Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Is Here!

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It feels like a throwback Tuesday, doesn't it? You know why? Dennis Cox is here. Who? I don't know who that is. Dennis Cox, who I, hold on one second, let me correctly identify you.

Okay. Senior producer. Senior producer here.

Most notably with the OG on our Raleigh affiliate, Joe Obius and Joe Giglio. So that switch was made like 10 days ago? Yes. And you've been back here twice already? Yeah, and I'm actually here tomorrow. You're here tomorrow? And I'm here Friday. Why don't we just admit that all these things are fluid? Why don't we just, this is a two-minute drill all the time, basically.

A two-minute drill all the time. Well, welcome back. You get to place bets. You're left on a hot streak.

Yeah. I don't know if you're still on a hot streak or not. I'm kind of cold. We've had some winds sprinkled here and there in, so we'll do that again. Coming up at 1.45, we've got a lot of things to do.

V to the Victoria is on assignment. Did you hear the story, before we start, did you hear the story that she was not allowed, she couldn't watch the Panthers win over, who did the Panthers just play? The Saints.

Saints, yeah. On Sunday because she was at a baby shower. Yeah, she actually told me this.

Right. She told me this yesterday and then she said, well, if that's the good luck thing, then so be it. I said, well, you know what? That's the sacrifice we're willing to make, so tell all your friends. You're willing to make it. Well. She's reluctantly willing to make it.

Well, I mean, if it's for the Panthers to win, but I say, hey, just tell all your friends. Come springtime, get busy. It's possible that she's at a baby shower today for all we know.

That's very true. Today and tomorrow, maybe she's already doing double barreled baby showers. Already trying to get the canes of wind. Look at that. Could be.

Could very well be. So if you have a baby shower coming up on Sunday at 1 o'clock and you want to guarantee a Panthers win, then let Victoria know. Yeah, you don't even have to know her, just bring her along. She was so mad. I know. Like, why are we doing this outside? Let's do baby shower inside where there's a TV so I can watch the damn game.

Good for her. All right. We have a lot of things to do, so let's go. The ice friendlies are here. Preseason hurricanes hockey right before Ian shows up.

In fact, Ian has already. Made its presence felt. Hurricanes were supposed to play three games in a row to start the preseason in all six games in eight days. Don't know if the game tomorrow will be made up.

I just spoiled the fun there. Tomorrow's game at Tampa already wiped out. The Buccaneers, by the way, are not even. Practicing in Tampa this week. They are moving their home base to South Florida because it looks like Ian is coming right up the Gulf and it's going to be the first game of the season, so it is going to slam right into Tampa, FL where it goes from there. Will have a lot to say about the impact at Clemson.

For States. Top 10 matchup with the Tigers so it might already be through there by Saturday. But this thing is not a fast moving storm right now. It is not flying up the.

Up the southeastern part of the United States. Anyway, for right now, Thursday's game with Florida is still on. We'll talk to Trip Tracy in about 10 minutes about tonight's game. It's been like four months since their last game. I can't decide if it feels like four weeks or like a full year. It's one of the two.

So just depending on you know what you're really into. Could feel like man. It's been forever because we all wanted the season to last a little bit longer. Alright, the Dallas Cowboys came back to beat the New Jersey Giants on the road in East Rutherford 23 to 16. The easiest thing to do would be to call this the Cooper Rush show as some people want. It was good.

I don't Cooper Russia pretty good. 215 yards passing the late TD strike for the game winning score to CD lamb. But this was about running the football for Dallas 100% about running the football over 175 yards on the ground.

That's a lot for an NFL team, especially in this day and age. Tony Pollard went over 100 yards. Ezekiel Elliott was solid as well. 70 some odd yards on the ground, almost 5 yards a carry. And now Dak is yakking about coming back next week. I wish Dak would not do that. Look, Jerra was joking when the owner of the team after their win last week was asked about what if Cooper Rush goes on a hot streak? Is that a quarterback controversy? First of all, no, it's not. Second.

You want your team to win. So Jerry was like, oh, man, we'd love to have that conversation, wouldn't we? Yeah, it would be good for talk radio, but it ain't gonna happen.

Right? Keyshawn Johnson of ESPN. We only know about Tom Brady because of Drew Bledsoe. Actually, because of Mo Lewis.

