On this week's episode of The Athletic Hockey Show:
- Kokak Black enjoys a Florida Panthers game
- Connor McDavid's tepid answer about Evanker Kane
- Tuukka Rask returns
- Bobby Clarke rips Ron Hextall, and I'm not buying it
- Jack Eichel nears a return in Vegas
- Plus Cale Makar's Hart chances, a listener question on the point system, the anniversary of "they're going home", and more
The Athletic Hockey Show runs most days of the week during the season, with Ian and I hosting every Thursday. There are two versions of each episode available:
- An ad-free version for subscribers that you can find here
- An ad-supported version you can get for free wherever you normally find your podcasts (like Apple or Spotify)
In the Friday Grab Bag:
- My spies found out what some teams are up to heading into tonight's draft
- An idea for how Gary Bettman could handle a hostile crowd
- An obscure Canucks first-round pick
- The week's three comedy stars
- And a YouTube breakdown of Brian Burke running a draft and telling a story about being blackmailed by Bobby Clarke
The hockey world will come together on Monday to celebrate Hall of Fame induction night, capping off one of the very best weekends on the season calendar. Legends from the past join the stars of today to honor the newest members of the sport’s most exclusive club, as part of a lavish and often emotional ceremony in Toronto.
This year’s class features six new Hall of Famers: Willie O’Ree, Martin Brodeur, Jayna Hefford, Martin St. Louis, Aleksander Yakushev and commissioner Gary Bettman. They’ll be celebrated all weekend long, including before Saturday night’s game between the Devils and Leafs. But the main event comes on Monday, when they’re formally inducted into the Hall.
That’s a big night, and it has to be planned carefully. Luckily, my DGB spies managed to get their hands on a copy of the schedule for the evening’s events.
7:30 – Induction ceremony begins. Opening remarks. Attendees are thanked. Brief interpretative dance by Justin Williams and the Carolina Hurricanes.
7:35 pm – Induction of Martin Brodeur begins.
7:36 pm – Somebody asks Sean Avery to sit down and stop waving his arms because he’s blocking everyone’s view.
7:40 pm – Special video highlight package commemorating Brodeur’s never-to-be-broken records such as 691 career wins, 125 career shutouts, and 7 trillion airings of that “midlife crisis” car rental ad.
7:45 pm – Touching speech by Brodeur in which he thanks all those who were involved in his NHL career.
7:46 pm – Murmurs of confusion as everyone tries to remember why he just mentioned the St. Louis Blues.
7:50 pm – Induction of Aleksander Yakushev begins.
7:51 pm – Courtesy pause for younger North American fans to google “Aleksander Yakushev” and then totally pretend they didn’t just have to do that.
7:55 pm – Video package highlighting how dominant Yakushev was during the 1972 Summit Series, and we quickly realize we may have been a little bit too effective when Bobby Clarke runs out and breaks his ankle out of force of habit.
The Nashville Predators suffered one of the strangest losses in Stanley Cup final history on Monday, erasing a 3-0 deficit while holding the Penguins without a shot for 37 straight minutes before allowing a back-breaking winning goal late in the third.
The way they lost was bad enough. But just losing at all is a big deal. After all, as we're constantly told, the team that wins Game 1 in the final wins almost 80 percent the series, including each of the last five. To hear some tell it, this one's basically over.
It's tough times to be a Nashville fan. So as we head into Wednesday's crucial second game, let's offer up some hope for anyone rooting for the Predators. Here are five times in Stanley Cup final history that Game 1 didn't end up mattering, and Game 2 turned out to be the series turning point.
1986 – Canadiens vs. Flames
After one game: Calgary went into the final sporting a distinct "team of destiny" feel. After years of living in the Oilers' shadow, the Flames had knocked off their provincial rivals in seven games on Steve Smith's infamous own goal. They arrived in the final holding home ice advantage, and opened the series with a convincing 5-2 win over the Canadiens.
But then: Looking to take a 2-0 series lead back to Montreal, the Flames opened the scoring in the first and added another goal just seconds into the second period. But they let the Habs off the mat, as Montreal came back to send the game to overtime. Once they got there, it didn't take long to make some history.
The rest of the way: The Canadiens didn't drop another game in the series, winning three straight tight ones to take the Stanley Cup in five games.
1974 – Flyers vs. Bruins
After one game: The Bruins and Flyers had been the league's two best teams by a wide margin during the season, with Boston earning home ice throughout the playoffs by a single point thanks to a win on the season's final day. They cashed in on that home ice advantage in Game 1, when Bobby Orr's goal with seconds left in regulation gave them a 3-2 win and a series lead.
But then: The Bruins came out strong in Game 2, scoring twice late in the first to take a 2-0 lead to intermission. The Flyers closed the gap with a goal in the second, but couldn't get any closer as regulation ticked away. But with the Bruins on the verge of taking a two-game lead in the series, Andre Dupont tied it with less than a minute to play, sending the game to overtime. That's where Bobby Clarke scored what may well be the most important goal in franchise history.
The rest of the way: The Flyers would ride the momentum from Clarke's goal to a pair of wins on home ice. The Bruins avoided elimination in Game 5 in Boston, but the Flyers closed the series with a 1-0 win back in Philadelphia, earning the franchise's first Stanley Cup and becoming the first modern expansion team to capture a championship.
In the Friday Grab Bag:
- NHL GMs are lying to you, and the NBA trade deadline proved it
- Wait, is Patrik Laine chasing Teemu Selanne's team records or not?
- An obscure player who may have been the worst deadline pickup of all time
- The week's three comedy starts
- And in the YouTube section, things get ugly when a blockbuster trade between two notoriously cranky GMs falls apart.
While hockey fans may have missed it among all the lockout doom and gloom, Sunday was an important anniversary in hockey history. The day marked forty years since Canada and the USSR took to the ice at the Montreal Forum for game one of their infamous 1972 Summit Series.
Most Canadians know the story of the series by heart. But did you know how the team was put together? Hockey historians recently unearthed the original application form that was sent to Canadian players, and DGB spies were able to send me a copy.
***
Thank you for your interest in playing for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. To help us narrow down the list of candidates, please fill out the application form below.
Your name: _______________________ Your position: ________________________ NHL team that you play for: _______________
(If you wrote “Montreal Canadiens”, skip the rest of the form; you’ve made the team!)
What was your first thought after series organizer Alan Eagleson initially approached you about participating?
( ) “It would be an honor to represent my country.”
( ) “This sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
( ) “It will be interesting to travel all the way to Russia.”
( ) “Hey, that’s weird, my wallet is missing.”
What is your primary reason for wanting to join Team Canada for the Summit Series?
( ) Have always admired the passion of Canadian hockey fans, and think it would be fun to be booed mercilessly by them the first time we have a bad shift.
( ) Will be a nice change of pace from the typical 1970s player’s pre-season preparation of trying really hard not to chain-smoke quite as much while grilling ribeye steaks three meals a day.
( ) Hoping assistant coach John Ferguson brings his adorable five-year-old son to the practices, since it’s so cute how he falls for the “trade me two dimes for a nickel” trick every single time.
( ) Honestly, just want to be close to Phil Esposito’s sideburns.
Puck Soup is a podcast featuring me and Ryan Lambert. We release one free episode each week during the season, plus mailbags and other bonus episodes for Patreon subscribers.
"Biscuits" was the Vice Sports hockey podcast, hosted by DGB and Dave Lozo. It ran for two seasons; the final episode was in July, 2018. You can find the archives below:
