The Florida Panthers Are One Win Away from their First Stanley Cup; Plus the PWHL Draft & Awards!
the Florida Panthers are one win away from the first Stanley Cup victory in franchise history but can the Edmonton Oilers rally we’ve got that plus our women’s hockey Spotlight and more coming up on today’s locked on NHL podcast you’re locked on NHL your daily podcast on the National Hockey League part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day happy Friday everybody and welcome to the Friday edition of the locked on NHL podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I want to thank everyone who makes lock on NHL your first listen every day don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast so you can get new episodes as soon as they drop today’s episode is brought to you by ultimate hockey GM ever dreamed of being an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise well now you can with ultimate hockey GM it’s completely free and locked on listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo locked on NHL in the Game Store to download the game just visit hockey gm. apppp or look it up in the App Stores ultimate hockey GM start your Dynasty today Rachel happy Friday to you and uh can you believe that the Florida Panthers are up three nothing in this Stanley Cup Final series even though every game has been pretty close yeah I mean I think that this is kind of the way I expected it to go to be honest um I did have Edmonton winning one of their two home games in in my head uh as far as the way the series would go but I think that really what we’re seeing is the Panthers paning with their solid defensive structure and that’s what we talked about before the series began and um I think that it’s the combination of that and the Oilers are just making more mistakes yeah I think the mistakes have been key both of these teams are so well structured and so uh so good at what they do so much skill that it becomes a game of mistakes and who can cash in on them and it seems like Florida is just doing a better job of taking advantage of those mistakes than Edmonton and I think depth is a part of it I think especially on the blue line we’ve seen a couple of Edmonton Defenders make more mistakes maybe than uh you know other players on the ice and Florida makes them pay yeah and I think if you look at last night’s game in particular the Sam Bennett goal for Florida was just like exhibit a of all of this that has been happening because the Oilers had three chances to clear the puck could not do it there’s a turnover and Bennett takes advantage of that and and scores the goal which was kind of the dagger goal of this game yeah it really was and and yeah I mean all of the the first four goals in the game three of them by Florida one by uh Edmonton they were all off of mistakes and I I I think that you know again the depth that Florida has especially on the blue line has been in my mind that end goal tending has been the biggest difference and I don’t think Stuart Skinner has played poorly I don’t think he’s let in soft goals but he hasn’t come up with big saves to bail out some of his team’s mistakes where babski seems to do a better job of making the save when it’s important to make the save yeah I think that’s spot on uh you saw bosski make big save after big save in that game last night and you look at the broberg goal in the third period which was just a dumb luck thing where the puck bounces off of your defenseman into the back of the net that had nothing to do with anything that Bovi could have done and so you know and that sort of gets Edmonton going and and back in the game and you know they they do get one more which was a legit goal uh I think the you know the tip that McLoud did was absolutely spectacular it was a great play but I think that you know for the most part the kinds of goals that Edmonton are getting are just kind of afterthought kind of goals and I think Edmonton isn’t getting you know they’re getting more shots per game than Florida but they’re not getting second and third chances as often as Florida is so you know one shot and done is Sergey babski is gonna get most of those right and and I think that is just indicative of how this Florida team has played the entire playoffs that you may get through once but you’re not going to get through again and will get a chance off of that rebound instead of you yeah I I think that is definitely part of it and and I think you know I I guess if you look at the big scorers on both teams right now Florida’s big scorers are being more productive in this series than Edmonton’s big scorers yep and I think that you know when you don’t get as many chances the other team you have to capitalize on them and that’s what is so great about the skill of this Florida team and how many of them that have those skills I mean barov had another fantastic game with a goal and an assist in this one and just has proven you know why he’s such a a valuable guy on this team but then Sam Reinhardt did Tera senko gets on the board you know I talked about the Bennett goal which was such a key play in that game and you just keep running down the list and it doesn’t end and I think that you know when you look at the oiler side of things you see Conor McDavid in desperation mode for huge swast of the time he’s out on the ice and without as much of the support as he’s gotten leading up to the final yeah I mean he was on ice for 25 plus minutes in game three and you know two assists but did not put the puck in the net had five shots on goal but uh overall for the series McDavid has not been a dominant Force at least as far as goal scoring is concerned no I think that you know nobody has though to be fair and I think you know that’s partially due to the Florida defense and the bosski goal tending but I think you know these are the occasions where guys have to