FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 26th, 2013

NBC SPORTS GROUP’S NHL SEASON PREVIEW MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT WITH MIKE ‘DOC’ EMRICK, EDDIE OLCZYK, PIERRE MCGUIRE AND SAM FLOOD

Sept. 26, 2013
Noon ET

Chris McCloskey: Thank you everyone for joining us today for our Face-off Conference Call previewing the 2013-14 NHL Season. In just a moment we’ll be joined by NBC’s Sports Group Lead NHL Broadcast Team of Mike “Doc” Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire as well as NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood.

NBC Sports is coming off the most watched Stanley Cup Final on record and will arguably present this year more hockey than has ever been presented by a single U.S. media company. We have 100 plus regular season games. We’ve got the return of the Thanksgiving showdown and the Winter Classic, introduction of the Stadium Series.

We of course have the Olympic Games this year in February in Sochi, Russia and for the third straight year every Stanley Cup playoff game will be shown on a NBC Sports platform including the final of course. We also have an extensive college hockey schedule that we’ll be announcing likely next week. Let’s begin now with our opening remarks. First up is Sam Flood.

Sam Flood:  Hi, thanks for joining us today. First of all thanks to Pierre, Eddie and Doc who actually get to work a full season. We’re excited that we get to get our boys into the buildings in October instead of January to have a full season of the NHL. It’s very exciting and we’re thrilled to have the second season of Wednesday night rivalry which was a huge success last year raising ratings on Wednesday night by 46% and over 60% in the demo.

Because of the success of Wednesday night rivalry we’ve decided to create a new program around that called the NHL Rivals which is a half hour show that will tee up the Wednesday night rivalry game. So if the Bruins and the Canadians are playing on the Wednesday night game, you have a half hour show that takes you through some of the great moments and some of hatred that exists between those two franchises as they take to the ice.

So we’ll use dislike for the purposes of Chris, but for the rest of you it’s hatred on ice and that’s going to happen in these rivalry shows. And these shows will premiere Tuesday night after our Tuesday night game and then they will air again on Wednesday night as part of the build-up to the Wednesday night rivalry game. And across the board the majority of the Wednesday Night Rivalry games will be at 8 o’clock which we think is an exciting time to uniformly have a start for what is becoming a signature night of hockey.

In addition we’ve created NHL Top 10, which will create some wonderful debates about who’s the best defenseman, who’s the best sniper, who’s the best tough guy in the NHL. And Doc will probably have the most fun with who’s the toughest guy in the NHL; he’s got plenty of thoughts on that topic. And I’ll hand it off to him.

Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick:  Yes I will defer at least for the first two weeks of the season. I’ve got my favorite ten right now, but I have a feeling that we might have some intriguing things happen especially when they start mutually removing each other’s helmets to try and circumvent the minor penalty and also the presidents and advisors may actually affect how all of this is going to play down.

But I think the thrilling part not only having that day after Thanksgiving Day which is again in Boston, not far from the first Thanksgiving in 1620. And also the game at Ann Arbor, I think we left Ralph Wilson Stadium after the Sabers and Penguins had played such a marvelous game, I thought, “Gee, 70,000 some people; what a racket they made. I wonder what it would be like at the University of Michigan.” Well this time we get to find out.

Pierre will be at his normal place and Eddie and I at last check were going to be next to the penalty box. So we’re going to be down very close to the ice as well and we’ll get to know the linesman real well because they’ll pull up right in front of us on the blue line to make their various off-side calls. After four years of harassment the league has finally listened to Eddie and adopted at least for pre-season games the hybrid icing and so who knows maybe this will be adopted by the players for the season. And we’ll be watching those guys do that.

But I think the thrilling thing for me and Sam sort of alluded to my love of courage, perhaps that’s just part of being a dinosaur, but I like the fact that this is a game that does require some courage to play. And when you put these teams together on Wednesday nights, take an example of the Chicago/St. Louis, then the Rangers/Washington, then Boston/Buffalo, then Boston/Pittsburgh, then Pittsburgh/Rangers, then Philly/Pittsburgh, then Pittsburgh/Washington, then Philadelphia/Detroit, then Philadelphia/Chicago, then Pittsburgh/Rangers.

