0:00

And chat about it. Why don't we bring in Dallas

0:03

Aiken's former NHL head coach Dallas has it going

0:07

Excellent, how's everybody there today? Well,

0:09

we're doing doing well There's there's

0:11

a cup final though. We get to do break

0:13

down here last night It feels like there hasn't been a whole

0:16

lot of hockey going on with the way that the

0:18

cup finals been stretched over the last Three weeks,

0:20

so we finally do get to jump into things and

0:22

talk a little about it a little bit But for you

0:25

through through three games, we now

0:27

have a 2-1 Series

0:29

with Florida cutting into that lead a

0:31

little bit on Vegas. What did you make a last night's

0:34

performance? Well,

0:36

I was excited

0:37

that a Florida

0:39

got a win because we're all fans at

0:41

heart we want to Have

0:44

this series go on for as long

0:46

as we can because well What are

0:48

we going to do with all of our time a

0:50

week from now when hockey's over it?

0:53

So, you know, I was glad to see them

0:55

win I'm a big fan of both

0:57

of these teams like I think Kelly McCrimmon

1:00

and Bill Zito have Made

1:02

some really shrewd moves Over

1:05

the past year to prepare their

1:07

teams. I know both coaches very very

1:10

well big fans of theirs

1:12

too But I

1:14

I just think you know through those first two games

1:16

like, you know, Vegas is a strong team

1:19

like they're very deep Obviously

1:22

Aiden Hill has played exceptionally well,

1:25

I think they had a little bit of luck on their side too,

1:28

which is important I know people

1:30

are always talking about well, you'll you make your own

1:32

luck There is luck in the game and

1:35

I think Vegas has had some of that but

1:37

like last night, you know I

1:40

the Chuck showed us again what he is like

1:42

absolute gamer gets crushed

1:45

comes back, you know scores a tying goal Runs

1:49

just enough of a screen on the overtime

1:51

goal Bobrovsky played

1:53

exceptionally well, so we we

1:55

have a series now and I'm

1:57

really excited that we have a here

2:00

is now

2:00

yes exciting stuff to one

2:03

for the vegas golden knights or to gets back

2:05

in it and home last night did you notice

2:07

anything specifically that palmer

2:09

he suggested last night or or maybe just before the

2:11

panthers as a whole that resulted in the victory

2:13

well i popular

2:15

really are talking before more

2:18

bomb or proper order

2:20

to work along the walls but

2:23

to talk about it all the time now and

2:25

it's basically the

2:28

get on the wall get off the wall and

2:30

i think you saw on like

2:33

mom tours galore ah

2:35

to chuck macys within three what

2:39

are you i've been talking about of a lot eighty

2:41

percent of the game is played

2:43

within three feet of those boards

2:46

yeah but that that's where the puck is

2:48

all night and if you watch on

2:50

the mon to or goal the

2:52

jokes on the wall he makes

2:54

an unbelievable play as he went through

2:56

stones be on his backhand

2:59

got the park in into the slaughter

3:01

them onto her bag and the net even

3:03

on the the the the winning

3:05

goal whether you would ban it is

3:07

within three feet of a wall in the great

3:10

plate play to get into the middle of

3:12

the i ah and

3:15

are able to score there so i just

3:17

think you know paul

3:19

is really focused on hey we gotta get

3:21

the factor into that slot more we gotta get

3:23

that park in the the inner slot more like that's

3:26

where you win the game goals

3:28

wise but before you can get

3:30

it there you gotta win those battles

3:33

and be able to make those plays and a really

3:35

small small area ah

3:38

against the wall so it's

3:40

kind of both you use you can't

3:42

do one without the other and

3:44

hi i think that's probably where other their

3:46

main focus of the second thing and to

3:48

be too long whether that is i think

3:51

they just got to their dame now like they they

3:53

realize okay all of this we're

3:55

gonna hit you were going upon to arm

4:28

one

6:00

for then after to hi i'm guessing

6:02

how i don't know that he's had a a

6:04

chat with his team and just said hey let's

6:06

just get to our game play hard

6:08

hockey but we don't need to take this

6:10

over the line anymore which

6:13

amazon until i go to dallas eakins

6:15

and dumb you

6:17

look at last night's game and attic

6:19

one of the big story lines obviously matthew

6:21

could chuck will he was able to do but

6:23

also yeah the return of

6:25

rams two and three but brodsky and and i'm

6:27

curious get your thoughts on this when you're

6:29

watching it like was it more but bra ski just

6:31

looking a little bit more dialed in last night

6:33

that he did you the first couple of games where

6:36

may be that ten de lay off could have

6:38

interrupted his the flow of things that

6:40

he was the on things were really cook and for him

6:43

to those couple of series or

6:45

did you see the panthers kind of tightening up a

6:47

little bit yeah

6:49

i think it's a little bit of everything

6:51

actually

6:52

like her third the fan

6:54

back and to to watch games

