Roundtable: Cane Game 1 in the ECFs edition.

First of all, Corey does, he rates everybody on the siren. You do a great job with that.

You have been harsh on people before. You suffer no fools with the siren. I don't know who's whining the siren tonight.

What did you give Skyler Brindamore for the overtime siren of game five against the Devils? I think I did an A, I think if I remember correctly. It wasn't an A+, but it was an A. Yeah, no, I'm not scared. I'm not scared. Well, the only time I lay back a bit is if we have like an octogenarian up there.

Okay. And I'm just like, well. You're great on a curve in that case. You're a little bit on a curve or you just, you know, accidentally, oh, I didn't see it.

And then you move on. Have you ever done it? The siren? Yes. No, no.

And Chris Greeley was giving me a little grief because I gave somebody a pretty poor grade and he's like, I think we found our next volunteer. There you go. It's hard. Yeah, I'm sure it is. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It is.

It is a grind. Ryan, have you ever done the siren? I've never, never done the siren. No?

Well, they always say those who can't judge so far. All right, let's get to this. I'm going to try and stay away from the cliches, the storylines of the Stahl family and the coaching Rod Brindamore and the Paul Maurice relationship, because I don't think it impacts the series, but I do think one of the Stahl brothers will impact the series. So let me start with Corey. Jordan Stahl, who's Rod sick him on tonight. And he's got not two new line mates, but one new line mate, because Natius has been there for the better part, I think, for the entire playoffs. And Tebo Taravan is going to be there tonight.

So where does, where does Jordan, who does Jordan go after? Well, I think, I think he's probably going to be on Matthew Tkachuk watch. If I had to, if I had to guess, I think that'll probably be the way they go with that. But, you know, cause I think they'll want to go aha against Barkov. So I think, but, but they could go the other way. And the good, the good news is, is you have two defense pairings that even if you don't get the exact matchup you want all the time, you're going to have a great defense pairing going against them.

So to me, that's, that's the best guess. But yeah, Jordan was a load to deal with. So I'm going to maybe disagree with you, but direct it to Ryan. What about playing Jordan against the Barkov line as opposed to, I don't think Barkov and Tkachuk are playing together. Isn't it Bennett? It's Bennett centering Tkachuk, maybe put Kokaniemi against Bennett and Tkachuk with Martinuk and Faust.

That could be a good end plan. I mean, a lot of the times during the regular season, we've seen Stahl and Barkov match up. You get the two big bodies, defensive centermen kind of banging at each other. And a lot of the times Stahl wins those battles a lot of time. Barkov kind of struggles against Jordan Stahl.

So that's a move that, you know, could be in Roberto's pocket knowing that Jordan Stahl does win that matchup. And if he's got offensive minded guys like Terravon and Natures with it, that can be a kind of a benefit to them to kind of neutralize that line. All right, let's, let's talk about Terravon and Ryan, you start. We haven't seen Tebow.

It's actually just less than four weeks since the surgery, because I think tomorrow was the four week anniversary of the surgery. You know, knock on wood, everything is okay that he survives all of this because they're going to come after him. Thoughts on Terravon and coming back and playing the in the spot in the lineup that he is?

I think it works out really well. Because, you know, we've seen throughout the season, Stahl plays with, you know, Fos and Martinuk, who are defensively minded. And, you know, Renoir will always say, talk about how smart Tebow is defensively, how good he is defensively. And we all talk about his passing, which is elite.

We all talk about that. But defensively, he's probably one of the best forwards on the team. So he will go a long way in helping to neutralize one of those two top Florida lines. And the penalty kill can certainly use some help, Corey.

Yeah, they've been terrible, haven't they? Yeah, I mean, you know, and it does actually give you a little boost offensively too. Now, you know, him with Martin Neches gives you an opportunity to maybe create a little more offense out of that line.

So that's a big thing. You know, Jack Drury did a good job in that role, but hasn't really produced a lot of offense much this year at all. So getting Tebow there, even if he's limited in shooting, we know he doesn't really love to do that anyway. Well, he said what a week ago, he goes, I'll be a passer anyway, that's what I do. Yeah, he leans into that. But in all of my conversations with Trip Tracy, he always says the same thing about Tebow. He becomes more of a threat when he establishes the shot. Are you at all concerned about Tebow and shooting the puck? I mean, in watching him, he seemed totally fine. Now, you look at his thumb, and it looks like an English breakfast sausage.

So maybe that changes things a little bit. But in watching him, I thought everything looked fine. And I'm sure there's going to be a big needle involved at some point or something to minimize any pain he might have.

And you just go from there. I think, you know, instinct takes over at that point. And he's not the kind of, he'd rather be doing this than skating with Jeff Daniels. So I think he's going to do everything he can to make sure he's useful in the lineup.

So it's almost selfish in a way that Tebow Terravanen is coming back. Ryan, give me a player or a matchup that you think is key to Carolina winning the series. I think Koko Nyemi's line. I think he's going to play such a big role because Carolina has used him to be a defensive guy to match up against lines.