The following Wednesday has been observed since 1972; no hockey on Christmas Day. That’s a pretty good way to get us to the end of the season with Wednesday night rivalry. It is thrilling and so with our first game coming up on Tuesday night, our first telecast is from United Center. I don’t think I’ll have to say too much because the crowd will pretty well take care of the banner-raising celebration themselves, but Eddie Olczyk will be a part of that.

Eddie Olczyk:  Thanks a lot Doc. Great to be with everybody and great to be with our team again at NBC. And for us to be in Chicago opening night to see the second banner raising of the Chicago Blackhawks, they’re playing after their second cup in four years, is a way to kick off the season. I was lucky enough to be in L.A. last year; it was the second game of a double-header I believe if I’m not mistaken. Then we opened up the shortened season being in L.A. where the Blackhawks put us up on the L.A. team after their banner raising.

It was that whole dynamic of how do the players respond and, you know, going back in time and the celebration of what happened a couple of months ago. So I think that’ll be intriguing for the Blackhawks, how they handle that particular night and to be there to open up the season. It almost put closure finally on last season with them winning their second cup in four years, so to be there and be a part of that will be great.

And the Washington Capitals oddly enough will be in Chicago on Saturday evening for their last exhibition game to take on the Blackhawks, so they’ll get a pretty good look at each other. They’ll have everything ready to go for Tuesday, but how many times do you think get stars front and center on opening night like Alexander Ovechkin, like John Carlson, like Jonathan Toews, like Duncan Keith. And then have the banner raising to celebrate what happened last year. You couldn’t ask for a better way to start the season and that’s why we’re going to be there and looking forward to being a part of that broadcast on Tuesday night to start the season. And I will pass the puck again to Pierre.

Pierre McGuire:  Thank you very much Eddie, Doc, Sam, Chris. The 48 game drag race last year was off the charts; it was energy-filled, it was passion-filled, it was hatred-filled to coin Sam Flood’s phrase. It was skill-filled and it was just an amazing Stanley Cup playoff after the 48 game sprint.

Now we’ve got an 82 game marathon that’s going to be even better and a major reason why is because of NHL realignment. You’ve got an up and coming team like the Columbus Blue Jackets moving into these. You’ve got the traditional six rivalry of the Detroit Red Wings moving in to the Atlantic division with Boston, with Montreal, with Toronto, even with Buffalo. So you think about where the season will go and how realignment will change things.

I really believe two teams that made the playoffs last year in the Eastern Conference will not make it this year. I don’t know which two, but I believe Detroit and Columbus, two teams moving over, will make the playoffs in these and two teams that made it last year will not. I think in the West Eddie’s talked about the greatness of Chicago; I believe we can start to use the D word with Chicago’s dynasty because I really believe they have a legitimate chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champs.

Even though I know L.A.’s going to have something to say about it. I know St. Louis is going to have something to say about it and I really believethe  San Jose Sharks before it’s all said and done may have something to say about it. It’s going to be interesting to watch. John Tortorella in Vancouver and Alain Vigneault his replacement in New York, two guys that have exchanged positions. This NHL season even though it’s 82 games long is full of intrigue, storylines, passion, energy and more than anything else we’re going to put the best team on the Stanley Cup again when it’s all over. It’s going to be a phenomenal year.

I think this is a question for maybe Pierre or possibly also Eddie because Pierre mentioned, you know, the word dynasty. Why has it been so difficult, you know, do you think over the past 20 years or so for teams to repeat?

Pierre McGuire:  First of all it’s so hard to get through the Stanley Cup playoffs and to get to the final; you’ve got to win 16 – or to win the cup you’ve got to win 16 games and that just beats your team up unbelievably. You’ve got roster flexibility and fluid rosters because of the salary cap. You’ve got players moving all the time now, not nearly as much consistency. The competition level is good or better than ever before. And the ultimate thing is we haven’t had NHL expansion in almost 12 or 14 years now and because of that the talent bucket is full around the National Hockey League and that makes it unbelievably difficult for everybody to repeat.

Eddie, do you have any thoughts on that given, you know, you’re playing in a league?

