he's a little bit more of that physical maturities a little bit more he's coming from college hockey he's he's beefed up a little bit more and uh someone's got to put up points in Arizona so he's gonna he's gonna play every single opportunity and and Cooley's gonna be a great player I think he's a tremendous player I also uh I feel bad because it's like it's kind of like the tilting at windmills thing where I know at some point Arizona has to lock into a change and and things like that but I just I keep struggling to see the path forward to contention for the coyotes when every time you do have a piece that looks like you're gonna build around or something like that like when we talked about the chicken thing the other day like trading chicken away and getting Pennies on the dollar yeah that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in what they're building like it's it's it's to me the whole the Arizona feels like Arizona feels like you go into the video game and you're like oh I want to rebuild a team from scratch and spend a couple hours doing it and then you forget about it and then you're like oh I'm gonna build the team from scratch again you just keep going over and over again and that's what the coyotes feel like to me so I feel bad for Cooley because I just I don't have a lot of confidence in that team taking the next step and maybe I'm wrong maybe they find a way and they flip things sooner I just I I don't see there's a lot of bad teams where I will see the path forward or I will see what they're doing like I saw Buffalo you've been able to kind of trip what they've been doing yeah um Ottawa you can kind of track what they're doing Anaheim has a good system coming yeah and I'm and I missed something coming now I think now that they've got Carlson they'll start to build around that Columbus you can see the path forward Arizona is a team where it's like okay I guess they're gonna be a hockey team like that's what Arizona is right now and I just feel bad for Cooley because he's being tasked with Conor Bedard isn't being tasked with saving hockey in Chicago he's not being tasked with getting them new Arena Logan Cooley is getting those additional things of like hey number one Prospect in hockey who plays in a 5 000 person Arena yeah like that it doesn't it the Optics of it you're just kind of I feel bad for Logan Cooley at times well Sheldon Keith signs a two-year contract to remain as the Maple Leafs coach were you surprised by this Sean um I was surprised I'll be honest I was surprised it was two years because it was the two the two year extension yep um I don't not that I disagree with it I think Keith is a fine coach I think there's there's much worse you could do as a head coach in the NHL um I would have thought with uh it's kind of interesting they had obviously Kyle dubis stepped down and left Toronto and cut and bread for living comes in and everything like that and uh I would have imagined uh so Bradford living was taking over a coach that he didn't hire and and not his guy and everything like that and so um if there was gonna be an extension and I don't think they want him to coach on a lane as a lame duck coach this year but I would have thought maybe a one-year deal or something like that would have been put in place to give both sides kind of a little bit of that hey we're working with each other but we also want to see what each other brings so the two-year pact was a little bit the fact you got the two-year extension was more surprising to me than he got an extension at all correct because it begins next season yes exactly yeah yeah so absolutely and you know a player that won't show up in the halls of the Hall of Fame but um a player that I really like two-time Stanley Cup a winner Carl haglin announces his uh retirement after 11 NHL Seasons good run yeah I mean he's he's together pretty good career like it was a he went he how many cups did he win he was uh won the Stanley Cup with uh the pens 2016-2017. yeah yeah he had it he was a he was a pretty good he was a pretty good piece for all the teams he played for I mean he was uh yeah hasn't played hasn't played since 2022 March 1st when he got that do you remember this he got that uh he was struck with a stick blade during a practice Yeah and yes so he hasn't played in a while but he also underwent surgery twice for his left hip uh he's been on long-term injured reserve the man deserves a vacation yeah just a warrior one I think he also had was silver medal at the Olympics I think um I'm assuming he was on one of those I mean he was he was a pretty good and I don't have that Swedish roster locked in in my brain but I'm pretty sure he was part of those Swedish teams in the mid-2010s uh it was uh while you do that because I know you have a relationship with Alex chaseon has he gone into detail with you you mentioned that he's trying out for the Bruins former Dallas star how much that night with Rich Beverly against the Columbus Blue Jackets affected him in his did it affect him in his career has he have you ever talked to him about that um I haven't because I mean not recently I mean he's someone who um he had a he was he had a pretty he had a pretty bad for people who don't remember obviously everyone remembers the rich peverly um the rich Beverly incident and everything like that it's a great thing he's good he's he's healthy now and he's everything like that um but Alex shazon had a was right there when it happened and he had suffered an anxiety attack right after the I don't know when it started obviously it's kind of one of those um but uh it's uh I can't really imagine what's what I mean it's so I have not spoken to to Alex Shazam directly about that night uh recently or anything like that um we've had a conversation here and there over the years about it um but uh Alex shaison I will say this about him he has a bit of that uh doesn't take anything for granted um has been willing to kind of work for everything in his career and everything like that and uh