What’s a Stanley Cup champs analysis on the Canes vs Panthers series?

A Stanley Cup champion, one of the great figures in Carolina Hurricanes history, Mike Commodore joins us on the Adam Gold show. Alright, help me process the way Carolina played last night. Also the way they played in games one and two and still being down three games to none.

I'd love to give you a good answer, but I'm not sure if I have one. I mean, I'm sure they're frustrated. I mean, from what I've seen, I haven't seen every second, but I've seen most of it. I mean, they played well. I think the easiest way to sum it up would be I mean, Bobrovsky is hot. Florida is hot. Florida is playing well.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not taking anything away from him, but the the canes have played well last game. I know I mean they were possession and everything they were dominating. I just can't score which hasn't been a problem for him.

So I'm sure it's frustrating. It's actually really amazing that they're down three nothing. I know I didn't see this coming even though I know Florida is playing very very well, but yeah, they're in one for sure, but it's not over right. That's what I've been saying and now do you get the sense and look the series has been even enough. It's not like Florida's pumping in a ton of goals. Florida's got six goals in thirteen periods of hockey.

That doesn't seem like a high number. I know the Hurricanes only have three, but is it you get the sense that if Carolina can win game four that that's enough of a belief to stretch this series out. Oh, I think so. I think so for sure. I mean, yes, is it a tall task? Yes, of course if I'm I'm not a gambling man if I'm gambling what I bet on it.

I'm not sure that I would. I mean I'm not going to sit here and lie, but I think if I'm sitting in that dressing room, I mean I think you start with the first period go out in the first period of game four go win the first period don't lose it. Go win the first period and get it moving and we get some breaks. Maybe there's some chinks in Babrowski's armor and just stay at it and let's say you win game four. Okay bring it home and just kind of take it step by step.

Go out there period by period and chip away and see what happens. Mike Commodore is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. The Hurricanes are down three nothing in the series.

I know you weren't a forward of like the Sebastian Ajo ilk, but for somebody who was for I would say 30 minutes, the dominant player on the ice and had nothing to show for it. How do you get over that frustration and keep doing the things that you're supposed to do and not cheat? Rod talks about it all the time. We don't cheat. Don't cheat for offense.

Get your offense through the way we play. How do you avoid trying to do that trying to do too much? Yeah, like you said, I've never had any experience with that me doing too much was like trying to escape the puck from the goal line to the blue line. So I never did that.

I just shoot it off the glass. So that was me keeping it simple for him. It's a lot different. I'm sure it can be very frustrating. Obviously he wants to score but not just that obviously he wants to win and he's a big part of the team and in order for that team to be successful, a good part of it is him putting up some numbers. So I am sure it's frustrating, but I also have no doubt that those guys believe in Rod Rod knows what he's talking about and if you start cheating against yeah, maybe you get a look get a break or something, but if you start in my opinion, if you start cheating against the team that's playing like Florida is I think you're going to get exposed and I think you're going to be exposed in a hurry. So I'm sure I have absolutely if there's one thing I do know and I'm not in the I'm not in the Hurricanes locker room, but if there's one thing I do know, Rod will be all over him. I know those guys believe in Rod. They know he knows what he's talking about. Rod did it for years.

So I don't really see that happen. I think they're going to follow Rod. Rod knows what he's doing.

He absolutely does that and he seemed like a guy that like look we're doing everything we can. We can't I'm not saying they can't play better because there are clearly players and I'm going to get into this later. I don't need you to criticize players on that team. So there are guys that are not playing all that well, but they're they're clearly as a team. They are playing good hockey because all three of these games could have gone the you know an entirely different way. It looked to me like Florida once those power plays expired in the second period. It looked to me like Florida just said you know what we're going to try to win a game one nothing and it worked.

It really wasn't a lot of room after that. Yeah, you know what I mean, it's the one thing with with with hockey is that you know at the end of the day and especially any game of hockey, but playoff hockey, it really kind of stands out. I'd say is the most important player on the ice for either team is the goaltender and the rest of the guys. I mean at the end of the day, if if you have a goaltender that's hot and if you have a team that is remotely responsible defensively in front of them, so you're they're not giving up a whole lot of a plus plus chances that's going to be a hard team to beat if they can score a goal or two and that's what Florida has done.

