[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following program is brought to you in living color on dailygazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken thank you Scott Kesey, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast Studio studio in Schenectady, New York. We're back with another Thursday edition of the podcast. We took last Thursday off because it was Thanksgiving. Of course you heard Wednesday's podcast with Union men's head hockey coach Josh Algae. We talked about the games at Niagara that the Carter Chargers swept and looking ahead to the Princeton Quinnipiac road trip this weekend.
We're going to talk with several members of the Union men's hockey team about that Josh Nixon, Parker Lindauer and Kaden Villegas. We'll also talk a little bit more with Parker Lindauer about his amazing start to his Union career after playing in Maine the last two years, only producing one goal and one assist and that happened last season. He has two goals and eight assists so far for the Garner Chargers this season. I have an article on DailyGazette.com on Thursday and in the print edition on Friday in my opening Face off column. Then we'll talk with Union women's hockey as they get set for their final games of 2004. They are ECAC contest. They'll be home at Messer Rink against Yale on Friday at 6:00 and Brown at 3:00 on Saturday.
We spoke with Tony Macy, the Union women's hockey coach, Monia Wagner, the goaltender, Maddie Leedy forward and Marin Friday, the defenseman for the Garner Chargers. So we'll talk to them about this weekend's games and what happened last weekend with a tie and a loss to St. Cloud. And Kenny Albert, man of many responsibilities, he's out. He was doing the LA Kings game on TNT on Wednesday night. He's going to be doing the San Francisco Chicago NFL game on Sunday and he's also the play by play voice of the New York Rangers. We're going to talk to him about the Rangers. I was been meaning having Kenny on for a while here last couple weeks but just never worked out. And you know the original plan was to talk about how well the Rangers were playing but since then they have stumbled a little bit here. They got smoked by New Jersey at home 51 on Monday. So we'll talk to Kenny Howard Z what is wrong with the New York Rangers? So a lot of talk with Kenny. We'll talk some other sports as well. Maybe we'll talk about the Bears 49ers matchup, which won't be seen in the Capital Region. The Buffalo Bills Louisiana Rams game will be on Fox 23 on Sunday in that late 425 slot. So. Well, coming up, we're going to do our Union hockey talk with the men and the women, so stick around. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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where do my friends and other students find their voice?
We find our voice through the performing arts, along with millions of other high school students. By expressing yourself in a role on stage, through an instrument or at the debate podium, the performing arts give us freedom to find ourselves, to find our place. The stage is where I can play, perform and compete with my friends.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Performing arts at your school is where creativity meets courage.
Encourage the students in your life to find their voice through the performing arts.
This message presented by the NFHS where we encourage all students to play, perform and compete together.
[00:04:21] Speaker C: This is Daily Gazette Betsy Lind and Henry Lind. We hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a Prosperous and Healthy 2025.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Daily Gazette reporter Chad Arnold.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a Prosperous and Healthy 2025. Rolling off a sweep of Niagara last weekend at Dwyer arena in Niagara University. Yeah, it is Niagara University. That's the actual Dateline. But yeah, The Garner Chargers won 42 on Friday and 53 on Saturday. Of course you heard Josh Howey's thoughts that men's head coach on Wednesday's podcast we talked about the games, including the line juggling that he administered before the Friday's game and the move worked out. Kaden Viegas moved from the line with Nate Hanley and Ben muthersbaugh to Colby MacArthur and Josh Nixon. Brandon Bird moved up to that Hanley Muthersburg line. Josh Nixon with a couple goals on Saturday, as did Brandon Burr. Ville had a goal in Friday's game and made a nice pass to set up Colby MacArthur on a goal in Saturday's game. We also talked to Parker Lindauer at the media day on Tuesday.
Got an warm death of his game and how he ended up at Union and what happened at Maine. Why didn't things work out? Because he's having a great year for Union right now. Talked about how he seems to he gets sets up shop behind the opposition that seems to take a good view of what's going on, see who's open. And that worked out perfectly in Saturday's game where he set up Josh Nixon for his second goal of the game. So Union heading on the road this weekend again. This time it's ECAC hockey play the final conference games of 2024. Union will head to Princeton to take on the Tigers that historically cold Hobie Baker Arena. Yes, it's cold. Trust me, I've been there a number of times and sometimes surprised I still have toes left on my feet.
It's going to be an interesting game. For instance with a new coach in Ben Sire. They pull off a big upset not once but twice last weekend knocking off 12th rank Ohio State by a pair of 31 scores at Hobie Baker rank. So Union knows its work is cut out for it for that game Friday. And then they have a quick turnaround Saturday 4pm game at Quinnipiac. A team they've gone winless in the last nine including eight straight losses. Quinnipiac a little off kilter right now. Off to a slow start. 331 in ECAC hockey play for 10 points and 66 and 1 overall. Not the start that you envision. A team like Quinnipiac who's been one of the dominant teams not only ECH hockey but NCAA hockey. So here's a good time for unit to knock off Quinnipack and see if they get get can get a win there on Saturday.