that's something when uh Rich the rich Beverly story is it's horrified right yeah yeah I mean I was five rows away I mean yeah it was it's the first it's the fragility of life but it's also the fragility of a career yeah I mean I think there's people it's it's the you know this is a great a great way to uh to tease the book which Gavin is normally my my cheerleader for this but I bet the fact that uh uh Stephen miserve wrote a great chapter about in our book about Ben Bishop's final game where that Bishop goes down to Texas plays one conditioning game and then a couple days later we learned that was the final game of his career like you don't know you don't know when you're getting pulled from the game right like you don't know when it's happening and I think a little bit of that career mortality um can be uh for I don't I don't like the exact phrasing but it can be a bit of a healthy thing absolutely for which what you work for and everything like that heck of a career for Jason really really has I mean he's actually I think he's kind of changed his style to fit the various teams that he's been on yeah he's he's been a really good net front guy like he's got there's there's little things that um he has found ways to fit and found ways to do things that aren't always easy and um most guys on ptos I don't expect to make the team but Alex chaison is the one guy in the PTO you're like yeah I could see it happening just because he's done it just because he's done it so yeah we'll see yeah absolutely planozone uh Stefan noison is that my correct in that am I Nathan Nathan he's done a good job you know with Carolina uh came in made the team and he's becoming that front princess with them uh last year as well yeah so I think that's a good one hey I wanted to end on a positive note um let's do it so I I tweeted this out at nhl.com retweeted it so we all know Eric Carlson got traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins so his daughter developed a relationship with the Sharks mascot and you can find it on my Twitter uh the sharks tweeted out it's not a good buy it's a see you later Dash Sharky and Sharky shows up to the house in a tuxedo with a big Rose and spends the day with Eric's child and basically you know the Son and the daughter but more the daughter and the hugs and the Embraces and going to the playground and going down slides and it just put it in perspective that I think as fans of the game as people who sometimes cover the game like Sean I think we look at the players and sometimes we get caught up in fantasy leagues or get up get caught up in wins and losses and we don't give enough credit to the wives the families who have so many responsibilities so the players can do what they do and I think it would have been no one would have mentioned anything if the Carlsons move on to Pittsburgh and San Jose goes on and does their thing but to take that extra effort and to recognize the relationship with his daughter and to go to that house and spend the day for a player who's been traded I just thought that was really special Sean I really did I thought that you know it shows you know that these organizations can truly embrace the players and their families and to me if if I'm a player and I know San Jose is in the middle of a rebuild and and Mike Greer is trying his best to get San Jose back on the map but I think sometimes probably families look at things like this and say this is a good market for us to be in well it's I mean the Stars when the stars signed Joe pavelski um there's avilski was looking at both uh Dallas and Tampa Bay and it's uh actually wrote something about Joe pavelski earlier this week at d magazine and his golf game Joe pavelski is a really good golfer but yes um and uh it's there it wasn't a coincidence that he was looking at Dallas and Tampa where both had full year for year-round golf Seasons like they have in San Jose um but the uh one of the things that it was it was put together by uh by former Stars PR Guy Tom holy who is now actually an assistant gym for the San Jose Sharks um so Tom put together a video helped helped get a video for Joe's son Nate pavelski of potentially welcoming them to Dallas uh from the Dude Perfect guys because they knew that Nate is Nate pavelski Joe's son is a big dude perfect fan and everything like that and obviously money and fits are in hockey were one of the main reasons but it certainly didn't help the felski family decision that uh these guys that are heroes from Dallas were welcoming uh their kid as well so stuff like that doesn't uh it that it doesn't go unnoticed well if we if we uh if we're if we're being truthful yes no you're absolutely right and I did tag Victor E green on this tweet that I sent out and I said P.S Victory green my house is always welcome to you my friends I'm hoping this weekend maybe I mean it's the off season so he really doesn't have anything else to do maybe we'd hang yeah you know well does he talk it's uh did you I I don't know hopefully I'm not gonna if I'm not on the podcast in the future it's because the mascots got me the mascots all have a secret Facebook page do they really they do they do they all have the mask has all the secret Facebook page that only mascots are allowed to have access to and they chat through that and everything wow if uh if uh if I'm if this is my last appearance on the uh on spits inside it's because I I divulge the wrong state secret on that I'm glad it'll be the way I went out that's funny you know I am Pro mascot I I laugh at them still to this day I think it's a a wonderful feature that teams provide I don't understand why some fans finding it annoying because I think for the kids it's an amazing way to connect directly they look at these mascots as uh celebrities I love the bits they do now um social media has taken the mascot you know to the next level and I think a young Gavin spittle would certainly be into sports um like he is today but I think the San Diego chicken helped him too I'm not gonna lie like