[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: The following program is brought to.
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The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast.
Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot. Thank you, Scott Gezy, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Our second podcast of the week, of course, on Tuesday we had an Interview with Mike McAdam, Archette Horse Racing rider, as the Belmont Stakes Festival gets underway on Wednesday and runs through Sunday, of course highlighted by the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
Big news, of course, in sports, it's the championship rounds of the NBA and Stanley cup playoffs.
In the NBA, it's going to be the Indiana Pacers against the Oklahoma City Thunder Finals matchup. I don't think anybody saw coming Mark Kessiser, the voice of the NBA on ESPN Radio and Tim Reynolds, who covers the NBA for the Associated Press and a member of the New York State Basketball hall of Fame. They'll join me for our NBA roundtable that we have every time during the finals and we'll discuss the matchups and have some breaking news out of that segment. So actually two segments with Tim and Mark. So enjoyable conversation with them and a lot of insight into this final round.
And then the Stanley cup playoffs. It's a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final. It's the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers getting underway Wednesday, I should say the NBA Finals start on Thursday.
So it's the Oilers and the Panthers in a rematch. And Pierre McGuire stops by, our good friend and NHL analyst. He'll break down that series for us. So a lot of great basketball and hockey championship talk here coming up on the Parting Shots podcast. But before as we head into break, like to take a moment to remember Loretta Sweat, the actress who played Margaret Houlahan, I should say Major Margaret Houlihan on Match for 11 glorious seasons, a classic TV show.
Her character was regimental, strictly army of course had the was hanging out with Frank Burns, a little bit of affair there. But Major Houlihan's character grew over the years and he got away from Frank Burns, married Donald Panaschat, divorced and really became a well respected character on that show. And of course her nickname was Hot Lips and that sort of that nickname disappeared over time because this how strong of a character Major Hoolan had become. So and I may I'm kicking myself because I've been wanting I wanted to interview her for the longest time just to talk about playing Margaret Houlahan. Of course she's also many game shows, a match game, the ten thousand dollar and twenty thousand dollar period. So she was a pretty good game player as well. But she's going to be missed. She passed away last week at the age of 87. So we salute you, Loretta SW.
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Hi, this is Andrew Catalan of CBS.
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[00:04:13] Speaker A: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shinner.
[00:04:17] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast and the NBA Finals tip off. On Thursday, it's an all central United States final between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. And our NBA roundtable will preview the NBA Finals with the Voice of the NBA on espn. Raider Mark Kessiser and the New York State Basketball hall of Famer Tim Reynolds, who still signs his checks hof, right, Tim?
[00:04:42] Speaker A: I do. But at that point, may I make a quick announcement?
[00:04:47] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: I would like to tell you and tell the listeners that they got the order very wrong.
But our friend Mark Kestershire is a member of the class of 2026 of the new York State Basketball hall of Fame.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Breaking news here. Breaking news.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Hey, if there's anybody to follow into this great establishment, it is Mr. Reynolds. I was very fortunate to have the last Sunday of the NBA season off and I'd seen Tim in Miami previous to that and told him I was hoping to come if I could get it off. And little did I know that 12 months later I'll be joining everybody. So it's, it's an incredible honor. Blew me away and thank you.
[00:05:34] Speaker C: Well, I guess now you guys, you guys got to, I'm gonna have to pay you guys to come on the show.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Well, the funny part is that so Rennie LaRue, who runs, you know, the state halls of fame, you know, I did not know the procedure once, once you get in, they teach you the secret handshake and all of that. That's all very exciting. I can't wait for Mark to learn it.
But I said, how does.
Once you're in, how do we nominate some people that I think are worthy of getting in? And. And when I mentioned that I would like to nominate Mark and how he has to get in, Rennie said to me, yeah, you're like the sixth guy who said it already got to get in.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Well, I thank you for trying anyway. And that was really cool to get a call.
You know how it is during NBA travel season.
My phone's ringing. It's a 518 number. Normally, I don't pick up anything that's just a number. And it said Troy New York on it. And I'm like, you know what? I don't know if this is a friend or a relative.
Someone's not in my phone. I better pick it up. And I'm getting on a flight to Minneapolis to head to somewhere, you know, connecting through Delta during the postseason. And hi, this is Rennie LaRue. And I'm just like, oh, did I leave my cufflinks at the last.
And it turned out that he told me I was nominated and quickly accepted, which was. Floored me. I said, you know what? I'm not gonna board right now. Let me. Let me catch my breath, and then I'll board the flight after. It's pretty cool.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: That's Danny Green, also part of the class next year, by the way.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: Yes. Who I did. I did a game with for the very first time just a couple months ago. I saw that name pop up.
I have to write down all the analysts I've worked with over the years, and I think the latest new guy would be Danny Green.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: All right, so PJ Going to come with for the ceremony.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Only if there's like five star Italian. We'll pick the best Italian restaurant in the capital region.
And, you know, if someone could get us on their very exclusive golf course, we get those two things. I got a shot.
[00:07:41] Speaker C: Well, running. Probably get some Italian food for pj. Carlos. Carlosimo.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that'll be the easy part.
[00:07:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Getting him 3,000 miles from Seattle might be the harder.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
Well, let's talk about the Finals. I mean, I'm trying to. I'm trying to think when was the last time we did not have an east coast team and a west coast team battling.
I said all central United States. I mean, I would say Midwest, but some people consider Oklahoma in the Southwest.
But this is really an intriguing matchup. Not sexy markets, big markets like New York or Los Angeles, but I mean, two teams that really, really worked their way into this position. What do you think, Tim?
[00:08:26] Speaker B: You want to take that first?
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Well, I'll defer to the broadcaster since it's a sense of. I'll defer to the broadcaster on this one.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Okay. Well, I'm sitting here in my head trying to think the last time haven't had, you know, both posts and I don't think it goes as far.
Yeah, well, there you go.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: The broadcaster remembers, you know, how long ago it was.
I think look from, from our shop.
Obviously many narratives are pushed on the league's great players and the glamour, quote unquote cities and the glamour franchises of the NBA. But I think anybody who's had a pulse, who has watched the postseason, if not the whole season, certainly saw Oklahoma City coming. And you know, they're, they're bigger than the market size. I had to, I don't pay attention to market sizes. When I found out Hartford's like 20 market sizes higher than Oklahoma City, I was like, really? But you know, Indiana, if you're paying attention since late stages of December and really since we turned the calendar to January and I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I know I was doing some research the other night, these are the two best teams in the NBA since that point. Indiana got off to a slow start this year. I think there were 10 and 15 at one point. And so whenever that date was forward, you literally have the two best teams. So I think we have potential for great basketball. I'm a little concerned because Oklahoma City's been so darn good and they've, you know, all these little markers that young teams need to reach and pass and usually fail at. They seem to be getting by and getting better at. So, you know, they may be overwhelming to Indiana. I hope that's not the case.
But Pacers for Carlisle had a right Great quote. 49 other states. This is Indiana. So basketball is huge there. I think it's great. I hope it draws in folks from all over the country, from those coasts, and I hope the basketball draws them in because really that's, that's the most important thing. I think we got the two best teams.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Well, we definitely got the two best teams since like you said, since the first week of January.
I mean, you were right. Indiana was 10 and 15 and they've won 50 something games since then and, and look pretty impressive in a lot of them.
The ratings are going to be bad. They just are. And, and, but it's also an antiquated formula. We all know that we're in this world I think basketball fans will watch.
I think basketball fans should watch.
If you don't watch, you're going to miss out because they're young teams, different. I mean we, everything that we've been hearing for the last decade, the NBA has too much isolation.