When Stahl, like in the New Jersey series, he was going against the Heescher line. He was the one trying to neutralize and slow down that second top line. I think his line will go a long way. If whoever Stahl gets it, whether it's Kachuk or Barkov, that Koko Nyemi line is going to have a real handful trying to slow down that other line.

I think that'll come down to a big part of it. I know Koko Nyemi has, like the offense goes, and he certainly has some puck management, you know, decisions that I think are head scratchers at times. But I mean, in terms of developing as a defensive player, it's been pretty good, Cory.

Yeah, I think he's really blossomed, especially as we've gone down the stretch here. And, you know, the ability to take Jordan Martinuk and Jesper Fast and put them on that wing, all of a sudden you've created a great checking line because you have these two wingers who are really good. And then Koko Nyemi is a good defensive player. And that's so important. And then to your point about Tebo, if Koko Nyemi shoots the puck, elite shot.

Right. And I think he's probably, Tebo's their best passer, I think, and Aho's certainly good too. But if you look at east-west passes, nobody sees the ice better, you know, finding a guy who's on the other end of the ice than Koko Nyemi.

So that's something to keep an eye on. Not playing with the most offensive guys, although second round Jordan Martinuk was like... And Jesper Fast, who leads, time for the team leading goals with five. Yeah, and he scores every which way but loose, right? So he's shorthanded, power play, empty net, it doesn't matter. Do we know exactly what that shot hit? Because it was a Koko Nyemi shot in overtime. It looked like it went off his pants or through his pants. Was it a Jesper goal?

Off the hand or stick and then off the family jewels, I guess. I thought it was. Yeah. I mean, it's all right to say it was a crotch goal.

We can use that. That's Corey Lavallette, Ryan Hinkle joining us here. We're at PNC Arena, Canes and Panthers, game one. Before I ask you a couple of questions about the Panthers, sometimes we kind of lose sight of everything. But doesn't Carolina's success in this series, in a way, come down to the way Aho, Jarvis and Nason get on the score sheet at home? It almost looks like it's tailor-made for Rod to send that line out against the bottom two lines for Florida because you think he's going to use Stahl and Koko Nyemi lines as matchup for Florida's top two based on the personnel on those two lines? That even though Aho is a great defender and Jarvis is really, I think, establishing himself, to me, it's about them scoring, isn't it? Yeah.

I mean, that's really important. Part of me wonders if, you know, we've kicked around Koko Nyemi, maybe checking one of those lines, but Aho is almost always at his best when he's going against another team's best, which makes me wonder about the Barkoff matchup. So he might be better suited to play against a line that is more offensive. Now, most coaches would, like you said, especially at home, try to get that, get that edge and send your top guys out. We've seen it so many times in the, in the Islanders series and in the, in the devil series where they try to come up over the top against Carolina's fourth line with their top guys.

Rod doesn't do that. A lot of times he'll send Jordan Stahl out after an icing, just like, all right, that's what we're doing, I guess. So, um, so I think, you know, Aho often is at his best when he's playing 200, a 200 foot game. So I wonder if they're going to try to use that as a way to, to keep him going. And, and like you said, Seth Jarvis, I think he's really blossoming into something special.

I mean, we're, we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg here about what kind of player he's going to be. What are your thoughts on Aho and Jarvis? And Nathan has played a big role. I think it will come down to them. I think, you know, you've mentioned the Florida's bottom six, but I think they have, I think Florida's top nine more so than their bottom six, because that line of Anton Lundell, Sam Ryan, Hardie Toulouse, Drianon has actually been really good for them.

They've been driving play and scoring too. So I think it's a, just like Carolina, it's a top nine that you worry about rather than a bottom six. But I do think that Aho and Jarvis getting the score sheet will go a long way for Carolina. I think this is going to be a grindy series. I think this is going to be, I think both goaltenders are, have been the hottest ones in the post-season continuously with Pobroski and Anderson. And I think if you got to get your top guy scoring because depth is important, but your star scoring is awesome. Does a grindy series favor one team or the other? I think both teams want to grind, so I'm not sure. I mean, it's true.

And it's, it gets me to this. Corey, Florida replaced, I'm going to leave Mackenzie Wieger out because most people don't know who he is, but most people who are hockey fans know who Jonathan Huberdoe is. And they all know who Matthew Kuchuk is.

He's a finalist for the heart trophy, the MVP of the league. So basically that was a flip and they played different games. Kuchuk is a much meaner, nastier, heavier power forward.

Huberdoe is a more, you know, a free flowing skater. So they made that change because this is better for the playoffs for them. But they also changed the head coach. Andrew Burnett out, who did a great job last year, taking over Joel Quinville, but our old friend Paul Maurice. And that more buttoned down, defensive minded, kind of in your face, defensive hockey, that element, it took a while, but this is a very different team than Florida was at the beginning of the year.

