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Okay, so I've learned there's one big rule in hockey when it comes to trophies. No touching allowed. It feels like there's no greater superstition than that golden rule in the conference championships. It was followed by both Stanley Cup finals teams over the weekend. It started in Vegas. The Knights beat the Avs. Captain Mark Stone was very clear with the instructions as you see on the screen there. Do not touch the cup. Uh the Canes followed suit. They did not touch the Prince of Wales trophy as they took down the Canadians. Uh the next time they can touch a trophy is the Stanley Cup and that is coming our way beginning Tuesday in Carolina 8:00 Eastern.
We now welcome NHL analyst Pete Blackburn to the program. Uh Pete, I love social media because someone has taken the superstitious information, put it into a document, and then showed you every time a team has touched the cup and then their result going forward. Quite literally doing the Lord's work. So, whether you buy it or not, it certainly matters here. Even Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour basically said like, "Hey guys, you can do what you want as long as you don't touch the cup." Uh what do you make of this superstition? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?
Hey, if it matters to them, I think we can say it matters because if you let those superstitions seep into your brain, they can have effect. I think one of my favorite things though is when a team doesn't win or doesn't touch it a year before and then they get back there after losing the Stanley Cup and they just change their mind. Like that we've seen that in the past few years where it's like, "Okay, we're not going to touch it." They cup, they get back to the conference final. They're all right, something's got to change. So, let's touch it this year. Like it just it all lives inside your brain and in between the ears and whatever helps and whatever you feel like gives you an advantage or keeps you
in a safe space, then go for it. Everybody's trying to win the Stanley Cup this time of year. I'm looking at the document that's on social media and the Penguins and Sidney Crosby are the perfect example of that. They touch it one year, they don't touch it the next, and either way, uh you win some, you lose some. So, uh we'll keep our eye on how that superstition plays out. You know, Pete, we just talked NBA and we talked the Knicks and how they're riding an 11-game win streak. Something just is in the water on the East Coast because the Canes come into this series with a 12 and 1 post-season record. They beat Montreal in five to help them to the best record since all four rounds
went to seven games in the playoffs. So, what's been the difference this year for the Canes in their dominance? Well, I think the path is there. There's been a lot of talk about their bracket on the East side and yeah, the three teams they've played aren't juggernauts, but at the same time, regardless of who you play, if you win the games in front of you, you earn your spot in the Stanley Cup final and when you lose one game through three rounds, I really don't care who you play. That is still wildly impressive and one of the wildly impressive things about this Carolina Hurricanes run is that they've done it with such consistency and such a relentless throttle the entire way. They've won all of these games
basically with the same formula and under the same premise, which is their own system that they've played with the entirety of the regular season and they had success with during the entirety of the regular season. Like they are just so relentlessly consistent and persistent and I think that's a big testament as to why they're here. Not just like a flash in the pan. This is a team that has been knocking on the door for years and has constantly flamed out in the conference final, but I think given the path and where they are right now and the strength of their team game, they absolutely 100%
deserve to be in the Stanley Cup final and they've done so and proved that emphatically. Pete, are you a basketball analyst? I feel like that was like copy and paste exactly what Noah Vonleh just said about the New York Knicks and their bound to the finals there. I'm telling you, something in the water out on the East Coast. Speaking of superstitions, the President's Trophy curse lives on. The Golden Knights get the sweep over a very strong Avalanche team. They now make their third cup final appearance in franchise history and they do it under the leadership of Mitch Marner and of course, the narrative surrounding Mitch Marner has been crazy since he left the Maple Leafs last year. A long line of
early playoff exits has now turned into a first year with a new team and going into a final. So, what can you say about this narrative surrounding Mitch Marner? How has he changed during this stretch with the Golden Knights? Well, what I'll say about the narrative is that two things can be true at the same time. And I think it's true in this case that Mitch Marner was very bad and very disappointing in whether he was invisible or actively negating some of the progress that the Maple Leafs were trying to make during his time in Toronto, he stunk in the playoffs and he shrunk in the biggest moments. But that hasn't been true with Vegas. And what's
changed? I think that Mitch Marner probably has the clearest answer for you there, but I think what really has helped is that he has not had to be a 1A figure in Vegas. I think a big reason why it was attractive for him to go land in Vegas was they have some pieces and some veteran leadership that already exists and already has found success. Whether you talk about Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore, any of the guys in Vegas that had already won a Stanley Cup and you know, haven't had these narratives attached to them that they need to break this wall in order to be seen as playoff performers. It allowed Mitch Marner to kind of to fit in and take his time developing that role in the playoffs for
the Vegas Golden Knights. Because in round one, he wasn't jumping all over the score sheet, but he still was had room to grow and room to contribute while not showing up offensively in terms of the production. And then once the production came, that levy broke and he has just been a monster on a 200-foot game both offensively, defensively, and basically whatever they ask of him. So, he's been this turnaround for Mitch Marner has been incredible and it absolutely has been a narrative shatterer in what's happened here and it's pretty great to see. Yeah, he's spoken recently about the dark times and what it was like for him in Toronto. Got a little backlash for it, but ultimately just focused on uh making sure he's present with this new
team and ultimately winning a championship. Called it a dream come true, as I'm sure it would be for all of us. Pete, what do you make of the goaltending matchup in the Stanley Cup Finals? Yeah, it's an interesting one because I don't necessarily fully believe in either one of these guys. You know, I think that Freddy Anderson through two rounds was incredible. Uh and he came back down to Earth a little bit in the Eastern Conference Final, but it didn't really matter all that much because the Montreal Canadiens couldn't get shots on goal. So, if that's the case and if Carolina's going to play in a way that Freddy Anderson doesn't really matter
because he's not getting a huge workload, then by all means that's probably their greatest path to success. But on the other side, you know, Carter Hart was really shaky in round one. I think came back he got it together a little bit in round two, and then he was awesome in round three. So, he only seems to get stronger as these playoffs go along. I think that kind of attaches itself to the Vegas Golden Knights as a whole because I feel like they've just gotten better and better as these playoffs have have rolled around. So, I do think the goaltending in this series could be a sig- significant wildcard, but with it being a wildcard, I don't really know which way it's going to skew.