Well, these teams don't play any ISO. So there's that boring style.
There's, you know, too much LeBron, too much whatever. Well, it's not a boring style. They're both high octane, they both run after makes and misses.
There's young stars, the reigning MVP and Shay Gilgis Alexander an Olympic gold medal and Tyrese Halliburton. So you can pretty much go ahead and put it on the 2028 Olympic team for the LA Games if he wants to be there as well.
So you've got one of the current and future faces of USA Basketball now the one of the faces of the league in Shea.
I, I don't know what's not to like about it. The ratings will be bad. But at the end of the day and I'm, I'm right as we sit here and taping this, I'm actually halfway through a column where it's not the hottest take in the world. But my stance is basically who cares?
There is this 76 billion dollar TV deal that starts in July.
The ratings for this could be Senator Bukarski 0.0 and it would not hurt the NBA one iota. The as high is paid for the next TV deal kicks in.
You are going to develop new fans of the Thunder and Pacers. When these teams are on the Christmas day lineup next year, people will know them, people will watch them.
You've seen this growth from teams. You saw Milwaukee when Milwaukee got good and Milwaukee got to a final.
You saw Giannis become more of a household name. You saw the jump with Phoenix. You've seen the, you know, Miami didn't wasn't a ratings darling and then the big three happened and they really haven't been that team now for a decade and they still drop pretty well.
Once you introduce the quote casual fan to new teams, they tend to like those teams.
I think this is a great thing for the league. Even though the Twitter machines, the day after games when the ratings come out are all going to be like the NBA is toothless and blah blah blah and it doesn't mean a thing.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: Yeah, the way you consuming games. I mean I don't know if the ratings that Nielsen ratings take into account people watching on YouTube, the streaming services. I don't think that's taken into Account by these Nielsen ratings.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: I don't even know how they work anymore. I know that anytime my house gets called, we have to declare it and say media.
Yeah, I know they've been working on that. Especially you know, with NFL Sundays bar watching.
You would think in an era where they can see where we are every moment our cell phone is on, which is attached to our bodies 247 basically that you'd be able to track that kind of stuff.
So antiquated.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: But certainly drives Madison Avenue, you know, as a network. You take those numbers to the ad sales places and you know, it's been a long time since I had to sell my own advertising shout out Albany's radio sales advertising chief of 1990.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Back.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: When I was getting thirsty on board as a post game sponsored.
[00:14:50] Speaker C: Back where you had a mustache, right?
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Yes, a mustache and a little bit hair and it was dark.
Yeah, it's Tim's right. It's, you know, we're gonna be probably. I mean it wasn't long ago ratings were tanking before that. You might go back to early 2000s, maybe spurs and Nets, you know, with low scoring basketball. I'm with Tim. I mean, ratings don't matter at this point really. I mean they do. My job kind of depends on it, I guess. You know, as a, a member of ESPN, ABC, Disney.
But the 11 year deal is done.
You know, the 2.7 billion or whatever my shop is, you know, putting into the pot. I always like to say, does that come with seats also? I don't know. We'll find out.
But I think the most important thing is to Tim's point, and having traveled around the country a little more aggressively the last six to eight weeks, starting to see those blue number two Shea uniforms and not just in the state of Oklahoma.
That is a fascinating process. You know, Oklahoma City wasn't even on the Christmas Day schedule, which, you know, is hard to believe now that we, you know, look back on what they've been able to do. But being front and center, having the MVP people now learning about not only which Jalen Williams is which, but just how good the all star Jalen Williams is.
And Chet Holmgren being in and out with injury and now being back to almost full strength and then they have like three better defenders than they're all, not better, three really good defenders than they're all first team defender Luke Dorrit. I mean that's the process of getting the masses to see this team. And then it really doesn't matter where you live because Tim's Right. You saw Miami Heat jerseys in the Pacific Northwest, and you'll see Oklahoma City jerseys on both coasts. That's just, you know, how it works, especially when the younger fans, who largely buy a lot of that material, you know, get to see their heroes and stars. And what we hope for, as those who document what happens in the league is that you love the freshness. And I know we haven't talked much about Indiana, but I've been on Oklahoma City now for like, the last month. So it reminds you of these young teams that come together, that embrace the media, that embrace the fans, that play great basketball, and you just wonder, boy, how long can this window last? Because they are a joy to cover and it's fun to watch them learn. I think the rest of the country enjoys seeing them come along as well. Fans will jump on. And same thing for Indiana, who made two straight conference finals and finally gets back to the championship round.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: There may be one.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Let me tell you a story about the Gilgal Xander jerseys, if you don't mind me jumping in.
What Mark said a minute ago, kind of like one of my things, like the thing I do, because you have to get to a game so early and there's not a ton to do once you get there. And until it starts, I always take a lap or two around the concourses and I try to go to the higher ones. I try to go to where the, quote, real fans are. And I'm not really talking to anybody. I'm just taking a lap and just seeing what's going on and just trying to get a. A feel, a feel for the crowd, a feel for the building. I'm not. I'm not an OKC often. You know, I'll. I'll look forward to seeing that building Thursday night and just getting a sense of what it's like. The Panthers played the Maple Leafs and in the Stanley cup playoffs, and I saw not one, but two. And I know he's Canadian, not one. But to shay gilded sales Xander jerseys at a Florida Panthers game, and I can tell you they're the first two I have ever seen at a Florida Panthers game. And I was hoping to find somebody like a maple Leaf jersey with Gilgis Alexander on it, but that. That. That didn't happen.
That would have been perfect. But he is very slowly becoming more and more mainstream and to the point, Mark also made about how, look, we're all just, you know, chained to our phones 24 7.
This does not factor into the Nielsen ratings, but through yesterday, through, I should say through Monday, as We sit here taping this through Monday, just from the start of the play on through the conference final.
Shay Gilgis, Alexander and Tyrese Halberd, their clips of plays on the NBA social platforms have been viewed 1.6 billion billion. Just those two guys.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: Just those billion with a B.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: You can take the 6.6 Nielsen rating for game one and say this is a dud, and measure it by. And who are these 1.6 billion people that are clicking on these plays from these two kids?
[00:19:48] Speaker B: It's a great point. And there's. There's so many different ways that our next generation is absorbing. I hope they're watching games. I don't know if they're watching full games, if they're into highlights, you know, how they're even accessing them. And that doesn't even begin to talk about the rest of the world.
And Shay Gilberts being Canadian and being Canadian, you know, even Canadian ratings are going to be a part of what we end up seeing as Nielsen ratings. So world ratings, North American ratings, I'm sure the league will have some better measure of what we're going to get of Oklahoma City and Indiana as this thing progresses.
[00:20:27] Speaker C: Well, Castor, you mentioned that you're seeing a lot more Oklahoma City jerseys. I know one city that won't be wearing Oklahoma City jerseys, the former home of the Thunder, the Seattle SuperSonics. I don't think they're rooting for Oklahoma City.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Well, it is the number 13 media market, Ken, So they're going to help the Nielsen ratings by tuning in and.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: Rooting for the pace, you know? You know, that's a good point, Tim. You know, work working with a Seattle guy. I consider PJ A Seattle guy. He was the Sonics coach, and ironically, he was the first coach for Oklahoma City. When they relocated him, I think it was 08 09.
So he is my gauge of what the people of Seattle are thinking about this. And it's quite apparent, at least through Mr.