step up and I I think that you know you look at Zack Heyman you look at Leon dry cidal in this game nothing on the board for them and so guys around McDavid have to pick up the slack too if McDavid is getting you know double teamed or getting swarmed and he’s doing everything he can the other guys have to step up and they just have not been able to yeah no no question and and Shout out in my mind uh sort of an unsung hero for Florida gusta fors Ling 20 28 minutes 41 seconds of ice time four hits two block shots an assist of plus one but I mean he was out there literally half the game and just quietly getting the job done yeah and this was a punishing game overall with you know Edmonton had 43 hits Florida had 38 hits that is a very very physical game and Florida was able to withstand that and wound up you know with only four giveaways after all of that to Edmonton’s 10 I think that that was a huge difference there yeah and I think part of that is the four check Florida has a very good aggressive four check they force turnovers they don’t just happen to get them and those giveaways do add up and they take advantage of those opportunities got to give a shout out also though to the Edmonton fans they were vocal from beginning to end uh even though their team was down down you know four to one at one point and and it didn’t look too good for them so uh Edmonton fans who have not had a stanle cup final game in their building since 2006 uh did a great job last night of just supporting their team and creating a great atmosphere yeah absolutely and I’ve been to games in that building and uh it can get really loud in there and uh it is a really exciting venue to be in when it’s a lot live like that so game four Saturday night is is that the end of the season do you think or do you think that Edmonton has at least one win in them to send the series back to Florida um I I think you know for the fans sake in Edmonton I hope they get that one win and then the Florida fans can win a cup at home I think that is the best case scenario plus we as hockey fans get another game in the Stanley Cup Final uh and prolong the season for at least a couple more days and I think that would be fun for all of us but I know Florida would like to put this one away and go home happy yeah I mean I think all of these games have been close I just don’t see Edmonton giving up that easily I think they’ll get the one win and then see what happens when it goes back to Florida but uh it’s been an entertaining series even though it’s three nothing just as a hockey fan and as a hockey you know member of the hockey media I have enjoyed watching these games uh just from a Pure Hockey standpoint absolutely well we have got a lot more to get to on today’s show we’ll have Erica elala join us for our women’s hockey Spotlight and there’s lots going on around the NHL outside the Stanley Cup finals we’ve got all that and more coming up on today’s lock on NHL podcast hey lockon NHL fans I want to take a moment to bring up one of our partners the mobile game ultimate hockey GM ever dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey team do you think you could run your favorite team better than their J GM well your dream can come true and this game is for you manage every strategic aspect of your team play through the seasons and Lead it to Glory you can hire the right coaches and staff trade players or draft picks navigate through free agency and the draft all in a challenging and realistic game world as an NHL fan you know there is no off season GMS are constantly making moves at every point in the year to improve their team’s chances that’s why I think you’re going to love this game plus ultimate hockey GM is completely free and playable offline you can play on the go as you want and when you want to by the way locked on listeners get 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo locked on NHL in the game store so make sure you check it out to download the game just visit hockey gm. apppp that’s hockey gm. apppp or look it up in the App Stores ultimate hockey GM start your Dynasty today it’s time now for our bi-weekly women’s hockey Spotlight that means we welcome back Erica Lala Erica Lots going on in the world of women’s hockey let’s start with a new coach for pwhl New York indeed we talked about it on one of our previous women’s hockey spotlights would New York be able to place someone in their head coach role before the draft and that is something that they were able to accomplish they had the number one pick we’ll get into that in a minute but they named uh their new head coach Greg Fargo just ahead of the draft he’s coming from Colgate University he spent the last 12 Seasons there as the head coach of the women’s hockey program if you know anything about women’s hockey you know that Colgate has been one of those teams Rachel Wright that’s been in the mix in the NCAA and we’ve seen players from Colgate go into the nwhl and and phf prior to the pwl existing so you know someone with women’s hockey experience is definitely what we wanted it’s at the college level and sometimes there can be a little bit of a learning curve there but overall I think someone that knows women’s hockey is always a bonus always a plus when you’re looking to fill a role in a women’s hockey league absolutely I think you know that was exactly what we were looking for maybe not him in particular wasn’t really a name we brought up but somebody who was deeply familiar with women’s hockey was important for this team who would care about this program in a special kind of way and uh Greg Fargo seems like he’s that guy yeah for sure uh you know we’ll see what Fargo does with the rest of the coaching staff because there were some coaches uh under the the pwl New York that had women’s hockey Pro women’s hockey experience you know we mentioned a few of them so I’m very curious to