Hockey playoffs are right around the corner

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JC Penney. Make everybody count. Caroline Hurk has won their fourth game in a row last night. They are 20 29 829 8 and five since December 12. I believe that is the second best record in the NHL to the Florida Panthers over that same period of time. Florida has been great, although Boston is now in front of them in the Atlantic Division out west. You've got Vancouver on 94 points, Winnipeg on 93, Colorado on 93, Dallas on 91.

It is super tight. John Forslund sees more hockey than I can. Voice of the Kraken and of course, TNT. And he is with us here on the Adam Gold Show. Mr. Forslund, how are you? I'm great, Adam.

How are you? I'm hanging in. I think I think the Hurricanes might have something.

We'll get to them in a second. But I've seen I see when I saw Winnipeg play two games against the Hurricanes at the same time, the first part of the game where Carolina was significantly better. And then all of a sudden in the third period where it went the other way, I've seen Colorado and I was kind of not impressed. I thought they were a one line team.

I know they were banged up, but they're getting players back. I've been most impressed by Dallas, but I think Dallas right now is third in that division. Vancouver looks great to me. I think those are the four best unless it's Vegas, who's eighth in the conference.

I can't make heads or tails of that. Who's the best team in the West? Well, Vegas has to get in first, right? So they're gonna they're gonna struggle. It appears they lost again last night. They're gonna struggle to get in.

If they get in, then you have to. And I just had him on TNT Sunday when they played really well, so they're hard to read when they get to complete health and they have their full lineup and you have their history. And if their goalkeeping can do what it did last year, then I would say they're gonna be right there. Now, all those other teams you mentioned, uh, they all have their their moments. I've never had recall the season like this one where it seems like in two week segments, you'll say that's the best team in the National Hockey League. So this morning, if you were to ask me the best team in the National Hockey League, it's the Carolina Hurricanes today. If you ask me that two weeks ago is the Florida Panthers. Two weeks prior to that, it might have been Vancouver might have been Dallas might have been Colorado as we go back back back.

Last year, it was the Boston Bruins stem to stern, right? They were the best team. They were gonna set records and did and get to the playoffs and lose in the first round.

So I'm not sure what any of this means. Um, I will tell you Winnipeg's better than people give them credit for. Love them. And people have caught up to Vancouver because I recall telling you earlier in the season how good Vancouver was. Um, and they still are. But this Winnipeg Jets team that beat the Rangers last night, they're sneaky. And that could be to their advantage, you know, because they're not going to go in with a championship to defend. They're not going to go in with Nathan McKinnon. Maybe he's the MVP. They're not going in with this regular season for Vancouver that came out of nowhere.

Now you got to validate it. Winnipeg just comes to work every night. And they're really good defensively. And they're really good offensively. And they made some smart moves as did the hurricanes at the trading deadline. So we'll see. I love Winnipeg and they have maybe this year and I don't think it's a maybe they have the best goalie in the league this year. No.

Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, Connor Hellebock is is for me the best trophy winner. Again, you could have all kinds of conversations about this, but this guy is a old school goalie like Vasilevskiy who's a workhorse who doesn't need a strong two to spell him. You know, Hellebock can put the team on his shoulders and he's strong enough to handle the workload.

He's mentally strong. Uh, those are difference makers at that position and they have so many weapons. That was when I saw them. I mean, I couldn't believe Carolina was ahead three nothing and playing as well. And then the, you know, Kachetkoff allows a bad goal. And I think the whole team did not handle that very well after that.

Kachetkoff, but also there were a ton of mistakes made in front of him. But I, to me, they were, they had a good first three lines in terms of being able to produce offense. I didn't see that with Colorado. When I looked at their roster, I'm like, wait a second. Where did the rest of the team go? Uh, because they just want to stay in the cup a couple of years ago. And I remember them being loaded now, obviously free agency happens. Nazem Kadri leaves all of that.

Uh, but they do they, as good as they are up top, I don't think there is good behind, you know, you know, second, third launch. Adam Gold here with my man coach Pete DeRuta Capital Financial Advisory Group. Are most of your clients hands-on or they just give you their money and let it work for them? About 90% give the money. And then we meet every year and go through status reports, have a financial pit stop, making sure everything's fine. It is like a puzzle, Adam, but for the next 10 of you will solve your own retirement puzzle at no cost or obligation. Call and claim your comprehensive review with coach Pete and the team AAA 843-0013 or text Adam to 600-700.

Adam Gold is a paid spokesman investment advisory services offered by Capital Financial Advisory Group, a North Carolina registered investment advisor. No, and that season that they won the Stanley Cup, Nazem Kadri was exceptional and earned the contract he's living off of right now with Calgary and having a hard time living up to, although he's had pretty good year this year, but not so much last year. But anyway, um, they, they, they're chasing a real good number two center, which is the difference maker, you know, that usually, you know, finding the three center, the good checking defensive center. If you get that, like the canes have it with Jordan stall, Winnipeg has it with Adam Lowry. They're both captains.