That he's like, if Oklahoma City win the championship, that's their first time. Because when the signs come back and they're going to get their history back, apparently it will not include anything Oklahoma City, as successful as that team has been since relocating, they do not count the 79 championship as an Oklahoma City Seattle championship. So there is a great division between the cities. And I think there's just a high anticipation Seattle will have expansion if and when that ever happens. And at least according to the research I've done, 2008 and back, you know, to whenever Seattle came in the league in the 60s, that that history will go to the new phonics if there is new Sonics. But you're right, they don't root for Oklahoma City.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: I know that that is correct, that when Seattle, and I do say when Seattle gets it back, the history converts with them. It's funny because, you know, Gary Payton won't let his jersey be retired by the franchise because he doesn't want the number hanging in Oklahoma City, for example. And the funny thing was, as you know, I, and, and the Pacers took some, there was some grief about this and which I don't think was fair at all because I think Reggie Miller is a, I, I think he's a wonderful broadcaster and he happened to be an Indiana Pacer, and I think he combines the two elements very, very fairly to have Reggie out there for the, as the quote, Pacers legend, if you will, for the Eastern Conference championship trophy presentation.
We were all laughing kind of before the west one, like, who's getting.
I'm like, well, wait a minute. Kendrick Perkins would probably be somewhere around there, like, have Kendrick Perkins, lovely man, great career.
I think legend might be a tiny, teeny, tiny bit of a reap. And I, he's a very big, scary human being and I don't want to get him mad at me by saying that. You know what I mean? Like, it's so trust me, when I, I, I have written, I've made mention of how, depending on who you ask, this is either their second time in the finals or their fifth.
And I don't get a ton of reader email. I, I really don't.
I'm not Ken Shaw. I don't, I don't, I don't, I.
[00:23:38] Speaker C: Don'T get any either.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: None of us are the.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: But boy, oh boy, when I mentioned how the Thunder franchise is trying for its second NBA championship, I am about as unpopular in Seattle as if I was the guy that said, you know what? Don't hand it to Marshawn.
I think they get about that angry. So.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: Well, the one thing you'll notice at center, the home of Oklahoma City Thunder, when you look up, is the lack of retired jersey. I'm pretty sure Nick Collison's four. I think it's four. He's the only one. Yeah, the only one up there. We saw Nick a number of times, I think some just college games too, back in the day. He and PJ Orchard are still pretty tight.
And obviously Russell Westbrook will be up there eventually. Russell's helping design. We have a new arena either at 29 or 30, actually just starting the demolition on the site, which is across the street. I think they were beginning when we left town last week for the Western Conference finals.
So you would think Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and this whole new crop of Oklahoma City thunder down the line. And it's kind of fun to watch Sam Presti, the president and architect who came over from Seattle as well.
Tim, I don't know if you have more success speaking to Sam. I know PJ Worked for Sam and they have a relationship and even when they talk with an earshot, I can't hear a word. I mean, it's amazing how low key he has kept it. I can never tell how he's feeling about things. I can't read his face.
He's just done an amazing job taking the franchise down to the stunts and rebuilding it and rebuilding it into a winner. I would say so quickly. Mark Daigno probably figures, well, those first two or three years weren't as quick for you guys as it might be, you know, for us in the building process. But it's been pretty remarkable from a city and an airport that I said I'm probably never coming back here again. Right before the pandemic, when I saw the way things were going, you know, to now, spending our time in OKC just like we did, you know, you know, 10, 15 years ago is pretty remarkable.
[00:25:53] Speaker C: Well, guys, let's take go ahead, Tim.
Let's take a quick break and we'll have more of the talk on the NBA Finals with Mark Hessister of ESPN Radio and Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
[00:26:13] Speaker D: Explore the benefits of subscribing to the Daily Gazette like our convenient E Edition.
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[00:26:31] Speaker D: Hi, this is Daily Gazette sports reporter Will Springsted. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. We're previewing the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder with Mark Ketchison of ESPN Radio and future hall of New York State hall of Fame member and the current New York State Basketball hall of Fame member from the Associated Press, Tim Reynolds. Tim, you were about to say something before we went to break. What were you going to say?
[00:27:00] Speaker A: I don't have a clue.
[00:27:02] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: We move on. Listen, the the pod, the Parting Shots podcast we feel quickly we sing with Live Gamma around here. We, we move right on. I I, I I.
The Seattle thing, the.
You know, first of all, I. I have. I am not anywhere near. Well, I'm not cool enough to hang out with PJ Carlisimo like Mark is.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: He has to hang out with me. I don't think he wants to.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: He has to see every podcast appearance where I say, what? Yet still no dinner invite.
[00:27:37] Speaker B: I.
Oh, we have to get. You know, the problem is you actually work. Like, we get all.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: I don't. I don't do that much anymore.
[00:27:44] Speaker C: And. And don't forget. Don't forget, you guys. Sand almost fire coming up right in Indianapolis.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: But I'm guessing. I'm guessing PJ isn't a Hairy or St. Elmo guy because there's just not a lot of Neapolitan cuisine on the menu.
[00:27:58] Speaker C: He doesn't see that.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: He does. He does love himself some steak also, so he can pivot. He found a new place, I think. Is it 57 prime? I can't remember the name. It's only a block from Gainbridge Field House. We found it during the Eastern finals last year, so that's one. And backing up Oklahoma City. I'm going to definitely get a hold of you to see if I can get you. Michael's Grill is not downtown okc. It's about 15 minutes away. His absolute favorite from when he was a coach. You know, when they were figuring out Oklahoma City. In the early days, there was. And then there's Mahogany's, which is right downtown, which I'm just. Just. If you're. If it's after one of the games, it could be midnight, go to Mahogany's. I might be there with him, most likely.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: But this is. PJ will be critical because everybody, when they come to okc, think it's just Mickey Mantles. And it's not just Mickey Mantle.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: Oh, and Mickey Mantles is good. But Michaels is one. No one knows that. You would never know. I mean, you drive 10, 15 minutes through some really nice neighborhoods, and then all of a sudden, you're in a strip mall parking lot. Where are we? And then you open the door to Michael's and it's like old school Italian. Like you walked into hoboken in the 50s. Nice place.
[00:29:17] Speaker C: Let's get back to the basketball.
I make you hungrier.
Let me ask you guys about the Thunder. Me? A few years ago, this was the worst team in the NBA, and one of you guys mentioned the phrase the process.
The process did not work for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Thunder never called it the process, but it worked. Why did it work for the Thunder and not for the Sixers?
[00:29:40] Speaker B: Oh, well, we're comparing here. I'll tell you why it worked for Oklahoma City at least why I think it worked. I mean they, they identified Shay Gilgeous Alexander and took him from a team that was just looking to build a super team, you know, in the model of the early part of the century. And they traded Paul George. This is the Paul George series. We'll get to that at some point.
Traded Paul George for Shay Gilders. Alexander was just a rookie with the Clippers and they got five first round picks if I'm not mistaken. And one of those picks turned out to be Jalen Williams and well, they picked two Jalen Williams in that draft a couple years ago, but Jalen Williams from Santa Clara.
I, I, there are a lot of teams who missed on him. So that's a Sam Presti, that's his organization, you know, finding the right person.
And then, you know, they had Lou Dort who was another, you know, great, not even drafted, was expected to be drafted, didn't get drafted is there. He's the, the two longest standing players with Mark Degno who was an assistant under Billy Donovan and then took over after the bubble with Shay Gildas, Alexander and Lou Dort. Dort turned out to be one of the great defenders in the league. And now you're just adding pieces from there. You know, they tanked and got Chet Holmgren as a number two selection and then they mature and then the last fear happens. They end up as, you know, the co best record in the west and the number one seed. And what do we need?
We need another big guy, Isaiah Hartenstein. They take him off the Knicks. Alex Caruso has finals experience with the Lakers and they already drafted case in Wallace and Aaron Wiggins again identified by an outstanding group at Oklahoma City for young talent, for college talent.
