0:00

Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just

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wanted to let you know that

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you can listen to Oilers Now

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Prime. With threats to our nation

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fight the unknown, and through adaptable problem solving,

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we do just that. Learn

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more at marines.com. I'm

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Alex Rodriguez. And I'm Jason Kelly. From

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Bloomberg, this is The Deal. Each

0:46

week, you'll hear us in conversation with

0:48

business icons. This show will

0:50

explore deal-making across sports, media, and entertainment.

0:52

That is a harsh lesson in business.

0:54

Sports is not as simple as bringing

0:56

a bunch of big names together. I didn't want

0:58

to do another stomp you out speech. It opened up so many more

1:01

doors. The show is called The Deal. Listen

1:04

to The Deal. Listen

1:06

to The Deal on Spotify. The

1:25

deal is made up of a club and swim spa dealer. The

1:28

ideal place to start your daily

1:30

vacation on Euler's Radio 630chan. Oh,

1:37

and 25 and a half hours away from

1:40

Hockdrop thereabouts. Not that I'm counting.

1:43

On Western Conference Finals action,

1:45

your Edmonton Oilers are back.

1:48

Last time they were there, it was just two

1:50

seasons ago, but they ran it into a mighty

1:53

Colorado Avalanche side. Swapped

1:55

them right out of the deal. And we're

1:57

hoping that's not the case this time.

2:00

time around. Edmonton is two years

2:02

older, wiser, they've fortified the roster.

2:04

You've got Evan Bouchard playing out

2:06

of his skull, Dylan Holloway seemingly

2:09

in a breakout, and yet

2:11

you run up against probably the deepest team

2:13

in the league with one

2:15

of the best goal tenders, an

2:17

incredible bevy of veterans to choose

2:19

from who still contribute all over

2:21

the lineup. And then super

2:24

rookies, like literal super

2:26

rookies like Wyatt Johnson, Logan Stan

2:28

Coven is from my same hometown,

2:31

Kamloops, BC, albeit significantly younger, like

2:33

nine years younger. He

2:35

doesn't know who I am, nor does he care, but

2:37

it's a big deal to me to watch him succeed.

2:39

So this is going to be a really fun series

2:42

for that standpoint, personally speaking as

2:44

well. But I want to know

2:46

all the nitty gritty about this Dallas Stars team

2:48

and how they got through the first couple of

2:50

rounds because they too had to knock off Colorado.

2:52

They did that this year. They

2:55

also had to knock off Vegas. So

2:57

yeah, that's the last two Stanley Cup

2:59

winners that they've gone through in the

3:01

first two rounds to get to this

3:03

point. They're a good team. Let's find

3:05

more out about them. And if we

3:07

go to the River Cree Resort Casino

3:09

hotline and connect with our headliner today,

3:11

brought to you by Will Hawk beef

3:13

jerky. It's the best you've ever

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tasted. Search for WILHA UK today.

3:18

This series kind of has beef

3:20

written all over it, not because

3:22

there's like active beef between the

3:25

organizations, but because it's Texas

3:27

and Alberta. And that's just how we do

3:29

things. It's sod Yousuf joining us from the

3:31

athletic Dallas and Fort Worth as well. So

3:33

I'd appreciate you making some time this evening,

3:36

man. How's it going? Absolutely.

3:38

It's going great. What a series we have

3:41

coming up. It's going to be exciting. I

3:43

think we're all, we're all cautiously

3:45

optimistic. We are nervously anticipating

3:47

things and that is because,

3:50

you know, as, as hockey is our

3:52

main thing up in this neck of

3:54

the woods, everybody here knows exactly how

3:56

good a squad the Dallas stars are.

3:58

And I am probably. going to catch

4:00

some heat on our text line here

4:02

for maybe giving them too many flowers.

4:04

But let's start here, Sod, like let's

4:07

talk about a team that won the

4:09

Western Conference. And I don't think

4:11

it was a whole year worth of everyone saying

4:13

Jake Ottinger was playing his A game.

4:15

And yet there's there's just so many

4:17

quality players on that roster. Tell me

4:20

a little bit about what you see

4:22

with this group. Well,

4:24

I think it's what you what you how

4:27

you kind of framed it in the introduction,

4:29

right? They are so deep. And I think

4:31

the big thing and you mentioned Jake, he

4:33

had a fantastic start to the season. And

4:35

then he had a major, major dip in

4:37

which there were a lot of question marks

4:39

about his play and what he's going to

4:42

be capable of. And then he had a

4:44

little bit of a resurgence after the All-Star break,

4:46

a little dip again. And then the last, I

4:48

want to say 12 to 16 games of

4:50

the season, he finished on an absolute tear. And

4:53

after he got that one game against Vegas

4:55

game one out of the way, he's

4:58

been fantastic throughout. So I think he's been

5:00

really good. And the forwards group, you know,

5:02

I'm sure we'll talk about them plenty here

5:04

over the course of this conversation. But where

5:08

I would point the attention to most, especially

5:10

as it pertains to this matchup with

5:13

the Edmonton Oilers is the signing

5:15

is the trade for Chris Tenev

5:17

that Jim nil mate. And I

5:19

think that trade is paying dividends

5:21

in a huge way throughout this

5:23

postseason in particular, where you've seen

5:25

the Dallas Stars go against Jack

5:27

Eichel and Chris Tenev played a

5:30

major role in in limiting him.

5:32

And then Chris Tenev was basically

5:34

placed on Nathan McKinnon, the entire

5:36

series. That was his job. And

5:38

he's a very, very good defensive defenseman,

5:41

no question about it. But I think

5:43

as Oilers fans probably are used to,

5:46

they're probably accustomed to what the Dallas

5:48

Stars as well is when you play

5:50

against the Dallas Stars, usually it's Miro

5:52

Haskin in the defensive wizard

5:54

who is kind of, you know, responsible

5:56

for limiting the opposition. But now when

5:58

you have a guy like Tenev who's

6:01

so good and who's so capable of

6:03

limiting another team's best player that allows

6:05

for Miro to float around do his

6:07

thing defensively but also get more offensively

6:10

from them too. So I think when

6:12

you talk about the depth obviously

6:14

the goaltender is important and the forward

6:16

depth is obvious but I think Chris

6:19

Tenev has added to a defensive depth

6:21

in a way that was deeply deeply

6:23

needed for Dallas. And was drawing praise

6:25

on our airwaves and NHL network radio

6:27

he didn't have to give up a

6:29

first-round pick to make an acquisition that

6:31

is having sort of a first-round impact

6:34

at this at this juncture of the

6:36

season. Everybody knows exactly what they're getting

6:38

with Chris Tenev. You're watching a guy

6:40

who's losing teeth in the corner collecting

6:43

them in his glove and then returning

6:45

in you know eight minutes thereafter. Like

6:47

this is just a hockey player's hockey

6:49

player maybe a bit of a rare

6:51

breed in the modern game. I was

6:55

looking online and I couldn't figure

6:57

out the line pairings based

6:59

on any of the the beat writers like they

7:02

skated today yes who was playing

7:05

together on the back end who is Tenev paired up

7:07

with who is high skin and paired with. Yeah

7:10

you know it's actually it's actually tough to

7:12

answer that question and the reason why is

7:15

not because well I mean

7:17

if you follow the Dallas Stars this post

7:19

you know they've been playing with five defense

7:21

men virtually and so because of

7:23

that I think there's been a lot of rotation

7:25

that's been going around and also the

7:28

way that Pete DeBore has kind of chosen

7:30

to play especially I want to say in

7:32

particular the Colorado series that Chris

7:35

Tenev had to be on the ice when Nathan

7:37

McKinnon was on the ice so sometimes

7:40

that meant that he was playing and he's

7:42

the right shots and and Dallas has two

7:45

studs left shots and Miro Hayskinen and Thomas

7:47

Harley so you compare either one of them

7:49

with Tenev when he's on the ice and

7:51

then and then you kind of go on through

7:53

I think I think

7:56

when you look at Dallas the defensive

7:58

pairings in particular that's kind of the

8:00

challenge to even decipher for

8:02

those of us who have been watching them

8:04

closely. I can tell you throughout the entire

8:07

season it was always Harley and Hayskin and

8:09

playing together. It was Lindell and Tana playing

8:11

together. It was Lundquist and Souter. Those were

8:13

the pairings when the regular season was going

8:16

around or when it was the regular season.

8:18

But once the playoffs hit and

8:20

Dallas decided to shorten his bench and Mills

8:22

Lundquist is basically playing two minutes a night

8:25

just to get a little bit of cardio in every night.

8:27

I think when

8:29

you put it that way I think that's

8:31

where you're having a lot of trouble even

8:34

deciphering how they're pairing up because I can

8:36

tell you that okay Miro's playing with with

8:38

with Tana but that might not always be

8:40

the case as the game progresses. Yeah that

8:42

makes a lot of sense. We've got Saad

8:44

Yousuf on the line right now. He is

8:46

the beat reporter for the Dallas Fort Worth

8:49

area for the athletic meaning that we

8:51

might have to sneak in a football question at the

8:53

end of this maybe. As

8:56

far as the deployment of the defense goes though

8:58

Saad now you've got five guys there and you've

9:00

played 13 games of hard

9:02

hockey through the last two Stanley

9:04

Cup champions. Five days

9:06

off from the time that they put

9:09

away Colorado to the time that the

9:11

puck drops tomorrow. I imagine that was

9:13

a pretty critical bit of a down

9:15

period there considering especially the injury to

9:17

Ropehintz. Yes

9:19

absolutely and I think you nailed that.

9:22

The defensemen I think are fine on

9:24

you know getting a few extra days

9:26

rest that's all good. They're

9:28

all playing a little bit more than

9:31

they usually would if there were six

9:33

defensemen that were being used by Dallas.

9:35

Ropehintz is the one that is you

9:37

know he didn't finish that series and

9:39

Pete DeBore when he was asked if

9:41

he would have played in the game

9:43

seven against Colorado he said it was

9:45

doubtful so Ropehintz really wasn't close to

9:48

really getting back on the ice. So him getting

9:51

extra rest was important. Pete DeBore

9:53

said today he told the media

9:55

that Ropehintz individually he didn't practice

9:57

with the team but individually skated

9:59

extensively with which is a good sign. I

10:02

don't know for game one availability, but

10:04

moving forward at some point in this

10:06

series, Rope Hintz will be back. And

10:08

I think, as you mentioned, the

10:10

few days in between is really important for that. So

10:13

many of the headlines this year have gone

10:15

to Wyatt Johnson and then I guess later

10:18

in the season, Stankovin and that dynamic duo

10:20

that they formed or Haskin in for that

10:22

matter as well. But I get the sense

10:24

that Hintz is a tremendously impactful player, like

10:27

all over the ice for this Dallas group.

10:30

Yeah, I've said this for years. I've covered this

10:32

team since 2021. And

10:35

I've said for years, Rope Hintz is the best

10:37

forward on this team. And I know Jason

10:39

Robertson will have back-to-back 40-goal years and

10:41

Wyatt Johnson is doing what he's doing.

10:43

And it's incredible. All of that stuff

10:46

is spectacular in its own right. But

10:48

Rope Hintz, for the two-way game that

10:51

he provides 200 feet, I think

10:53

it's unmatched on this team. And that's why when

10:56

you saw the Selkie voting, I believe he was in the top

10:58

five for that as well. He certainly

11:00

got my vote in the top five.

11:02

But I think that's the thing.

11:04

His offense and his defense, his

11:06

skating, his shooting ability, his

11:09

playmaking, he really does

11:11

provide everything. And then also his

11:13

presence allows for Wyatt Johnson to

11:15

constantly be a mismatch because then Wyatt

11:18

doesn't have to play against the other

11:20

team's top lines and top centers because

11:22

Rope Hintz is drawing those matchups. So

11:24

I think Rope Hintz in many ways

11:28

is the engine for this for this forward group at least.

11:31

These are two very seasoned teams going

11:33

at one another. And when you look

11:35

at, I mean, the average ages are

11:38

gonna be all over the map because

11:40

you've got the likes of Joe Pavelski

11:42

of 39 years old, Corey Perry, the

11:44

same for that matter. What I

11:47

noticed is the difference is Dallas' veteran

11:49

players are right up there in terms

11:51

of their points contributors. Jamie Ben, 60

11:53

and 82. We

11:55

played every game this year at 34 years old. And

11:58

Jamie Ben is a playoff. Key

12:00

players are not that I need to

12:02

tell you that spot for the sake

12:04

of as see, no matter, sane and

12:06

thirty three a sixty five point resurrection.

12:08

This year they have experience and that

12:11

experience is a huge part of the

12:13

production that's moving this along. So side

12:15

I distinct of saw a really good

12:17

equation to have going at that this

12:19

time of year especially but I wonder

12:21

what your perspective is on non maybe

12:23

easy to hone in on. say Joe

12:25

Pavelski. I mean what a season he

12:28

had regular season wise, every game played.

12:30

As well and the leadership that he must

12:32

bring. Yeah, I

12:34

think Joe Joe fantastic. And like you said,

12:36

the leadership goes a long way for sure.

12:39

And when you look at the other veterans

12:41

whether it's Tyler Seguin, Jamie bad matter, sane,

12:43

I even love Mason Marksman in there. I

12:45

think I think the secret Service and and

12:48

I think it's something to you guys are

12:50

probably familiar with as well as a lot

12:52

of be a lot of where these clerics

12:55

produces about circumstances. I think of Jamie Benn

12:57

with On the Top Line and look. To score sixty

12:59

seventy points they are. You know in the

13:01

season I don't think he would get their

13:03

i don't think he would be a good

13:05

but now Jamie Benn is a third line

13:07

player And dollars because that's just the amount

13:10

of deaths. That the Dallas Stars have though

13:12

it does always. Kind of

13:14

move back around to those young players in

13:16

the Young Talents that allows those older players

13:18

the play in the proper role feel much

13:20

like the way that they have that kind

13:22

of playing up there and another guy the

13:24

it doesn't. Take away at all

13:26

from what they're doing. but it helps. When

13:29

you're playing in the right situation, the

13:31

right circumstance in order to get your

13:33

production up and I think you've seen

13:35

that up and down the line up

13:38

with with guys in Dallas including Jamie

13:40

Benn, Ah, Joe Pavelski, You know, Go!

13:42

Joe Pavelski of course like he's a

13:44

fantastic player. That he a great

13:46

leader, but it doesn't hurt When you're

13:48

you're You're spend most your time and hours

13:51

playing on a line with Jason Robards General.

13:53

Pay him like that. Helps Joe Pavelski be

13:55

Joe Pavelski. very good

13:57

point sod use of on the line and i

13:59

have one One more question for the beat writer

14:02

for the athletic and that is the impact of

14:04

Peter DeBore because I think that we've seen obviously

14:06

a track record here five of

14:08

six years. Is it in the Western

14:10

Conference final whether it's San Jose, Vegas

14:12

or now in Dallas? When you're

14:15

around this team, what is the aura around

14:17

Peter DeBore and why do you think that

14:19

he's had such success this way? Yeah,

14:22

I'm really glad you asked that because

14:24

I think lost in all this, everything

14:26

with the players

14:28

and how deep the stars are is

14:31

the conductor and I think Pete DeBore

14:33

has done a fantastic job, not just

14:35

this season but really since he's been

14:37

here since the start

14:39

of last year. And the number that I always

14:42

kind of roll out that really indicates of how

14:44

good Pete DeBore has been. Over

14:46

the last two seasons, the Dallas Stars are

14:48

the only team in the NHL that have

14:50

not gone three straight games losing in regulation.