Let's hear from Josh Nixon, Parker Lindauer and Kaden Villegas.
Guys, this is your last conference games of 2024. You starting with Princeton, the Princeton team that knocked off 12th rank Ohio State twice over the weekend. So Josh, how important is it to really take this Princeton team seriously down there?
[00:07:45] Speaker C: I think it just goes to show that every team in our conference is good and we can't take anyone lately. So obviously it's going to be a good game at Princeton so we're looking forward to it for sure.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Marker.
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Yeah. I want to start off by saying like I thought it was awesome that Princeton swept Ohio State. Like it's great for our conference and we want our conference to do as well as possible. But now that we're going to play them, like we're going to give them our best and I'm excited to get there. I've never been there and can't wait.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: We're here for Big Ten countries. I Expect you to hate.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Kaden.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Yeah, a couple big wins for them, but you know, we focus on ourselves. We look at what they do in those games and how we can take advantage of some stuff. So yeah, we're just going to focus on us and hopefully go in there, get a, get a good one.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Jay, I'm just curious, toward the end of the second half of each year, ECAC games really becoming focused, but is.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: It important to remember that these games.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Count just as much while you're juggling the non conference part of your schedule?
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Yeah, like last year we lost a couple of key conference games early in the year, which, like, we knew it was gonna, it was gonna bite us in the butt and obviously it did for us not giving that bye. So these are obviously very key games. We gotta lock these guys down and get, get us six points this weekend for sure.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: No, you guys don't want to look ahead, but you know, you go to Quinnipiac on Saturdays. Quinnipiac's been one of the top teams in the country for many years. Tough team to play against. They've given you guys fits over the years. They seemed a little down this year. They got off a little bit of a slow start. What's going to be the key on Saturday to, you know, trying to get a win down there?
[00:09:21] Speaker C: Obviously first we got to worry about Princeton on Friday and get that win. But our team's been looking good on Saturdays for sweeps. So if we can get that win on Friday, our conference is going to be very good. Going into Quinnipiac for sure.
Yeah. I mean, Quinnipiac is obviously a really well coached team. I was fortunate enough to play against them too, even though I wasn't here the past two years. So I'm excited to play them with this team because I think we got a good squad behind us and I'm pretty confident in our boys and I think we're going to do well.
Yeah, they got some talent over there. They always do. They bring in some good guys, but I think our style is going to match up well against them and just play our game. We should be good when we go there.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: All three of us are really good. How important was it to go? Have a nice weekend coming off of the break, you know, out west.
[00:10:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, having that off week, we got some guys healthy and we were able to come back strong. So the first game in Niagara was huge. First 10 minutes we were getting back into it, then we, we ended up getting back into it and played our, played our game. Our Style. So getting two big wins there was. It's good to get off the right track again. Yeah. Obviously it's out of conference, so we don't get points for that, but it was good to get two wins. And I'd like to shout out our goalie, Kyle, like, he played unreal those games, and he's been playing really well, so I'm pretty confident in him and his game, too, going into this weekend.
Obviously, us coming off that first bye weekend against Alaska, we didn't perform. Perform the best, so we kind of knew that we had to change some things coming off this bye week. And obviously it showed in the ice. Getting two wins. It was huge.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Okay. I didn't want to ask you. I talked to Josh over the weekend. When you. When the Lions came out, you were not on with the line with Ben and Nate. You were on Josh and Colby. Normally when, like, you guys were going great, you don't break it up, but it didn't seem to affect the chemistry of this team. So, I mean, how important it was to, you know, not worry about. Not be upset that you were moved off the line.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: I mean, that's the good thing about our team is we have a lot of depth up front. And I mean, I'm happy to play with anybody. Anyone's happy to play with everybody else. So, I mean, everyone meshes well together. It doesn't matter who's playing with who. Everyone's got the talent to make the plays, and everyone's got good chem, so. And obviously, I love playing with Colby and Nixie as well as the other guys, so I'm happy wherever I am.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Josh, your thoughts?
[00:11:42] Speaker C: Obviously, I played with Kaden a lot of last year, and we did well together, so I was obviously happy to get him back on my line. But like you said, we have a very deep team. Four lines that play pretty even amount throughout the game. So I'm definitely happy with the line I got going right now for sure.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Parker, for you, first of all, you come from Maine. Come play two years in Maine. You come here. What led you to the decision to come to Union?
[00:12:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, when I entered the portal, there was a few connections I had here right away. First one, obviously, John, we played growing up together with Team Wisconsin, so I knew him right away. But then the other one was Lenny, who was here last year. Obviously, he was my coach in Janesville, and right when I entered the portal, I was on the phone with him talking, and he was still, at the time going to be here, and that's Kind of like what started the communication. And then I got in touch with Houge and I guess, like, well, I even played with Caden, too, back in Tri City, so I had some connections throughout, like, the team. But then at the end of the day, like, it just came down to talking to John and Lenny a little bit more about, like, how much they loved it here and why I should come here. And that's what brought me here.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: And one thing I noticed with you, you like to set up behind the net and look what's out there in front. I mean, the pass you had to Josh and Saturday's game was an example of that. What makes you so good behind the net?