And you know, I can't give you the comparison between why it didn't work for Philly and why it worked for Oklahoma City, but it's the perfect to me. Tim, you can back up on this. It feels like the perfect plan of me of contract status of draft capital.
They've got three picks in the draft coming up, including two in the first round and 13 future first round pick. So what do you do with all those picks? You can't have all these young players, you can't stock them up. Well you can if you're Sam Bresty because he's going to pay his top three and then guys that are outstanding role players are going to be guys they're going to move or and they might even get more draft capital for those guys. And the young guys like Casey Wallace is a perfect example. Like no one wants to lose loot door. But at some point when his contract comes to his end rather quickly, I think next year case of Wallace is the perfect guy to sit in there and slide in for him. And now your salary chart goes down because you're not paying big money. You're key but ancillary backup guys. So maybe that's the answer in itself for 29 other teams too is that it hasn't. It feels like outside of injuries this has been built perfectly well.
[00:32:51] Speaker A: So to compare the processes, I mean they lose Chad Holmgren twice and they, they endure. They survive. The problem with Philly process was it had to work a certain way. Like you had to bring in certain guy like Joe Alan. Be can only play one position. Obviously he's a five.
He's a incredibly dominant five. He co best center on earth when healthy five. I mean he's right. I, I don't when he's healthy, which I don't know if he ever will be again. But they were not built with versatility in mind. They were built with.
They were built in kind of a Philly style. We're going to put our head down, we're going to do this.
If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't Often the Thunder style was more of a thinking man's approach. Like they've got guys who can play two or three positions or play the game two or three different ways.
Their process was to have 40 guys on a roster of 15 to have guys that could play two or three different spots.
They have always have at least three and usually four certifiable ball handlers on court.
They've got a ton of length. They have identified length as the do all be all in their defensive skiing. They're super long and it works for them. Their defense is incredible. We don't talk about it enough. Their offense is incredible. We don't talk about it enough.
It. It. It was just.
It was just done far more smartly and, and yeah, maybe with a bit more patience. And, and. And there is a huge advantage that they had. You're Oklahoma City fans. Here. You are the Yankees. Here. You are the everything. Here. You are the Yankees.
You are the Ranger. You are everything.
You're the hockey team. You're all of it in Philly. If you don't win, it's not like they don't care they're not going to love you here. You're all they had, so of course they love you. And that bought them time, that bought them the ability to be patient.
So it's a combination of health, luck, smart, a patient fan base, patient ownership.
A good plan from Sam Presti. You mentioned in detail all of the draft capital that he has. There's going to be some enormous contracts to keep this team together, which they can do. People don't realize that you can do that in this NBA.
I think.
I don't know anything.
I think when we get to the draft, Sam Presti is going to take a good chunk of that draft capital and try to move up in this draft and get another really good player who they can be on, who they can cost control for four years. Because if you get any of those first round guys, you know what they're making for four years, you control that. So you can sort of set your budget now, okay, I gotta say a million dollars a year here in a few years. I gotta do this for Jalen Williams. I gotta do this with chat.
That leaves me with this much. If I bring in a stud first rounder this year, a lottery guy who I've got to pay 30 million to over the next four years or whatever it is. I mean, honestly, if I'm, if I'm Sam Presti, I take five of my future first rounders and whatever else outside of your big three players, and I call Nico Harrison and I'm like, you guys want Cooper flag or can I have.
They have all of the cap. And I'm not saying Nico would make another questionable phrase at best, but he's got all the capital.
They have more options right now than anybody in the league, and they've got a really good team that's just starting to come into its own now, it's going to be tough to pay them all.
I get all that. This is the first finals and what ever where two teams haven't paid the tax.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: These are two franchises that have done it the right way. Now they're gonna have to pay more to keep doing it, and they know that.
But the process here, I think the biggest difference, to go back to Ken's question an hour and a half ago, before we started rambling on, it was the Oklahoma City fan base allows the Thunder to be patient in a way that most cities, not just Philly, in a way that most cities will not allow their teams to be.
[00:37:35] Speaker C: Oh, I, I being from Philadelphia. Yeah, I know, I know that my son listens to Sports Rail 94 WIP. And you just hear even, even when they're winning, I mean, even the Eagles, I mean, people complain. So of course they won a Super Bowl 59 in great fashion. But I mean, people still, you know, you got to do this, you got to do that. Well, now that's why I try not to listen to sports talk shows a lot, but get sucked in sometimes.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: It's the only super bowl champion ever where Big Dom is more popular than the head coach.
[00:38:08] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: It does not make any sense.
[00:38:13] Speaker C: Let me ask you about Rick Carlisle, the Pacers coach. He won a championship coaching the Dallas Mavericks.
If he wins this title, does it give him a good shot at making the Basketball hall of Fame?
[00:38:27] Speaker B: I think so. I think what he's already accomplished, you know, he probably doesn't get enough publicity, you know, for what he's done, for how successful he was as a young head coach in the NBA and, you know, having to make his way after, you know, what happened in Detroit early in his career to winning his champion finpwick Dallas to being the head of the coaches association. He's incredibly well respected, very smart individual. We had a very, I called it a very easy Western Conference finals. Talking to head coaches as Mark did. Not a lot of fun once you kind of crack through initial exterior because nobody really knew who he was, you know, for two or three years, his first, you know, three years there.
And Chris Finch is, you know, one of the all time great guys to sit around and talk basketball with. And my counterpart, Sean Kelly had a Tom fibon love. But, you know, isn't exactly in the five minutes you get with him, gonna be warm and fuzzy and open up about things and you know, the same thing could be said for Rick. He's always got this thing look on his face. Maybe it's just me when I walk in, but it's always the same, what are you doing here?
And then once you ask a question, he's very thoughtful, obviously very smart, and has so many great NBA stories.
So again, I've rambled way off your question, but I think the simple answer is yes and maybe doesn't even need another championship to do it. I don't know. I'm. I'm a Rick Carlisle fan. Maybe because he's a former patroon, I don't know. But maybe he's from Oxenberg. Maybe that counts as well.
But I've always been a huge fan.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: So I was gonna say don't face from Lisbon. I did that once and boy, did he get Lisbon Central is not Lisbon, New York people, that's, that, that was, that was, the less I took from that. I think he's already, he's already going Springfield. I don't think there's any question if they get climbed in the series, who cares? I, I, he's won a championship as a player, he's won a championship as a coach.
The way he's led the coaches association, I mean, I don't know what the term is for that position, but he's been president of the NBCA now for like 15 years or something crazy with no end in sight.
He loves doing it and people love having him.
And I think one day too he'll follow myself and Mark and get into the New York State Basketball hall of Fame. I think he's probably, you know, he's a borderline pick for that these days. But I think if he just continues working hard and applying himself because he can be like us.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is a good chance.
[00:41:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I think one, one year maybe, maybe. I think he would have to win this series probably to, to really have a chance at 27 to get in Rick Carlisle.
So we're all in media and we all can understand this. And I think, Ken, I think your audience is probably pretty smart in that they've learned a lot about you talking about media over the years.
And it's easier, it's just easier for us to tell a good story if the subject is mildly cooperative.
Rick is not always cooperative, but that's not a bad thing. Like you need to go not 10 rounds with Rick, but you need to go around or two with him.
But then like Mark said, when you get to the good stuff, wow, is it the good stuff? Like it's really good stuff. He's incredibly, he's, he should have been a lawyer. That's the family business up in Ogdensburg, not Lisbon.
You know, his father, I think, practiced law into his 90s up there. Like he comes from an incredibly smart family.