Eddie Olczyk:  Well I think I can just speak from experience John, you know, to have won and been a small part of a team that won a Stanley Cup with the Rangers. And it’s really hard to believe it was 1994; we’re going on 20 years almost pretty soon. But I think the challenge of the mindset and everybody looking to take their best shot at you each and every night becomes very taxing. And in this dynamic, and Pierre touched on it briefly for Chicago because they’re the only team that have that opportunity to repeat their first time since the late 90s, is the dynamics of a shortened summer. Not a lot of change-over which I think is a real positive. But the Olympic aspect, how does that impact their run, their chemistry that they’ve built up going into the Olympics and then coming out of the Olympics?

I mean just think for Chicago – I mean they could have 14 of their players in Sochi along with us while we’re doing the games on NBC representing, you know, their particular country. And then having to come back and oh yes then we get back, three days later you’re in New York and then you’re playing the New York Rangers on a Thursday night. And then two nights later you’re playing a game against one of the best teams in the league, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who will have plenty of people at the Olympics as well. When you throw in the Olympic break and the Olympics themselves it’s going to be very taxing. And I think we saw how coaches handled the shortened season last year with a lot of games in a short period of time and managing days off. I think you’re going to see that happen as well because this becomes probably as important as practice when you get into later in the season. And with the dynamic and the curveball of the Olympics it’ll be interesting to see how teams go in and come out of the Olympic break.

Hey Eddie, just to follow-up; you talked about the Olympics which is a great point, but also the short turnaround. It really just seems like yesterday we were in Boston and now, you know, they’re going to have – it seemed the season ended late and I think it’s beginning the earliest in the history of the league. How is that going to impact the Hawks and I suppose the Bruins as far as trying to get back to the final again?

Eddie Olczyk:  Yes I think Ed on both sides – Pierre and Doc could probably speak to the Boston side as well that, you know, not a lot of turnover really. I mean as far as Boston, Ed, it’s (Farence) and (Horton). I’m not sure the situation of Gregory Campbell; down the road remember the heroic shift that he had in the playoffs last year. He was on the ice for a (minute) with a busted leg and found the wherewithal to stay out there and take up space and find his way to the bench and ended up not playing anymore. You know, not a lot of turnover in Boston and the same in Chicago – I mean they lost Ray Emery, the backup both had a phenomenal year. They lost Michael Frolik, they lost David Bolland. But other than that, you know, both those teams have the core and I think that’s – I mean that’s rare nowadays, you know, where you can – you know, you don’t have a lot of turnover and a lot of change and I think there is something for camaraderie and chemistry.

And when you’ve won like the Bruins and Blackhawks have done in recent past, that certainly helps when you’re going into a short season. And coaches trust the players and, you know, players now are in way better shape than they ever were before. So knowing the players and knowing the system you can allow those guys to breathe a little bit in between games and give them more days off. And understand that days away from the rink are okay. So I think for me on both of those games since you asked that I would say that the very little change in personnel really bodes well for both those teams. Look I mean I think it’s wide open because Peter talked about the parity and how good the league is. But to me, you know, I could see what we saw a few years ago when we saw Detroit and Pittsburgh go to back to back finals and play each other. It wouldn’t surprise me to see those two teams back in it because they’re so good, they’re so well coached and they have the experience of knowing what it takes to win. And but for me it’s the – pretty much the consistency in the lineup will allow both of those teams to have success this year.

Okay – and Sam, the idea of having some more of these studio, you know, pregame type shows. It’s obviously trying to bulk up the coverage. Does it speak well to kind of where you guys are going with hockey and the growth of the game on television right now on NBC sports networks?

Sam Flood:  Yeah I think what happened last year speaks for itself. The Wednesday Night Rivalry idea that we worked on in the league in creating a unique schedule of games on Wednesday nights. And surrounding that last year we had an hour pregame before every game. We started doing that about a month into the season. And we realized that more and more people are coming to consume hockey earlier. These rivalry shows that we’re creating for this year, these half hour documentary style shows are an offshoot of that. We just think the hockey fan wants more hockey and we’re going to be the home of hockey. We’re going to super serve those fans and make sure they know you tune to the NBC Sports network and you get the very best coverage imaginable.

