Our friend, Reporter and host of "The Hockey Show,” David Dwork joins us for the first time this season to talk about the Florida Panthers! We discuss the success the Cats have experienced this year as they set on the Road to Repeat! Dwork talks about how the new additions have been helping the Panthers win. The guys get into how much Matthew Tkachuk has been loving being a menace on the Ice and how Hockey has been villainizing the big hit.
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00:00Let's get to the road to repeat, which is brought to us by our friends over at Celsius Hockey fans.
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00:16Panthers. Oh man, that means we got to head out to the Hollywood, the Toyota of Hollywood
00:23guest line, which is brought to us by Toyota of Hollywood shop over 2000 Toyota's on sale at one
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00:33Our guy from the hockey news, co-host of the hockey show, David Dwork. Hello, buddy. How are you?
00:41I don't hear him. He's muted. Oh, he's unmuting himself. That's on me. That's on me. That's on
00:48me. Accountability is the best policy. I just hopped over the boards and fell flat on my face.
00:53So that's a rough start to the shift. I just want to say that, sir.
00:59Miss you, David. Love you, buddy. Good to have you back, buddy. Good win by the cats last night.
01:04You know, they, uh, they get the shootout win over the devil's kind of after a about as ornery
01:10as we've heard Paul Maurice in a regular season. He seemed not too pleased with how things have
01:14been lately. What have you made of, of this, uh, this cat's team so far right now and what they're
01:20going through? I think it's just kind of part of the role of the season. Like, I mean, they're
01:26about halfway through right now, uh, for the last several weeks, they've had a lot of guys that have
01:31been sick. They've had a few guys that are playing through injuries, which is nothing out of the
01:34ordinary, particularly for this time of the season when it's winter and they're traveling a lot.
01:39So to see them kind of meandering their way through the schedule right now, it's not horribly
01:43surprising. You'd like to see them playing a little bit better, but again, it's the middle
01:47of the season. They're second place in the division. They're right where they need to be
01:50in terms of the standings. And again, if you look, they're one of the best, again, one of the best
01:54road teams in the NHL. So I don't think they're terribly worried about, you know, where they are
01:58in the standings. I think things are going to work out as the season progresses. Uh, but yeah,
02:02right now I think Paul Maurice is more concerned with the effort level that he sees than he is any
02:08kind of, you know, you know, concerned about long-term issues with the team, I think just
02:12night in and night out. And again, when you're dealing with so many of these issues, it's,
02:15you know, human nature. Uh, but I think that's where Maurice is at right now. He's just kind
02:19of dealing with the day-to-day just because he, I would think he knows long-term, uh,
02:23things will be okay. Hey, this, uh, this happens every year though, right? We have this conversation
02:29with you about this time every year, they go on the stretch and, and sometimes Paul Maurice to say,
02:36look, we're not playing bad. We're just losing games this time. He was a little more upset about
02:40the effort, but come January, right? That law before the final stretch, where you start jockeying
02:49for position, this has happened the last three years or as long as Paul Maurice has been here.
02:56And shouldn't we be like, okay, like we've seen this story before. Let's just, you know,
03:05settle down a little bit. Yeah. That's actually exactly what I've been thinking for the last
03:10couple of weeks, just based off of the commentary that I've been seeing on like social media and
03:15the reaction from, from some fans, like guys, take it easy. Like you've seen this the last
03:20couple of years and all they've done the last couple of years is go to the Stanley cup final
03:24and win the Stanley cup. And it's a lot of the same cast of characters there. They've actually
03:29improved a lot of it in the forward group. So like, I, I would just take it easy right now.
03:33You know, like you just said, Leroy, it's the middle of January, the playoffs are like four
03:39months from now. So let's just, you know, let the team get together. There's still a lot of new guys
03:44on this squad. I think they have like eight or nine new players from last year. So it's going
03:48to take a little time to get everybody on the same page once again, to learn these systems.
03:52And that's what they're working towards right now. And I think that's kind of ties into where
03:55Paul Maurice can get his game to game frustrations, just kind of implementing what he's trying to do
04:00and get everybody in line ahead of the playoffs, but getting there. And once they get there,
04:04I mean, just based off what I've seen from the last couple of years with this team,
04:07I'm not terribly concerned. Does this happen with all teams or we're just honed in on the Panthers?
04:13So we don't recognize that this happens throughout hockey for stretches of the season.
04:20Yeah. I think, you know, in any sport, you know, baseball, basketball, any sport that takes,
04:25you know, more than half a year to complete their season. And that's got so many games
04:29on a day-to-day basis, you're going to get some wear down. Now, basketball is a whole
04:33another issue right now that we don't even get into because like they get a hangnail and
04:37they're out for two weeks. But I mean, with hockey, I just feel like when you combine
04:42the physicality, the cold weather, the travel, the time of the year, like it's fairly common to see,
04:48you know, things pop up between, you know, Thanksgiving and, you know, I guess March.
