Speaker 1: Florida Panthers are your Stanley Cup chants for the second
Speaker 1: straight year, they'd be the Edmonton Oilers. Our next guest
Speaker 1: joins us consistently to break down the world of pro hockey.
Speaker 1: It's the great Neil Smith on a Wednesday afternoon. Neil,
Speaker 1: Happy Wednesday, sir.
Speaker 2: How are you good at a Happy Wednesday? To you two.
Speaker 2: I'm doing just fine, Thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate appreciate the time. So, you know, last year's
Speaker 1: series was really interesting. You know, Florida wins three, Edmonton
Speaker 1: wins three, Florida gets Game seven. The way I'll start
Speaker 1: our conversation today is, at what point during the Stanley
Speaker 1: Cup Final did you start to get the sense that
Speaker 1: Edmonton was up against it and this was Florida's Cup
Speaker 1: to raise?
Speaker 2: Oh? Very early, I honestly thought, very early in the series.
Speaker 2: And you've got to understand too, that I'm of Florida.
Speaker 2: I have been picking Florida will win the Cup since
Speaker 2: the regular season. Yes, you have, so, I mean I
Speaker 2: thought when they came out of Edmonton one to one,
Speaker 2: I thought, I'll look out because you know, that's all
Speaker 2: the that's all the Panthers needed. Those were two overtime games.
Speaker 2: If you remember the first two games of the series,
Speaker 2: and then Florida just put a you know, just kick
Speaker 2: them out and in game three, six to one, and
Speaker 2: and then we go to Game four in Florida and
Speaker 2: it's another overtime game, but this time Edmonton wins. So
Speaker 2: if you if you look at it the way I did,
Speaker 2: you know, Florida could have already ended the series at
Speaker 2: that time if they if they'd gotten any bounces, but
Speaker 2: they you know, now it's it was two to two
Speaker 2: at that point. But then what really told the thing
Speaker 2: was once the Panthers jumped all over them in Edmonton,
Speaker 2: I didn't think there was much way that there was
Speaker 2: much chance that they wouldn't beat them in Florida when
Speaker 2: they don't want to make that five and a half
Speaker 2: hour flight and twenty nine hundred miles back to Edmonton
Speaker 2: for Game seven. And that's exactly what they did. I mean,
Speaker 2: they just were better than them in every aspect of
Speaker 2: the game last night.
Speaker 1: You know, we were discussing earlier, as the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: will resume tomorrow between Oklahoma City and Indiana, how the
Speaker 1: front offices of both teams have got about their business
Speaker 1: to build the roster that now has these two teams
Speaker 1: competing for the biggest prize in pro basketball. I would imagine,
Speaker 1: you know, Bill Zito, I don't know, but ultimately I
Speaker 1: wondered if you could shed some light on how he
Speaker 1: and his staff have built this club that is now
Speaker 1: won back to back Stanley Cup trophies.
Speaker 2: You know, back in twenty twenty two, they won the
Speaker 2: President's Trophy and got eliminated by Tampa Bay, their cross
Speaker 2: state rival, pretty quickly, in the second round. And Bill
Speaker 2: Zito decided to change coaches because that was the year
Speaker 2: that Joel Quenville had to resi because of the problem
Speaker 2: that had happened in Chicago years before, and so and
Speaker 2: his assistant coach became the head coach. And they still
Speaker 2: went on to win the President's Trophy, but they didn't
Speaker 2: play well, obviously, they didn't go very far in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: And he did two things that summer that has changed
Speaker 2: the whole franchise. He hired Paul Maurice as head coach,
Speaker 2: under a little bit of criticism from people because Paul
Speaker 2: Maraice had been in Winnipeg for many years and was
Speaker 2: thought of as pretty bland. And the other thing that
Speaker 2: he did was he made a trade with Calgary to
Speaker 2: bring in matt Matthew Kachuck, and he traded away a
Speaker 2: really popular guy in huber Dough and a good defenseman
Speaker 2: we are, and Matthew Kachuck and the way he plays
Speaker 2: has basically changed that franchise around to the point that
Speaker 2: of what you see now because they added to that
Speaker 2: guys like Sam Bennett, Brad marsha On this year and
Speaker 2: that whole team is like a rat pack, like they
Speaker 2: just play as a team incredibly well. I mean, you
Speaker 2: got to give that credit also to Paul Maurice and
Speaker 2: the way he coaches that team. But they're they're they're
Speaker 2: a team's team. I mean, they they watch out for
Speaker 2: each other, they're on top of every puck, they win
Speaker 2: all their board battles. They they do all the right things.