They've they've locked it down. Babrowski has been on fire and their top players have just they've scored when they've had to they've taken advantage of power plays. I'll say from what I've seen and II never blamed the rest. It's not the ref's fault, but the hurricanes could use maybe a little a little luck from referees.

Maybe get an extra call here or there, but yeah, yeah it is like I said. I've gotten a lot of questions here when I was in Arizona. I just flew to Calgary yesterday and I've seen a few people here and you know I get a lot of questions up here about the hurricanes because you know most people didn't normally know I played down there and yeah like what is going on. I'm like hey look watch the games. They're playing Florida's on fire.

I don't know what else to say, but like I said, it's not over yet. I mean it's like it's a cliche that people say it all the time, but it is true is is the fourth game is the hardest one to win. so the hurricanes need to be tough to play against and stick with it. In my opinion, Mike Commodore is joining us here on the Adam Golter.

You follow him on Twitter. He's an entertaining follow at commie twenty-two so yeah the fourth game is the hardest to win. Take me back to oh six and how hard it was to put. Let's say Buffalo away or Edmonton away now those series you guys weren't up three. Oh they were they were more although it was three one against Edmonton. How hard was it to get that that fourth win in those two series specifically.

Yeah, it was incredibly hard. I can't remember exactly how it worked out. It's I just remember Buffalo being back and forth and back and forth and Buffalo was an excellent hockey team. There's no doubt about it. We want to talk about luck. If I'm being completely honest, you know we had some luck go with us with Buffalo having some injury now.

Do I think we have a better team? Yes, I do, but do I think it was really really close. Yes, I'd be lying if I didn't say that, but it's you know, especially with the Oilers because we were up three one. Yeah.

I mean it was incredibly hard. I remember sitting on the bench in overtime in game five in Carolina. I was never a power play player in the NHL. We got a power play in overtime and our power play was clicking and we had a great power play that year.

Yeah. I remember sitting on the bench and I'm like there's about a 30% chance that this thing is done. I'm not even going to have to do anything and I think that thought went through my head and a half second later. He had to **** the slot. It was under the bar and now we gotta fly back to Edmonton and in game six was I tethered maybe early in the playoffs game six. I would say within the first 10 minutes of that hockey game.

I knew that thing was over. We were getting we couldn't even touch the puck and we were getting blown up at Edmonton. It was basically I think I can speak for most of us. I mean we played hard don't get me wrong, but I mean it was survival mode.

It was let's get through this take care of yourself. If you can take a crack at somebody do it, but let's get let's get home and then you know it worked out for us in game seven where that's why we you know we had we had a good team. We tried to win as many games as possible during the regular season for a reason and that ended up being so we could have game seven at home and and we took care of business, but yes finishing series off is always hard.

You know that the team that's down obviously that they have a lot of pride and especially now when you're when you're in the Eastern Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, whatever you know these are good teams that have a lot of pride and they're not going to go away easily. Mike Commodore before we let you go at Kami 22 on Twitter Stanley Cup champion. What did Rod say in the locker room or on the plane after game six that stuck to you? You know what I know he said. I got the worst memory and maybe I got maybe I should have been a little bit better with the puck and I wouldn't have to hit people so often take it, but I don't remember you know what for the three years that I was there in almost 3 years or whatever.

I don't. I know Rod said something after one of those games. Rod never said he never said this is what I remember about Rod and this goes for my entire time there, but especially in the past the entire time Rod never said much and he definitely to the group definitely never said much to me and Rod and I are boys. He's one of the one of the guys I keep in touch with over the years here, but the one thing with Rod is he never he didn't say a whole lot. He was not a raw guy.

He would take care of his own business like he was definitely a responsible captain. There's no doubt about it, but you know kind of the flip side of that is and I know he said something after game five or I think it was after game six before game seven somewhere in there, but so when Rod did speak like you've got everybody's attention and you could hear a pin drop is like oh geez Rod has something to say here. So I don't remember exactly what he said, but whatever he said work. I'll just leave it at that.

Mike Commodore the man who made the bathrobe famous. I appreciate your time, sir. Say say hi to the folks in Calgary and we will talk to you again down the road. I appreciate it.

Alright sounds good. Thanks for having me Adam. Go game. You got it. Mike Commodore a hurricane's legend. I'm telling you Mike's one of the all time characters appreciate his time.