6:56

and just pinpoint a that

6:58

that's what it was worth it or hate

7:00

like her to win a hockey

7:02

game or even don't lose a hockey

7:05

game like both both but margins

7:07

are so so then so be

7:10

the first part for for the panthers and

7:12

especially the goalie as you can

7:14

do whatever you want as a coach or

7:17

the other sports science people or and they're

7:19

they're they're letting the panthers know here's

7:22

here's the plan for being ready to go

7:24

and dame wine and a goalie coach

7:26

thinks he knows and and everybody's

7:28

doing their best to prepare the team but

7:31

if ten days off like a it's it's

7:33

a long time it's hard to britain like

7:36

ramp at right back up again and

7:39

and be fully prepared and

7:41

in that rebel and i always think

7:43

games are specially when you get into the

7:45

series a it's like you're at a damn

7:48

right and there there's like everybody here's

7:50

the beer the music and everything everybody haven't

7:52

fallen airways dance in while

7:54

and

7:55

there's always somebody over there that maybe doesn't hear

7:57

the beer the music and you can

7:59

tell what they're off-kilter with

8:01

how they're dancing. It's kind of like Elaine in

8:04

Seinfeld, if anybody ever remembers

8:06

that. And so being

8:08

off that long kind of puts

8:11

you like Elaine over there, dancing

8:13

a little bit, and it takes you a little bit to get back

8:15

into the rhythm. And I think there's nowhere

8:17

more important to that than

8:20

with your goaltender. Goal tenders, when

8:22

they get hot and put

8:24

that in quotes, what does that mean? Well, they

8:26

got hot. Well, they're in this rhythm and

8:29

they're just, it just keeps coming

8:31

at them and they keep stopping pucks.

8:34

And if you take them out of that rhythm, then

8:37

pucks start going in the net. So I think

8:40

it's a lot of that. And then again,

8:43

hey, Panthers are realizing

8:45

that, you know,

8:47

stopping a goal and playing a little tighter

8:50

has the same effect as scoring one on

8:52

the scoreboard. And I thought

8:54

they did a way better job at that as well. Because

8:56

Vegas is a team that brings the game to the slot

8:59

all night.

9:00

Yeah, Bobrovsky looked like he found the rhythm

9:02

last night. He was dancing to the proper tune.

9:04

I was wondering if that's where you were headed with the rhythm.

9:07

You did it look more like

9:09

the Panthers tightened up in front of him or more

9:11

like he found his game?

9:15

Well, I think it's both. I think he found

9:17

his game. He had to make some big

9:19

saves, especially there in the

9:22

second period. I think off the top of my

9:24

head, there's around seven minutes the left could go in the period.

9:27

He had to make some big saves. But

9:30

like the big thing the Panthers

9:33

for me did better last night was

9:36

just protecting that slot, that

9:38

inner slot area. And you've

9:40

got to have great sticks. You've got to have people

9:42

there. You want to play on the inside

9:44

because Vegas all night, they

9:47

are excellent at it. They

9:49

switch sides behind the net. It's coming to the slot. They

9:51

come down off the rush. It's coming to the slot. Everything

9:54

comes to the slot all night long. And

9:56

that has got to be a real, real

9:59

place. of contention for

10:02

the Panthers. And

10:04

I thought they did a little bit better job

10:06

there. And when the

10:08

shots did come,

10:11

Groly Bob was ready for it. With

10:14

Dallas Aikens, former NHL head coach,

10:16

and I just want to get your thoughts on this

10:19

really quickly. Shane Doan, somebody who

10:21

you played with and you coached against for many

10:23

years, is now

10:26

officially actually. It's no longer reports,

10:28

but official that he's joining the Maple Leafs

10:30

front office as a special advisor

10:33

to GM Brad Trellivant. Just what you know

10:35

about Shane Doan, like how much do you

10:37

think he can excel in a role

10:39

like this with Toronto? Well,

10:43

I'll tell you what, like before we get

10:45

to donor, like, hey, throw the ball up in the

10:47

air and just knock it out of the park for Brad Trellivant.

10:50

Like that's a huge get. That's

10:53

a guy, Shane Doan's been with one organization

10:56

his whole life. I played

10:58

with him with the Winnipeg

11:00

Jets when he was like an 18 year old, I think.

11:03

And then he went from the Jets to Arizona,

11:06

like he lived there. He's a

11:08

part of the fabric of that organization.

11:11

And so for Brad Trellivant

11:13

to add not only a former

11:16

player of that stature and

11:18

a former captain, but then a guy

11:20

that's got some management skills

11:22

working through the coyotes

11:25

with Team Canada, Shane

11:28

Doan is you just don't

11:30

find better human beings like

11:32

this in any walk of life. I'm

11:35

not just saying hockey. I just

11:37

had the pleasure of catching up with donor at the

11:39

Memorial Cup. I was there for three days

11:41

doing a few things. I

11:43

got to catch up with him. And what's

11:45

amazing is he never changes.

11:48

Like he has the same values.