That's really good. You know, that's the foundation of your team. Then you have a home run hitter in the number one spot, and then you have to find a second centerman who's equally as good, just maybe a little bit behind that guy that's leading the pack. All the great teams, you know, win with that. You know, you look at Tampa Bay over the years when they were when they were at the level of winning championships year after year, you know, that's that's what they had. Uh, not so much. Now their lineup is a little watered down, getting a little bit older, but that's, that's the key. And if you find that you're on your way and they, the lightning, by the way, are playing very well right now. But I agree.

I think they're a little bit top heavy. It's not the same unit that they have had. All right. We've been saying this for a long time, which is why I was, I was like having, you know, pleasant dreams about potentially the hurricanes reacquiring Elias Linham for a while. But have the hurricanes found that number two center and you have to get his nets off? I say jury's out. Okay.

To be fair. I know that it's been a great honeymoon period and he's come in there and good for him. Hopefully his life's in order.

That's number one. Um, he's got a boatload of talent that maybe he wasted some of it recently. Uh, he may have been wasting it and at his best years only he knows. So if he's fixed all of that and he can get back to his talent and, and put his life in the right place, it's a real good chance. And a pretty, a pretty good move by the hurricanes, I think, because, um, he fits the bill.

It's a little bit of a risk. Um, and when you get into the playoffs and you're playing the same team for two weeks, you know, and they, they circle his number and they assign someone to him and he's got to meet it every night. That'll be the, that'll be the key from a skill standpoint. He augments their lineup beautifully. Um, again, there's really, they didn't have to give up anything really to get this player and they could have had him on waivers the week before. Um, but you know what?

It's, it's, it's a complimentary piece that has a very high ceiling. So we'll just, we'll just wait and see on that. And, uh, I think that's a big key for the hurricanes watching them all season is the fact that they tried to shoehorn, uh, yes, Barry Cook and EME into that position.

And it just right now, the stage of his career doesn't fit. Yeah. You know, w when Jack jury and Tevo Tara Von and come back to the lineup, whether it's tomorrow night against Philadelphia or maybe Friday in Washington, or even back here Sunday against Toronto, um, when those guys get back, I mean, my assumption is that, uh, Brendan Lemieux and yes, Barry coat can EME go to the press box. I don't see them taking Steph Nason out of the lineup. And I think Carolina's fourth line, whoever that line is, Drury, Tevo, Tara vine and Steph Nason. That doesn't sound like a four. It sounds like a second line for me, maybe three years ago with the hurricanes. Yeah. It sounds like a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. Right? If you get four lines deep in the Stanley cup playoffs with talent, and as long as your, your grit level is good and your pushback is good, you know, you're going to, and that's still a challenge fair for this team.

Um, that's going to be working out in their favorite Jack jury. He's had a very, very good season, you know, good for him. Um, he's established himself.

He's a national hockey league player. And, uh, when he comes back, he's, he's a, he's a piece that the will, uh, will, will factor in a lot of different ways, including a high compete level. Right. So that's a, that that's a, it's an excellent fit for them. Do you think their goaltending is good enough? It's good enough to swing back and forth. Um, go check off is really talented in my opinion, uh, from the waist down, he's exceptional. His, his, his, his lower portion, uh, control of the net is, is second to none. His pad control, his, his butterfly is, is exquisite. His, his, my pads are always flush on the ice. He gets a little bit out of control. He's going to have to harness himself. We've seen, I'm not talking specifically about the gaps that have crept into his game. I see him being victimized upstairs a little bit. And I think there, you know, again, you get in a playoff series and, uh, you know, that's what it's all about.

Same team, same shooters, game after game. Um, but you have Freddie Anderson, right. And, and Freddie, and I think you can swing back and forth.

And I don't think that's a bad thing. And unless you have, you know, and we mentioned Hellebock, right. And not as much Hellebock, it's more about Vasilevski, um, uh, and maybe Georgiev with Colorado.

There isn't another choice, right? Roswa backing up Hellebock very quietly. He's had a great year. He's also, yeah, he was set to be Vegas as goalie in the playoffs last year and he got hurt. So, you know, he's got the experience, but if broad can swing back and forth with two goalies that are capable, the team plays about the same in front of each guy. Um, I don't see where you can go wrong cause that's a weapon in a playoff series.

All of a sudden one guy's not there. You have the confidence to swing a series around as the canes did many, many, many, many moons ago now, you know, when it was Urbain and Kevin weeks, right. That was kind of, uh, the, the, the, the, the role that Paul Maurice played, uh, you know, in that series with those two goaltenders. I mean, that's a long time ago. I mean, I don't even know how long on the road that was. That was, uh, that was too long ago. That was many uniforms ago. Now they're going to change the uniforms at some point, but anyway, um, uh, you know, that's, that's the thing.

I think that's a weapon for a coach in today's game. They have two goalies like the Bruins do. Yeah. And they, uh, the, the hurricanes have always even like in, you know, six Martin Gerber started to started to, uh, he came back in in the Buffalo series. We all remember that it like randomly, Hey, we're going to start Martin Gerber in game four. What?