see how they fill out their staff but Gil they also had the number one pick and I feel like it’s a pretty good thing to have a head coach in place when even though usually it’s the GM and and the front office staff that’s picking but probably a good idea for you to have a have that coach in place sitting at the table as we heard from um you know Pascal da who is the GM and with that first overall pick I I mean I think it was pretty pretty obvious who to take here but they take Sarah filer who has played in the NCAA at Princeton and of course Gil has been a Mainstay with uh Hockey Canada on the women’s Senior Team for for quite some time yeah a solid first overall pick no question about it and look P pwl New York needs to improve and getting a coach in place and getting that number one pick in place those are two steps along that road I know there is one program Rachel and you’re kind of wearing their colors it looks like that absolutely once we got the restart in sports in women’s hockey in particular took off running and I think that’s reflected in how many players from the Ohio State University were drafted yeah absolutely and you look at the first round I mean we joke about Kayla barn but she did attend Ohio State University and Hannah Bila picked before her to Boston kayb Barnes going to Montreal it just just shows the strength of that program there are so many top names in the women’s game that have come out of that program I think also something worth noting is and we talked about this a little bit pwhl New York they couldn’t quite sign Claire Thompson she was uh at NYU in medical school and it it was reported though that she entered the draft she also has since said that she’s taking a little bit of time away from her studies because effectively she felt hey I might not be able to play hockey forever but theoretically I can return to school and still fulfill that part of my dream and career path so I thought that was interesting and she goes third overall to the state of hockey who hosted the draft we have a lot of stuff to catch up with Minnesota but how do you like this pick Defender Claire Thompson I I really like this pick a lot I think that you know it’s a little bit of a risk uh given you know the re-entry process into the game for her but her skill level is so high and I feel like for a championship team to pick up a talent like her is a rare opportunity and you have to take it yeah I agree I think another thing that we see Gil before we get into Awards is that there was some question as to if the P or the pwhl excuse me would be able to attract any Talent from Europe not just who are already in the NCAA system at one of the programs playing in uh North America or I guess even us sports but if they could attract professional athletes who are already playing professional women’s hockey overseas to this league and I think we did get a good mix we have players from Russia Sweden Austria a lot of them czechia you know I love team czechia so I love to see that alongside of course the United States and Canada and this seems to be a we’ve certainly seen that on the NHL side right a a growing trend of players coming from all kinds of countries and being able to infuse a different style of play at the pro level yeah and I think it it’s important for the long-term health of the league to have that players coming from different countries and getting International interest in the game and like you said adding different styles different approaches I I think in the long run this is very good and it also I think in the long run the more players you can bring in from Europe the easier it will be to expand yeah for sure um and so we want to get into Awards now so we talked a little bit about the future now let’s talk about who we saw as the Pioneers who laid the foundation in the first season so they they mixed the draft which was the first day and then the second day they had everyone stay stick around for awards and I was a little bit concerned Rachel I know we talked about it we talked about how Spooner was having a fantastic season how she has a fantastic story and she did pretty well in the inaugural pwl Awards she did uh she racked up four of the awards now it was obvious that she was going to get the leading scorer and top goal scorer because the stats are there right you cannot argue with the numbers there but as far as forward of the year and the overall M VP award I think forward of the year was pretty obvious uh as well but the overall League MVP award maybe not so much because there’s a lot of options there you know a lot of great players in this league uh but I really think she deserved it I think that when you look at her overall game and what she was able to accomplish uh she deserved that Billy Jean King MVP award yeah I agree I agree so you mentioned it she gets the MVP and forward of the year other Awards we had now rookie of the year so this is always interesting I don’t know that you really the first year of a league right well I think and this is the thing that I think is interesting in women’s sports because we see starts and stops much more than we see on the men’s side unless it’s you know Arena Football I guess but um so there’s a difference between being a rookie a true rookie who has no Pro experience and then literally everyone being in their first season so rookie of the year goes to pwl Minnesota uh player Grace zumwinkle uh led the Minnesota team in scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 24 games oh by the way in route to the first ever Championship um other finalists were Emma malte and Alina Mueller uh Coach of the Year award went to pwl Toronto uh of course and I think it’s always worth saying right Gil these are regular season awards yes voting on before the playoffs take place and and by the time they’re awarded Everyone is always like but wait but no it wasn’t