04:54But, you know, like, like you said, it's nothing that we haven't seen before. And I'd be a lot more
04:59concerned if we were talking about guys being sick and guys dealing with injuries when we're
05:03getting into April, then right now in January, when I'd rather than be going through it and kind
05:07of getting themselves ready for that time of the year. Is there, uh, is, is, uh, have you been
05:12impressed by the yes, man? Uh, Boquist, I feel like he's, uh, really hit his stride the last few
05:17weeks. It's hard not to be. I mean, look at what he's doing on a line with Anton Lindell and
05:22Carter for Haiti. There's, they've been probably the Panthers best, more consistent line over the
05:27last maybe week or two. And, uh, Boquist has been the spark. I like that. He does a little
05:31bit of everything. He's very feisty. He's not afraid to get into it. He maybe gets caught a
05:36little bit doing that, but I think on a line with a guy like Carter for Haiti, who's just much more
05:40tenacious and speed and Anton Lindell, who's, you know, he's out of all the skill in the world,
05:44but he's maybe not going to be the guy that gets into those dirty areas in terms, you know,
05:48not in terms of going into the boards, but in terms of getting physical after the whistle and
05:51things like that, he's not that guy. So I think the line really compliments each other really well.
05:56And Boquest has been, you know, like so many of the other guys, like Nosek has been quietly great
06:01on that fourth line, similarly to what Kevin Stenland was last year. Uh, so just, you know,
06:06all these little tweaks and things that Bill Zito does is done really well, but, uh, Boquest has
06:10been great. What do you make of, uh, how, how important do you think last night was for Spencer
06:15night? Like you have a national TV game, everything that he's been through. I mean, obviously it's
06:19still Bob's team for, I guess, at least a couple more years, maybe there's, I don't know, but
06:24Spencer has had a long journey back and now, you know, they have the trust in them. What have
06:28you made of his year so far? Uh, I think it's been a fun progression to watch play out. Uh,
06:33you know, obviously he's had his, you know, ups and downs, ebbs and flows or whatever you want
06:37to say this year, but to see the way he's been rounding out lately, uh, on the ice has been
06:42awesome because that's, you know, obviously that's where you, you make your bread and that's
06:46where you need to do it. But the way that he's spoken, you know, off the ice throughout the
06:51season, whether it's been after a shutout or after a game where he kind of gets shelled,
06:55he's been very, just kind of steady as she does. I mean, just kind of what you'd want to see from,
07:01from both the guy that's been through what he's been through over the last 18 months
07:04and from a goaltender in general, like, you know, it's a, it's a tough position to play
07:08and particularly a backup goalie, because you don't know how often you're going to be in there.
07:12You could get thrown in at a very random time. So to see him just so kind of not stoic really,
07:17but because he's been, he's a happy guy, like he smiles a lot, but just to see him appear to be so
07:22comfortable in his own skin and to now to see the way that it's producing on the ice and the way
07:26that he's played the last few games, uh, it, you know, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it
07:30may be starting to all come together for Spencer Knight, as you would think with, you know, a
07:34goaltender with, you know, a high draft pick first round pick somebody who's viewed as somebody that
07:39can be very successful at this level. Maybe it's starting to come together for Spencer Knight.
07:43You don't want to put the cart ahead of the horse. He it's a goalie. He's going to have his ups and
07:46downs, but to see where he's at right now in that progression, I think it's awesome. And I'm really
07:51pleased with it both from a journalist perspective and from a goalie perspective. Uh, I'm really
07:55happy to see where Spencer's like Spencer Knight is at today. Level of excitement you have for
08:00the winter classic coming to South Florida. Uh, a scale has yet to be invented to measure my level
08:09of excitement. Just, just the idea of going to any outdoor game is awesome right there, right?
08:16You throw the Panthers into the mix and it's like, Oh man, that's, they're going to be the
08:21center of attention for a little while. And then it's in our backyard. It's in a ballpark that
08:26however you feel about that land plot, that building it's somewhere we all have some kind
08:32of connection to. And now we're going to be going to a bleeping outdoor hockey, hopefully outdoor
08:39hockey game. Hopefully they can get the roof open. Uh, but I, they probably have a plan for that,
08:43right? Cause it's 2025 and they, you know, they did an outdoor game in LA for crying out loud.
08:47So I'm pumped. Like just when I start to think about it and like, man, I'm going to be there.