Mo Lewis hit Drew Bledsoe and cracked whatever sternum or whatever it was. And all of a sudden, Tom Brady was born. The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick were not even thinking about six round pick. Like, man, we're gonna draft a guy this year anyway. But we have to have a guy who can play it and all of a sudden, it did a little more. But Drew Bledsoe wasn't on a hot streak. A little more. But Drew Bledsoe went on a hundred and fifty million dollar guaranteed money.

So it's a little bit different. Cooper Rush is a nice player for them. And he could be a starter, it seems like in the league, based on what we're seeing. Look, Dak Prescott is being paid a gazillion billion flillion dollars to play quarterback for the Cowboys. Cooper Rush is doing a good job at what he is being asked to do. There's nobody on this earth that thinks that Cooper Rush is a better quarterback than Dak Prescott, aside from maybe Mrs.

Rush. Maybe Cooper does. But it's good to know that your backup can win you a couple of football games.

I know this is going to sound weird. Dallas still hadn't played anybody. Imagine that. Cincinnati's not great. They're just not great. And the Giants, I don't even think the Giants are good.

No. I said it after the game in week two. I'm like, yeah, the Giants, everybody's excited because the Giants 2-0. I kind of think the Giants are bad. They just happen to be 2-0. Yeah, they barely squeaked by the Panthers, who we all know are not very good.

Right. And they could have easily lost the game. Here's the thing about the game last night. And everybody's going crazy. Everybody's going crazy about Dallas right now.

Right? Like, man, can the Cowboys, are the Cowboys this good? I'm like, nah, man, the Cowboys just beat a bad team on the road.

That's all. The Cowboys are good. Their defense is really good. Their offense has challenges.

They can't pass block, but they can run block. So, as long as they can get out in front or stay close with a team like the Giants, the Cowboys can win those games. But when the Cowboys step up in class and you play the likes of the Eagles or some of the other better teams in either the NFC or the AFC, then Dallas better have a lead and be able to lean on the running game. Otherwise, they ain't winning.

There's just that's the way the Cowboys appear to me to be built. But that was a good win last night because it was a division game. It was on the road and was it was with your number two quarterback.

All right to college. Yesterday. We played a flute few clips of flu a few clips from Mac Brown's postgame press conference where he was talking about recruiting and Notre Dame is great blah blah blah. Yes, Notre Dame has recruited. Well, slightly better over the last four years than North Carolina, but not enough for UNC to be humiliated at home by an offense.

That was at best mediocre that you made look like the late eight late 70s Pittsburgh Steelers, not the defensive style Pittsburgh Steelers the that who barely could score but didn't give up any points, but I'm talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers of back-to-back Super Bowls at the end of the 70s when Terry Bradshaw had it going with Lynn Swan and John Stallworth and they still had Franco Harris and Rocky Blier that team that offense could kill you in all ways. But Matt also admitted upon his return or that since his return Carolina's defense has been inconsistent. I would argue that it's been very consistent just consistently bad. That's I think they've been very consistent. We pretty much know what we're going to get with North Carolina, but is the dye cast. Let's hear from Mac Brown on two fronts defensively. We're very disappointed. We have good players. We have good coaches. I'm not sure what the disconnect but it's there.

It's real. You can't hide from it. We are playing good at times. We played a good first quarter and then all of a sudden we have a blitz. We should be sacking their quarterback and he scrambles eight yards for a first down. And then it seems like we get down and start giving up plays and we gave up 24 points in the last five minutes of the half in the first five minutes of the second half that changed that game. Yeah, I agree.

Can it be fixed Mac? Everything that's talked about on our defense is talking about how bad they are. And these kids are fighting it. And that's a positive thing. And I really believe they're going to be good before the year's over. Are the stats going to be good? No, we're already too bad. Statistically, we're going to be one of the worst teams in the country on defense at the end of the year because we're already there. But can they get better?

Do they show signs? Yeah, it's a great first quarter. Now why don't we do it the second quarter? Had a great fourth quarter at Georgia State.

Had a great second and third quarter at App State. Why don't we play a whole game? That's what we got to figure out.

All right. Why you played a great first quarter against Notre Dame and then got squashed? Because your team isn't, they haven't gotten better. They're not deep enough defensively. Why was your fourth quarter at Georgia State good defensively?

Because they don't have the personnel that you do. So at the end of that game, you guys had more left in the tank than they did. Like this ain't, this is really about developing players. That's what it's about.

