Speaker 1: Dave McCarthy does a hell of a job for NHL
Speaker 1: dot Com at NHL Network covering the fastest sport there
Speaker 1: is and the hardest trophy to win, and he joins
Speaker 1: us here on Exus and Broth. Dave, good to have you.
Speaker 1: How are you today?
Speaker 2: Well? Better than I can ask for it, man, Thanks
Speaker 2: for having me excellent.
Speaker 1: Well, it's an honor to have you on. What's We
Speaker 1: were having this conversation earlier. Home court, home field, home
Speaker 1: ice advantage. Who does it favor most? Which sport does
Speaker 1: it favor most? You know, hockey obviously get the last
Speaker 1: shift change, Baseball you get the last at bats. It
Speaker 1: sure doesn't look like it's favored anybody particularly. Why do
Speaker 1: you think that is? Why have the road teams been
Speaker 1: so good so far?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think there's much of a benefit to
Speaker 2: it in hockey as there used to be. You know,
Speaker 2: we were talking about that the other day in the
Speaker 2: morning to skate back twenty thirty years ago, there would
Speaker 2: be teams that would run shecking lines quote unquote kwai
Speaker 2: rigorous and really look to hard match against the other
Speaker 2: team's best players and put out a line of guys
Speaker 2: that would really try to grind the other team's best
Speaker 2: players into the ground all game long. That's not really
Speaker 2: the case anymore. There really are not too many teams
Speaker 2: that look too hard match the way they used to,
Speaker 2: just simply because everybody's so good. It kind of gets
Speaker 2: you kind of get in your own way, but you
Speaker 2: get caught up in trying to hard match all game long.
Speaker 2: So getting the last change in hontey that used to
Speaker 2: be a bit of a benefit from coaches that I've
Speaker 2: talked to. It's not as much of a benefit anymore
Speaker 2: because they just don't try to They don't try to
Speaker 2: navigate the game the same way as they did. So
Speaker 2: beyond that, I mean, that's the biggest tactical advantage there is.
Speaker 2: If you can't deal with the crowd. I mean, last
Speaker 2: time I checked, they weren't on the ice, So that
Speaker 2: does really coming to play on that much of the
Speaker 2: times the home crash and work against the home team
Speaker 2: by tensing them up a little bit, especially in the
Speaker 2: game seven, you want to come out, get out again,
Speaker 2: sorry of the crowd into it squeezer sticks a little bit.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's easier to play on the road when you're
Speaker 2: only worried about playing, you know, the most sound structure
Speaker 2: and if need be boring game that you can. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's not as much of a thing. I'd say probably
Speaker 2: baseball would be the biggest advantis at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, I'd so like.
Speaker 1: To have the last at bat man Well said, thanks,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Dave McCarthy joiners. You can call him
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Dave A McCarthy. We hear this every
Speaker 1: time the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. It's the hardest trophy
Speaker 1: to win. I don't disagree with that. Tell me why
Speaker 1: you think it is, though.
Speaker 2: Well, because it's four rounds of generally speaking, an absolute battle.
Speaker 2: You looked at the way the game changes the gular
Speaker 2: season to the playoffs and Hotey, it's almost it almost
Speaker 2: looks like a different sport at times. The physicality, the
Speaker 2: intensity you fight for every inch of ice. Guys finish
Speaker 2: their checks harder, and then you got to do that.
Speaker 2: If you get past one round, you got to do
Speaker 2: that three more times. The competition only gets tougher. So
Speaker 2: you know, you look at a game in in February
Speaker 2: on a Tuesday night, it just doesn't look the same.
Speaker 2: And people always tell me, all why don't they play
Speaker 2: the same way in the regular season as they do
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. You just physically could not do that
Speaker 2: game in, game out for six months straight with the
Speaker 2: crazy travel and the back to backs, and then follow
Speaker 2: that up into the playoffs and be at your vet.
Speaker 2: You just simply physically couldn't do it. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: think that's the biggest reason.
Speaker 1: Personally, I could not have been more wrong before the
Speaker 1: playoffs began. I picked Tampa and Colorado in the Stanley
Speaker 1: Cup finals. Again, could not have been more wrong both
Speaker 1: first round bounces. I'll be free to admit Nathan McKinnon
Speaker 1: one of my favorite players. I just love watching him play,
Speaker 1: so that had a lot to do with it. I
Speaker 1: thought Tampa's balance was outstanding and goaltending matters too. Who
Speaker 1: do you who do you think is playing the best
Speaker 1: hockey right now? And how much different is it, if
Speaker 1: at all, from when they were playing in the regular season.