Comment on two teams for me — one of course the Washington Capitals, the other the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Eddie Olczyk:  I’ll take the Washington Capitals. I think this is a huge year.I think this is a year where the Capitals need to take that next step and get where their surveillances and George McPhee want to get this team to. You know, I think Braden Holtby is a very good goaltender. I don’t think goaltending’s going to be the reason why the Washington Capitals don’t get to the conference finals. They got some really good defensemen. You talk about mobile defensemen in Green and Carlson. You know, you have a guy like (Carl Alzner) who I know Peter thinks very highly of on the defensive end when it comes to playing or going in. To me a young defenseman like Orlov I think is one of those guys if he gets the opportunity. I’m not sure – anytime I’ve seen him play I think this guy’s – I mean he seems like a special player to me. Now whether or not he’s not ready mentally or whatever the coaches there know much better than I do. But I think that they got a lot of positive things on the back end.

Can Alexander Ovechkin be that guy like he was in the let’s say, what the last 30 – the last 28 games of the regular season — can he be that guy to be able to take this team to the next level in all areas and allow them to get to the Stanley Cup final? That to me is the biggest question mark. They’ve got some really good role players, team guys there, Troy Brouwer, Brooks Laich needs to stay healthy. I think it can go either way Jim. And for Adam Oates it’s a full training camp which is really helpful when you’re a new coach, you know, last year with the shortened season. If you’re asking me if I’m buying or selling, I’m buying the Capitals this year because I think they understand that they need to go to the next level.

Pierre McGuire:  I’ll take Tampa Bay Eddie. Well said on Washington.  I was in Tampa last week interviewing Steve Yzerman, Marty St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and even Phil Esposito for our rivalry shows. And also talking about the Olympics. And the thing that blew me away was the tempo of their practice. They’ve got a tremendous coaching staff there with Jon Cooper, with Rick Bowness, as you know, an all-time hockey coach and somebody that Eddie knows really well. They brought in a brilliant hockey mind in George Gwozdecky out of the University of Denver. This is the team that was the third overall team offensively in the National Hockey League last year. I think we’ll only continue to get better even though they did lose Vinny Lecavalier.

I would expect the biggest question mark for the coaching staff and for Steve Yzerman as the general manager — can Ben Bishop and Anders Lindback form a great one-two punch and goal? And can their defense hold up? They were 26th in the league on defense last year. That’s not nearly good enough. And the thing that blew me away was the motivation for both St. Louis and Stamkos who were shunned by Yzerman for the 2010 Olympic team in Vancouver that won gold — both these guys are on a mission not only to get Tampa back into the playoffs but they’re on a mission to make the Olympic team. So Tampa’s going to be a tremendous watch offensively. It’s just whether their goaltending and their defense can hold up.

Eddie Olczyk:  Yeah well said Pierre. I think the intriguing thing too about Tampa is two straight years out of the playoffs and they are now going to have to leapfrog over the rest of the Metropolitan Division to play most of their games. And they are in a hammerhead division. They are going to be in against Montreal. And Sam mentioned about my top ten. Yeah three of the guys in the top ten are actually Montreal Canadians. So they’ve got that to deal with. They got the Bruins that re always hammers. They’ve got Toronto that always leads the league in fights. Now I’m going to get off that subject here in a second. And they also have the Detroit Red Wings on a regular basis. They come into the Joe three times. Those’ll be hard games for them to win. But I think the fact that those two goaltenders last year together — and Ben wasn’t there the whole year of course. They won 13 last year, the two of them total. That’ll be a big – and as I size up teams around the league, you know, I think of Pittsburgh and gee how strong they are and then it comes back to goaltending.

This one’s directed toward Pierre and Eddie. In general do you think with coaching changes it’s important to not only change the voice but also the tone of which delivered and specifically how do you think the changes in New York and Vancouver will work on those teams which weren’t playing on teams last year?

Eddie Olczyk:  Yeah I’ll go first there. I just, you know, it’s a great question and I think we could probably sit here for hours at a time and, you know, I know Sam’s listening in closely. Maybe that’s something that might go to the drawing board on and talk about on one of those great shows that are going on during the week on the NBC Sports network. But when you have – when you do make those coaching changes and you have a coach that has a certain philosophy I’ll just take the Vancouver scenario with Torts going from New York to Vancouver and seeing how he wants to change the culture and, you know, he wants this team to play a certain way. And they’re going to be this and that. I mean the first thing that comes to mind is well, when you’re the coach you have to coach what you have. I mean if you don’t have the type of team that you want and you’re going to make them and try to mold them into what they are not it’s going to be a long season.