And I said this, I said this yesterday and I was talking to somebody today about it. Notre Dame's running back who went for I don't know 170 yards or whatever number seven did. He looked bigger. I know he's not, but he looked bigger than everybody on Carolina's defensive line did. That's a problem. That's where you see the difference in Carolina's front seven defensively.

That's where you see the difference. They don't have, it doesn't seem to me, they don't have anybody really that looks like Notre Dame's front, Notre Dame's offensive line, Notre Dame's running back or if they play Clemson or any of the good things. They don't have anybody that looks like that. Like, do we lift weights?

I'm sure they do. Anyway, by the way, statistically speaking, these are the schools that rank below UNC's 495.2 yards per game allowed. And remember, the heels opened up the season by playing Florida A&M. Nebraska, they're worse than Carolina.

Bowling Green, Florida International, Ohio and Charlotte. The heels are, I think, 126th in the nation in yards allowed per game. But Carolina's only 98th on third down conversion defense. Oh, okay. Much improved. Yes.

42% conversion rate allowed on third down. That ain't good either. All right, hopefully it'll get better.

But yes, Mack is right. The die is cast in terms of where they're going to be ranked. They're going to stay near the bottom. Although maybe getting into conference play, it'll be easy. Nah, can't be easier. Can't be easier.

All right. Finally, Brooklyn Nets media day yesterday. Which means we get to hear from two of the most complicated and talented players in the history of the NBA.

I don't think that's a stretch to say that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are both incredibly talented and incredibly complicated. Remember Kevin Durant's trade request? Well, the Nets tried.

They absolutely tried. But once DeAndre Ayton was taken out of play for them, there really wasn't a good fit. We know that the Warriors discussed internally bringing Kevin Durant back. And there might have been a deal there.

Who knows? James Wiseman might have been part of that deal. But I don't know that anybody believes that James Wiseman is going to be good enough to be included in a Kevin Durant trade.

Anyway, Durant starts the season in Brooklyn. First, are you surprised you're still here? No. I know I'm that good that you're just not going to give me away.

So that's one thing I did appreciate about Sean and Joad is like, you're too great for us to give you away. Just that easy, that simple. So I get that.

I know who I am. I mean, that's facts only, man. He's 100 percent right. Where is he wrong?

He's 100 percent right. If you're going to move Kevin Durant, you've got to get a whole bunch back. And again, once DeAndre Ayton was off the board, there really wasn't a good trade. Now, Kyrie Irving. Remember, he and Durant did this whole Brooklyn thing together and he nearly saw it all blow up.

It was just a lot. Like hearing Kev want a trade request, I opt in. It's awkward. It's very awkward.

I'm sitting at home like, I don't know what to think of it. But because there's a trust that we have within each other, I just ultimately want to see him do well and be happy. I think those guys genuinely do have a great relationship with each other, even though it had to be strained a year ago. With all that said, with Ben Simmons and Joe Harris and their depth pieces. I mean, it might be completely dysfunctional, but I'm not sure that there is a more talented team in the NBA. Let alone the Eastern Conference than the Brooklyn Nets.

They might be at the very, very top. A little hockey, Dennis, shall we? A featured guest on the just released Canes Corner podcast, the latest one, the only like normal one I've done in the last two months.

My friend, Tripp Tracy, analyst Carolina Hurricanes. We're here. It's here. The preseason friendlies have begun.

Are you ready? Excited, for sure. You know, beginning tonight, A.G., too bad. I was thinking about everybody on the west coast of Florida with the game being postponed tomorrow. But I bring that up because I think there's going to be a stark difference in how we look at home preseason games.

Three at home and three on the road. Because I think some of the younger players trying to make the team the jack breweries of the world, some veteran forwards. And then who it's going to be on the fifth and sixth slot with regards to your third defensive pairing.

Not to say that that won't be evaluated here at home, but it'll be starting tonight. A primarily National Hockey League lineup. So you're really looking at where those players are at because I think they'll play primarily at home. Not as many new faces this year as there were a year ago. But last year, the changes were mostly made on the fringes of the team. This season, it's a big chunk of the top nine. Three of the top six point producers from a year ago, no longer here.

