Hockey Free For All
Weekly content regarding what’s going on in hockey
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Episodes
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Episode 24 of the Hockey Free For All podcast focus's on players that have not been the focus so far such as, Jonathan Kovacevic, who has brought far more of a game, and been far more of an impact on the Montreal roster this season than expected when they selected him off of the waver wire before the season started.
His strong skating, good first pass, excellent transitional game, the fact that he can join the rush and not look out of place at all, and that he is likely the best pure right handed defenseman in the organization currently.
Other players such as Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux, Adam Engstrom, Mattias Norlander, Petteri Nurmi, Miguel Tourigny, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble and Nicolas Beaudin who was acquired from Chicago.
And a potential list of players that could very well be traded by the trade deadline, or by the end of next off season before the 23/24 season starts. That entire list could include Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonav, Joel Armia, Mike Hoffman, Jacob Olofsson, Cayden Primeau, Jake Even, Jake Allen, Rem Pitlick, Joel Edmundson, David Savard, Chris Wideman, Christian Dvorak, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Sean Monahan, Mike Matheson, Logan Mailloux and Justin Barron.
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Episode 23 Topics
#1. A very interesting first quarter of the 22/23 regular season
#2. Team that were expected to lead their divisions and conferences right out of the gate and have not, such as Toronto, Colorado, St. Louis.
#3. Teams that have played far better in the 22/23 season than expected such as, New Jersey, Seattle and Montreal.
#4. Games are far more entertaining.
#5. Goals are way up, which should make everyone happy
#6. The Conner Bedard sweepstake
#7. The continued performance of excellence by Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes and Martin St. Louis
#8. Why are a few negative topics dominating headlines and the things being reported, rather than the many, many, many positive things going on. How can negative issues be even remotely more interesting than the plethora of positive topics to discuss and cover.
#9.Why aren’t the amazing and beyond anticipated seasons that Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris being focused on as the predominant story lines?
#10. Injuries that have been hitting many other teams for a while have hit the Montreal Canadiens hard with Mike Hoffman, Jonathan Drouin, Joel Armia, Brendan Gallagher, David Savard, Sean Monahan all added to the injury list to go along with Carey Price and Paul Byron.
#11. How the injuries present tremendous opportunities for Juraj Slafkovsky, Michael Pezzetta and Rem Pitlick regarding both an increase in playing time and situations to play in.
#12. There is no need for Montreal to acquire any players from outside their organization.
#13. The incredible amount of talent Montreal already has within their organization.
#14. Montreal’s future starting 12 offensive and starting 6 defensemen is amazingly talent laden.
#15. Not only has Shayne Wright been named to team Canada, but has Owen Back, Riley Kidney and Joshua Roy, while Filip Mesar has been named to the Slovakian Team, Adam Engstrom has been named to team Sweden, Vinzenz Rohrer has been named to team Austria while Lane Hutson has been named to team U.S.A. preliminary roster.
#16. The 2023 NHL draft will be one of the deepest drafts in NHL history
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
For all of you hockey fans, Episode 22 of the Hockey Free For All Podcast discusses-
#1. The continuation of Montreal’s remodel
#2. Who should be the starting 4 centers in Montreal
#3. It would be a completely unrealistic dream to think that Jake Allen or Sam Montembeault would resemble Carey Price in any way.
#4. The 2 most important upcoming contracts of Cole Caufield and possibly Sean Monahan based on a conversation with management.
#5. The pending trades of Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov, Joel Armia and Mike Hoffman and what Montreal obtain in return.
#6 How specially trading Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Sean Monahan and Joel Edmunson can all net Montreal additional 1st round draft picks and much more.
#7. How these trades would relieve the log jam of extra players, reduce team payroll drastically and set the team up for extensive success.
#8. Its very unlikely Carey Price is coming back
#9. Cayden Primeau will not be the answer in goal for the Canadiens, he has yet to look even remotely comfortable in any game he has ever played in Montreal. One can see that in his body language
#10. Out of the current goalie prospects have within the organization including Frederik Dichow, Jakab Dobes, Joe Vrbetic and Emmit Croteau, Jakub Dobes is looking more and more to be the best of the group.
#11. With all the draft picks Montreal want to collect and have on hand for the 2023 draft, the 2023 draft could be the perfect place to find their next goalie.
#12. The last thing Montreal needs to is go out and over pay someone and end up with more uncap friendly bloated contracts.
#13. The extremely poor judgement and very inaccurate assessment of Marc Bergevin, as the team is about to experience the significant benefit of his 2019, 2020 and 2021 drafting.
#14. the exceptional jobs that Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes and Martin St. Louis have done from the moment they walked through the doors.
