00:00No need to do a wellness check.
00:02Last night did not hurt.
00:04I've accepted it.
00:06And I wonder if Red Wing fans have as well.
00:09The sky has fallen.
00:11Cop and Larkin out two weeks minimum.
00:15They'll then be reassessed.
00:16Team that was already going to be fighting and scratching and clawing to make the playoffs win healthy.
00:21They're done.
00:23You with me?
00:242-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
00:27Decade-long playoff drought confirmed.
00:34It's a tough one because we all want to have the hope that they make a recovery, that they find
00:44some offense, that somebody steps up.
00:47There are plenty of veteran players that could step up.
00:51The problem is the engine that makes it go.
00:54First of all, Dylan Larkin, but your center position.
00:58Yep.
00:58And you're down Dylan Larkin, you're down Cop, and there's just no one else there that can generate enough offense.
01:08Not even goal scores, but setting up the offense.
01:10Yeah.
01:11Like, last night was predictable.
01:14It's not that they didn't try.
01:16It's not that they laid down and quit.
01:17I'm not accusing them of that.
01:19They're just not good enough.
01:22They're down 2-0 and Confer scores a goal to make it one, but I didn't think they were going
01:27to be able to bear down and take down a Tampa Bay Lightning team in their house.
01:31Yeah.
01:33And I don't think they're going to do it when they go to Dallas or this upcoming homestand.
01:36Like, hey, you go, maybe just get back home.
01:38They've lost five straight home games.
01:40So, I don't know what you're telling yourself if you're a Red Wing fan to make it feel okay.
01:47Yesterday, I'm just not going to lie to myself.
01:49Like, I know what I see.
01:51I've had concerns all season about the five-on-five, the goal differential.
01:56I don't think this team is making the playoffs.
01:58Yesterday, I said I was a 9 out of 10 panic, 10 being you're in a bunker.
02:03And that was before the Cop News and before the Larkin News.
02:06They're toast.
02:09Unbuttered, dry, bland, burnt toast.
02:15So, on one hand, you want to say, hey, Iserman, he went out and added Falk.
02:20He did the thing we've been begging him to do.
02:22Burn a first-round pick, put some skin in the game, give his guys a chance.
02:28I can't kill him.
02:30At the same time, though, his tenure is more than just one trade deadline.
02:35They hadn't made these moves the last couple deadlines and missed by as little as one point a couple years
02:40ago.
02:41If his team was riding the rims to the finish line as it is, if they were that fragile of
02:48a hockey team,
02:49you don't get to escape and escape criticism because you have a couple injuries.
02:55So, I don't know where people are at with Steve, but we can mix in the Iserman component of all
03:00of this, too.
03:01I just, I just, I'm sick of my stomach because this is, this is, again, going to happen to this
03:06hockey team.
03:06And you're right, John, there are still guys who could step up.
03:09Lucas Raymond has two goals in the last 10 games.
03:12Patrick Kane has two goals in the last 10 games.
03:15The Brinkett's not much better with three goals in the last 10 games.
03:18Remember Raymond a couple years ago where, when Larkin went down, he was playing like his hair was on fire.
03:24And he carried them to a bunch of close wins by finishing plays.
03:30They're not doing any of that right now.
03:32No, and Gibby can only do so much in between the pipes.
03:36I mean, you can't have, what is there, 18 games left?
03:4017 games?
03:4116 or 17.
03:4216 or 17.
03:43It's, you just, you can't expect 16 shutouts.
03:48No.
03:49It's not realistic.
03:50It's not doable.
03:52And it feels like that's what he has to do to give this team a chance to make the playoffs.
04:00Last night, Boston lost, but Columbus picked up a point.
04:04Columbus is now within two and they have an extra game to play.
04:07How many more wins can you bank on for this hockey team?
04:10There just aren't very many.
04:132, 4, 8, 5, 3, 9, 97, 97.
04:16I'd love to sell you hope.
04:18I just, I don't feel it.
04:21Well, I mean, the, the, the, the fortunate thing is you do get a chance to play Columbus
04:26again, but by that time you may be too far out of it.
04:30Um, and, and hopefully Larkin is back by that cops back by then.
04:34Cause you don't pay them until the, what the, the April 7th.
04:39But by that point, are you, are you still even in striking range?
04:46They've just been very good at finding ways to not finish the season strong.
04:51And it's, it's, it's not a lot of different ways.
04:53Yeah, exactly.
04:54It's always something.
04:55And you go back to two years ago.
04:56I think you mentioned this already.
04:57It's, it's Dylan Larkin goes down at the season.
05:00They missed out by a point.
05:01Yep.
05:02Final day.
05:03Um, and it doesn't come down to simply that, Hey, they just can't keep their head above
05:07water enough.
05:09And then when he comes back and we heard from Todd McClellan, like, is there a ramp up period?
05:13Is he able to come in and just play the way he was before?
05:15But it's, it's basically going to be three weeks.
05:17If he's back right at that time, that's just to reassess when they asked him, I don't even
05:21know if we have it in the system, but they asked him, he, you know, he gives the updates
05:24as let's get it out of the way.
05:25Perron should be back for Montreal.
05:28The other guys are going to be out two weeks, cop and Larkin.
05:31And the question following up was like, well, all things considered, is that really not
05:34that bad?
05:35And he's like, no, we need these guys.
05:38He wasn't going to mince words.
05:40And then he said, and again, in two weeks, we got to see where they're at.
05:44And if it's any longer, are they going to lose their legs and their lungs?
05:47Are they going to have to ramp up?
05:49You know, I mean, there's, there's no sugar coating it, even from the coach.
05:52Now, I don't expect this, this team to lay down.
05:54I don't think Todd McClellan will allow his team to lie down, but I just don't think they
05:58got enough bullets in the chamber here.
05:59They were again on fumes, riding the rims and the path, John, they're not about a paved
06:05road.
06:06They're on a dirt road and there's broken glass bottles and one tire's already popped.
06:10It's snowing uphill both ways.
06:12Yeah.
06:12So, Hey, it'd be one thing if I thought, Hey, we got a group of, of proven championship
06:17level hockey players to weather the storm and have that.
06:22Even if the conditions were perfect, the road was paved, the sun was shining, I'd still
06:28say it's going to go down to the wire.
06:29And that's why I was always hesitant to say this team would make the playoffs.
06:34Let's get to Chuck.
06:35He's been waiting.
06:35Chuck, you're on 97 one.
06:37Hey guys, just a quick observation.
06:40I've been hearing, you know, this talk for tonight.
06:45I agree with everything you say.
06:46Anyway, a couple of little key things that kind of flew under the radar and, and that
06:53really, you know, Steve Eisenman is whiffed on a lot of things.
06:57We know that he, you know, he's, he's to blame for a lot of this, in my opinion.
07:04And they were asking yesterday, well, his owner, you know, how does he escape this?
07:08Well, cause his owner, I love him because his owner is his owner.
07:11And it's my opinion.
07:13Chris Ellis isn't a very good owner, but to my point, Shane.
07:16Shane Gossespierre had 40 some points with the Red Wings and he let him walk.
07:23And there's another little guy under the radar and he's a blue chip NHL defenseman, not a
07:28household name, but only Mata.
07:30I mean, that guy, that guy, it just hasn't been good enough, