Yeah.

Uh, I, I, I now, I, I suddenly feel a lot more confident about the Islanders.

But I, I, I'm with you, I actually do think they're gonna miss.

Uh, it would make sense if they regress a little bit, uh, and it would be, uh, uh, it's gonna be hard for Schaefer to repeat what he did in year one, especially with all the attention he's gonna get.

Uh, I would say, listen, uh, the, the big picture story, how Florida looks this year after missing playoffs, being banged up, uh, you know, uniting the Tkachuk brothers and the switches they made in goal.

You know, uh, you have a lot of people already picking them to either make the Cup Final or win the cup, and it is an older team and it's a lot to ask, but man, that team, they are built to win.

I think Paul Maurice, uh, knows exactly how- When to drop the hammer on that team and when to back off.

Yeah

But to get those extra two, so I, I think, I don't think this series is over, but I would not want to be chasing the Carolina Hurricanes down a couple games.

No, and it, it was interesting 'cause watching this game, and, uh, and there's nothing quite like being, you know, five feet away from Wayne Gretzky while he's taking in all the action a- and getting his thoughts in, in real time.

And, uh, when that overtime finished, and Carolina won, and they were up in this series, uh, he looked over, he said, he said, "Now watch Carolina i- in the first period of next game.

Because they're gonna come in like they now feel like this is their series.

They're on their way.

They're playing their hockey." And they, he said, "You wouldn't be surprised if they just jump all over Montreal." And he said, 'cause, uh, he was almost like he was putting himself on that team, in those skates, on the ice with them, and, uh, the sort of level of confidence that they would have going in there just, "We're at our game.

We know what we do, and now we know it's effective." And they can look at the other way, where they said, "Yeah, Montreal was in these games.

That's not our nemesis that has, you know, uh, that has, you know, made us fall the last couple of seasons." Like, I wonder if how much that plays into it, too.

But I'm just curious your take on this team.

Yeah, I, I, I think they, they are.

Uh, I think they found themselves in a situation where they were probably against a team in the first round that it feels like that window is really closing.

So both things were happening simultaneously, where theirs was really opening as Tampa's was close- closing and it was that close as to who was gonna move on.

And then if you take it a step further I think while they're slightly younger than the Sabres, they're slightly younger but they are also slightly more experienced because they got to play in the playoffs last year and the Sabres did not.

And maybe that is the difference, the, just the slight difference.

Both of those teams, however, I think you're gonna look at Montreal and you're gonna look at the Sabres and think this could be every year.

Is there one specific storyline that jumps out?

Does it surprise you? Do you think it's sustainable what they're off to to start?

I'm extremely surprised.

I thought, I mean, they're certainly getting some goaltending that they didn't get last year.

That is very surprising to me.

Malkin looks like he has completely new life.

He looks like Malkin, you know, five, six years ago, which I did not see coming at all.

Never would have predicted that.

I wanted to ask you, aside from the stuff that we've talked about, what else has caught your attention that you look at, whether it be an individual performance in a game, a player's season so far, or just a team in general? What's kind of stood out to you most?

line to hank by hank was uh or you're just stupid which is which is great um so you know you're you're there last night you're you're seeing this thing unfold what was your biggest takeaway from game one of the stanley cup final

I think the two things are the Stars came to play for Edmonton.

They came up in big moments.

I also found it really interesting that when they were taken away, because I thought for a while there in the second period, McDavid was taken away.

Florida did a really nice job there, sort of smothering him, clogging the neutral zone.

He didn't get frustrated.

Yeah, they took away his game for a little bit, but he came back and when he had an opportunity to make plays, he made plays.

It's like, yeah, they're just, the insane plays become so routine for them that it feels like sometimes we do take for granted this elite skill set that they both have.

Well, the Bruins felt

like, let's be honest, they felt like they were in the mix every year.

And this is a team that's gone through major changes, but was still in the mix, right? I mean, you had the consistency of leadership.

You had Char for so long, right? Char retires, and then Berger.

I mean, the most perfect handoff ever, because here's a guy that everyone respects in the league and can lead.

And then, oh my God, what are we going to do without Bergeron? Well, you have Brad Barchand, who's the heart and soul of this team.

And it was a guy when everyone's, you know, when he speaks, the entire room was listening to him and they're going to follow his lead.

Do you think they're going to regret not pushing a little harder to make sure that they have the best possible group when the playoffs start?