14:53

On the regular season, on the playoffs, they

14:56

just don't go on these long losing skids

14:58

because Pete DeBore knows how to right

15:00

the ship, get things right and he

15:03

also knows how to make players buy

15:05

in. There's a banner outside the

15:07

Stars locker room that says something

15:09

to the tune of a little less for a

15:12

lot more. And every

15:14

player has signed it and Pete DeBore after

15:16

the season opener in St. Louis, the

15:19

Stars went on a little team retreat

15:21

in Palm Springs in California and Pete

15:23

DeBore gave a passion speech about how

15:25

everybody needs to be willing to sacrifice

15:27

whatever it is, whether it's your role

15:29

on the power play, how many minutes you're playing

15:31

a game, whatever the case may be, you have

15:33

to be willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

15:36

And everybody's bought in and to be honest, to

15:38

go back to your previous question, Joe Pavelsky

15:40

plays a big role in that because

15:43

Joe Pavelsky was Pete DeBore's captain in

15:45

San Jose. So he has

15:47

a great facilitator there for his message and

15:49

everybody's bought into what Pete DeBore is selling.

15:52

And I think you're seeing the results of

15:54

that throughout the lineup. On

15:56

the gridiron side, I am a

15:59

huge. Houston Texans fan. I

16:01

have been for like well over a

16:03

decade. It's been a tough long time,

16:05

but let me tell yes I'm jacked

16:07

up these days as a the best

16:09

football team in Texas right now. What

16:11

you're saying and so you're talking about

16:13

Doc earlier. He

16:16

I do think the Houston Texans are the

16:18

best football team in in in the state

16:20

of Texas which obviously a thinking a lot

16:23

when you have the Dallas Cowboys. But you

16:25

know when you look at the talent that

16:27

they have been. When you look at you

16:29

know what they've done and to me it's

16:31

just about what had the way that the

16:34

even approach did their success. I think last

16:36

year I you know somebody it answers you

16:38

fall the Houston Texans. You know that the

16:40

success last year was surprising because of how

16:42

good. He. Is a shrugged was immediately

16:45

by and they didn't They didn't just

16:47

sit on their hands that total their

16:49

thumbs. This off season the way down

16:51

they got stuff on Big Big Ah

16:53

Joe Mixon they got better and I

16:55

think I think there are better football

16:57

team straight up if you if they

16:59

played the Dallas Cowboys which they will

17:01

be season of I believe they're better

17:03

than the Dallas Cowboys in that way.

17:05

And then I also think just by

17:07

virtue of their division I think that

17:09

division is now I was there cupcake

17:11

division because you do after Overlords and

17:13

said Jacksonville. Jaguars where a decent team, but

17:15

when you look at the cold in the Titans

17:17

you just don't have a lot. So I think

17:19

the Houston Texans are not only a better team

17:22

than the Dallas Cowboys straight up, but I think

17:24

Sarah a better situation overall as well. Done a

17:26

real good job for saying the roster much the

17:28

same way. I think both of these hockey team

17:30

sounds saw that was awesome st you so much

17:33

for jump aboard, deceiving and enjoy Puck drops tomorrow

17:35

Nine and thirty to have a barn burner. As

17:38

the way things are have many times

17:40

as sad as Assad use as you

17:42

can find him on that acts let

17:44

me bring us is handling this has

17:46

p jump i don't want to send

17:48

to dethrone spots it is as a

17:51

H D Y O U S U

17:53

s. One. to six must

17:55

have been one hundred and twenty

17:57

five other side useless on acts

18:00

We better take a time out. I'm

18:04

Alex Rodriguez. And I'm Jason Kelly. From

18:06

Bloomberg, this is The Deal. Each

18:09

week, you'll hear us in conversation with

18:11

business icons. This show will

18:13

explore deal making across sports, media, and

18:15

entertainment. That is a harsh lesson

18:17

in business. Sports is not as simple as bringing

18:19

a bunch of big names together. I didn't want

18:21

to do another stomp you out speech. It opened

18:24

up so many more doors. The show is called

18:26

The Deal. Listen to

18:28

The Deal. Listen to

18:30

The Deal on Spotify. On

18:33

a night cold enough to freeze your bones, a

18:36

prospector searching for a legendary cursed

18:39

gold mine vanishes without a trace.