When you do make changes you’re looking for a dynamic. We all know what has taken place in Vancouver with the goaltending situation and then, you know, Alain Vigneault leaving and Torts comes here and then AV goes out to New York. When coaches go into certain situations you have to make sure that you are flexible, that you are able to be massaged in a way where yeah, maybe I don’t want to play a puck possession skilled type of game with the Sedan twins and players of that ilk. But, you know, you got a lot of players and you have to be able to adapt. And then that’s one area certainly that when coaches go in, whether it’s Dallas Eakins in Edmonton or, you know, John Tortorella in Vancouver or whatever changes there are is that the coaches have to be able to understand what the strengths of their teams are. And if they’re able to do that.

Pierre McGuire:  The late Pat Burns used to say use a three year coach with a five year contract. Because he understood he had a shelf life like we all do — most people in this business anyways. It’s a competitive business, results oriented business. I’ll touch on the New York side of things. It was a team crying out for a breath of fresh air through their dressing room. Players were not having fun. It was basically Camp No Fun. Now they have their chance at having a clean slate as Alain Vigneault the new coach of the Rangers is calling it. He can come in with all the positive messaging that he wants, and I loved Eddie’s point about these are the players that John Tortorella’s been givien in Vancouver. Now he’s got to build a system around those players. Alain Vigneault’s got real clear ideology in terms of what he wants his team to do.

The problem is until he gets Derek Stepan there, until he gets a healthy Ryan Callahan, until he gets a healthy Carl Hagelin and when he finds out if Brad Richards and Rick Nash can have some chemistry and whether Mark Staal is 100% healthy he really doesn’t know what he has. So he can try to implement all this positive messaging and all this great ideology, but until he has all those players in place we don’t know how good and nobody knows how good or how bad the Rangers could potentially be.

Do you think that the culture needed change and the fact that Vancouver might be the coach that’s going to kick them a little and the Rangers may be with somebody with their hands not as tightly on the reins?

Eddie Olczyk: The Vancouver aspect of it I mean look at the success that the team has had over the course of, you know, I can’t remember yesterday let alone try to remember three years ago. But this is a team I think had pretty good success when you talk about regular seasons. They did get to a seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final a couple of years ago against the eventual champions in the Boston Bruins. I just think that it is a change of direction. You don’t win, you know, you’re going to be out. A guy like Alain Vigneault I think is a terrific coach isn’t going to be out of work very long. But to me when you look at the Vancouver situation I think that they were a player or move away from continuing to be where they were winning the regular season point totals and getting to the Stanley Cup Final.

I’m just curious what – whether you think that the addition of additional outdoor games waters down the concept or whether, you know, the main – the excitement over the outdoor games can be maintained even with more than one of them?

Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick:  Well one of the things that’s often said and I guess it was the legendary Harry Sinden, general manager in Boston when asked about adopting a five minute overtime 30 years or so ago was than an extra slice of pie may be fun, but I don’t know if it’s in your best interest. I’m not sure that it’s not in our best interest. People love these games. Other teams were waiting and waiting and now they’ve finally gotten a chance. We’re going to show all of them this year. And I think then we can assess after the six are done whether it’s watered it down or not. It will be the same groups of players that are playing in all of them. So the talent level will continue to be as it normally would be. And notion of watching a game played at Dodger Stadium or at Yankee Stadium I think is fascinating. We might’ve waited a long time to ever get a game at Dodger Stadium. But now that this has been expanded a little bit, we have it. I have never been to a game at Dodger Stadium before.

But I remember talking with Adam Graves who played in the parking lot at Caesars Palace, the first experiment with this, long time ago against Wayne Gretzky when he was with Los Angeles, and he said there were all kinds of things that were normal. The ice was good. But we weren’t’ used to the flies and the grasshoppers at the bench. I don’t know if they’re going to have grasshoppers at Dodger Stadium, but it’s a fascinating thing to think about. And I’m not doing that game, but I’m sure going to watch it, just to see the coverage.

Pierre McGuire:  Every player that I’ve talked to as I’ve gone around this preseason, whether it be at a situation in New Jersey, or a situation in Columbus, or a situation in Tampa, a situation in New York, a situation in Montreal, Boston, doesn’t matter. Every city I’ve been to so far and talked to players, they’ve all said the same thing that are involved in these games. They can’t wait. And guys that are in Columbus would love to play in one and potentially they will down the road. But the guys from Chicago, whether it be Kane or Toews that I’ve talked to, they’re just so excited about the opportunity to play in Soldier Field. Talked to the guys in Pittsburgh, whether it’d be Sidney Crosby or Paul Martin or Brooks Orpik, they can’t wait to play in that game in Chicago.