I love his demeanor on the sideline. He's the only coach in the NBA that acts like he's got a resting pulse of about 22.
I think he out coached the heck out of Tibbs in the east final.
He had a brilliant game plan for Cleveland.
We just don't give the guy his due. And I think in part of that because he doesn't care about getting it.
This is, and Mark Daniel is, he's not one of the all time greats yet. Only because he's 40.
This guy is so impressive, you know, Student manager at Yukon, part of a national championship there with Coach Calhoun.
He goes to Holy Cross. He works for, you know, he works for George Bay. And he, he, you know, is tutored by Ralph Willard. He ends up on Billy Donovan staff with the Gators. He actually leaves Florida before Billy because Sam Presti offered him a chance to coach the G League team here. The Blue Billy comes to Oklahoma City, would have it a year later, cementing Mark's place within the organization.
Mark meets a girl at uf, a gy, a former gymnast there who's on the coaching side staff.
She stays behind in Gainesville. Mark comes here, she ends up coming here. She gets a job with Oklahoma. She just won her seventh national championship as a gymnastics assistant coach.
Three with the Gators, four with the Sooners. Mark Daniel isn't the best coach in his house.
And, and, and he, He's. He's. And he's as good of a coach as anybody in the NBA. So it's a fascinating coaching matchup. And it goes back to what we were talking about. My way off that there's a lot of reasons to watch this series. If you want to watch. If you're a coach and you want to learn from sport coaches, you tune in and you watch these guys. If you are a parent and you want your kids to learn how to play point guard, you have them watch Alex Caruso and TJ McConnell, because your kid is not Tyrese Halbert or Shay Gilgis Alexander. But you watch these two quintessential backup point guards that are just so incredible at what they do.
You just want to watch for the star power. You watch for shy, and you watch what you watch for. Tyrese. There's so much to like about this series, and the coaches are definitely one element of it. And Rick Carlisle, a good man of upstate New York, Section 10, not Section 2 or Section 7. So, you know, we don't care that.
[00:44:53] Speaker B: I was wondering about that. Section 10.
[00:44:55] Speaker A: He's a section 10 boy. He's a section 10 boy, but he's. He's played at Potsdam. He's played in the Plattsburgh PBA with the great Mike Dean. He's.
Rick Carlisle was salt of the Empire State stock. And, you know, if I have a soft spot for guys like that, then so be it.
[00:45:12] Speaker B: I remember the. The first time I met Rick was an early TV game. Some. Somehow ESPN wanted to give me a shot at tv, and it was Mavericks, I don't remember, maybe Utah. And I was in that. Why?
Yeah, exactly. Why we need somebody.
So Terry Stotts I knew because Terry was George Carlos, assistant with the patrons. And back in those days, when I was actually going to the hotel gym on a regular basis, I went down to get a workout and I saw Terry and he goes, have you ever met Rick Carlisle? And I said, I don't know how. I've never met him, but no, I haven't read on the Ellipse Columbia.
And he introduced me, mentioned how he knew me. And then Rick goes, you know, I was a former patron, right?
And at that point I was in college during the Muscleman.
So I thought I knew all of those 88 Albany patroons, but did not remember. And I don't think it was as well documented in those days. This was probably about 20 years ago that Rick Carlisle was a foreign patroon. So my first conversation with Rick Carlisle was actually more about the Armory and his days there and how Bill Musselman found him, et cetera, et cetera, big smile on his face. So I felt like once again my entire adult life, it all centers around patroon stories and who you know and who was there, who won a CBA championship. And so every time I see Rick, I think he also. That's what he thinks first too is patroons. Because we always end up on some kind of Albany story.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: It makes me think of one thing I left out of that speech, which by the way, I think it's. I think I'm still talking.
How did I leave out the Armory? I had the. I left out the Armory. I feel so terrible. The art. Because it people, unless you're from where we are, you don't know what it is. But man, it has played a role in all of our lives so much it's crazy.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: That is true. And now that you say that, and I have a year to figure out what I'm going to say, remember, 10 minutes, right? That's maximum 10 minutes. I saw a guy getting yanked off the stage for the class of 25. I will make sure there's an armory reference somewhere.
[00:47:25] Speaker A: Just make sure Mike Dean does not speak.
Speak. Speak slowly or else Mike Dean may have federal investigators outside your vehicle.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: He's still sharp tongue at whatever age he is now. It was. It was fun to see Mike.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: We won't repeat the line, but it's all I need.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: It was a good one.
[00:47:50] Speaker C: Well, let me get you just quick thoughts. End of an era. This past Saturday with the end of the Eastern Conference Final, TNT's last NBA broadcast, your thoughts on their influence on the game and how much are they going to be Missed.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Tim will probably have a better response.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: To this, but Mark's response is nana, Nana.
[00:48:13] Speaker B: So long, suckers. No, I have to say this. I don't think people realize enough.
For ESPN Radio, our schedule, which is, you know, maybe 50 to 60 games a year, that half of it, maybe 40, I didn't figure out the numbers. Let's just say half for round numbers. Half of it are games that are on Turner. Thursday night is a big night for us. And why? Well, it's an exclusive game Thursday nights and Saturday night, Sunday afternoon. Those are exclusively with no local television. Great for ESPN radio. We get nice broadcast locations and there's no local tv. So the long way to say we've spent a lot of time over these years with Turner people. Now, the behind the scenes people who work the technical aspect, the cameramen, the audio folk, the directors, producers, you know, some of the technical folk actually switch back and forth. They're not full timers. So we see them all year long. But the producers, the talent, and I'll speak about the bubble because, you know, for what an odd circumstance it was and to be away from family for months at a time, those guys became my family. The Kevin Harlan's, the Spiro Deedees, the Iron Eagle, the, you know, Stan Van Gundy, you know, we worked with Stan, Reggie Miller, you know, by association and others.
They were class, class guys to us behind the scenes. I think folks, fans realized when they watched, you know, the class that they brought, how much they, how much the NBA meant to them. They handled it with care. And you could see the, the sadness that for many of them, it's not continuing after the other night. So, you know, for me it's, it's a different feeling because it was, you know, you heard family talk a lot on the air. These are our family. And for those of us that travel with, you know, little families during the season, you can understand the pain of that breakup. And some will be together in other forms, you know, whether it be at NBC or at Prime.
But, you know, they did a fantastic job. I think their love and care for the league is what I'll remember. And also the fact that, you know, they helped out, quote, unquote, the competition. You know, espn, ABC is kind of the competition. But I thought Turner and Disney, as NBA standards came, were true partners from the day I first did a remote event in 2003 until the last time I had them in the second round.
[00:50:41] Speaker A: So I'll say, I'll say it like this.
The competition, I thought, did make both sides better there's that, that there's no question and there's more than one way to do things right.
You know, Disney, abc, ESPN does things their way. Turner, TNT did things differently and, and both were just the, the winners were those of us who got to watch and listen and see it. I mean it was.
You never cringe when you were like oh this game's on Turner. Oh, this game's on espn. Like it was great because you were going to get Devin Harlan or Mike Green or you know, Craig Sager. God bless us all. You know, we're going to be entertained and you're going to learn something.
I go back to the All Star Game this year and that 18 minute awkward, awful tribute that TNT paid to itself during the actual final of that completely botched tournament and it, it soured a lot of us.
Like what are you guys doing?
What is this like it.
So I was really worried that Saturday night was going to turn into that and I thought Saturday night hit all the right notes and hit them perfectly.