18:42

I'm Crew Williams, the host of

18:44

Dead Man's Curse. This season, we

18:46

retrace the steps of fortune seekers

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looking for a motherload worth billions

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who never came back. Join our

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for and follow Dead Man's Curse

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Volcanic Gold on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

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Amazon Music, and wherever you find

19:01

your favorite podcast. This

19:07

is Oilers Now with Bob Stocker

19:10

on Oilers Radio, 630 Gen. Hope

19:16

you don't mind a little self-indulgence there on my

19:19

part. Get an NFL reporter

19:21

on the air. I had to talk a little

19:23

NFL, but I saved it for the end. Hope

19:25

you could tolerate it. This is going

19:27

to be a great hockey series. Like I know that's kind

19:29

of a stupid throwaway line

19:31

to say, but there

19:34

is so much star power on

19:36

both of these teams. And I'm

19:38

just really impressed with what I

19:40

saw from the stars when

19:42

it mattered most for Edmonton, not the

19:44

Dallas Stars, Edmonton Stars

19:47

in the the

19:49

shot blocking that I saw from Dry

19:51

Sidal, from McDavid, the willingness from players

19:53

to take a hit to get the

19:55

puck up out of the zone that,

19:57

you know, maybe during the regular season.

20:00

January would have been a flubbed

20:02

pock or a turnover. That

20:04

has really been minimal, like really

20:06

minimal. So you can tell that

20:08

they understood the magnitude of the

20:10

situation and saying that we're not

20:12

going to fumble this. We,

20:15

we've worked way too hard to get to

20:17

the point against this, this good Canucks team,

20:20

but I think Edmonton had to look themselves long and

20:22

hard in the mirror and say, we know we're a

20:24

better hockey club than Vancouver. We,

20:26

we got to step up and be who we

20:28

know we can be. You

20:31

can do that in every game

20:33

against Dallas and potentially still not

20:35

win this series, but I loved

20:38

the signs that I was seeing

20:40

that tell me that this team

20:42

is capable of rising even further.

20:45

Every, every time that you know,

20:47

you go, I

20:50

guess I think about how many times did the,

20:53

the early Oilers have to

20:55

go through this, walk past the

20:57

other team's dressing room, learn a

20:59

little bit more about exactly what

21:01

sacrifices need to be made. And

21:04

then suddenly it's game seven and we're watching

21:06

a broadcast where there's a kick

21:08

save blocked shot and thinking, holy smokes, Connor

21:10

Brown. Nice. No, that's 29, not 28. Well

21:14

done, Leon. Different atmosphere.

21:17

That's what we love about the

21:19

game at this time of year. Seven

21:21

eight Oh four nine six zero zero

21:23

six three is the number to text.

21:26

I asked you what makes you believe that

21:28

this team can get past the Dallas stars.

21:32

We just spent a lot of time

21:34

singing Dallas's praises. And Richard says full

21:36

respect to Dallas for sure. Super deep

21:38

team, no weaknesses, but Edmonton is 10,

21:41

eight and two in the last 20 regular

21:43

season match ups with them. The

21:46

Oilers can absolutely hang with the

21:48

stars. Oilers in seven says Richard,

21:51

uh, Panthers, pancakes, text in the show. It's

21:53

going to be a tight, long series. And

21:55

the reason that I'm hopeful is that the

21:57

Oilers have the advantage with special teams. the

22:00

top six most importantly the

22:02

X-Factors in 29 and 97. Stars are

22:04

deep and

22:07

tough and net but the Oilers

22:09

prevail in six so we've

22:11

had a couple prognostications there. Kamek

22:13

says I think the Oilers completely

22:16

or complete defensive turnaround is

22:19

thanks in part to Paul Coffey being on

22:21

the bench and that's going to be a

22:23

huge factor in this Dallas series says Kamek.

22:25

The team's ability to take away the shots

22:27

that they do and the movement on the

22:29

penalty kill is going to be huge. I

22:32

agree Kamek I mean they really batten

22:34

down the hatches game six they bail

22:36

out all of 15 shots

22:38

that was nearly a franchise record

22:41

in an elimination setting and then

22:43

in game seven there was just

22:45

not the same A-grade danger chances

22:48

they found a way to limit it and they're gonna have to

22:50

maintain that same standard against a

22:53

very potent Dallas offense. Alright we'll

22:55

send it off to Randy Kilburn

22:57

for a global news weather traffic

22:59

update. Bring it back with our

23:01

NHL insider John Shannon.