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Listen for free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We're pleased to welcome to the show for the first time, Christy Flannery of the Hockey News, specializing in covering the Devils and New York area hockey. This series turned out to be a 4-1 victory for Carolina. What separated the Canes from the Devils and ultimately led to Carolina advancing? The Carolina Hurricanes were the better team the entire series. I think a lot of people forget that this is a team that has been picked to be a Stanley Cup winner the past couple of seasons.
This is a team that already went through their hard postseason losses. They're older, they're more experienced, and they were just flat out better in every facet of the game. Where did you see them really gain an advantage over the Devils?
Who admittedly this group was in this position for the first time? Yeah, I mean, they just did a phenomenal job at just shutting the Devils down. They took away their speed, a majority of the series, and when you watch the Devils more times than not, they looked overwhelmed. They got away from their game, and Eric Hollis said when they're away from their game, they look like a completely different team than when they actually have everything going at 100%.
That's really what Carolina did. Honestly, they beat the Devils at their own game. Anyone who's a casual hockey fan recognizes the youth and the speed of the Devils, but when you say their game, what are you referring to?
What do they want to do? What did they do in the third game in which they were able to gain an advantage, at least for that one night? They had their speed. It almost looked like they simplified their game, because when you look at game one and two, the only line that was able to score a goal was the Devils' fourth line of Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, and Miles Wood. When reporters talk to them about how they play, they constantly say, we just play a very simple game, and I think when you saw the Devils win 8-4, the Devils played a really simple game, and they built momentum because what you saw in this series was how quickly the momentum changed from team to team. Christy Flannery is with us here on After Hours CBS Sports Radio, making her debut on the show.
Really excited. She is newly with the hockey news, but has been covering the Devils this season, and they get to the second round where they follow the Hurricanes. How much progress did they make in terms of setting a foundation and building for the future this season? They made so much progress, and this is what I was telling some fans I was interacting with on social media earlier today. Regardless of when the Devils' season came to an end, the season was a success, because when you got into the postseason, they were really playing with house money. When the season began, most people had them picked as a bubble team for a wildcard spot. They exceeded so many expectations, and really, it was heartbreaking the way they lost, but fans should be happy with the fact that they got as far as they did, because no one would have thought in October they'd be playing in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 5. Who are the building blocks for this franchise moving forward?
The players that you believe will be part of what's to come? It's always going to be Nico Heuscher and Jack Hughes. I think you can add Luke Hughes to that equation as well, because tonight was only his fifth game. I think he has more playoff experience than he does in the regular season, but for his age, he skated very well. He was very composed. Rookie mistakes are going to happen when you're dealing with a young player, but overall, he played very well.
He was very impressive. You had Dougie Hamilton sign long term. The core of this team is very young. Really, everything starts and ends with Nico Heuscher and Jack Hughes. It's been kind of fun to watch these two brothers, and even in the arena, for Game 4 specifically, there was a video with the two of them interacting at one of the intermissions. What's it like to cover a couple of brothers who play on the same team, and one of whom, as you mentioned, is a rookie who's 19? It's pretty funny because it almost seems like Jack has more energy knowing that Luke is around, and that's just an observation, but Jack just seems to be...
He's talked to the media a lot more since Luke's arrival, and even Luke, he carries himself very, very well. He's very professional for his young age, and it's just kind of fun to see the dynamic and also see the differences and kind of their personalities. It's kind of fun to see that with them. What did the Devils themselves have to say about this series, but also about how it ended, and that there is disappointment, but...?
Yeah, I think it is disappointing, and I think it's really hard because, again, they lost in a heartbreaking way. So when you go into the locker room right after that, minutes after that, they don't have time to process what happened. So when you're asking them the questions, a lot of it is very fresh right now. It's hard to reflect on all the positives because you didn't even process what just happened to you 10 minutes ago. But, you know, Michael McLeod met with the media, and he said, you know, we got to the postseason. We got that experience. We beat our rivals, which was really awesome, and there are going to be a lot of positives to take from this season, and they should be excited and motivated to get back on the ice in October. Let's talk about that victory over the Rangers.
It took a Game 7. How much of a confidence boost is that for the Devils, who've been in the Rangers' shadow for quite a while now? It's a major confidence boost because, again, I don't think anyone really predicted that the Devils would be in that position to even play a Game 7 at home in front of their home fans.
And somebody made a really good point. When you look at expectations, there really were no expectations when it came to New Jersey in the postseason, whereas with the Rangers, they had all the expectations. You don't bring in and trade a sort of Patrick Kane and a Vladimir Teresenko if you're not going all the way. And when you look at the goaltender, Igor Shostakin, a heart trophy finalist, the Vesna winner last year, and then you had Akira Schmid, who's this kid that nobody knew who he was and had 18 career starts before that series.
So when you look on paper, you have to go with Shostakin and the Rangers, but yet the Devils shut them out. Christy Flannery is with us. She's with the hockey news. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk about that goaltender switch and actually going back and forth for Lindy Ruff. What does that mean for the future, Christy?
That's a really hard question. I know that there are some fans that are saying that Tom Fitzgerald needs to bring in yet another goaltender. But I think at the end of the day, Akira showed so much promise. And even though Vanaček struggled in the postseason, and he did, even talking to him after Game 4, he was completely crushed after the performance that happened. Vanaček did so well in the regular season.