And now the fact that there’s been an announcement in – Washington’s going to host one a year from now. I know Mike Babcock and the Red Wings can’t wait to play at the Big House as Doc alluded to in Ann Arbor. So quite frankly I haven’t heard one player say, oh this is going to stink. I can’t – I just don’t want to do it. Every player I’ve talked to — and Eddie could probably speak to it as a former player — every player I talk to thinks it’s an amazing opportunity to help grow the game.

This question is going to be directed more towards Sam. I was just hoping that you could expand a little bit more on the format for the two new programs and the NBC talent that’s going to be involved in those programs?

Sam Flood:  Well NHL Rivals breaks down the rivalry between two teams. And we talk to players from each organization that have played in those rivalries and can take you inside those back stories that make you feel like you’re learning information you’ve never heard before and told in very colorful ways. As Pierre can attest to, NHL players are great story tellers. They spend a lot of time on planes and buses and they have time to shoot the breeze in the locker room. And some of these classic stories about things that happen on the ice that no one ever knew about will be brought to light in this series. And we think it’s going to be a wonderful way to celebrate the sport of hockey and celebrate the rivalries between these teams that are being showcased on Wednesday nights on the NBC Sports Network.

NHL Top 10 is traditional in that we’re looking at the top ten players at positions or goaltenders, whatever it might be. But we’re doing it in a unique way. Mark Levy who heads up our Olympic creative group is overseeing the project with Vinny Costello. And the two of them are doing an amazing job creating storylines and stories that are going make people pay attention and listening to the top stars in the sport. I mean Pierre can attest to the number of places he has been as we get the best people in hockey and the best story tellers in hockey to let us inside the rivalries, let us inside the top players in the game.

Maybe to Eddie or Pierre, can you size up the Kings and how much of a gap there actually is between them and the Blackhawks? And also add to that Jonathan Quick’s situation, does he have any extra incentive to perform well during the first half with the chance of starting for the U.S. Olympic team dangling out there and no Jonathan Bernier behind him?

Eddie Olczyk:  I think LA Kings are right where they should be and where they want to be. All they need to do is to stay healthy. I mean you’re talking about a banged up hockey club last year in the playoffs. I don’t care how much tape and glue that the trainers have. I mean there were guys pieced together in there and it was not going to end well for the LA Kings because they were on fumes. I mean they were just out of gas and played – you know played a real tough series prior. And when you play long series and you have the type of style that Darryl Sutter wants his team to play and you’re banged up, it’s going to take its toll, and that’s exactly what happened with the LA Kings.

I like their team a lot. They just need to stay healthy and I think they have a terrific chance to get back to where they got to last year – you know two seasons ago. You need a little luck. You got to stay healthy. They got the guy in goal. And as far as the Olympic part with Jonathan Quick, I would be shocked if everything stays status quo if he’s not the starting goaltender come February in Sochi.

Pierre McGuire:  Tom I spent of time with Jonathan Quick at the U.S. Olympic camp down in Arlington, Virginia, and I can tell you that exactly what Eddie said. I would be shocked if not only the Olympics weren’t a motivating tool for him, but if he wasn’t the guy carrying the ball when the United States played their first game against Slovakia.The other thing is that the Los Angeles Kings to me have so much depth down the middle with Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Jarret Stoll, Colin Fraser, and an evolving young player, Nick Shore. I love the way Slava Voynov and Jake Muzzin have stepped up as young defensemen in this league. If you look back to the ’08 draft you’d have to say that Slava Voynov might have been the steal of that draft, 32nd overall pick. He’s really evolving into a top-end defenseman in the National Hockey League.

Being able to keep Robyn Regehr after they brought him over in a trade from Buffalo at the deadline really helps. And I just love their depth, I love their grit. Their coaching staff is enlightened. They’ve got arguably one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie in the league, and even through Jonathan Bernier is not there, I’ve known Ben Scrivens body of work going back to when he was playing at Cornell, and he’s more than adequate to step in there if Quick can’t go.