[00:13:08] Speaker C: I mean, I can't take all the credit on that goal because we had a power play before that one where we didn't score, and we came back into the locker room in intermission and actually, Nixie was the one that told me. He's like, I'm wide open in there for the next time. So that second power play, I just looked for him right away.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: So what makes you so good behind the net division?
[00:13:30] Speaker C: I don't know. I mean, I think we just have so many options that, like, a team doesn't really know, like, who they should take or who they should defend. Because obviously I have Colby on one side, Nixie in the middle, and Vegas on the other side. So how do you decide who you're going to cover?
[00:13:45] Speaker A: You played. You're obviously playing center. Are you more comfortable as a center? Because I think in Maine, you playing both center and.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'm comfortable, honestly, wherever coaches think I'm needed.
When it comes down to center, I think I'm more of a defensive forward. So I like playing center. But at the end of the day, like, playing wing, too, it gets me more involved offensively, so it's hard to say which one I like more, but I'm comfortable playing both.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Why do you think it didn't work out at me?
[00:14:17] Speaker C: I mean, they're a deep team and obviously, like, some things just don't happen. And, like, it's all about opportunity, right? Like, some guys are giving it, some guys aren't. I'm not saying I wasn't given an opportunity there. I loved my time there, and I'll never talk bad about them, but it's just, like, I came here and right away I found a little clique with these guys, and I just, like, felt.
Felt more comfortable around here. So I'm glad. I'm glad I'm here and I. I'll Never. I'll never regret going to Maine, that's for sure. But I'm glad I ended up here.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: What was it like to play with for Ben Barr? And Ben, of course, you know, was an assistant here at rpi and he had some nice things to say about you when I talked to him last week.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I. I loved Ben Barr and obviously my other coaches there fortuned Alfie Michaud. Like, it's a great coaching staff and I have nothing negative to say about those guys. They're obviously doing a heck of a job up there and I congratulate them on a season that they're having right now. I actually got to go watch them against RPI this past weekend and, you know, like, they're there for the kids too. Like they're setting up kids for success and pushing them onto the next level. Hopefully down the road we get to play them because that would be one heck of a rematch for me. I'd love that.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Josh, your thoughts being what Parker said about what you said there in the locker room and played out there in the second period on Saturday?
[00:15:49] Speaker C: Well, just to start off, we're glad we got Parker here. He's a great player, great person.
No, like our power play. Both units are doing pretty well right now. We're caplacing and getting a lot of chances on most power plays. So he's just a utility guy. I think he goes wherever, wherever he gets put and he does the job. So, yeah, we're definitely glad we have Parker on our team Now, Jaden, obviously.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: You mentioned you guys played together.
[00:16:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, in Tri City, we were always hanging out there too. We weren't there or we were there for a year, but I feel like we got pretty close there. So when I heard he was coming here, I was super happy. I was juiced. I was calling him. I was like, can't wait for you to get here. But yeah, I know he's having a hell of a year for us and we need him to continue doing that and we're just super, super happy to have him.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: You feeling healthy too, by the way, after that injury against Fairbanks?
[00:16:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I am, yeah. Hurt a little bit in the moment, but shook it off. I'm ready to go.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Upper or lower?
[00:16:46] Speaker C: It was upper body, but nothing too serious.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: And now let's hear from the Union women's hockey team. The Garner Chargers. Coming off a tie and a loss to St. Cloud on Saturday, they had a 2 nothing lead in Friday's game and lost that one in the third period.
They Won a nine round shootout again. I wonder why we have shootouts in non conference games. But that's another discussion for another day. And then Union dropped a 2:1 decision to St. Cloud on Saturday game in which they only had nine shots on goal. They only had two through two periods and both of those shots came in the first period. So Union's got a do a lot, a lot better offensively and get some more chances and get some more pucks on that. They'll face a tough test of course with Yale and Brown this weekend at Messer Rink. They gave on Friday at 6:00 against the Bulldogs and then the Brown Bears are at 3:00 on Saturday. Not only are the final conference games for Union in 2024, it's actually the last games of 2024 for Union. They'll be off for the Christmas holiday break. They'll return after the new year on Tuesday. We spoke with head coach Tony Macy. Go Tender Ammonia, Wagner, forward Maddie Leedy and defenseman Amarn Friday. So here's what they had to say on Tuesday.
Jersey guys, the last two home games, last games before the end of 2024. I mean how excited to get a couple wins before you head into Christmas break? Yeah, you know we want to build.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Some momentum into Christmas break here going.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Into the ECAC play back into it. Right.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: Got a couple teams coming in that.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Are right ahead of us that we want to try and grab some points from.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: So it's going to be a big weekend for us.