08:52And you know, who knows what kind of events they're going to have surrounding it. It just
08:57seems like so much fun. I feel like the fans down here, the way that we've seen them show out for
09:01the playoffs the last couple of years, and the way that they showed out for the parade and the
09:04all-star game, like it's going to be a spectacle. I can't wait to see what the lead does, what the
09:09city does. I think it's going to be super exciting. And I'm just, I'm pumped. I cannot even, I'm
09:15shaking thinking about how excited I am right now. Yeah. Yeah. The air's picking up in my arm and
09:20this is, this is awesome. Do you, uh, how excited are you? Cause I don't, I don't, we were talking
09:24about this yesterday. Leroy did that thing where he asked me a hockey question. I don't know. So
09:28I'll, I'll, I'll kick it to you. Uh, what the hell is this four nations thing? That's coming up in a
09:33couple of weeks. Cause I'm very intrigued about the Panthers. I have a lot of guys in this thing
09:37and that's coming up. They do. They have eight players. They have Bill Zito is part of team USA.
09:42They have their equipment guys, part of the team. You see their video guy. Uh, he's involved. There's
09:48a, they're all in it. And, uh, it's basically kind of replacing the all-star game this year
09:53because there's no all-star game this year. This is instead. Um, and it's U S Canada, Sweden,
09:58Finland, uh, playing around Robin. Uh, the first four games for each are going to be in Montreal.
10:04And then the final round Robin games will be in Boston and they'll have their semifinal and
10:07their final. And, uh, it's basically best on best, which if you talk to any hockey player, hockey fan,
10:14that's what we want. We want to see best on best. We want to see what the best that whether it's
10:18at an all-star game, which I just stopped myself right there. Cause an all-star game is an all-star
10:23game. Nobody's right. Like you put your country's flag on your sweater, you go out there, you're
10:29representing, that's a different ball game. So I think this is what we're really excited for.
10:34It's just to see guys that, you know, we see them in the NHL and those kinds of matchups,
10:37because that that's really it. Uh, the Olympics come along like, you know, once every, you know,
10:41forever. Uh, so this is going to be really cool. Are all the Finns playing for the, for the,
10:46for Finland? Like are all Panthers, Finns go, we're basically our little Finland. So are we
10:50sending all of them? Barkov, Mikko, uh, uh, Lustreinen and Lundell, they're all going.
10:56Wow. And I mean, like I've never experienced, like, I know when players switch teams, you play
11:02against your buddy or whatever, you know, but I'm all of my friends were on the offensive side of
11:07the ball. So I never played against them. Um, but hockey and basketball, you actually play against
11:15each other. How weird is that? Like, that's gotta be a weird thing, right? Having to check your
11:21teammate, right? Yeah. That's what's cool about hockey though. Like I can't speak for other sports
11:27or basketball or things like that, but I know with hockey, like there's, it's kind of like a
11:31well-known thing. Like what happens on the ice stays on the ice. And obviously there's lines
11:36that like once in a, you know, once in a while somebody may cross something, but, you know,
11:40quite generally, uh, you know, you leave your personal relationships, all that, you leave it
11:45off the ice. You get out there, you're going to, you're not going to talk smack. You're going to
11:49hit a guy in the boards. It gets, it can feel personal. I mean, you know, Leroy football,
11:53it's hard not to be personal in those moments where you're trying to obliterate somebody.
11:58Uh, but that, that's, what's really cool about hockey. And we talk about how hockey guys are
12:02just great guys that they can go out there and really try to mangle each other and then go hug
12:07and have dinner right afterwards. Like it's all good. Trevor makes it a good point. Uh,
12:11is, is Russian on because of Putin? What's the deal? I know, uh, I know Russian and the,
12:16uh, the, the four cup nation because then it would be five cup. Well, I understand that.
12:27David, if I had asked that question, old dumb, dumb would have said the same thing to me.
12:32So that's why that's a good answer though. I think that's, that's what we should roll with.
12:41All right. I just, it's been, the whole Russia thing has been kind of taboo for a little while.
12:45Like, you know, they're, they, the, the Olympics, they didn't have Russia. They had the athletes
12:50representing Russia or whatever they did. So it's, it's been a little funky. The Stanley cup has not
12:54been to Russia in several years. So it's, for now it's just kind of like the thing that, you know,
12:59nobody really talks about too much, but it sounded like, eh,
13:02gotcha. Do you feel like this is a, does, does year three Matthew Chuck feel like he's fighting
13:07even more people? Cause I feel like now every night is legitimately in a brawl.
13:13I think he has, he has this role that he plays and he really enjoys his job. And I, maybe guys
13:19are looking a little bit more to agitate him. Maybe, you know, maybe he he's more noticeable.