Speaker 2: Well, I do like your point about Nathan McKinnon, and
Speaker 2: I don't think that was a terrible pick at all.
Speaker 2: That was a That was a Western Conference final level
Speaker 2: matchup Dallas, Colorado the first in the first round, and
Speaker 2: you know, unfortunately one team had to go home and
Speaker 2: You heard Colorado coming out of their locker clean out
Speaker 2: day and they were quite despoted that they that they lost,
Speaker 2: like it was hard to take, especially I played out
Speaker 2: they were up in game seven and and it couldn't
Speaker 2: close it out. Playing the best hockey right now, that's
Speaker 2: a tough one to say. You know, I think Edmonton
Speaker 2: is starting to find their game. It looks like a
Speaker 2: mess in the first two and a half against LA,
Speaker 2: but it's been been They look much better. However, the
Speaker 2: time that they have to come from behind every game
Speaker 2: is also not entirely inspiring. Good on them for being
Speaker 2: able to do its five games in a row, first
Speaker 2: team in the history of the league to ever do
Speaker 2: that in the playoffs. But if you keep chasing the game,
Speaker 2: eventually that luck is going to run out. So you know,
Speaker 2: there's a bit of a concern there. Vegas is still
Speaker 2: looks like they're trying to find their game. Winnipeg, I
Speaker 2: got to see more from Hellibuck before I buy into them.
Speaker 2: You know, I would probably go Dallas at this point
Speaker 2: just because I based in Toronto, and if I said
Speaker 2: the Leafs, everybody would call me a homer.
Speaker 1: You talk about pressure, I mean there's no team and
Speaker 1: no player, specifically, their big name players, whether it be
Speaker 1: Matthews or Kneelander or Marner or Tavares with pressure like Toronto.
Speaker 1: I love the way they responded in Game six, I
Speaker 1: really do. And then I loved how they responded in
Speaker 1: the opening game against Florida. I think they're really although
Speaker 1: you know, they were up big four to one and
Speaker 1: then they let it slip a little bit away and
Speaker 1: made things a little nervous. Why haven't they been able
Speaker 1: to get over the top? Do you think.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. Look, they ran into teams for
Speaker 2: a lot of years in Boston that we're just I think,
Speaker 2: quite simply a little bit better than them. And for
Speaker 2: whatever reason, the top players that you mentioned, their production
Speaker 2: has gone down in the postseason. At the end of
Speaker 2: the day, if you're going to go anywhere, it needs
Speaker 2: to come from your top guys. They need to be
Speaker 2: at their best. You look at other guys around the league.
Speaker 2: Deandreiseidel's production actually goes up in the postseason, Nico Random's
Speaker 2: production actually goes up in the postseason, Nate McKinnon's. You know,
Speaker 2: he's I think he's got fifty goals, one hundred and
Speaker 2: nine points this last eighty two playoff games, you know,
Speaker 2: and these guys have all gone on deep runs. If
Speaker 2: not having won the Stanley Cup, you haven't been able
Speaker 2: to do that. Their top guys have have diminished in
Speaker 2: the playoffs in years past, this year not yet. In fact,
Speaker 2: they've been quite good through this point, and that's I
Speaker 2: think why we're seeing the Leaves have a little bit
Speaker 2: of success right now. But it needs to continue. You know,
Speaker 2: you get contributions from your depth. You get Simon ben
Speaker 2: Watt stepping up with a key goal in overtime the
Speaker 2: Auto series, or Max Paccaretti, who's played quite well of late.
Speaker 2: Like it's great when you get your depth chipping in.
Speaker 2: You need that, of course, but that only matters if
Speaker 2: it comes in conjunction with your best players being at
Speaker 2: the top of their game. That's what really pushes you through,
Speaker 2: and so far we're seeing that from the Leaves this spring.
Speaker 1: We're in Detroit, so I have to ask you about
Speaker 1: the Wings. Maybe not as much about Steve Eisman and
Speaker 1: Dylan Larkins corresponding comments regarding the trade deadline, and they
Speaker 1: were different, but I did want to ask you the
Speaker 1: need for this team to reach the postseason and how
Speaker 1: they go about getting that player. We just brought the least.