[00:18:37] Speaker C: Monia, I'm super excited to go into those last two games and hopefully win them both so we can enjoy, enjoy Christmas.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Maddie.
[00:18:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I think they're huge games for us obviously like Tony said to standing wise but also like to go into the second half going off of two wins is huge.
Yeah, I think it's just a great opportunity for us to kind of create a presence for ourselves in the conference. So we're excited.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Tony, Moni's played two of the last three games. I got the shut out of Vermont and you played well against St. Cloud in the first game of year. How important is it to have two good goaltenders for you as you head into back in the conference play? Yeah, our goaltenders have been doing well for us this year. They, you know, battling in practice, battling each other, you know, the whole goaltending group.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: So I think it's just been a.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: Product of them having that work ethic in practice and then putting it in towards the game times here. So it's always good to, to be Able to say, hey, we've got somebody back there that's going to keep us in games and bail us out when we need to. How is important for your confidence to be able to get a shutout to play well against St. Cloud last Friday? How important is that for your confidence as you move forward here?
[00:19:51] Speaker C: It's huge.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Obviously, I know that I got the.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Team in the back, too, that supports me, and it's just an awesome feeling to get to play those games.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: I mean, for Maddie and Maren, how important is that to know that you have more than one good goaltender on this team?
[00:20:09] Speaker C: I think it's, of course, something to be proud of, that we have more than one person who we can rely on. And I think it, of course, builds a strong structure that we can kind of work off of and have confidence in how we play, that we have someone back there supporting us.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: Tony, looking at that Saturday game, St. Cloud, you guys only credit was just nine shots on goal, two in the first period, none in the second period. What do you have to do to get back to how you guys were producing offensively?
Well, I think some of it is, you know, you're getting deeper into seasons. Teams are going to play a little bit differently. They're going to see where you had success. You know, for us, I think we.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Got away from our game quite a.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Bit in that Saturday game. Didn't look like we had very many legs outside of probably like five minutes. Right. So for us, it's just getting back doing video. We've got a good video session going today that we're going to have, and, you know, getting back on the ice.
[00:21:05] Speaker C: And doing things the right way.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: Matty, what. What do you have to do? I mean, going off what Tony said.
[00:21:11] Speaker C: Yeah. I think the most important thing is doing what we know, like, produces success for us, and that's using our speed and playing physical is huge for us and just doing the little things.
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Right.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Tony, how important are these games this weekend? You guys have a chance to set a team record for most conference wins in a season. I mean, it's Yale, Brown teams that right around where you're at right now. So how important is it to be here at home to get. Get those two wins, get six points heading into the holiday break? Yeah, we got to take it one period at a time. I think that's. That's kind of what we learned this past weekend. You know, came out to a good start in the first period and then against St.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Cloud.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: So we got to do the same thing this weekend, making sure. That we take it period by period, try and win each period, which then obviously will set you up for the win for the game. But I don't think we can look too far ahead. I think we got to just take one game at a time and, you know, set ourselves up that way and basically get back to the way we were playing.
Yeah, I agree with Tony.
[00:22:19] Speaker C: Like we just don't even focus too much on the standings, but attack game by game and get two wins. Maddie Yeah, I think we just need to focus on ourselves and our game. No matter who we're playing, our game shouldn't change, it shouldn't depend on who we're playing to see how we play that game. So just doing the little things right.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: And playing how we can play.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I think just learning from this weekend, learning from our video and coming back with kind of a refreshed team. This weekend.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: We'Re going to stick on the hockey trail. This time we'll talk the National Hockey League with Kenny Albert, the voice of the New York Rangers. Let's see what's going on with the Rangers, why they've been struggling of late and maybe we'll talk some football and other sports topics as well. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
Speed, Skill, Physicality. Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes. ECAC hockey. Twelve programs competing at the highest level. A league where champions are born and world class professionals are trained. Where history is abundant and a commitment to the cutting edge is unrivaled.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: The best facilities, the fiercest competition.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
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[00:24:03] Speaker B: They'll appreciate your empathy.
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[00:24:15] Speaker C: Hi, this is Kyle Adams, Daily Gazette.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: Sportswriter, wishing you a happy holiday season and a great 2025.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Hi, this is Daily Gazette News editor Andrew Puglis. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a Prosperous and Healthy 2025.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. The New York Rangers got off to a great start this season, but they've stumbled of late. They're getting set to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night and our good friend Kenny Albert, who calls the Rangers on the radio, will be, won't be Calling the game as he Aussies out in California get ready for the San Francisco Chicago game. But he's kind enough to give us a few minutes to talk about the Rangers. Kenny, how are things in California?
[00:24:57] Speaker B: Everything is good. Ken, how are you?
[00:24:58] Speaker A: I'm great. I can't complain. We got a little snow coming down here as we speak and I don't know, there's no snow in LA to worry about.