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
In Episode 21 Discussions include Nick Suzuki was the perfect choice for team Captain, his game has only improved, he has the perfect demeanor, personality and relational skills for the Montreal media.
The horrendous pre-judgement of the abilities and success that Cole Caufield, Arber Xhekaj, Jordan Harris, Kaiden Guhle, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kiby Dach and Jonathan Kovacevic will have as they have turned out to be exponentially inaccurate.
Mike Matheson, Joel Edmunson, David Savard, Chris Wideman and Jonathan Kovacevic should also share in the rotation of who sits out games, not just Xhekaj, Harris and maybe Guhle. Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris have been the best 2 defensemen in Montreal this year by far.
Episode 21 addresses the insane rumor about trading Jordan Harris for the sole reason that he will be a RFA at the end of this season, which makes zero sense.
If team MVP voting was held today, Arber Xhekaj is the undisputed choice, even above and beyond Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Looks like not only did Montreal Management know exactly what they were doing, but made the correct choice in drafting Juraj Slafkovsky at the 2022 draft, rather than selecting Shane Wright.
Discuss future prospect's such as Sean Farrell, Filip Mesar, Jan Mysak, Riley Kidney, Owen Beck, Joshua Roy, Lane Hutson, Vinzenz, Cedrick Guidon, Xavier Simoneau, Frederik Dichow, Jakob Dobes, Joe Vrbetic and Emmett Croteau.
Episode 21 addresses the insanity of trading players immediately just to trade them rather than to maximize their value and use to the organization.
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Friday Nov 18, 2022
For all of the Hockey Fans out there, episode 20 discusses the far better play of the Montreal Canadiens this season than last season. Team expectations are being and will continue to be exceeded. Hoe the young talent was truly ready and have taken over the team and are now the drivers of the team.
The tremendous underestimating of the so-called expert about all of these young players and how far off they were. The tremendous job that Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, Martin St. Louis, Stephan Robidous, the newly formed players development staff have done since they day each person walked through the doors, which speaks to the level of research that the Ownership did.
All of the additional trades and the potential compensation that Kent Hughes could obtain in what should an season of trading right up to the moment the trading deadline wraps up. The absolute inspiration that Arber Xhekaj is, and a Congratulations to Martin Brodeur being named Executive Vice President, Hockey Operations of the New Jersey Devils and to the Philadelphia Flyers who smartly hired John Tortorella as their head coach, who has done a fantastic job
John Tortorella is the Bill Belichick of the NHL, as they just tell it like it and let all the chip fall with zero concern.
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Very Questionable suspensions handed out by the NHL's department of Safety to Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky. Because someone grew to a larger physical stature does not translate into being scrutinized to a greater degree, and because another player is smaller does not entitle them to broader privileges in any way. One set of rules apply to everyone without exception.
Aber Xhekaj, Jordan Harris and Kaiden Guhle's continued outstanding play, exceeding expectations and who they should remain and be pared with. Having 7 defensemen in the lineup for every game, with the 7th defenseman playing right wing on the 4th with Rem Pitlick at center and Michael Pezzetta on the left wing.
Who's doing well and not doing well in the NHL.
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
For all the Hockey Fans out there, attached is episode 18 of the Hockey Free For All Podcast for your listening enjoyment covering discussions of rookie talent making an impact and playing beyond expectations in both minutes on the ice as well and impact on the team.
Nick Suzuki playing a better than point per game pace in the 2022/2023 season. Cole Caufield started right out of the gate racking up goals far quicker than expectations predicted he would.
3 rookie defensemen not only made the team but have been the top 3 defensemen on the team since the drop of the first puck this season.
How Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Mike Hoffman and others have been virtually ghosts this season with the exception of one game a few have made a difference in.
And wrapping up the tremendous talent that’s arrived and the tremendous talent arriving in the next 2 years.
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
The rookies are playing great. The management and coaching staff and fantastic job and making changes that have been needed for decades. Injuries and the interesting situations they create once everyone is healthy, and what should be an amazing amount of trades to look forward to.
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Discussing the excellent start to the 22/23 NHL season for the rookie defensemen. The status of Juraj Slafkovsky and why people are relentlessly questioning and trying to pick apart there games so that their belief that they should be sent to the Laval AHL team.
Discussions regarding the outstanding flow of talent coming through the organization and the excellent development staff now in place and the outstanding talent evaluator that Marc Bergevin is.
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
The exciting 22/23 season starts with many rookies making the team to talk about, new defensive pairings, new forward line combinations. The amount of players that won't be on the roster to finish this season as they will be moved at the trade deadline, and so much more.