done that way right exactly uh Troy Ryan stumble kind of out the gate it felt like for pwl Toronto but to our Point H and and again Gil just said it this is a regular season award and I do think Troy Ryan and his staff they were able to just stick around uh and get their team to perform in a really good way speaking of um pwl Toronto they also get goal tender of the Year Kristen Campbell now this is interesting because again Toronto struggled and it seemed at time supy nickname of course obvious nickname uh struggled as well goldendelight.com again we can’t necessarily say Aaron Frankle just because it might be recency bias if you’re at the playoffs right but I do think Karen Schroeder and it’s hard it’s hard right Gil in any league for a player especially a goenda for a bad team to win this kind of award uh you know I think Defender is always interesting you know do you look at someone who’s producing offensively you really looking at shutdown defense I I think this is a pretty solid choice in Aaron Ambrose uh 18 points in 24 games including 14 assists the other finalists were Megan Keller and Ella Shelton I might have given it to Shelton there were so many times where anything good that was happening for pwl New York was because of Ella Shelton for me that’s probably the direction I would have gone in except for the fact that you know we talk about plus minus as a useless staff but she was on the negative side of that well yeah and because York it’s very much a yeah and then the counter argument is like well even considering all that she actually like put some points on the board as a defenseman and I think that’s like kind of the argument for on a team that wasn’t that good as a defenseman to put points on the board like that I don’t know like I I can see the argument going both ways we got through the Awards and now we kind of got to talk about pwhl Minnesota you win a title you’re hosting the draft and awards and somehow none of that is the top story they H they fired their general manager leading into the draft that upset Minnesota fans and then also uh so Minnesota fans I thought so Ken CLE is the head coach um he I guess is taking over now in a dual role which we see a lot in women’s sports I don’t love it but hey it is what it is uh I think the the way that I can summarize how fans felt about this is that there was a fan in the stands that said that had a sign that read CLE is not Ken off like you know from the Barbie uh from the Barbie movie which I thought was hilarious there were booze I mean Allah Gary bman walking into any hockey function um but then they also made a pick which got not just Minnesota fans upset Rachel but it got other uh you just uh women’s Sports women’s hockey fans upset they picked Britt kurl out of Wisconsin uh with with their second round pick and that is troublesome for a lot of women’s sports fans especially women’s hockey fans because BR curl has engaged with conversations on social media that are that a lot of people deem homophobic and even racist and as we see hockey trying to really clean some of that up I think with the suspect I would say dismissal of Natalie darwitz who led the team to a title and then getting brda curl also Ken CLE did not go up on the stage when brida was announced in Allah you know I don’t know who thinks this is a great idea but they had a black man and a woman up there instead of the the general manager/ head coach even though he apparently was you know was on the stage for everyone else just it left a bad taste in folks mouth Rachel it really did and especially you know sending up uh somebody who like a woman who is married to a woman to make this pick I I just felt like that was so inappropriate on so many levels to try and justify this pick because clearly they knew there was something wrong with it in to make that decision and if you know there’s something wrong with it don’t make the pick it’s as simple as that yeah and then Ken CLE spoke you know he was asked if he spoke to anyone uh from the LGBT community he said I talk with players with coaches that’s tough for me to answer I spoke with a lot of different people at the end of the day I was told she’s a great teammate and um you know they they were asked about merera going up there uh you know as you mentioned famous hockey player but also uh queer and uh we have people in that community and obviously Meera making that selection for us I think that speaks volumes for us so to your point it was very intentional and I think it does speak volumes but not in the way Ken CLE thinks it does yeah absolutely so I guess we will see how this all pans out but a year one year in the books and some new faces to the mix Gill will have to come back in another week or so to to talk about uh what is next for the pwhl yeah and I’m looking forward to having you back and and talking about that it’s always interesting and Erica thank you so much for joining us today thank you today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more 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like he could have gotten more money on the open market but sometimes it’s like the devil you know right in terms of your place on the team how much ice time you’re going to get and they must have given him some sort of guarantee to that effect in order to get him to stay for slightly less month yeah yeah and and look there’s also you know depending on the player being familiar with your city your family is there uh perhaps so there are always factors involved but uh he will be staying in Raleigh for the next three years the New York Rangers uh AG agreeing with potential uh restricted free agent Winger cappo coo a one-year deal with a $2.4 million cap hit according to the New York Post and uh that was the amount of his qualifying offer your thoughts about kacko yeah I think you know he had I would say a better season