by Timo Seppa
Listen here to the podcast of Episode 4 (and yes, we’re still working on iTunes).0:00 Intro1:05 Matt’s rant on a local writer defending Mike Smith from guys like Matt.
6:15 Timo’s reflections on Rangers vs Islanders on October 15. Possibility of rekindling New York are rivalaries over the next couple of years. DiPietro’s concussion, and wow, Matt’s defending him. Brad Richards meshing with Gaborik. Blueshirts stumbling out of the gate, or can it simply be fixed by the return of Marc Staal? Torts doesn’t want to hear any excuses about the road trip
19:00 Matt’s the official Rochester Americans reporter for his radio station. Terrible opening night performance with Terry Pegula and Darcy Regier in the building. The difference between Buffalo and Rochester fans? Matt’s talks with Marcus Foligno and Zack Kassian. Shaone Morrisonn as a casualty of the Pegula-era Sabres.
29:05 Philadelphia Flyers preview with Geoff Detweiler of Broad Street Hockey. Reflections on the crazy offseason. Locker room issues real or not? “Bidding against themselves” for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. First impressions of Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier. Are the Flyers still the Broad Street Bullies? Thoughts on Arron Asham-Jay Beagle incident. Ville Leino signing from both a Philadelphia and Buffalo perspective. Should the Sabres shelter Leino like the Sedins, and if so, who plays the Malhotra role for Buffalo?
50:35 Prospects update with Corey Pronman of Hockey Prospectus. Value of Couturier and Schenn. Why is Mikael Granlund our top NHL Prospect? Rating Minnesota’s farm system. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ fast start. Thoughts on the Islanders sending Ryan Strome back to junior. Big minutes for Devils rookie defenseman Adam Larsson. Is Luke Adam for real? Corey likes Landskog, but still thinks he was taken too high in the draft. Why goalie prospects aren’t valued very highly. Jacob Markstrom. Lower expectations on Devante Smith-Pelly and Matt Read.
1:07:55 Two-part mailbag question from Philip in Pittsburgh. How long does it take for hockey stats to stabilize and exceed the small sample size? Matt’s Sam Fuld analogy. Would hockey benefit from similar tracking of players and/or the puck like baseball does with the PitchFX technology? Bad memories of the Fox “glow puck”.
1:20:15 Looking ahead to next week’s show.
Episode 5, available on Tuesday, will feature Tom Awad talking about GVT, VUKOTA, and a certain Western Conference team that’s off to a hot start. We’ll also preview another Western Conference team that’s stumbled so far. Hints, hints.
Comment by Timo Seppa — October 23, 2011 @ 12:30 pm
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is also scheduled to join us. Follow Jeremy on Twitter for Blues news at @jprutherford.
Comment by Timo Seppa — October 24, 2011 @ 9:12 am