Everybody got time to speak. Ali laforce joining, you know the table at the end for the sign off from the table with, with Kevin and, and Reggie what Kevin Harlan said that was beautiful. You know we're sad but we're not you know I mean we're happy because we've done this and people are moving Kevin Harlins as he's not, he's not cast assurian but he's not bad.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: Other way around the.
[00:52:40] Speaker A: And then you get to the TNT guys and I've, I've been lucky to know Shaquille now for more than 20 years.
I've been lucky enough to be at.
[00:52:49] Speaker B: His home only once I was like.
[00:52:52] Speaker A: You know I was not, I was not asked back but I think I was the same. Guess I just, I was back after the one time to see Shaquille o' Neal cry just tells you what this meant to that I didn't the whole. The stuff at the end. You know we're going to talk to the other network and we're telling them we're. We're coming not to mess around.
That wasn't necessary. But Charles, the way Charles and Ernie handled it. I mean Ernie Johnson could not get the words out practically.
You know how he's choking up and he just, he's the perfect sign off was thanks for watching It's DNA on tnt. Why say anything up? It's what it is.
Charles was so magnanimous and thanking everybody who gave him this magnificent life. He's Charles Barkley.
He's given them the magnificent life, not the other way around. And, and, and he, and he turns it and he.
What Charles said was beautiful.
Absolutely.
Barkley is not at all the guy that he acts like on set.
You know, he, he made a comment once about, about how San Francisco has gone downhill as a city, and you would not believe the unpublicized lengths he went to during All Star Week to fix that statement.
How giving he is, how generous he is. People think, oof.
And he kind of is, but he's not at all. He's got a heart as big as he is. And it's just been such a great show. It's been such a great program. But the NBA moves on and it, it's now going to be slightly different storytelling.
I know some of the people who are going to go to prime.
Prime is going to bring in a lot of former players. Some names, you know, some names you don't get. There's a lot of, there's a lot of players still in the league who are going to prime in the next couple of years.
It's going to be a great product. Not going to be ESPN Radio. It's going to be good.
It's just so much fun from a storytelling standpoint right now. But to, to sum it up, I thought Saturday night there was not one element of the farewell from Cambridge Field House that I think Turner wished it had. That Turner wish it had over. I think Kevin, Stan, Reggie, Alley crushed it and then Shaq, Kenny, Ernie and and Chuck were pretty close to perfect as well.
[00:55:38] Speaker C: Well, gentlemen, enjoy the NBA Finals. It'll be a lot of fun to see two teams that normally don't get to the Finals battle for the trophy and enjoy yourselves. And Pastor, as you had seen, almost fire.
[00:55:52] Speaker B: I appreciate that.
[00:55:54] Speaker A: Panthers in six, baby. Panthers in six.
[00:55:58] Speaker B: And if the NBA Finals could get some length, that wouldn't be so bad either. And much like this podcast, and I don't think it was by design, but I'm looking forward to like we did in the conference finals last year, telling the story.
Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nimhard and Aaron Neesmith. They also have great stories coming over to Indiana and, you know, I hope that their clutch play and their pace can, you know, infuse something in this series to throw something at Oklahoma City that. Not that it can't adjust to because they can seemingly adjust to anything, but I hope, you know, can turn this into a really interesting basketball series. It would be a great finish to what's been a very exciting season that Nobody saw, you know, these two teams at the beginning of the season being the last two teams. So looking forward to it and my end.
[00:56:53] Speaker A: I'll leave you with this.
Unequivocally take it to the bank.
My NBA Finals mvp Sergey, for props.
[00:57:06] Speaker B: That's how you end the Ken Shop podcast right there.
[00:57:09] Speaker C: Well, that's a great leading because I appreciate you guys coming along because coming up, we're going to talk about the Stanley cup playoffs with Pierre McGuire. How do you like that, Tim?
[00:57:17] Speaker A: In the, in the, in the third hour of the program.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: We get to do a phone drop. Kenshot does not. There's more to come, folks. Don't go anywhere.
[00:57:27] Speaker C: All right, guys, appreciate it once again and enjoy the finals.
[00:57:30] Speaker A: See you, boys.
[00:57:31] Speaker B: All right, you got again, Tim. I'll see you in okc.
[00:57:34] Speaker A: I'm here, baby.
[00:57:35] Speaker C: I'm waiting for you. All right. All right, Sounds good. Safe travels, Kusty.
[00:57:40] Speaker B: All right, brother, talk to you soon.
[00:57:42] Speaker C: All right, that's Mark Kester and Tim Reynolds. I'll be back with Pierre McGuire in just a moment here on the Parting Shots podcast.
What are you doing out there?
[00:58:06] Speaker A: Come on, I saw you at the game the other night.
[00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah, you up there getting mad, acting like we're all out there making a million a game.
[00:58:15] Speaker C: Let me be real with you.
[00:58:16] Speaker A: This isn't the pros.
[00:58:18] Speaker C: It's school sports.
[00:58:19] Speaker B: And it's a game, our game.
So please let us play school sports. Fans, remember, when you cheer for your team, make noise for the right reasons. This message presented by the NFHS and the NIAAA and all student athletes in New York.
[00:58:36] Speaker C: Hi, this is Mike vecchione of the 2014 National Championship Union College men's hockey team. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports sports editor Ken Shop.
Welcome back to the podcast. The Stanley cup finals is will get underway on Wednesday. It's a rematch of last year final between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. And to help us break it down is our friend Pierre McGuire. Pierre, how are things going? It's June. It means Stanley cup final time.
[00:59:01] Speaker D: Yeah, it really does need to visit with you. You know, I think, Ken, the biggest thing about this is a rematch a lot like 08 and 09 and Detroit and Pittsburgh played in 08. Detroit won and 09. Pittsburgh won. And I did both of those series for NBC Sports with Eddie Olczyk and Doc Emerick. And I can tell you the passion and the energy levels were palpable.
The nastiness in the series because it was back to back Was tremendous and I think we're going to have another great Stanley cup final this year because of the sense of familiarity between Florida and Edmonton from last year.
[00:59:35] Speaker C: Yeah, they went seven last year. We have Florida scene was going to be a sweep last year.
Edmonton came back to win the next three and made things very interesting in game seven down in Sunrise. But the Panthers prevailed for their first Stanley Cup. I mean this. The Irvington organization has been involved in repeat finals before too. If you think about back in 1983 loss to the Islanders and then came back the next year and won that series then at the Islanders dynasty. So is this time for Edmonton to repeat that performance from the mid-80s?
[01:00:07] Speaker D: Yeah, all these kids playing weren't born then, but yeah, it would be a good time for them to try to repeat that. There's no question.
I think game one has never been more important in a Stanley cup final because if Edmonton can dent Florida and beat them in game one up in Edmonton, I'm not saying we're plant the seed of doubt that would cause confidence issues for Florida, but. But I think it would show their team that they can overcome a lot.
And part of that is obviously the injury to Zach Hyman. If they were able to win game one and give them a lot more confidence. I think in the series, if they lose game one on home ice, it plays right into the.
The bully boy mentality of the Florida Panthers. And I say that with respect, not with a lack of admiration. Florida is just a tremendous team. They really are.
[01:00:55] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean you look what Florida did to Carolina. The Hurricanes had home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference final and the Panthers not only won game one, they won game two and they were. That was except for game four. They dominated the Hurricanes in that series. It just was a business like effort. And it seems like this is going to be another matter of a business like effort against the Oilers.
[01:01:17] Speaker D: Well, Florida's not fun to play against. And then they go out at the trade deadline and they add obviously Brad Marchand from Boston, who he was a first line player in Boston, was the third line player in Florida and they had Seth Jones who was really a nondescript player in Chicago. And now all of a sudden he's playing in their first tandem.