Speaker 2: And so the other part that you've got to give
Speaker 2: Bill Fiedo high marks for is that after last year's
Speaker 2: Stanley Cup, as as will happen, probably this year, he lost,
Speaker 2: you know, three or four pretty good players that had
Speaker 2: been good for him to win the Stanley Cup in
Speaker 2: twenty four. Brandon Montour, the defenseman who logged a lot
Speaker 2: of Icetein went to Seattle, Oliver Ekman Larsen signed in Toronto.
Speaker 2: Their backup goalie Stolars signed in Toronto, and so they
Speaker 2: they they took loss, but Bill Zito turned around and
Speaker 2: saw there was an opportunity to get Seth Jones out
Speaker 2: of Chicago, who wanted out of Chicago because they were
Speaker 2: losing all the time. Jones has been a real good
Speaker 2: defenseman on Nashville when he first broke in, traded to Columbus,
Speaker 2: good on that team and good on Chicago. But those
Speaker 2: are all teams that really weren't of a high caliber,
Speaker 2: and so you wondered would Seth Jones be able to
Speaker 2: be as good on a good team as he was
Speaker 2: on these week teams while he came in, And he
Speaker 2: was even better for Florida Panthers than he was on
Speaker 2: Chicago or on Columbus, and that added to a defense
Speaker 2: that already had Ecblad and others that were playing great,
Speaker 2: like Nate Schmidt has played out of his mind this year,
Speaker 2: and then at the deadline he picks up Brad Marshall,
Speaker 2: who you know was long in the tooth at thirty seven,
Speaker 2: always played feisty. A lot of people thought was slowing down.
Speaker 2: And you add Brad marsha On to the third line
Speaker 2: where he was a first liner in Boston, and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, you've got these layers of players coming
Speaker 2: at the opposition. And as you saw, Brad marsha On
Speaker 2: was probably second in the Consmith Trophy voting to Sam Bennett,
Speaker 2: who set the record for most goals in the playoffs
Speaker 2: on the road. So Bill Zito has been able to
Speaker 2: not he's been able to do everything right. Every movie
Speaker 2: he's made has turned out well for them. And even
Speaker 2: back in getting guys off waivers back a number of
Speaker 2: years ago, Forsling, who plays a ton of ice, I'm
Speaker 2: on their defense, he got on waivers, so you know
Speaker 2: he he's done a remarkable job with the Florida Panthers.
Speaker 1: So over to the Edmonton takeaways here. You know, oftentimes
Speaker 1: in any sport, you look at, you know, the most
Speaker 1: talented player in that sport and you say things like, well,
Speaker 1: he's too good not to win a Cup, too good
Speaker 1: not to win a super Bowl, too good not to
Speaker 1: win a championship. And that feels like conomic David narrative
Speaker 1: in pro hockey. I mean, it feels like he's just
Speaker 1: so good. At some point he'll break through, but this
Speaker 1: is the second straight year that they have fallen short
Speaker 1: in that endeavor at the very same the hand of
Speaker 1: the very same club. What do you think the offseason
Speaker 1: looks like in Edmonton? What do they have to do
Speaker 1: to maybe surround McDavid in dry Sidle obviously others, you know,
Speaker 1: to maybe take the last step they need to potentially
Speaker 1: be the first Canadian team to lift the Cup in
Speaker 1: what thirty two years?
Speaker 2: Yes, since nineteen ninety three. It'll be thirty three years
Speaker 2: next year. So I think what this says to me,
Speaker 2: and I've known this for a long you know, quite
Speaker 2: a while, but it's very evident with this, with this
Speaker 2: Edmonton team, is that even though you've cut arguably the
Speaker 2: two best players in the league. And I say arguably
Speaker 2: because you could argue the coucher off on McKinnon are
Speaker 2: better than Ice Tidle. Nobody's going to argue that McDavid's
Speaker 2: not the best player in the league. I don't think
Speaker 2: unless they are, you know, on something. But so you've
Speaker 2: got those two players, but you don't have as good
Speaker 2: a team as Florida has, And that's what I think
Speaker 2: separates hockey from NHL from NBA. I think in NBA,
Speaker 2: and I know in NBA, if you have Lebron James,
Speaker 2: you've got a real good chance, not maybe at winning
Speaker 2: the title, but certainly at contending for the with the
Speaker 2: big boys. If you add a second guy who's a
Speaker 2: sand notch under Lebron James, now you're really powerful. That
Speaker 2: doesn't hold up in hockey. In hockey, you only you know,
Speaker 2: you go out once every fourth shift, once every third shift.
Speaker 2: If you're a star, you're on the ice for forty
Speaker 2: five seconds. But that whole team has to be in sync.