[00:25:07] Speaker B: No, definitely no snow out here. A little cloudy as I look out the window in Los Angeles, but all good here on the West Coast.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: Well, they say it never rains in Southern California, but I don't believe it.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: And I'm heading to Northern California later today. Yes, what's going on up there?
[00:25:22] Speaker A: And we'll talk about the Bears and 49ers in just a moment a little bit. But let's talk about the Rangers. Kenny, we were, you know, exchanging text over the last month or so. Want to get you on to talk about the Rangers at the time. I mean they seem to be going well and playing well, but they've had a rough patch here. What's been going on.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: Right. They have. You know, every team goes through this at different points of the year. I think they'll be fine. Heading into the season. I certainly felt they would be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. When you look at the body of work reaching the Eastern Conference final two of the last three years and it's pretty much the same team that has come back. So we'll see what happens in the game on Friday. But again, I wouldn't press the panic button yet because when you look at the body of work from this group over the last three years, as I said, they've been one of the top teams in the NHL.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean Igor Sashirkin and goal has struggled a little bit here. 3.05 goals against average, 890 and 1 record this season. Jonathan Quick has played well. I mean he's a guy who's on the downside of his career but he seems to rejuvenate himself with the Rangers. 2.03 goals against average, 5 and 1 in the seven games he's played.
And I guess there's been talk was talk earlier sees about Shasturkin rejecting a long term contract. Do you think that has maybe affected him a little bit?
[00:26:50] Speaker B: I don't know. I mean, you know, as far as the contract stuff, you know, only those involved in the discussions know what's going on or what has gone on. But he got off to such a great start this year.
The numbers obviously haven't been as good over the last five games. And you're right about Quick. He's done a tremendous job coming in last year as the backup, the guy that's won three Stanley Cups, two with LA and then one as a backup with Vegas. And he's just so well respected around the league. Everybody. You talk to some of the young guys in Vegas during that playoff run in 23, he would stay out on the ice with them, he would take them out to dinner. They held him in such high regard. Talking to people here in Los Angeles where he played and had great success for so many years. And then a lot of the younger goaltenders around the league idolized Jonathan Quick. When the Rangers played in Calgary a couple of weeks ago, Dustin Wolf, the young Flames goaltender actually grew up in la, played in the Junior Kings program and Jonathan Quick signed his stick for him, sent it over to the Calgary locker room and then I was talking to Jake Ottinger yesterday after the morning skate prior to the Kings Stars game and he was named to the four Nations US Team. And I asked him about some memories growing up watching the Olympics, watching other international competitions, favorite goaltenders, and he mentioned 2010, 12 years old, watching the Canada US gold medal game, and Ryan Miller was a favorite of his. But then he immediately mentioned Quick as well. He said, he's a guy that I've watched basically for my whole life, at least over the last 15 or 16 years. And he was just speaking in such glowing terms about Jonathan Quick as a goaltender and as a person as well.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, this is the final year of hockey at Mess of Rink for Union College Men's hockey. I've been doing some Mess of rank memories in my opening Face off column, which appears every Friday in the print edition and Thursday online. I was going through, I think it was last week, was going through A Union beat UMass in a game at Mess Rink and Jonathan Quick was the goaltender. I was like, oh my God, that's way going way back to. That's like over almost 20 years ago.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: And I remember when he first came up with the Kings, working a game out here in LA with Dave Maloney on Rangers radio. And Dave was very familiar with Jonathan Quick because he married Mike Backman's daughter, a former Ranger and a teammate of Dave, Matt Molson, also married to another one of Mike Backman's daughters. So it's a tremendous hockey family. But Dave also told me about one of his sons scoring a goal against Jonathan Quick in a. In a Connecticut State playoff game during their high school days.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Wow. Thank you. Mentioned Matt Molson. I covered him when he played at Cornell. So I feel old at this point. I am old. I'm 61, for crying out loud.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: So look as young as you did 30 years ago.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Thank God I'm out on TV. Had to really put a lot of makeup on me, making me look. But I appreciate that. Of course, I don't have much hair anymore like I did 30 years ago when I first. We first met down there in Baltimore when you were introduced. That skip checks. What me? What about. What about Peter Lavia? Let the head coach. I mean, he's been successful everywhere it goes, but it seems to me he gets things going in the first year and then sometimes that second, maybe even third year, there's a little regression. I mean, what. How's think he's been handling the situation?
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Well, he's one of the top coaches in the NHL. He's proven that over the last two decades.
You know, taking three teams, three different teams to the Stanley cup final, that's certainly right at the top of the resume. Winning a cup with Carolina and then taking Nashville and Philadelphia and with Nashville. Was that the third year?
[00:30:43] Speaker A: Yes, that was the third they went to the final.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe it was. Yeah.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So he's done it before, not only in the first year, but, you know, when you look at the job he was able to do last year, winning the President's Trophy in his first year with the Rangers, you know, people around the league have so much respect for him as a head coach.