You know, it's just amazing to see what happens with Florida and the key acquisitions they make at the professional level. If you look at their fourth line when everybody's healthy. AJ Greer came from another organization. Tomas Moshe came from another organization.
Jonah Gadjevich came from another organization. They've Done a magnificent job in identifying players from other organizations. And just to take it one step further, Sam Reinhardt's from another organization. Sam Bennett's from another organization.
Nico Mikola is from another organization. These are their professional scouting in Florida. And their ability to team build is phenomenal. Really is.
[01:02:16] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, you look at what both the Panthers and the Oilers did in their conference final series, I mean, you thought with the way Dallas, you know, scored five goals in that third period in game one, you thought, Dallas is going to have a easy time to beat Edmonton. All of a sudden, Edmonton turned up the defense. Dallas is scoring dried up. Same with Carolina. They're scoring dried up in that series as well. What is it about these teams that they're so superior defensively?
[01:02:43] Speaker D: Well, I just think they've both been deep into the playoffs and they understand that great defense meets the better offense. A lot of times everybody talks about wanting to go to the Stanley Cup Final, but until you've been there, you really don't know what it takes. I've had the good fortune of broadcasting 16 of them and coaching and two of them and, you know, it's just, it's different. It's. Until you've been there, you just don't know. You can fantasize about it all you want, but I think the experience factor for both these teams is huge. You know, obviously the third trip we've already talked about it can't wisely so about Florida going for three straight times now, and for Edmonton, it's two straight times. That's a lot of experience for both teams and a lot of sensible, you know, recent experience for both teams. So I think that helps both teams a lot.
[01:03:29] Speaker C: I'm glad you brought up the fact that you were a member of those 91 and 92 cup teams with, with the Penguins. When, when the Penguins got back to the finals in 92, obviously it was a different coach. Bob Johnson was the night coach in 91, unfortunately, passed away a few months later from a brain tumor. Scotty Bowman's there. What was the atmosphere like getting back to final and that course.
Is it tough with you or is this. Was it, you know, the first time you win the cup excitement, but the second time, is it more business, like you say, okay, we got. Yeah, we got back to the final. So here's what we got to do. I mean, does it make it easier to. Knowing what you have to do to repeat?
[01:04:11] Speaker D: I think it's easier because you start to realize how difficult it is, but you also don't Panic. We were down three games to one to the Washington Capitals in the first round. We had to win game five and seven on the road. We were able to do that. We didn't panic.
We lost Mario Lemieux in game two, the next round against the Rangers, a game we lost because Adam Graves slashed. Mario Lemieux broke his hand.
And so we were able to overcome that without panicking. I think the experience from 91 helped our team understand not to panic at big moments in the Stanley cup final, the run to the Cup Final. And then that team in 92 did something that had never been done before and has never been done Since. We won 11 straight games to win the Cup. We beat the Rangers three straight in the second round. We beat Boston four straight in the Eastern Final, and we beat Chicago in the Stanley cup final. 4. Nothing. We never panicked. That's the experience that I think we got from 91. So it does matter. It matters a lot.
And I think both these teams understand, you know, you can't get panicky or jittery over the course of a playoff run, because if you do, chances are that will affect the outcome in a negative way.
[01:05:22] Speaker C: Speaking of panicking, because I remember the 92, game 492 file. Mike Keenan, the head coach of the Blackhawks, pulls that belt for puts on dot, puts in Dominic Hasek. We saw in game five of the Stars Oiler series where Jake Ottinger gets pulled, pulled after giving up two goals on two shots in a game they Dallas desperately needed.
Is that you? Is that what the sign of. When that happens, does the other team realize they got the. That the other team by the throat?
[01:05:54] Speaker D: I. I still. Pete, I want to be transparent with your listeners.
[01:05:58] Speaker C: Pete.
[01:05:58] Speaker D: Deborah is a really good friend of mine.
I've watched Pete coach in a lot of different environments, whether it be World Junior, whether it be with the Kitchener Rangers, whether it be with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils, the San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights. Now, obviously, Dallas. I broadcast a lot of his games. I. I worked a lot of his games over time. I really admire Pete.
He made a big mistake. That was a. That was a pretty bad mistake. And it wasn't so much that he pulled him, it's how he was pulled and the body language. And they're just.
I think his team became frustrated talking about Dallas, and I think the opposition knew that they had opened up another wound and that Dallas was pretty exposed. And I think that created some problems in, you know, the deciding game. I really do.
[01:06:47] Speaker C: One player I like to talk about is Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers. He's 40 years old. He's back to another cup final. What keeps him going and the fact he's. What he won a couple of the 2007. He's been to the cup finals ever since, you know, 20 towards the stars, the Canadian 21, the Lightning in 22 and 23 and the Oil is the last two season. What, what makes Corey Perry such a special player and still effective at age 40?
[01:07:17] Speaker D: He's a hockey player. He's not the fanciest guy. He's not the cutest guy. He's just a hockey player.
He would be a disaster analytically because his tempo wouldn't be any good.
He's just a hockey player. He's fearless. He cares more about team than self. He can play as your fourth line player. He'll never pout. He can play as a first line player, which he'll have to do in this series because of the injury to Zach Hyman. He does so much. Ken, known Corey a long time. Watch him win a Memorial cup in 05 with the London Knights. Watch him win a world junior gold medal playing on the line with Sidney Crosby and Patrice Berger on 2005. Watch him win the Stanley cup in 07. Watch him be part of the Olympics in. I mean, I can go down the line in Vancouver. There's so many things with Corey that, that stand out. But the number one thing to me, Corey Perry is an amazing hockey player. He's not the fanciest guy. He's not the fastest guy. He's not the slickest guy. He's just a hard guy. He's just a really hard guy to play against.
[01:08:18] Speaker C: Paul Maurice, I mean he's, he's been around coaching a long time because he was like in his 30s when he started coaching the National Hockey League with the Hartford Whalers.
What is it about him that. And he seems, he seems to have, you know, loosened. I mean he's just, just observing from far away and I don't know the man at all. It seemed like maybe earlier his career he was like rigid, stiff. But he seems, he's a genuine funny guy. I mean, I, I have. He ever. Whatever it decides to step down. He could be, you know, get into the broadcasting business with the way he talks with. What is it about Paul Maurice that makes him such a great coach? And if he wins the cup again, does he go into hall of Fame?
[01:09:02] Speaker D: Well, I'm not going to talk about the hall of Fame part because I'm on the committee.
[01:09:05] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:09:05] Speaker D: And we're pretty, we're pretty careful about talking about openly about hall of Fame candidates, pro or con, so I'm going to avoid that part of the question. But what I will say is Paul's an amazing communicator. He knows how to create roles for his players. He's gotten better at that over time. His bench management skills have really improved over time. And the biggest thing that I've seen with Paul, he delegates authority amazingly well on the bench. So I look at Jamie Compound, who's on the bench right next to him, was with him in Winnipeg as well. Jamie does a great job making in game adjustments. I look at Fomo Rutu, who's also on the bench with him. He works with the Fords. He does a fantastic job. And then I look at Sylvan lefave and he's been empowered to change their defense and look at the growth of the Florida defense. Look at how improved Seth Jones is. Look at Nico Mikola, look at Gustav Florling. You look at all the defensemen that are there right now and how much they've improved over time. It's just absolutely amazing. Even Aaron ekblood, who's a first round pick way back when, you know, in 2014, first overall.
So I, I think Paul's really gotten better as a coach when it comes to delegating authority. That's an important part of the business today. So your voice doesn't get old. And Paul's voice resonates with his players. I think he's done a great job of that.