Okay, so we got a wildcard between the pipes. Maybe not so wild when we talk about head coaches here. Kind of history on either side, legends on either side. The hockey world was shocked when Bruce Cassidy was fired with eight games left in the season. Was replaced by John Tortorella, but after 22 years he returned to the Cup Final. As for Rod Brind'Amour, he can become the seventh head coach to win a Cup as both a player and a coach for the same franchise. A lot at stake on either side here, Pete. How exciting is it just to see this history play out head-to-head?
Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, on one hand you've got Rod Brind'Amour who's been, you know, kind of knocking on the door and has been hyped up as one of the NHL's best coaches, but the narrative that has been attached to him is his system doesn't work in the playoffs and it eventually has an expiration date typically in the conference final and just questioning whether or not the Canes can win under that system. That still obviously needs to be answered here, but with how dominant they've been and how much success they've had to this point, there haven't been too many questions around Rod Brind'Amour and his system. And then on the other side, John Tortorella, Vegas Golden Knights look
like absolute I mean, I don't know if you want to call them evil geniuses or just very aggressive geniuses in the way that they approach their coaching staff this season. It was very, very controversial to fire Bruce Cassidy with eight games remaining in the season, but clearly in retrospect, it looks like he had lost that locker room and things weren't working and bringing in a new voice and a coach like John Tortorella who does have a similar system and similar sort of mentality to Bruce Cassidy, but the new voice that he brought to that room and the things that he unlocked in that room have been nothing short of amazing and that would be an incredible story as well for John Tortorella to be this kind of mercenary
head coach who steps in late in the season and unlocks this team's full potential and it would be a really, really wild story. Yeah, and if they were able to win, Tortorella would tie Larry Robinson, excuse me, for fewest regular season games coached by a Stanley Cup winning head coach, just eight. So, obviously, some history hanging in the balance there. And become only the fourth head coach, I believe, to win a Stanley Cup with two different teams. So, that in itself would be some history as well.
Okay, talk about raising the bar when you step into a position there for John Tortorella there. Who's your pick, Pete? Vegas not back in the hometown team early here. Sounds like the Canes are the early favorite. What do you like? Yeah, I do lean Vegas here. I should say I lean Vegas the bookmakers because I am siding with Carolina. I think that this series is going to be extremely close and it's going to be an absolute war. Both of these teams play with a lot of structure. They're amazing defensive teams and I think that you're going to see that kind of be fought on both sides throughout the course of the series, but what ultimately makes me side with Carolina is how they deploy
their lineup. And I think when you're talking about a war of attrition, the team with the most depth is going to win and I really love Carolina's deployment and how they stretch things out. They have even deployment and I just really like that they have some fresher legs than Vegas might. Okay. How about the Conn Smythe Trophy? Who wins it, Pete? Give me Taylor Hall because Taylor Hall has been a main piece for Carolina. That second line has been unbelievable and the things that Taylor Hall does as a 200-ft player, I just think that he shows up so often and when you look at
coming into the series, he's leading Carolina in points and production. His plus-minus is unbelievable. I believe that Carolina Hurricanes are outscoring opponents 15 to four with him on the ice. So, just his impact over the first three rounds plus what probably needs to continue for them to win the Stanley Cup, I'm going to side with Taylor Hall. All right. Marner is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe. So, we'll see how that narrative changes after the series is done. Pete, appreciate the time and the insight. Enjoy the Stanley Cup your way this week between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Both teams making their third Stanley Cup final appearance in franchise history. I will say though, when it comes to Vegas, man, this team certainly knows how to get it done early and often. They've been a franchise for nine years, been in the playoffs eight of those nine years and a coach that's got some history he's looking at, too. More HQ on the other side.