Eddie Olczyk:  I thought one of the best signings over the course of the free agent summer was the Penguins reacquiring Rob Scuderi. And that’s a big loss for the LA Kings. Who can be that guy that can – when that door opens, you know exactly what you’re going to get as far as a defensive end and be that security blanket in a lot of situations. Rob Scuderi is a guy that I know very well when I was coaching in Pittsburgh. I think he did an unbelievable job there with the LA Kings. I thought it was a terrific signing. I think it was something exactly that the Pittsburgh Penguins needed. But to me just thinking about it is that’s a big loss. Now who can be that guy that can step into those minutes and very unassuming that position and the impact that he made on that team.

I know the LA Kings wanted him back, but it sure looked like Rob wanted to get back the East Coast, closer to his family. And you know he has the ties with Pittsburgh obviously and winning a Cup there. So that’s one area that I’ll be interested on, is who can be that guy to fill the skates of Rob Scuderi. Doesn’t seem like it would be that important to a lot of the average fans, but as hockey guys we certainly understand the impact that Rob Scuderi had on the LA Kings.

Pierre McGuire:  Well said Eddie. And I would give you one name, Willie Mitchell. They have to hope that he can be healthy, come back, and really fill in those minutes. And maybe he and Regehr can do it by committee. But those would be the two names that potentially could fill in the void for those minutes.

I know you’ve got for the first time I think the Olympics and all of the NHL under one roof. I was wondering what – if you had any plans of sort of to you know connect the two, the Olympics back to the NHL regular season? And obviously it won’t be like the ratings were in Vancouver just because of the time difference and how – but how do you maybe get a couple of people who like Olympic hockey to you know come back for the full season?

Sam Flood:  Yes we as NBC before the merger, we had both the ’06 and 2010, the NHL was already on NBC. So we’ve been through this. We didn’t have the advantage of the cable network, now with the NBC Sports Network, we’re able to really super serve the fans. We’ve got plans all along to tie the players on the NHL teams to their respective countries, making folks aware during the games who right now is a teammate and in two weeks will be an opponent when they get over to Sochi. We have a lot of ways that we’re going to make sure we highlight the build-up to the Games. And then we’re going to do some unique stuff during the Games to showcase how the players’ experience was in Sochi and bring that back for part of our story telling after the Olympics.

It’s a real thread that we’ll see throughout the season. And obviously as Pierre said earlier and Eddie said I believe, was that what happens to these players in terms of the wear and tear on their bodies going over there, and how that impacts you know – one team might have 10 players going and another might have none. Who has the advantage? The ones that stay sharp by playing the games in Sochi? Or the ones that are home resting up and staying healthy? It’s going to be a really unique dynamic and we’ll be all over it.

All right thank you. Pierre just real quickly, what do you think of a team like New Jersey which sort of added a bunch of different pieces in the offseason and also traded for Cory Schneider. How do you – what do you see that team panning out? And how do you see the balance between Schneider and Brodeur moving along?

Pierre McGuire:  Great question Steve and before I get to it, I have breaking news. I was talking before about the Rangers having to get Derek Stepan signed. Derek Stepan has just agreed to terms with the New York Rangers. So breaking news on this conference call. Now let’s get to the New Jersey Devils. I think quite frankly it’s going to be a science experiment. If you think about losing the offense ability of Kovalchuk, losing the offense of Zach Parise a season ago. Now they’ve got to try to find that can fill that void. Can it be Damien Brunner who just signed a two-year deal? Can it be Jaromir Jagr? Can it be Michael Ryder? There are a lot of ifs and cans that aren’t guaranteed in New Jersey.

But what I can guarantee you is their goaltending will be rock solid, whether it be Marty Brodeur or Cory Schneider. Cory Schneider coming over for the ninth pick overall from the Vancouver Canucks, it was an unbelievable heist, even though Bo Horvat, the player that Vancouver took is going to be an exceptional player in this league down the road, he’s not what Cory Schneider is right now. Cory Schneider will eventually become the star goaltender for the New Jersey Devils that they haven’t had since Brodeur was a young guy. Their defense will be solid. Their concepts will be solid. New Jersey is going to be in a battle for the last playoff spot. They are no cinch to be a playoff team, but I do believe their goaltender will be great. Both of them will be very solid. Their defensive poise will be great. Now can the science experiment up front work? And if it can then potentially they have a chance to make the playoffs.