than some might have expected this year so there was a certain need to reward him as such but he still needs to prove a little bit more I think his overall expectations related to where he was at draft time have adjusted to some degree and I think that doing the one-year deal at this rate is a great way for him to be like no this wasn’t a fluk this past year I really am progressing and it gives him the opportunity to earn a bigger bigger payday while having the Rangers be in a lowrisk situation so I can see why they did it I I can also see why some fans might have wanted a multi-year deal as well though yeah I mean essentially K is betting on himself and and it’s sort of a a win-win if he does come through this year because obviously next year he’ll be making even more money uh when it’s time to renegotiate but we’ll see if this pays off for the Rangers and for Koo meanwhile some interesting moves in St Louis uh Doug Armstrong announcing that Alexander Steen will take over as GM in 2026 uh your thoughts about this unusual move where uh you know for the next two years he’ll be a special assistant under Armstrong and then take over as the GM yeah I think it is an interesting way to approach it and be sort of public about it ahead of time you know we’ve seen things like this in sports over the years uh you know across the board where you’re like oh yeah so and so is the presumptive next GM I mean we saw it in Philadelphia with Danny Brier we knew he was going to be GM eventually but they didn’t have an official succession plan like this and so I I just think it’s fascinating to see it happen in a public way um and to basically guarantee him the role and have Doug Armstrong uh essentially move up the chain in two years yeah it will be interesting and it does give you a certain amount of continuity in your franchise which I think I I like as a strategic move obviously the people you put in place have to work out and work out well and you know the blues have been a little bit up and down lately yeah and it also gives Steen a chance to really learn the ropes with less pressure I and I think that is you know there’s something to be said for that that um you know he has to learn the ROP so he can hit the ground running when he officially takes over and I think that will be important for him absolutely and and you know you do it that way you are theoretically giving your new GM every chance to succeed on the job training so to speak so and you’ll still have you know the the former GM there as an advisor so I think it it really is an interesting path forward and and we’ll see how that works out for the St Louis Blues Meanwhile the San Jose Sharks have hired Ryan uh warsofsky as their 11th head coach he is only 36 years old he will now be the youngest active head coach in the NHL he’s been an assistant the last two seasons under David Quinn were you surprised by this move by the Sharks a little bit I think there was a lot of momentum behind Marco Sturm I think you know with his history with the team and his success at the AHL level uh with Ontario I think that you know there was a lot of reason behind that momentum and that he was a really good option for the team I think you know there must have been something in the interview process that led them to believe that warski was the right way to go here especially because he had been under David Quinn who clearly just didn’t work out for uh whatever reason they decided I think sometimes you know you tend to throw the baby out with the bath water and they did not do that here which was I I think really interesting I I think warski is a good option for the Sharks I’m not discounting that I just think it’s a slightly different direction than maybe some would have expected yeah and a little strange to hire the assistant from the team that had the worst record you know in the league to have that continuity is a mixed bag when you’re coming from where the sharks are coming from I guess your thoughts on Utah’s jerseys for this year we still don’t obviously have a team name they’re going the pwl route with uh you know NHL Utah kind of I don’t know I think you know people are thinking saying it’s boring there’s like nothing to it uh I I honestly don’t care it’s a temporary Jersey and I think if it gives them more time to create a really strong brand so be it well these will be collector’s items they’re only going to be around for one season so uh get them while they’re hot right I mean yeah or cool According to some people that’s right absolutely so we’ll see how that plays out lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now it’s also available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the freefire TV channels app that’s going to do it for us today I will be back with you on Monday interviewing three of our local hosts with the biggest stories from around the league we’re here every day Monday through Friday bringing you the biggest stories from around the NHL have a great weekend everybody stay safe and thanks for listening to and watching the locked on NHL podcast
The Florida Panthers held on for a 4-3 win in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Panthers are now one win away from winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky and defensive depth have helped the Panthers limit Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and we discuss the timely scoring Florida has received.
Erica L. Ayala joins us for our bi-weekly Women’s Hockey Spotlight to discuss the PWHL Draft, the first season league awards and some controversy in Minnesota.
And we discuss the latest moves around the NHL including a new head coach for the San Jose Sharks, a new GM coming for the St. Louis Blues and trade rumors involving Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Rachel Donner and Gil Martin.
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