You know, you think back to his Islander days back in the early 2000s. They had gone through struggles, and he turned that team around and then wins the cup in Carolina. You know, takes a Philly team that had they lost on the last day of the regular season, they would miss the playoffs all the way to the Stanley cup final and 2010. Then he gets there again with Nashville. So just so highly respected and a tremendous resume. And, you know, again, taking three different teams to the Stanley cup final, that's pretty impressive.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: Looking at this metro division, Kenny, it's in. I mean, the Washington Capitals weren't expected to do much. I mean, they right now are tied with the New Jersey Devils for first place. Obviously, Alice Ovechkin is out for a little bit. How do you. The Carolinas in third place to 33 points. The Rangers and Flyers are tied for fourth with 27 points. Pittsburgh's at 26, and Columbus and the Outers bring up the bottom at 25 points. I mean, this division is a little surprising with the Capitals and Devils right now. And how do you see that?
[00:32:01] Speaker B: No, you're right, Ken. I think you have to give a lot of credit to Spencer Carberry and the job that he's done with the Capitals. Came in last year as a first year NHL head coach and got the Capitals into the playoffs, which a lot of people didn't expect, although they were swept by the Rangers in the first round. But when you look at what they've done this year, you know, especially without Ovechkin, since he got hurt a couple of weeks ago, they've certainly been one of the surprise teams in the NHL.
The Devils, I thought would be a lot better, you know, when they brought in Markstrom and they also brought in some veteran defensemen with Brett Pesci and Brendan Dillon. And then they get Dougie Hamilton back, who had missed most of last season. So they really improved on the back end and in goal and obviously they have some dynamic forwards, so I thought they would be a lot better. And they have certainly proven that Carolina is always there, you know, come play off time. The goaltending has always been a bit of a question and they've had a couple of injuries as of late at that position. Natchez has had a tremendous year. One of the top players in the NHL this season, you know, Pittsburgh, you know, obviously they've struggled and the Islanders have been up and down and we talked about the Rangers situation. But you're right, I think Washington and the Devils have certainly been. Washington is probably more of a surprise. I thought once the Devils shored up the goaltending, you know, they would be a lot more successful than they were last season.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: And the change of coach with the Devils helped too, apparently.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: Right? Keith did a terrific job in Toronto. You know, couldn't really get it done in the playoffs, only won the one playoff series. But he's a highly regarded coach in the NHL and he's done a good job with the Devils so far.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Let me ask you about my Flyers. Mitch Cobb has been outstanding. The Flyers have never had, in their long history, have never had a Rookie of the Year. Is this finally the year that maybe they get a Rookie of the Year?
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Well, you know, I spent a lot of time around Keith Jones, my former broadcast partner at both NBC and then TNT for two years, and heard a lot about Meatskopf before he came over. And they are just so excited, you know, about the dynamic young player that he is and that, you know, the superstar that they hope he will turn into and, you know, you look at some of the big goals he's already scored this year, multiple overtime goals, and I've only seen him once in person, but, you know, very dynamic, only 19 years old. But, you know, the Flyers certainly seem to have a good one for a long, long time. And I know some of their veteran players connect. Me and Sanheim have really stepped it up this year. They both made their respective rosters for the Four Nations Cup. Four nations face off coming up in February. And I know in talking to Jonesy last week when I was in Philadelphia, he was certainly hopeful that that would be the case.
And both those guys were selected. Well deserved. And Mitch coffs off to a terrific start as well.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: What do you think of that Four nations tournament?
[00:35:03] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be exciting. I can't wait. Our crew will have the opportunity to work two of the seven games.
ESPN has four games, TNT has three. And our crew, along with Eddie Olcheck and Brian Boucher will have the double header in Boston on February 17th. It's been, you know, over eight years since the last best on best tournament, the World cup in 2016.
The NHL did not go to the Olympics in 2018.
And then of course in 2022, you know, right after Covid, the NHL wound up not going again. So the players are so excited about it. You know, this, this new generation of players, not many of them have had the opportunity to play and best on best tournaments. So you'll have the Four nations this February and then the Olympics in Milan next February. So it should be really exciting to see so many of the top players in the NHL representing their countries and competing against one another.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Well, Kenny, an era is going to come to an end at the end of this season. The Rangers get in the playoffs. Sam Rosen, the longtime television voice on MSG for the Rangers, is hanging up the headset. I had a chance to speak with him over the summer in July at when he was inducted into the New York State Hockey hall of Fame. And I asked at the time how long you want to keep going. He said, as long as he's healthy and all that stuff. And a month later the news drops that he's going to retire. It's like my first inclination was, you could have, could have given me a scoop here, Sam. But what is, what has Sam Rosen meant to you?
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Oh, he's one of the best ever. Such a great person. I've known Sam for over 40 years and I've been his colleague at MSG Networks now since 1995.
We've sat together on the. On the Ranger charter flights hundreds and hundreds of times since my first season in 95, 96.