And I don't think you can forget that. I think that there's sometimes people focus on the players that are going to step up in the big moment. And they look at Vanaček and they look at maybe Akira and say in the big moment they're struggling and they're not stepping up. But you also have to remember, I think Vanaček only had maybe four or five postseason games under his belt before this postseason.
So it's not like he was a veteran that had like 50 games under his belt. I personally would think that it's okay going with the tandem of Vanaček and Akira next season, but people are paid a lot more money to make those decisions than me. But I think between what Vanaček did in the regular season and what Akira proved and had those moments of real brilliance in the postseason, I would think it's okay moving forward with that tandem.
Lindy made a lot of tough calls and moves in these postseason series. This team is responsive to what he will do. He comes from a hockey family. Why is he the right fit for this young group? There's something about the way that he developed young talent.
And I don't know what it is. I'm obviously not in the room with him. I don't know how he interacts with the players. But the players all say how great he is and that he's a player's coach and that he's really great to work with. And I think when the players like their coach, it's like a boss.
If you like your boss and your boss is good with you, you're more willing to really put in the effort and really listen to what they're saying. And I think that's kind of what it is with him. Because Jack Hughes loves playing for him. Nico Heescher has said how many times how much Lindy has really helped this club.
And if you don't believe what they're saying, you can look at their statistics. A lot of players are playing their best hockey under Lindy Ruff. And a really good example is when Lindy Ruff benched Seigenthaler, and I'm not sure which game it was, but against the Rangers, Seigenthaler came back and had a two point night. It seems like he knows what buttons to push to get the best out of his players. And that's such an important aspect of coaching. And he has it. So they have the coach, they have the leadership, they have the foundational pieces in place. This is such a huge stepping stone, it's experience for the future in the Stanley Cup playoffs. What else do the Devils need in the offseason? What do they have to address?
That's a great question. It's really interesting because when you look at who's restricted and unrestricted, there are some question marks. Because you have Ryan Graves, who I know a lot of people weren't happy with his postseason performance. And you have Damon Severson, who was very consistent this postseason, that are both UFAs. You have Luke Hughes, who proved that he can play in this league. You have Simone Nemec, who had a great year in the AHL, who's going to be fighting for a roster spot. So you kind of have to look at it and say, okay, we don't want to take a step back and bring in all these young kids because the court is ready to compete. They proved that this season.
So you have to find that balance. They have Hala and they have Tatar that are UFAs. I think their veteran presence was really a key this entire season. I don't think people realize how important Eric Hala was to this locker room the entire year. So when you look at players like that, you would think that on that alone, you want to bring them back. But, you know, you don't know how much money Timo Meyer is going to want.
You don't know how much money Jasper Bratt is going to end up getting, if they're going to end up trading him or what they're going to do with him. And a lot of those factors come into play. So I think it's so hard to answer that question because when Fitzgerald, for last season, Fitzgerald came in and brought in Eric Hala, Brendan Smith, and people were very confused that when Johnny Goudreau and Alex Brinkett were available, why he went for these players that were a real afterthought for most people. But those are the players that were clearly needed in the room. It's not getting the big name players, it's getting the right players for the room. And sometimes that is just having a veteran voice, not contributing 30 points to the season. Right. They definitely have the chemistry. And as you say, they respond to their coach and the plan for the season.
It clearly worked. Christy Flannery of the Hockey News is with us here after our CBS Sports Radio. You and I met at the Prudential Center. I think it was a late season Rangers-Devils game, actually. And I remember thinking, wow, this place, going back even the last couple years having attended games, this place is different.
The buzz is different. Of course, that night there may have been more Rangers fans in the building. But over the course of the season, as the Devils got better, how did you see the fan base buy in?
They really did. And you saw, even when they were on their 13-game winning streak back in November, there were so many sold-out attendances for these games. And I think what it is, is that fans are starting to finally see the turnaround. I think most would say that they've waited 10 years, 11 years for this to have competitive hockey. And when you have a star like Jack Hughes that, you know, any given night, he's going to have a highlight, real goal.
I think there's just a lot of excitement around the talent and the fact that they're young. And this is just the start of something. And you want to be a part of that. You want to be a part of that journey.
From the ground level, exactly. Not a bandwagon jumper. Just a thought on the Hurricanes as they advance to the Eastern Conference Finals and are now into the Final Four. Who do you think they match up with better, the Panthers or the Maple Leafs, who right now are on the ropes themselves and will face elimination again on Friday? Well, first off, the Carolina Hurricanes absolutely deserve to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, but it's not even a question.
As a fan of the sport, you want to see the best of the best. And when I look at that matchup, it has to be the Florida Panthers because the Florida Panthers are on an entirely different level. They were playing playoff hockey way before anybody else was because they had to fight for that wildcard spot and they have just been on a roll. From a fan of the sport, I want to see a Carolina-Florida matchup because I think those are the two best teams that are left.
The Florida Panthers obviously with their own arc of having been the President's Trophy winners a year ago, getting eliminated though in the second round, having to fight through, as you say, just to get into the postseason and then taking out the Bruins. So some good stories still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs. All right, so you can find Christy on Twitter at, I love this, instilettos underscore NHL.
I had a chance to see them. She covers hockey with class. Now with the hockey news, you are welcome on the show anytime. It was great to connect with you and I look forward to next season. Yes, thank you so much. This was a blast.
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