Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Elvis is in the building.
00:01Denny Bernstein in the fourth period in NHL radio on Sirius XM
00:05joined us to talk Stanley Cup playoffs.
00:09Thank God the regular season finally ended, Denny.
00:13And it's all upon us, and it starts tomorrow.
00:16And I couldn't think of a better way to start it off
00:18than basically a rematch of the Four Nations
00:21with Hellebuck and Bennington.
00:23My God, Blues, Jets, and Pharrellapag.
00:27Yeah, but the American goalie's playing for the Canadian team,
00:29and the Canadian goalie's playing for the American team.
00:32So that's a little flip of the switch.
00:34Tough series coming out of the box for the Jets.
00:36I know a lot of people are picking them and like them to win it all.
00:39This is a really, really good test, and it's just that
00:41they can get through this team that's playing really well.
00:43I know Robert Thomas has been banged up,
00:44the number one center for the St. Louis Blues.
00:46But this is going to be a tough out.
00:48They've got a great coach, great goaltender who's been there before.
00:51I think this is a seven-game series now that will help them
00:53when they go into the next round against Dallas and Colorado.
00:56But this is going to be harder for the Jets
00:58than I think a lot of people think.
01:00So do you put any stock in that President's Trophy jinx?
01:06Yep.
01:08Because the President's Trophy winner never wins.
01:10So, yeah, I got to put stock in it.
01:12It doesn't mean anything.
01:13It's meaningless.
01:14Coming down the – plus, Scotty,
01:16you had teams like within striking distance that, you know,
01:19didn't want to press all the players down the stretch,
01:21and you wouldn't play them.
01:22Like there are other teams that might have wanted to do that,
01:24like Washington.
01:25They – you know, once Ovi set the record, they haven't played well.
01:29There's definitely an Ovi hangover from 895.
01:31So, no, I don't play a lot of – because it all goes to zero, Scotty.
01:34And now you got to – it's the best team to win 16 games.
01:37So, while those teams could be favored, are the Winnipeg Jets a lock?
01:42No, because I could probably give you seven teams that could win the Cup this year.
01:45Let's talk about the other game on Saturday.
01:49It's in Dallas at the American Airlines, and no Robertson.
01:52They were favored to win the West.
01:54When he went down, they dropped precipitously down the odds.
02:01You know, I mean, they tumbled after his injury.
02:04Yeah.
02:04Are they still a good buy-it plus money against the Avs?
02:10No, because I wouldn't bet on them if they had Robertson,
02:12because they don't have high skin in either.
02:13So, they have a top – they have a 30-goal score coming off the top line
02:18and your best defenseman out of the series against a team that rolls McKinnon,
02:22Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, and Jack Drury down the middle.
02:25No, no, I wouldn't play them.
02:26It's too dangerous.
02:27Plus, I don't trust Ottinger.
02:29Like, they should have beat Edmonton last year.
02:30They should have been in the Cup final.
02:32That's a huge injury, Scotty.
02:34The injury on the blue line, I just don't trust that goalie.
02:36I don't think it's a good bet.
02:38I'd lay serious money on Colorado.
02:40I think they – they won't breeze here, but they're the better team,
02:42and they'll merge to play the winner of Winnipeg-St. Louis.
02:45Let's go to Saturday.
02:49On Saturday, we have three games, and it's the Devils-Canes, right?
02:56Am I crazy?
02:58It's Sunday, those games.
02:59Devils and Canes in Raleigh, Senators and Leafs at Scotiabank in Toronto,
03:05and the Wild and Vegas in Sin City at the T-Mobile on the Strip.
03:10Let's start with the Devils and Canes in Raleigh.
03:13No one at all on the face of the earth is giving the Devils any chance at all,
03:19and that started when Hughes went down.
03:22Not now.
03:23It was a month ago when they said, oh, they're finished.
03:27Do I have to watch this series?
03:29Do I have to?
03:30I guess I have to.
03:31Well, I'm going to watch it.
03:32You know, we've got to have somebody around here to root for.
03:36That's true.
03:37No, Carolina's going to win.
03:39Just Jack Hughes being out, that's a huge thing for them.
03:42And, yeah, I just don't like the way they're playing down the stretch.
03:44Now, to get back Dougie Hamilton, I just think that's too massive of a loss,
03:49and Carolina is playing better down the stretch.