you know the baseball Bunch the San Diego chicken and those Antics and everything that attracted me to the game so I I think I you know I'm Pro mascot you Pro mascot Sean I am I am I think it's uh uh Detroit I believe is the only team that doesn't have like a actual like mascot at that games um they do have like the they do have the the octopus like imagery but they don't actually have a octopus mascot and I think it's I say this as someone who has kids like it uh we took our this this earlier this summer we took our kit I took the kids to uh to a Tigers baseball game and there was uh it just the kids being able to take pictures and high five the tiger mascot I think his name is Paws I think yeah that that's that's a big deal and they had a good time at the baseball game and they'll want to go back and I think that's one of the biggest things that we sometimes forget about when we get on our high horse about something was this is a game games are supposed to be fun let's try to and having a mascot there it doesn't hurt your it doesn't hurt you as an adult it doesn't just just at the end of the day it doesn't even if you want to laugh and say that's childish just don't look at it just like you don't watch The Cartoon Network or whatever right that's it yeah yeah no absolutely so when I got married in Houston [Music] um I was a big fan of Clutch and I hired him to show up at my out of town uh happy hour get together and what I didn't realize when I hired him Sean was is it was a pretty fancy restaurant so here comes clutch all lit up and there was a couple and I could tell the guy was not happy because clutch banged that table pretty hard and the guy had to grab onto the wine glass and clutch comes over and I was like man this is so great like I think that worked out better than my wedding I'm not gonna lie but you know still I just I I think it's so great to embrace the mascot so I just thought that was super cool and you could tell that Carlson was so thankful and that's what it's all about he he appreciated you know that goodbye um and I'm sure every single time they go to San Jose the daughter will want to go because she wants to see your friend Sharky so that's uh pretty awesome any mascot stories in the book we win here uh no uh no specific mascot stories but there is a pretty good piece in there from Steven again about kind of the importance in minor league hockey of the theme night experience the going above and beyond just the hockey part of it because while you're gonna get the die hards you're gonna get the the people who are hockey Fanatics in Cedar Park which by the way um if you're listening in Dallas I highly suggest driving down to uh Cedar Park for training camp it's a yes it's a great spot the arena it's a great spot to see the players the team up close it's you should definitely do it um uh just a quick side note of that we'll we can talk more about uh we can give people some more suggestions on where to eat and stuff like that closer to actual training camp but it's it's in the book we wouldn't hear Stephen has a nice piece about how important it is to connect to other parts of the community Beyond just the people who understand the game already because it's important to continue to create those touch points for everyone yeah I would also suggest Stars fans if you get a chance go see the team in Cedar Park this year some terrific prospects and as Sean mentioned you're right on the ice it's a terrific Arena um and uh yeah yeah really really exciting so we win here is the book that was a good plug Sean that was a really good plug today so that's gonna do it for spits and suds we only have a few more of these left because guess what guys we're about to kick off the regular season so we'll continue uh to bring you spits and suds on a weekly basis as we see the news as we get closer to NHL training camps and as we mentioned at the top of the program if you are just joining us Jordy Ben signs a PTO contract and we discussed that as well as a bunch of other things if you have suggestions that you'd like us to talk about questions for us feel free to reach out to Sean or myself he's at Sean Shapiro on X slash Twitter and I am at GJ's hospital and if you want to email me directly yeah I was just going to say you you've such that radio host video like if you're just joining us now like the person is like like someone's listening to spits and suds in their room and somebody just like in their living room and someone walked by like old-timey radio like so that's that's great yeah who's just joining us now you know I said that and I was like man that's such a radio thing that is not a podcast thing like all of a sudden someone picks up the podcast at 56 minutes and says why aren't they talking about Jordy Ben this is ridiculous it's what we call in the business a reset but you're right you're right I'm glad I am glad you poked at me for that because I imagine that there's not like I really hope that there's somebody who's listening in their car or whatever just pick somebody up in their card like maybe someone's listening on an Uber driver and Uber drivers listening to spits and suds they pick somebody up in Dallas and they're like no what are you listening to and it's like oh they missed you already been oh no you didn't here's a Gavin [Laughter] move that line back and get to the top story yeah yeah you're right you're right it's ingrained after 30 years it's fair fair yeah absolutely I'm gonna start calling you luds too don't do that all right so that's gonna do it I won't refresh what we talked about today but I will thank Sean Shapiro for joining us as always and that's what I love about this program we get to laugh we get to tell you stories that we think are interesting and we truly do appreciate your support of this program so for Sean Shapiro of d magazine of shap shots of EP ringside and of the book we win here I'm Gavin spittle of 105.3 The Fan and we'll talk to you next week right here on Spitz and sun [Music] foreign [Music]