Speaker 1: Mitch Martner's the biggest name in free agency. He's a
Speaker 1: right winger. Detroit many people feel needs a center. What
Speaker 1: do you think this team needs and how do they
Speaker 1: go about getting it because they're probably not getting it
Speaker 1: with the thirteenth pick in the draft.
Speaker 2: Well, I then they need to figure out their goaltending
Speaker 2: as well. That has been something that has continually been
Speaker 2: influxd Like how many goal is have they run through
Speaker 2: in Detroit over the last eight years. They haven't. They
Speaker 2: haven't sorted that out. And if you can't get a
Speaker 2: stop reliably and your team is already maybe just okay upfront,
Speaker 2: and that's going to sue you. So they need to
Speaker 2: they need to sort out their goaltending, and then they're
Speaker 2: going to need to figure out I think they're a
Speaker 2: number of players away to be honest.
Speaker 1: With you, or to be a serious threat.
Speaker 2: To make the playoffs man, Because look, Dylan Larkin is
Speaker 2: a good player. I like him a lot. I do
Speaker 2: not consider him to be a number one center in
Speaker 2: this league. If you go up against Matthews, if you
Speaker 2: go up against Brayden point if you go up against
Speaker 2: Alex Barkov, if you go up against Nick Suzuki, I
Speaker 2: find Detroit coming out second in most of those, all
Speaker 2: of those matchups. Okay, So that means that all of
Speaker 2: those guys I mentioned are in Detroit's division. Means you
Speaker 2: need to beat those teams in the regular year. How
Speaker 2: are you going to do that when your center, your
Speaker 2: top center, is beneath all of those guys I think
Speaker 2: Dylan are it's an outstanding second line center. Like man,
Speaker 2: he would I hate to say it. I know where
Speaker 2: I'm on right now, And man, would he look good
Speaker 2: in Colorado behind Nate McKinnon. And that's what Colorados? They
Speaker 2: need a second Detroit needs first line center. Then they
Speaker 2: need a couple of more guys that can store. They
Speaker 2: need to figure out their d Why Detroit let Philip
Speaker 2: Veronic get away? Why they moved on him, why they
Speaker 2: moved on Jake Walman Like? Their ability to assess defensemen
Speaker 2: over the last three or four years has been enough
Speaker 2: to make me want to bang my head against the
Speaker 2: wall to sign Justin Hall to a three year deal
Speaker 2: at what three plus million? Like I wish Steve out
Speaker 2: have called me and asked me what do I think
Speaker 2: of Justin Hall? And I would have told him, don't
Speaker 2: do it. I've watched the guy play more than enough
Speaker 2: in Toronto to know that nice guy, nice player, not
Speaker 2: worth that kind of money. Depth defenseman at best. So
Speaker 2: they've made mistakes there, which is to say, you know,
Speaker 2: and the drafts over the last number of years have
Speaker 2: been really slow to bear fruits. Joe Blato has not
Speaker 2: really panned out to be an impact player, Marco Casper's
Speaker 2: starting the season, signs maybe starting to They've and Edvanson
Speaker 2: maybe starting the seasons, but not many guys from the
Speaker 2: drafts over the last number of years that are at
Speaker 2: the point where they're impact players. So I have not
Speaker 2: been high on this Detroit team for a long time,
Speaker 2: and for good reason, I think so. I think they
Speaker 2: got a lot of work to do. I hate to
Speaker 2: say it, but they got a lot of work to
Speaker 2: do in the Trent.
Speaker 1: No, it's great perspective. We greatly appreciate it. I bring
Speaker 1: up that they would have I mean, they tied for
Speaker 1: the final playoffs spot a year ago but lost on
Speaker 1: the tiebreaker with Washington. But I don't disagree with you.
Speaker 1: We've said that a long time about Dylan Larkin, who
Speaker 1: we like a lot, and you're right, but you're not
Speaker 1: going out and fixing that anytime soon because you're not
Speaker 1: spending over paying for a thirty four year old John Tavares.
Speaker 1: There's no number one center out there to acquire, Dave.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the insight, love your knowledge, love what you do.
Speaker 1: Keep up the great work, and we appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: Have a great rest of the week, and keep up
Speaker 1: the great work.
Speaker 2: Man. Thanks a lot, thank you, thanks for having me