03:51I just think they're the better team top to bottom,
03:53primarily because of Jack Hughes' injury.
03:54So, I'd say Carolina, what, in six games, I'll give Devils a couple of wins.
03:59Maybe Markstrom gets them one.
04:01Maybe their power play gets them one, but they can't be the favorite,
04:03and I don't see them emerging to the second round.
04:06So, Marenzi was on here today, and he literally said that the Toronto Maple Leafs
04:13are going to win the Stanley Cup,
04:15and they're playing the Senators Sunday at Scotiabank in Toronto.
04:19I won't deny they've been playing better.
04:22I won't deny they've been winning close games.
04:24I won't deny they've been winning overtime games.
04:26I won't deny they won the division.
04:28Will they lose again in the playoffs?
04:31Tell Gabe that it's Ottawa in six.
04:34Yeah, they're going to lose again.
04:35How can you trust that team, right?
04:37I don't know, but they're goaltending.
04:39You know, Wall and Stoller.
04:40Stoller's was backing up Bobrovsky in Florida last year.
04:43That's not why they won the Cup.
04:44No, there's something.
04:45And, Scotty, you know what the season series between these two teams were?
04:49Ottawa won 4-0.
04:50They're confident.
04:52I don't know about Brady, but it's funny.
04:54Those teams like Ottawa and Detroit and Buffalo,
04:56they're on the same grouping.
04:57One team made the playoffs.
04:59Guess why?
05:00They went and got a freaking goaltender.
05:02Linus Olmark.
05:03I like the upset here.
05:04I think it's the livest underdog of the four,
05:07or the lower seed of the four in the East.
05:09I don't like any other lower seeds to win.
05:12I'm going to pick Ottawa in this series.
05:14And that's that Olmark from Boston, right?
05:17Right.
05:17Exactly.
05:18Yep.
05:18Yep.
05:18And look what happened to Boston when he left.
05:20It's not so easy.
05:21For, you know, $8 million, one guy getting $8 million to carry a team,
05:25couldn't happen.
05:26Right.
05:26And now you got Wild and Knights on Sunday night in Sin City.
05:33Do the Wild have a shot against this team that's won five division titles
05:37in eight years in Vegas?
05:40No.
05:40The Knights are going to say an early goodnight to the Wild.
05:44It's a sweep.
05:44They're not going to win a game.
05:45And I know they got back Capri's off and Erickson X.
05:49No, no, that's, that's, Scotty, that's why you win the division.
05:52Like, if Vegas didn't win the division, they'd have to play Edmonton or L.A.
05:56Now they get the Wild, it's a breeze.
05:58If they had played St. Louis, that would be a tough one.
06:00They got the easiest draw on the East.
06:02I think it's a sweep.
06:03Maybe one game in Minnesota.
06:04But they don't play that game at home either.
06:06So, that's a breeze for Vegas.
06:07That's a big advantage going into the next round against the winner of Edmonton
06:09and L.A.
06:11All right.
06:11So, I want to, you already said the Capitals aren't playing well,
06:14but you're going to take them over the Canadians, aren't you?
06:17And then tell me what you think of the Kings finally after three straight,
06:22whatever it is, losses to the Oilers in the playoffs.
06:24They face them again.
06:25What's going to happen?
06:27Well, this is the year, Scotty.
06:28It's got to happen this year.
06:29They're better, they're bigger, and they're better.
06:32Because not only did they get their butts kicked by the Oilers last year in five games,
06:36they got bullied.
06:37Not this year.
06:38Last year, the fourth line center was 5'9 and 175.
06:41This year, Sammy Helaney, he's 6'6 and 205.
06:43The guy next to him is Jeff Ballott.
06:45He's 6'5, 200.
06:46And his brother's a UFC fighter.
06:49They're a better, deeper team.
06:50Quentin Byfield's now a center.
06:51He drives his own line.
06:52They have three deep.
06:53And the injury to Matthias Ekholm, that's the deciding factor for me.
06:57They don't play great defense this season.
06:58And without Ekholm and the Oilers,
07:00I don't know how they match up defensively against Kings that go now three lines deep.
07:05And the Caps win?
07:07Caps win, yeah.
07:07Five.
07:08Five games.
07:09I'm hearing the rumor is that the UFC brother is going to lace him up as well for the Kings.