So deserving of all the accolades. Won the Foster Hewitt award back in 2016, and I was up in Toronto for that ceremony. And as we speak, just last night, he was named the winner a couple of weeks ago and then received the Lester Patrick Trophy for his contributions to hockey in the United States at an awards ceremony in Pittsburgh. But a great man, a tremendous announcer, the voice of generations to Rangers fans on msg, first with Phil Esposito and then with John Davidson for about 19 years and now Joe Micheletti for the last 19. So 40 seasons for Sam.
You can't say enough good things about him. You know, he's a role model to so many young broadcasters, and I enjoyed watching him when I was a teenager, when he first took the job, and learning from him during my early years and just spending so much time around him. He's just so passionate about hockey, about the Rangers, about the NHL, about his job, and, you know, bringing the games to life. On the television side for MSG over these last 40 years, I don't know.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: If they haven't what their plans are, but are you interested at all maybe moving over to the TV side?
[00:38:12] Speaker B: Well, we'll see what happens. I mean, this year is all about Sam, so he's been celebrated, you know, just about everywhere that the Rangers go.
Keith Jones, who we just talked about, gave him a brick from the Spectrum last week. He's been honored on the scoreboard at many different arenas around the NHL. I've just been so fortunate to be a part of the MSG Networks team. This is my 29th season with the Rangers. Absolutely love working with Dave maloney.
I had seven years with Sal Messina when I started out with MSG, two years with Brian Mullen, and hard to believe it's 20 years with Dave with the captain. And he's one of the best people I know, a tremendous partner. It's just a great crew, you know, getting to travel around with with Dave and Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti.
You really can't find better people and better broadcasters out there.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Well, I wanted to also right now congratulate you. This is a couple months ago you broadcast your 500th NFL game.
Unfortunately, you saw a bad Eagles. Browns game with was highlighted by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni screaming at the fans at the end of the game, which led to a lot of people wanting him fired, including. I was not happy with the way he did it. But what has been like 500 broadcast? Did you ever think you'd be able to do 500 NFL games in your career?
[00:39:36] Speaker B: You know, that number is kind of hard to fathom. 500 games, 31 years.
You know, I remember first talking to you and meeting you when I was first hired by the Baltimore SkipJacks back in 1990, and I was heading down from New York to Baltimore for that first season with the SkipJacks. And then four years later, Rupert Murdoch makes this crazy bid to steal the NFC package away from cbs. And several of us were in the right place at the right time and very lucky to get hired by Fox. Joe Buck, Tom Branham and Kevin Harlan and I were four young play by play announcers at the time.
And I'm just so proud to say that I'm still at Fox 31 seasons later. Joe's had a Hall of Fame career. Kevin and Tom have had tremendous careers. But, you know, back then, my goal was to do hockey on the radio. During my high school and college days, that was all I wanted to do, was broadcast hockey on the radio. And I first had the opportunity with the Baltimore Skipjacks. And then other opportunities came along, calling some other sports and football. 1994 was the first season with Fox. And you know, prior to that it was. It was CBS, it was NBC, ABC, and all of the NFL. Play by play announcers were veterans in their 40s, 50s, 60s, legends in the business. And it never even crossed my mind that that would happen one day and I would get hired to call NFL games, let alone at the age of 26. But, you know, 31 years later, 500 games, I've had some tremendous broadcast partners and production crews. It's been a lot of fun, but, you know, hard to believe when I look at some of those lists of play by play broadcasters and color analysts and how many games we've all worked, it's kind of surreal to be included in those groups.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: Now, is that correct that you had. Did have done more games than Pat Summerall?
[00:41:35] Speaker B: No, I thought he's above me on the list.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: Okay. I think, I think, I thought, I thought maybe.
[00:41:40] Speaker B: Yeah, by play announcers, I think at one network I've done more.
According to some of these lists and research, I've done more than anyone else in the NFL at one single network.
Pat was at CBS and then Fox.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: Right.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: Dick Stockton, Al Michaels, you know, moved around.
They work for more than one network. So I think I've done the most at one network, according to the research that I've seen.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: And you have the Bears at 49ers on Sunday at 425, which we regionalized to the Chicago and the San Francisco markets, two teams that are very disappointing.
Last time we saw the Bears, Iverfoose left the timeout in his pocket and it cost him his job in that Thanksgiving game against Detroit. And the 49ers is just so many injuries. McCaffrey now probably done for the season.
Talk about this matchup. It seems like two very disappointing teams may be just playing out the string.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: Well, you have the 49ers who reached the super bowl obviously last year, and they've gone through so many injuries. You mentioned McCaffrey. There's a crazy note that I saw this week. Last season, McCaffrey, Iuk and Samuel combined for 40 touchdowns. This year they've scored two.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:42:54] Speaker B: So injuries have obviously been a major factor with the 49ers.
They're only two games out of first place, believe it or not. They're 5 and 7 and Seattle 7 and 5. So crazier things have happened. But a lot of injuries on both sides of the football. And then with the bears, they were 4 and 2 back in October. We actually did their game against Carolina. That was their fifth game, three and two at that point. They beat Jacksonville the next week. They haven't won since. They've lost six in a row. You mentioned the Eberflew situation. It's been well documented. At the end of the Lions game, when you take a step back, they're playing in the best division in football. Detroit, Minnesota, Green Bay have a combined six losses.