13:24I feel like I've watched, that's a good job, but I feel like I've, I've seen like seven games this
13:29year where legitimately there's a fight after the game. Like it's just every single time
13:33win or lose, there's like somebody fighting Matthew could Chuck after the, after the final
13:37whistle, just because like, they're just sick of his ass. I don't know. Well, here's, here's my
13:42thought on the whole thing. Matthew could Chuck. We all can have replaced kind of an old school
13:46style of hockey that maybe would have been better suited in like the eighties and nineties, just
13:50because he's just this physical as he is an offensive player. My big problem with the NHL
13:55right now is that a clean hit is responded to with such ferocity that you think a guy just got
14:01two hand high stick in the face. Like there used to be a time where clean hits were just kind of
14:06like, okay, you just got lined up and knocked out. And we're going to go on with our lives
14:09as that's hockey. But now every hit is responded to with like a melee. And it's like we saw last
14:16night, uh, when, when the Panthers were playing in New Jersey. Uh, so I, I think that kind of
14:20plays into it as well. Uh, right now, you know, maybe guys are getting a little soft or a little
14:24too sensitive or whatever, but that's an element of the game that it's kind of frustrating because
14:29those big hits are such a fun part of hockey. And, you know, now we're almost Villa villainizing them.
14:35If that's a word on, on their own, like on our own as hockey. Isn't it weird? Because when I see
14:42could Chuck play, I think his skillset doesn't fit the physicality that he plays with, right?
14:50Because he's very skilled with the puck. And usually those guys are not as close to that kind
14:58of physicality as he is. And I think that's what throws a lot of people off. You think,
15:02Oh, he's just a goon, but that's not the case at all.
15:06No, he's like what Bill Zito said the day that they signed him. I think it's like a perfect
15:11descriptor. He's a unicorn that guys just don't do that. Like he, he can play both sides. He can
15:17wear both hats. And I think like, it makes me think of Sasha Barkov in that archive also like
15:23a Chuck, all the skill in the world, but it's up here. If Barkov had the kind of mentality of a
15:28guy like Alex Ovechkin to just like focus on scoring, you know, that's it. Barkov could be
15:33storing 50, 60 goals a year with his skill, no doubt in my mind, but that's not who he is.
15:38He's a guy that focuses just as much on his defensive play. Just like a Chuck focuses just
15:43as much on the physical element and getting to that part of hockey. And I think that's kind of
15:46why the Panthers have been such a well-rounded team is they have so many guys that can do so
15:50many different things, but not necessarily their main focus or what they, what their games modeled
15:54around. My favorite thing is always when Mark, when somebody tries to fight Barkoff and he goes,
16:00like, I'm not in the mood. I don't want to. He almost smiles more in those situations
16:04than when he scores a goal, right? Which is, that's the direct opposite of good Chuck.
16:10Right. It's like, hold on, give me a sec.
16:13All of the devils were on him last night. I'm like, what is all of them? Like,
16:20like who's in the middle there? That's Chucky.
16:22No, there's a picture that, uh, that my buddy Roy Bellamy posted on Twitter where it's like,
16:27like, all you see is like red jerseys. And then you just see to Chuck's head sticking out of the
16:31pile. He's smiling. It's just so perfect. He enjoys it. I think he's got like a secret,
16:39like pleasure for off goalies. Cause I'm, you know, I've always got my eye on the goal crease.
16:44He does so good at getting under a goalie skin without doing anything illegal. Like as a
16:49goaltender, like I, you know, you don't want to be bothered too much out there. And he's so good
16:53at just the, the parts of the game that maybe not a lot of guys want to get into or whatever, but
16:58ah, that's what makes him such a valuable guy on this team is that he does everything that,
17:03that maybe guys don't even have players on the other team that do. And then he goes out there
17:07and he also he'll, you know, score 40 goals, which is, that's the, that's the weird part to me
17:11because the two situations that we talked about, the 40 goals and him being an irritant that usually
17:19doesn't come in one person. No, very rare. It's like, I'm just trying to think off the top of my
17:24head, anybody in the lab, like in this generation, that's been that kind of player. And it's really
17:30hard to think of, like they were a much more common, you know, in the, you know, back in the
17:33eighties and nineties when guys were like, you know, it was a more fun physical game back then.
17:38Now, you know, it's much more, and you know, rightly so to an extent, you got to focus on
17:42safety, but it's fun to watch Matthew to Chuck, do his thing, man. It's fun to watch you do your
17:47thing, buddy. Hmm. Go follow David to work the hockey news co-host of the hockey show with Roy
17:56Bellamy, uh, with metal arc media as well. It does a fantastic job. Thank you, buddy.
18:01Thanks. Thank you, man. It's always nice to be here. Be around awesome people. Good to see you
18:05guys. All right. Take care of David. We'll take a break.