Speaker 2: And the Oilers are just not as good a team
Speaker 2: as the Panthers, even though they have two franchise players
Speaker 2: on their one team. So what have they got to do?
Speaker 2: They got to sit back and analyze how they're going
Speaker 2: to surround these two guys going forward. I think they
Speaker 2: did a real good job of that between Ken Holland
Speaker 2: and Stan Bowman this year. But it's it's not easy,
Speaker 2: as we know, right, it's not easy to have great
Speaker 2: defense and great forwards. I mean, they Mattia sack Holm,
Speaker 2: who is a player badly missed by the Oilers when
Speaker 2: he's out of the lineup. He was hurt near the
Speaker 2: end of the season a little bit and they were
Speaker 2: dying for him to get back in the lineup. He
Speaker 2: had a horrible Game five and Game six horrible. Guys
Speaker 2: jumped over him and went in and scored, and so
Speaker 2: there's an there's obviously an injury there with him. But
Speaker 2: they they're gonna have to, you know, sit back and
Speaker 2: analyze what what ingredient they need more of and what
Speaker 2: ingredient they need less of. They've got a number of
Speaker 2: free agents, including Trent Frederick and Connor Brown, Corey Perry,
Speaker 2: and they're going to have to decide who they want
Speaker 2: to keep out of Brad Marshaunt to who do they
Speaker 2: want to keep I'm sorry, I said Brad Marshaunt. He's
Speaker 2: from Florida. I made a mistake. But Frederick and Brown
Speaker 2: and Corey Perry, they're going to have to decide who
Speaker 2: they want to spend money on and who they're going
Speaker 2: to let go.
Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you this, Neil, but only
Speaker 1: five teams have ever won three consecutive Stanley Cups. The
Speaker 1: Maple Leafs did it twice, The Montreal Canadians did it twice.
Speaker 1: In the New York Islanders, as you are aware of,
Speaker 1: are the most recent team to do it. From nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty to nineteen eighty three, No other team in the
Speaker 1: expansion era has won more than two Cups in a row.
Speaker 1: Vegas already has odds for next season, because of course
Speaker 1: they do, and Florida is among the favorites to win
Speaker 1: the Cup again next year. In addition to Florida, we're
Speaker 1: looking at Edmonton is on the list, Carolina or Colorado.
Speaker 1: Those are the four teams as of now that have
Speaker 1: the best odds to hoist the Cup next year. Do
Speaker 1: you think the Panthers have it in them to win
Speaker 1: their third straight or do you like one of the
Speaker 1: other three favorites, Edmonton, Carolina or Colorado.
Speaker 2: I definitely think Florida has it in them. But you know,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of runway between here and there, and
Speaker 2: a lot of things can go wrong, a lot of injuries,
Speaker 2: a lot of people get older. They don't have the
Speaker 2: same legs in twenty six that they had in twenty five.
Speaker 2: You know, Bobrovski's not a youngster anymore. He's getting up there.
Speaker 2: We just talked about Brad Marshaun being thirty seven. You know.
Speaker 2: So I'm not saying they won't win it. I think
Speaker 2: that in my mind they're the favorite right now. But
Speaker 2: there's a lot of things that can go right. And
Speaker 2: if they could pull off a third Street Cop, I
Speaker 2: would be startled because I know how many things can
Speaker 2: go wrong and I know how difficult it is. And
Speaker 2: even the Sydney Crosby Penguins couldn't get it done when
Speaker 2: they were in their prime with Milk and La Tang,
Speaker 2: and they won two as you know in sixteen and seventeen,
Speaker 2: couldn't get the third one. It's very, very difficult now
Speaker 2: because you take losses in the off season to free
Speaker 2: agency and you're not always going to be able to
Speaker 2: pull the rabbits out of your hat that Bill Zito
Speaker 2: was able to do this year.
Speaker 1: So Sam ben and wins the con smythe and you know, Neil,
Speaker 1: we've talked about this before. He's an unrestricted free agent
Speaker 1: and the Utah Hockey Club has about twenty two to
Speaker 1: twenty three million dollars in cap space during their off
Speaker 1: season project. He just feels like he would be so
Speaker 1: perfect for the Utah Mammoth. Out this way, if you're Florida,
Speaker 1: it's probably hard hard to let a cons my trophy
Speaker 1: winner leave, but they have some financial decisions to make
Speaker 1: as well. What do you think the future for Sam
Speaker 1: Bennett holds, and you think there's even a slight possibility
Speaker 1: the future holds potentially a role with the Utah Mammoth.
Speaker 2: I think Sam Bennett's future is going to be rich.