Two of the top five goal scorers from a year ago, no longer here. That's a big chunk to replace. It is. No question about it. You know, you and I have spoken before that the young core is still intact. But, you know, along those lines, you can't help but look beginning tonight at Jesperi Kolkaniemi, who's going to play on a line with Andres Feshnikov and Marty Natas, how they gel, how Jesperi and Marty Natas look individually and collectively. So I don't think it's too early to start to get a gauge. Granted, it's preseason hockey. I know the biggest thing Rod is looking for from this NHL group is to see where their pace is at. And I think specifically with Kolkaniemi, that's something that we want to get a barometer on early.

I hope that even in the preseason, I think if Natas has success after a tough year last year, that could bode very well for him. Paul Stastny, does he look comfortable on the wing where he'll be tonight? And then on the back end, I think you think about two players. You think about Brett Burns, far from being his first rodeo, but starting to get adjusted. The biggest adjustment systematically when you come to a team like Carolina is on the defense.

So to be able to get to a point where you're not thinking about where you should be and the adjustments you have to make. And then Coughlin coming over from Vegas. He'll play tonight and he's one of the players that certainly is centrally in the mix with regards to your third defensive pair. So those are just a couple of guys that I think about on an NHL roster primarily that I'll pay particular close attention to tonight. Don't answer all my questions before I ask them, Chip Tracy.

You're good at that. I want to go back to Jesperi Kolkaniemi. He's going to step in essentially the Vincent Trojcek role. Those are big shoes to fill. He's the center and there was a noticeable difference for him early in the season when he shifted over and played the middle. He started the season playing the wing, then he shifted over based on COVID and injuries. He had to play the middle and it really was a different player at that point. The end of the season though, his game kind of vanished. It really started before the injury, I guess, but his game kind of vanished and he really didn't have a good postseason. What kind of pressure is on him to become the player who was drafted third overall, one right behind Andrei Svechnikov?

Adam, I think that there is a very healthy, competitive, patient pressure, if that makes sense. From the standpoint that, first of all, for him to be successful and you notice that those pockets within the season. I remember distinctly, he was shifted to the middle of the ice to start a road trip in November in Vegas. You saw instantaneously that he's a center man.

We knew that, but I think it only solidified it. Then he had stretches, I think about a couple of games after you lost so many forwards due to the COVID protocols. The two games right before Christmas against Detroit and Los Angeles where he really went from being a support player to an impact player. Then for a long stretch of games, he played with real fire in his belly.

You could reach out and touch his compete. I think about a game in St. Louis right before the trade deadline where he fought. Not that that's a part of his game, but I thought that embodied the fact that he was playing with consistent compete. For him, we know he's a center man. The two biggest things on a regular basis that he is going to have to illustrate is pace. Because you move up the lineup and matchups become tougher. The game gets quicker even within a National Hockey League game.

He has a big print. He does look stronger to me. Just watching him this morning, it was good to see. It's just a morning skate, but everything seemed to go on the back of the net.

His shot looks heavy. Can he play with pace and can he play with consistent compete? The last thing is that healthy competition, albeit patient, is you have a Paul Stastny that is slotted on the wing right now. But you have some options.

For whatever reason, you go 10, 15, 20 games and you have to be more patient with that progress. You hope you don't get to that point. And you hope that he answers all of those questions. You have some other options in the middle of the ice. You and I have spoken about Jack Drury.

He won't play tonight. But I think Donnie Waddell has done an excellent job. First of all, the long-term extension happened that should give Jesperi some major confidence.

But if for whatever reason it's going to take him some time to grow into being able to handle that pace and that compete that is there for a true professional in every day or in the National Hockey League, that you have some guys that could shift into the middle or you have guys like Jack Drury coming that create that healthy type of competition in my view. All right. We hopefully will have 115 at least of these conversations over the course of the next however many months through June. I'm looking forward to this trip, Tracy. This is going to be a regular for us.

I appreciate your time and I'll see you very soon. A.G., I can't wait. It all starts tonight. The first preseason friendly against Tampa Bay Lightning. Hurricanes with mostly an NHL lineup except for the defense. I don't know if it's an NHL looking defense, but it does have Shay and Pesci. Yeah, it seems like the second group there with Coughlin or Coughlin and Chatfield is almost like auditioning for that third pair. Well, yes, one of those two might be on a third pair. I still think that it's probably going to be Ethan Bear barring a preseason trade. So I think they're auditioning for the seventh spot. My own feeling there. This is the Adam Gold Show.