What do you make of this whole scenario and how it's unfolded?

It's unfortunate, I think we talked about this last time I was on, that it's ended.

Or not ended, but it's now got to this point.

I will say this, that I give him a ton of credit.

When he was booed opening night in Detroit, he was standing in his casual clothes and then he took the booze.

He took them like a man.

He doesn't have the C.

What has the... expectation and the pressure and the discussion been like around the Maple Leafs and McKenna and now that he's finally able to exhale after getting his first couple points here, how much of a relief is there?

What do you make of this whole scenario and how it's unfolded?

It's unfortunate.

I think we talked about this last time I was on that, that it, that it's ended or not, not ended, but it's now got to this point.

I will say this, that I give him a ton of credit.

When he was booed opening night in Detroit, he was standing in his, in his, in his casual clothes.

And then he, he took the boots.

He took them like a man.

What has the... expectation and the pressure and the discussion been like around the Maple Leafs and McKenna and now that he's finally able to exhale after getting his first couple points here, how much of a relief is there?

Oh, okay.

And I think it's, yeah, and I think it's going to happen within the next 10 years.

Um, uh, I've been hearing rumblings about that 36 number.

Uh, you mentioned the cost.

I was looking at this the other day because I remember when Columbus came in and, and Minnesota came in, and I think I have this correct.

I think the, the fee was, I think, 80 million or something like that.

And, and now it's just, you know, qu- 100 times more than that, billion times more than that, right? So but that, that tells me that the, the, the, the NHL is in such a great spot financially.

Uh, from afar, what have you thought of the job that the Oilers management team has done the last couple seasons?

Oh, okay.

And I think it's...

Yeah, and I think it's going to happen within the next 10 years.

Um, uh, I've been hearing rumblings about that 36 number.

Uh, you mentioned the cost.

I was looking at this the other day because I remember when Columbus came in and, and Minnesota came in, and I think I have this correct, I think the, the fee was, I think, 80 million or something like that and, and now it's just, you know, qu- a hundred times more than that, billion times more than that, right? So but that, that tells me that the, the, the, the NHL is in such a great spot financially, it's in such a great spot on the ice, that the talent that we see and, and you, you see, and all the listeners and viewers are s- are seeing it on a daily and nightly basis in the league.

The, the, the, the quality of the game is extraordinary right now, and I think that's such a, a, a great eye test for any potential owner that wants to bring a team in.

... what have you thought of the job that the Oilers management team has done the last couple seasons?

No

... and there's really not much left anymore, right? So you kinda get to the point now, we're, we're almost the middle of August, and you're thinking, "Okay, you got training camps coming up, rookie camps coming up, different, you know, guys back on the ice.

They've been on the ice for weeks.

What are these teams going to do just with the list of the free agents available at the moment? Are we gonna get some tryouts at some point?" Like, is that the direction that some of these clubs are going to go? And there was all these other potential names that, you know, are still, don't wanna play with their team, Dylan Larkin, for example.

Yep.

And I thought, "That is just wrong." So to your point again about it's now s- it started here, and it's going up to the, to the NHL level.

And I, I kind of, it bothers me only because at the end of the day, you have the owners cutting the paychecks, you have GMs supposed to do their jobs, you have head coaches supposed to do their jobs.

And also, too, if you look at the coaches in the league, it's, it's a player's league.

Mm-hmm

... a little bit more so s- than, than a lot of these other coaches that haven't played the game before.

And St. Louis, a prime example.

When Ron Prendimore was hired, I thought, "This is one of the best hires ever," to be honest, in the history of hockey, because he brings what he brought as a player behind the bench.

He was on a podcast recently, and he was focusing on so much of the mental aspect of the preparation that he, that he does for the players.

And one of the lines was, "The easy part is the game.

It's 12 to 18 minutes." And if you think about it, 12 to 18 may be the average ice time for players.

Mm-hmm.

... path they've had through two rounds?

Yeah.

Uh, I would say the, it'll be the best team they've ever had if they go on to win the Cup.

[laughs] They're, they're one of these teams in the last, what, I don't know how many years it's been, they have been a great 82-game season team.

They've been amazing, and they, and they've done it so quietly.

Like, we don't talk about them.

I don't know if you do.

... does that almost lock John Tortorella into an extension?

... path they've had through two rounds?

Yeah, uh, I would say the, it'll be the best team they've ever had if they go on to win the Cup.

[laughs] They're, they're one of these teams in the last, what? I don't know how many years it's been.

They have been a great 82-game season team.

They've been amazing, and they, and they've done it so quietly.

Like, we don't talk about them.

I don't know if you do.

... does that almost lock John Tortorella into an extension?

Mm-hmm.

Uh, because you could tell two beloved figures in the community of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva had just, had died in this incomprehensible tragedy.

And I think the people in the city were trying to, uh, well, struggling to come to terms with it and struggling to process it in the way that everyone in Liverpool is, j- j- j- j- just trying to...

In no way you can come to terms with this incomprehensible tragedy.

And so, uh, the people that I was talking to, they wanted to, you know, pay tribute and, and, and share their memories.

And, uh, it sort of...

When, when, when I was speaking to...

there was a media part of that and, and, uh, it was broadcast, wasn't it? So the, i- this wasn't a closed family event that, that you went to, it was, it was a public event?