Speaker 2: I think he's going to make a lot of money
Speaker 2: wherever he goes. I think that Toronto may be leaves
Speaker 2: are going to be very interested in trying to get him.
Speaker 2: And he's a Canadian kid. You know, it's always hard
Speaker 2: for me, being an old school person, to see picture
Speaker 2: Sam Bennett not in a Florida uniform because he's been
Speaker 2: so successful with Florida. You know, it will be up
Speaker 2: to him his preference of what he wants to do.
Speaker 2: Does he want to stay with his teammates that he's
Speaker 2: won these two Cups with and keep trying to ride
Speaker 2: that and maybe take a little less money because of
Speaker 2: the fact that they don't have the cap space that
Speaker 2: Utah has, or does he want to go in and
Speaker 2: get a huge contract from whoever will pay him the most.
Speaker 2: It's it's he would be a good player and an
Speaker 2: impactful player on anything that signs, and he would make
Speaker 2: a huge impact on Utah if they were to get him,
Speaker 2: because he's that kind of guy. You know, he's you
Speaker 2: know how he plays, He's he's so gritty and so
Speaker 2: intense and yet has his skill set as well. Even
Speaker 2: last night I marveled at his skating ability to go
Speaker 2: through the neutral zone and deep guys and then hand
Speaker 2: the puck off at the right time. He's going to
Speaker 2: be one of the most sought after free agents in
Speaker 2: this summer, along with Brock Besser and and of course
Speaker 2: Mitch Marner that we've talked about in coming out of Toronto.
Speaker 1: All Right, Neil, I've thought about you when the story
Speaker 1: broke that the Stanley Cup is a little banged up
Speaker 1: thanks to the Florida Panthers celebration of their second straight
Speaker 1: Stanley Cuff title, just totally out of curiosity as somebody
Speaker 1: that ran a club that lifted a Stanley Cup. What's
Speaker 1: the dynamic like when the team gets the cup and
Speaker 1: how do you decide, Okay, the coach gets it this
Speaker 1: day and the player wants it that day, and are
Speaker 1: there rules that you put into place to make sure
Speaker 1: that the Stanley Cup has returned in good condition.
Speaker 2: Well, I hope they do now because it was because
Speaker 2: of the nineteen ninety four New York Rangers that Phil
Speaker 2: Pritchard follows and travels with the Stanley Cup and doesn't
Speaker 2: let it out of his sight. Because with our players,
Speaker 2: and I probably shouldn't name who the player was, but
Speaker 2: it was Stefan Mettro. He took the cup to Quebec.
Speaker 2: On his turn, the top came off because as you know,
Speaker 2: the bowl on the top and a little bit of
Speaker 2: the neck is the original trophy and there's something that
Speaker 2: goes up the middle of the trophy that connects that
Speaker 2: cup to the rest of the base. And it came
Speaker 2: off when he had it. Somebody tried to solder it
Speaker 2: back on and I got the cup next and was
Speaker 2: horrified of what I saw. And when the league found
Speaker 2: out about this, that was the end of the players
Speaker 2: getting the cup by themselves. On the logistics. What we
Speaker 2: did was our pr guy orchestrated it with you know,
Speaker 2: with the captains and that on who got it when
Speaker 2: and who wanted it when and who you know what
Speaker 2: what what went on with that, And I would imagine
Speaker 2: it's the same thing now. I imagine that Sasha Barkoff
Speaker 2: will have a big say in orchestrating that, and so
Speaker 2: will the assistant captains in not that they get it first,
Speaker 2: but in saying, okay, that's what's the right way to
Speaker 2: do this? Where should it go? But that's the ways
Speaker 2: off now because these guys will these guys will have
Speaker 2: it celebrating at it in Fort Lauderdale for for quite
Speaker 2: a bit right now, the parade and the bars and
Speaker 2: everything else where the Stanley Cup travels. But yeah, we
Speaker 2: we did a number on that. I can't say I
Speaker 2: did it, but we did. Our team certainly ruined it
Speaker 2: for everybody else.
Speaker 1: Did you attempt or anyone with the organization to implement
Speaker 1: any rules as these young players, young men went on
Speaker 1: their way with the Stanley Cup understanding that there probably
Speaker 1: was going to be some booze involved in all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, here's the thing though, with US Spence, we had
Speaker 2: Mark Messi as a captain who already wanted five times,
Speaker 2: and we had Kevin lowho had already won it five times.
Speaker 2: So we had Glenn Anderson who'd already won it five times,
Speaker 2: and we had a fetiakin in them had won four
Speaker 2: times and Craig mctavis that they wanted three or four times.