[01:10:25] Speaker C: Alexander Barkov, how much of a leader is he for the Panthers?
[01:10:29] Speaker D: He's a phenomenal player. This is one of the few things I can say in 2013 when he went second overall in that draft, Nathan McKinnon went first.
I, I was looking at people and I'm going, they just stole him. I just remember how good he was over in Finland and just Dale, Dale Desert. Dale Talon deserves so much credit for making that pick because there were a lot of people that, you know, thought Seth Jones should have gotten number two behind Nathan McKinnon and maybe even Seth Jones should have gone number one, but he went number four. So Dale Talon deserves all the credit on that one. Sasha Barkov's a superstar. He is a superstar player. He's calm, cool, collect. He's big, he's skillful, almost impossible to play against if you're another team star player. He sacrifices points to play defense. Not a lot of guys want to do that today.
He's, he's an amazing player.
[01:11:21] Speaker C: But that pass he made in game five to set up the game winning goal was just incredible.
[01:11:25] Speaker D: Yeah. The plan of her Hagee, you're talking about walking off the icing line. That's a spectacular play, you know, and you look at it now, everybody's going to blame, you know, Carolina's defense didn't do this, didn't do that. How about giving credit where credit's due. That's just a spectacular, spectacular athletic play by one of the better forwards in the National Hockey League.
[01:11:47] Speaker C: Hockey in Florida is thriving. We see that. The Tampa Bay of course won numerous Stanley Cups, went to three straight cup finals and, and cup finals in different ways because you know, one was the COVID Yeah. The second one was a shortened season coming out of COVID and then, you know, losing the regularly way in 2022 to Colorado. Now the Florida Panthers. For years it seemed like Sunrise was basically an empty spot.
Not many Panther fans. If anybody was in the games, it was the opposing teams fans. But how important and how much has this market grown for the Panthers with this run they're on now? It seems like now you have just Panther fans all over the place.
[01:12:28] Speaker D: Market's growing unbelievably. There's one thing in common between both teams. They have amazing owners. Now I know Jeffrey Vinnex is in discussions to move on from, from ownership in Tampa, but he's still part of the ownership group right now. But he's been a major part of it in Tampa.
He's really identified the importance for pro sports team in downtown Tampa and he's done a great job building it with Julian Grisbo's general manager and before that Steve Iserman. And you know, the Viola family has been amazing in Sunrise. And it's not just the hockey business, it's the concert business, it's everything. It's the horse business. They're an amazing athletic family.
I know Mr. Viola really well, really respect them a lot.
And then you know, obviously bringing in Billy Zito was really smart. Billy's done a fantastic job there.
So I, I give a lot of credit where credit's due. I think ownership matters and both teams, Tampa and Florida over in Sunrise have tremendous ownership groups. That makes a big difference.
[01:13:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
What will it take? I'll break this down. What will it take for the Panthers to win the series and then what will it take for the Oilers to win this series?
[01:13:38] Speaker D: Yeah, for Florida it's pretty simple.
Sergey Bobrovsky is going to have to be better than Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. I think right now Tail of the tape, he wins that. Florida's got to come up for a game plan to shut down Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Corey Perry.
And if they do that, that makes it really difficult for Edmonton. And the third thing for Florida is they have to play their nasty Florida game without taking penalties because if they put Edmonton on the power play more than three times in a game, they're probably not going to win that game. So that that's going to be really important. Those are the three things I think for Florida, for Edmonton, stars have to come out and play. We already talked about, you know, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Corey Perry, Leon Draisaitl. Those guys have to elevate big time. Evan Bouchard's another one. Has to elevate big time. Edmonton can't spend a lot of time defending in their own zone. So that means that they have to, you know, do a good job transitioning the puck from defense to offense. And I think for Edmonton, they've got to be over 55% in the face off circle. If they're not, I think it becomes a really hard thing because they cannot play without the puck as well as the Florida Panthers can play with the puck. Florida will really frustrate them if they dominate the face off circle. So those are the three things for Edmonton and I think the biggest thing is game one.
Edmonton's got to prove to Florida that they're a different team than they were a year ago. And if they win game one, they'll have proven that. If they don't win game one, I think it becomes a really difficult formula for Edmonton to figure out.
[01:15:16] Speaker C: Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch this series.
I appreciate you doing this, Pierre. We always have fun talking hockey and hopefully come college hockey season in the fall here, we'll see you maybe at a Union game. With the television package that the ECAC hockey has was sny.
[01:15:33] Speaker D: Yeah, I hope so. That would be excellent, number one. Number two, I'm really pumped for the new building in Schenectady. I think that's fantastic. I know that rivalry between RPI and Union, especially with the new coaches. Well, relatively new at Union and brand new obviously over in Troy.
So I'm looking forward to that. Doug Christiansen, the commissioner of ECAC has done an unbelievable job with the league and the league will just continue to get better and better with Doug's guidance.
[01:16:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I've known Doug since his playing days at Union, so we go back a long way. So Yeah, I mean, you're not the only one to say, look for the new building. I'm excited too. I got the press box on the side after 30 years of seeing the end zone press box.
[01:16:19] Speaker D: You're right on about that, Ken.
[01:16:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing to me. Colgate, for years a star rank, had the press box at the end zone and it's like Harvard does and that's not the place. It's tough to see sometimes at the other end of the ice what's going on.
[01:16:32] Speaker D: But yeah, don't forget Hobie Baker arena down at Princeton. Press boxes at the back.
[01:16:37] Speaker A: The ring too.
[01:16:38] Speaker C: Well, not only Hobie Baker at the press box, but the coldest rink in ECAC hockey. Let me tell you a story. One year I was.
I was traveling with unit at the time. There was. Was a day was so cold in the rink, I was running down the press box, I couldn't feel my toes. I thought my toes were going to break. That's how cold it was. I. I could not. I mean, I'm running down, trying to get to the front locker room. It's like I can't feel my feet.
[01:17:01] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, I hear you.
[01:17:03] Speaker C: I believe you too, but, well, fier, appreciate it as always and looking forward to, you know, Stanley Cup Final.
[01:17:11] Speaker D: Thank you, sir, so much. Really enjoyed doing this with you, Ken. Thanks a lot.
[01:17:14] Speaker C: SB we're back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner, the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in just a moment.
[01:17:41] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Stan.
[01:17:43] Speaker B: And I'm Shen. And each week we bring you the.
[01:17:46] Speaker A: Stan and Shen show.
[01:17:48] Speaker B: And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on.
[01:17:54] Speaker A: News, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes.
Yeah. So if you could follow along and.
[01:18:03] Speaker B: Listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com.
[01:18:06] Speaker A: Or on all major streaming platforms, we'd.
[01:18:09] Speaker B: Love to have you join us.
[01:18:11] Speaker C: Hi, this is Greg Floyd, Emmy award winning.
[01:18:13] Speaker B: They made me say that news anchor at CBS 6 in Schenectady. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[01:18:19] Speaker C: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Back to wrap up the podcast, the Week 15 winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest was Robert Prusco of Scotia. With 45 points, Robert wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Robert. The VIP winner was Nick Platel Grand Premier tires with 20 points.
I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the Auto Racing Contest banner.
Just because COVID 19 mandates are easy, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, and do it for your friends. And a reminder, as I always say every week, vaccines do not cause autism.
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That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank Mark Kestiser, Tim Reynolds and Pierre McGuire for coming on the show.
I'll be taking some time off next week, so no podcast unless something interesting happens. So I'm gonna enjoy myself going down to visit my mom in Philly. But if you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] follow me at X thread and Blue sky at Slap Shots the views expressed in the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports.
[01:20:16] Speaker B: Sam.