Those have been the last three opponents for the Bears, and they've lost those games by a combined seven points. So they've hung in there against some of the best teams in the league. In the Detroit game before the sack in the final minute, they're in field goal range to send the game into overtime against the Lions, who many people feel are the best team in the NFL. So if a couple of the end of games went differently, we could be looking at a 6, 6 Bears team right now. But that's not the case. They're and eight. They have a new interim head coach and Thomas Brown, who's very highly respected. He was the assistant head coach with Sean McVay when the Rams won the Super Bowl a couple of years back. He's only 38. He was a college teammate of Matthew Stafford, believe it or not, who's still going strong with the Rams. They played together at Georgia. So the Bears, obviously, with a big decision in front of them come the off season. As far as the head coaching position, they have, obviously Caleb Williams in his rookie season, who, by the way, Ken played hockey as a youngster.
[00:44:42] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:44:43] Speaker B: When we did, when we did that Bears game against Carolina, we sat down with Caleb Williams after practice on that Friday and I asked him what are the sports he played as a youth and he mentioned basketball. And then he said ice hockey. And it turns out he was a forward. He played in Maryland. He was a youngster growing up in the D.C. area. And he said that his ankles would always kill when he took off the skates. And most hockey players can relate to that. But he also said that he felt the skating helped his footwork in other sports. So a little interesting tidbit on the Bears rookie quarterback.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: Well, the Bears have never been the same since losing that Hail Mary game to Washington. And that's when really everything went completely for him.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: No, they had some real tough losses. You know the one you mentioned against Washington, block field goal against Green Bay, lost in overtime to Minnesota. And then obviously the. What's her place with the game management in the last minute against the Lions on Thanksgiving.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So. Well, Kenny, always, always I appreciate a few minutes chatting with you and have fun out in San Francisco. And I would say good luck to the Ranger, but being a Flyers fan, I don't want good luck to the Range. But I always, like I said, I always appreciate talking with you and have fun.
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Well, it's a fun rivalry, Rangers and Flyers. How about last week? That was the first ever in 67, 1967. That was the first ever Rangers Flyers game where there were no penalties called in the first two periods.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: Can you believe that Dave Schultz was wanted to probably get on the ice and start beat up on Dale Rolfe again.
[00:46:17] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:46:18] Speaker A: Okay, they appreciate it and we'll talk soon.
[00:46:21] Speaker B: Thanks, Ken. Really appreciate it.
[00:46:23] Speaker A: All right, that's Kenny Albert. I'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Daily Gazette's you pick a football contest in just a moment.
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we are the NFHS that stands for the National Federation of State High School Associations.
But really what we stand for together with NISFA are the 369,000 high school sports students in New York.
And so we stand, we stand for the runners soccer and basketball players. We stand for their coaches, administrators and officials. We stand for the swimmers, football players and wrestlers. We stand for the golfers, softball and volleyball players. We stand as the national leader and advocate for high school athletics and all who participate in them and make them possible because it is our purpose to ensure that high school students get to play, play, perform and compete together.
To learn more about who we are and what we stand for, visit NFHS.org hi, this is Daily Gazette reporter Amira Ditchie. I hope you and your family have.
[00:48:17] Speaker C: A wonderful holiday season and a Prosperous and Healthy 2025.
[00:48:22] Speaker A: Hi, this is Daily Gazette Digital producer Dan Hooty. I would like to wish you a happy holiday season and a great 2025 back to wrap up the podcast, I want to give a shout out to my best friend from my York College years, Aggie Tack, who's celebrating a birthday today.
We've known each other for 41 years. We met it the fall of 1983 at York College of Pennsylvania and we hit it off. Great friends and even though she has to root for New York teams and the New Jersey Devils because she always rubs that in my face about the Devil's winning Stanley Cup. But but have a great birthday. I know you and your husband will have a great day celebrating and appreciate our friendship and thank you and have a great birthday. The Week 13 winner in the Daily Gazettes you pick a football contest was Marianne Frye of Schoharie with a 160 record. Marianne wins a $100 Hannaford gift card. Congratulations Marianne. The VIP winner was me. I also won 16 0. I improved to 139 and 56. My Gazette colleague Adam Schindler was 15 1. He decided to pick the Bengals over the Steelers. Not a good Choice. He is 135 and 60.
I'll announce the youe Pick Em football contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette. To play go to dailygazette.com and click on the U Pick Em Football banner.
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Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and sign up for our E Edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on when credibility matters. Trust the Daily Gazette that wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank members of the union, men's and women's hockey teams, and Kenny Albert for being a part of the show. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email to me at shot. That's s c h o t t dailygazette.com follow me on X Threads and Blue sky at Slap Shots.
Views expressed on 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.