Yeah. And I mean, I think the thing that's going to really dictate this series is which team is going to be able to use their offense to have to, to limit the amount of defense they have to play. Um, the hurricanes are in better shape on defense.

If, if they get stuck in their own end, you feel a little better about their six guys getting the puck out. You look back at, at the Panthers defense and all of a sudden, you know, Mark stall is not the Mark stall who was, uh, he was, you know, 15 years ago, uh, Radko Goudes is a good player, but he's not the best guy with the, with the puck on his stick in his own end. Uh, so there, you know, Brandon Montours had a great year.

I mean, uh, really good stuff for, for Slings had a great couple of seasons, a guy who had a cup of coffee here in the preseason. Um, so to me, it comes down to that a lot is, you know, obviously Florida plays a little tighter than they did last year. Last year was like, go, go, go, go, go.

And that really benefited guys like Anthony declare who can fly and they're still going to do that. But like Paul said the other day, instead of playing like that at 200 feet, we're going to play that at 100 feet. We're not going to, we're not going to do it all the way down the ice.

We're not going to be like, go, go, go, go. Um, so I think that, you know, that'll be noticeable and they've got, you know, Aaron Eckblad's a great defensive defenseman. Um, you know, first overall pick and all that. So, uh, a lot of talent there.

So, you know, we'll see what, uh, what they can do, but to me, it really comes down is can those, can those defenses turn around and get their team going the other way? We see Jacob slave and do it over and over and over and over again. And, uh, certainly the other guys back there too.

Is it unfair to compare anybody to Jacob slave, right? I mean, Brendan Moore said it himself, right. We're not sure if we've seen a better defenseman play the position the way he does just defensively.

He's just IQ off the charts, talent off the charts, Hannah off the charts. It's, he just doesn't make mistakes despite what Slavin might want to say. He does just don't see that. Yeah.

I mean, everybody makes them, right? So sometimes you just, you're clear, doesn't go, doesn't get out of the zone. Sometimes your past is just a little bit off, but he doesn't make a lot of them.

And, and when there are mistakes, he has the ability to erase them. I, I, I go back to the goal that tied the game against the devils. Was it in, was, was it game four in game four? And the first period where he stole the puck from Michael McLeod and Michael McLeod didn't even know the puck was gone. I took it.

It was, uh, did you guys see Ocean's 11, the remake when, um, Matt Damon's character pickpockets, the guy doesn't even know as well. It's missing Michael McLeod was skating with the puck. He did not have, and then Slavin gets to Martin, if he gets to Neches and that tying goal, I think all the, just a giant exhale. All right, Ryan, uh, Cain's in how many? I, Cain's in six. Okay. Okay. That would be nice.

When are you getting Florida? Taking me back to, uh, to 09. Uh, Corey Cain's in how many? Just kidding. He wants to send me on the one day trip back to Florida for, no, I think, I think Cain's in six is probably a pretty good guess.

Cain's in six. Yeah. It's going to come down. I mean, at the end of the day, it's going to come down to goaltending.

I mean, that's, we can talk about everybody else in front of them. Uh, if, unless both of those, those goalies are great or both are terrible, uh, I think it's going to come down to which goalie plays better. And, um, Sergei Boborovski has been a little more up and down than, than Frederick Anderson throughout his career.

Uh, his, his ups, his ups are higher than Frederick Anderson's I'd say, but his downs are much lower. Boborovski, this is year four in Florida. He, right now, this is the first time he's been a $10 million goalie right now, the last two weeks. Other than that, I mean, they've been looking for excuses to not play. They, Alex Lyon played the last seven games of the regular season. It started, I think the first three of the playoffs started the first three of the playoffs. So they've been looking for reasons to not play Sergei Boborovski.

If Spencer Knight wasn't going through, uh, so many personal issues, we might see Spencer Knight in this series as opposed to, uh, Sergei Boborovski. Uh, all right. Uh, Ryan, uh, how many starts for Antti Ranta in this series?

That's a, see, I don't know. I would, I would say zero stranded unless Ryan Lomberg runs a goaltender again like last year. Corey, how many starts for Antti Ranta? I think you run with Freddie. He's, you brought him here to be your number one goalie. Uh, nice insurance policy to have.

Really, they have two nice insurance policies back there. Something that I don't think Florida has, you know, we talked about Alex Lyon and, uh, he had a really good end of the season, but I don't know that that's, uh, that's necessarily sitting there in his back pocket to pull out whenever they need it. So, um, they're, the Hurricanes are lucky that they have options, but I think you brought Freddie here to, to be your number one goalie. You, you ride Freddie as long as, uh, as long as he's healthy. All right, my official prediction, I, the same thing I'd said, uh, before the New Jersey series, Canes and three. It's going to be a long series folks. That's Corey Lavallett right next to me is Ryan Henkel, North State Journal and the Athletic, Canes Country and North State Journal. Anything else? No, this, uh, man about town.