Yep. Wouldn't do that. We're going to go back to cam ward. Uh, but it happened most, most overused conversation among all of us is, you know, you got to have one guy and who's that guy going to be come playoff time. Uh, I don't know, especially if the team's playing at the level that canes are playing at right now, it's almost like, you know, please give it a rest. You can't have everything, you know, um, for a couple of years it was, Oh, we like our group. And, and, and the GM was criticized for not going out and doing anything.

Um, this year they did, and they got the best forward available, which was a, which was a huge deal acquiring Jake cancel. We talked about it, uh, privately, you know, before that happened, that, that would swing the team around and it has so far, uh, he is such a good fit with Ajo and I liked Jarvis on that line and all, uh, you know, all respect to Tevo, Tara vine. And I think that line works better with Jarvis on the right side and against the, on the left. And my comparison is I know Jake Gensle is one of the smartest players, uh, in the league. My comparison for him was Justin Williams because Justin was, is what probably is.

He could probably still figure out how to be effective as an NHL player, given how smart he is. Uh, but that to me is the comparison, but with just higher, you know, a higher end offensive ability for the ones who work hard to ensure their crew can always go the extra mile and the ones who get in early. So everyone can go home on time. There's Granger offering professional grade supplies backed by product experts. So you can quickly and easily find what you need. Plus you can count on access to a committed team, ready to go the extra mile for you call click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. Shopify helps you sell at every stage of your business like that. Let's put it online and see what happens stage. And the site is alive that we opened a store and need a fast checkout stage. Thanks. You're all set that counted up and ship it around the globe stage. This one's going to Thailand and that, wait, did we just hit a million orders stage?

Whatever your stage businesses that grow, grow with Shopify sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify dot com slash listen. A little quicker, um, but very similar and a real good comparison because of their winning history and they played deep and they've won and been huge factors. Both of these players, you know, in Stanley cups.

So yes, uh, the thing about Genzel and you guys will see it as you move forward. Yes, he's a winger. Yes, he can snipe, but as he did last night, he can make plays.

Yeah. He's almost, you know, he's almost, if you put a whole on the wing, you'd have a center going over on the wall. You know, he's not a prototypical winger in that, in that way. Um, and it doesn't matter, you know, I mean, people again, so, Oh, Sidney Crosby, you know, okay, Sidney Crosby, one of the greatest players of all time, but he went to a team with elite talent. So the factor, the fact is that players that can play with elite talent can play with anybody.

That's good. So this is a player that can do that. The trick will be what happens moving forward, how deep they go, do they win or not? Uh, this player will be the highlight, the most coveted player on the free agent market. And he knows it. I mean, he, he knows, I think he's going to free agency if he likes it there and they, they figure it out.

Great. Um, but he's going to hit the jackpot. There's no doubt about it.

There is a hundred percent chance that it's a bidding war for Jake. And so, but again, what they gave up was not awful to get to, right. I mean, I love my Michael Bunning just doesn't play in the other end of the ice.

He's not really a defensive player against who can do both. Uh, so they got better there. Uh, second round pick, fifth round pick the minor leaguers. They gave up for, okay. I think Panama could be a, you know, a bottom six center, uh, in the NHL. And he's kind of has a little bit of a excitement to him, but I didn't think they gave up a ton at all to get, and you do it a hundred times in a row, uh, with, to give yourself a good chance to win a Stanley cup.

So I do it right. And the bunting signing was just okay. I agree.

I wasn't, I wasn't a big fan of it when they did it. I've seen the player enough. Um, you know, I know why they went out and got him, but they got out from it. And if they have a different team next year, based on what happens next, you know, you're, if you're saddled with bunting, I believe for two more years, you know, this, this he's kind of, he might become just average then what do you do, you know?

So anyway, this, this, you got to go for it. They did. Um, they're in a great spot. Will they win only time tells, because that's the fair answer. No one really knows in the NHL.

This is a, there's going to be so many great teams again, go home after two weeks, but that's just the way it is. If Carolina catches the Rangers, you're staring at Tampa in the first round. And while I think Carolina is better than Tampa, I mean, good luck against Vasilevskiy and the lightning power play. Uh, the only thing I think to rail in Carolina really is if the penalty kill goes the other way, that's been the reason they have exited the playoffs. Basically every year that they have exited, except for the Stanley, the Eastern conference finals last year, that wasn't about the power play.

That wasn't, that was about just not being able to get that goal against Bobrovsky. John Forslund, you are the best. I hope to see you soon. Hope you'll be, uh, uh, hanging around.

Well, you will, uh, the old cracking or, uh, you know, uh, hanging on and that's a stretch. So we'll see what happens here over the next few weeks. Um, but I will be working playoffs for TNT. We'll be working the playoffs for a sports USA national radio.

Um, so I should be in and around PNC arena quite a bit. I cannot wait. Thank you very much. My friend alert the authorities. Yes. We'll have an armed guard for you. Yeah, no, no, just alert the authorities. You know who they are. Okay. I'll do that. Thanks John. Appreciate it.

John Forslund. Oh man. Now I want wings.

Now I got wings. All right. My son says that all the time. Just happens. I mean, it just happens. It goes with the territory. Feel the urge.

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