11:51

He treats people the same way as he did

11:53

when I first met him when he was 18. But

11:56

now that he's this icon

11:58

in the game. And so I think

12:01

it's a massive debt for

12:03

the Toronto Maple Leafs. Um,

12:06

I think it's always important to have like

12:08

a former player, a guy that

12:11

has some stature, but is also extremely

12:13

intelligent and very measured

12:16

in that front office, because you know, he can really

12:18

relate to the players, uh, and

12:21

help in that area. So I

12:23

think donor is just going to do an amazing job

12:25

there. And man, very,

12:28

very impressive by a Brad Trelevy

12:30

to bring somebody in and, and

12:32

get them to agree to come in and,

12:35

and, and join that staff.

12:37

Well, since we got you on here, obviously

12:40

the Brad Trelevy, this was his first order

12:42

of business was to bring in Shane Don

12:44

as his, his assistant, you know, he's got a couple

12:46

more things on the docket over the course

12:48

of the summer and a big conversation that's

12:50

been percolating round Leafs nation

12:53

is, is in regards to the core four

12:55

and what maybe the team should do and whether

12:57

or not that a trade should be made, like, what's

13:00

your opinion as someone who's coached against this

13:02

team? Like what do you think when you're,

13:04

you know, line matching and when

13:06

you're figuring out, okay, what

13:07

can we do to attack this team, their weaknesses?

13:10

Like, do you think, what do you think this team

13:12

needs to do going forward with that group? Well,

13:17

I'm, I'm always hesitant to comment

13:19

on other teams, even though I'm not with

13:21

one right now. Because

13:24

like

13:24

Brad Trelevy is going to go assess

13:26

his roster and do what he, he

13:30

thinks is the best thing to do. You

13:33

know, the, I know there's

13:35

been a great frustration in the Canadian

13:38

market. I was back there for a couple

13:40

of weeks during the playoffs and

13:42

I had forgotten about the amount

13:44

of passion that is, that is in that city.

13:49

I, the, the one thing I will say

13:51

is this, and it's maybe not answering your question. If

13:54

I was working anywhere,

13:57

and I don't care if I was a player or if

13:59

I was. a coach or a manager, the

14:02

thing that would drive me absolutely

14:04

fatty because it was driving me nuts

14:07

when I was there for

14:09

a couple of weeks in the playoffs and you just

14:11

said it, that whole whoever made

14:13

up the word core for that

14:16

would drive me nuts because

14:19

you're taking four players and you're separating

14:21

them from a team. And if you look at

14:23

what's playing in the Stanley

14:26

Cup playoffs, where do we hear core

14:28

for or Muskoka five or

14:31

these things, like it

14:33

quietly divides the team and people

14:35

don't think it's a big deal, but it is

14:38

because it's suddenly it's a buzzword, right?

14:40

And that would be the one

14:42

of the things that everyone's

14:45

got to kind of get over it. Like, you know what,

14:47

uh, Austin Matthews are, uh, and

14:50

Nielander and Marner and Tavares,

14:52

like Morgan Riley,

14:54

like go through their roster, whoever you want to talk.

14:56

We're all a piece of the pie

14:59

of a team that needs to work together to

15:01

win. And that kind of

15:03

narrative, it, well,

15:07

uh, uh, subconsciously and

15:09

consciously like divides

15:12

teams. And that, that would be the

15:14

first order of business, I think for everybody

15:17

in the Toronto to commit to

15:19

not saying those words. I

15:21

was there when it was, uh, I was an

15:23

assistant coach when that whole Muskoka five

15:26

thing, and you know what was crazy about that? One

15:28

guy owned a place in Muskoka. The

15:31

other four had no connection to it and they were

15:33

all the Muskoka five. Like it's, it's just

15:36

craziness to me, but I

15:38

think Brad will, I think Brad

15:40

Treleving is a really detailed guy. He's

15:43

going to go through, uh, assess,

15:46

you know, what he believes will,

15:48

uh, move the team, uh,

15:51

forward, uh, to take

15:53

multiple stabs, uh, at

15:56

winning a championship there. And

15:59

he certainly. has a lot of different

16:01

ways he can go about that.

16:03

Yeah, and he did in his

16:05

introductory press conference, kind of, he

16:08

echoed the same thoughts. He hates the term, the core

16:10

four. He would like to see it abolished. So, I don't

16:12

know, maybe Dallas will create some sort of, uh,

16:15

like a swear jar. Every time we say,

16:17

we got to have a fine, you know, toss a dollar

16:19

in the swear jar and the, in the core four jar. Maybe,

16:21

maybe we could do that for all of Toronto

16:24

media. What do you think? Yeah.

16:26

Well, we could have put those, uh, uh,

16:29

like those electric, uh, dog callers

16:31

or whatever those things are, everybody in

16:33

the city. And as soon as it, as

16:36

soon as you say it,

16:37

you get binged. That'd

16:38

be funny. That'd be funny. Really

16:41

appreciate you taking the time to, uh, to join us

16:43

today and, uh, enjoy the rest of the cup final.

16:46

I will. You guys

16:48

too. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much. Absolutely.

16:51

Dallas Higgins, former

16:52

NHL head coach.