Speaker 2: So these guys knew how to do this. And I
Speaker 2: remember when Mark said to me at the party right
Speaker 2: after the game, you know we're going to take this
Speaker 2: over to Block auction house, and I said, sure, you
Speaker 2: should do that and he's, yeah, I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2: I know what I'm doing. And I thought that. I said, well,
Speaker 2: who am I to tell him, you know, the captain,
Speaker 2: the guy that actually was probably the most responsible for
Speaker 2: the Rangers winning the Cup? Who am I to tell
Speaker 2: him after he's done this five times before? So that
Speaker 2: was our that was our deal. I got to know
Speaker 2: what you did.
Speaker 1: If it's safe for radio when you had your turn too, okay?
Speaker 2: God yeah, oh no, no, no, it was safe for radio.
Speaker 2: I took it to a couple of my favorite places
Speaker 2: in New York where people I don't think they even
Speaker 2: understood is that the real thing? And is that really true?
Speaker 2: I took it to a couple of favorite places. I
Speaker 2: didn't take it home to Toronto. I don't know why.
Speaker 2: I can't remember why I didn't do that, didn't visit
Speaker 2: all my friends. If I was ever to do it
Speaker 2: again now, I would make sure that I went to
Speaker 2: the places that meant a lot to me. But I
Speaker 2: guess I was letting the players have their day. I
Speaker 2: will tell you one funny thing. It's not funny, but
Speaker 2: it's the truth. When I had it after Stephen Matteau,
Speaker 2: I actually John Hughes was my lawyer. He had played
Speaker 2: at Cornell many years ago as a captain. His daughter
Speaker 2: was Sarah Hughes, the figure skater that won the gold
Speaker 2: medal in the early two thousand. She want to hear
Speaker 2: Neil and yes. And his wife Amy that he married
Speaker 2: from Cornell was Jewish at the time and the children
Speaker 2: therefore were Jewish at birth. And their one son, David,
Speaker 2: was having his bar mitza that day, and I told
Speaker 2: John I'll bring it to his bar mitza. And so
Speaker 2: I took the Stanley Cup to David's bar mitza and
Speaker 2: something that all those kids that were there and families
Speaker 2: and that will never forget that the Samley Cup was there.
Speaker 2: So that's what I did. Very cool.
Speaker 1: Well, Nil, before I set you loose, tell all of
Speaker 1: our listeners where they can go get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Well, they should go get it. It's been a lot
Speaker 2: of fun. We did it again today. With the Stanley
Speaker 2: cupdate and this past week Pat for Beek, the general
Speaker 2: manager of the Anaheim Ducks who acquired Chris Krider from
Speaker 2: the aforementioned Rangers. Last week we had him on the
Speaker 2: show and that was very insightful. It's NHL wrap Around.
Speaker 2: You can find it on any platform that carries podcasts,
Speaker 2: from Spotify to Apple, podcast, I Heeart, Amazon, and if
Speaker 2: you want to see my mug, you can watch us
Speaker 2: on YouTube. We have a YouTube channel that all our
Speaker 2: podcasts go on, and you go to our website, which
Speaker 2: is Nhlwraparound dot com and everything that we've ever done
Speaker 2: is on there. But along with your show, Spence, this
Speaker 2: has been a lot of fun season for me do
Speaker 2: in the podcast and doing your show, and I look
Speaker 2: forward to doing it with you in the future.
Speaker 1: Certainly. I know it's the off season, but we will
Speaker 1: be bugging you soon because we have the draft and
Speaker 1: free agency and there's a lot of interest in this
Speaker 1: little old hockey club out here, the Utah Mammoth. Neil,
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for your time, having excellent week.
Speaker 2: One person, thanks for you events. I just found this
Speaker 2: out yesterday and that is that I'm speaking at Stanley
Speaker 2: Chaffie's Celebration of Life Wow on the twenty eighth, and
Speaker 2: I was informed that there was one other speaker by
Speaker 2: the name of David W. Checketts's speaking at it as well.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, yes, sir, that will be excellent, So enjoy that.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you'll kill it, knock it out of the
Speaker 1: park and have a great week and save travels Neil,
Speaker 1: thank you, sir.
Speaker 2: You're welcome, all right.
Speaker 1: The Great Neil Smith, general manager of the Rangers, the Islanders,
Speaker 1: high level scout for the Detroit Red Wings, and joins
Speaker 1: us on a consistent basis to help us understand the
Speaker 1: landscape of pro hockey. And the hockey season is now
Speaker 1: done and your Florida Panthers are the Stanley Cup chances
Speaker 1: for the second year in a row.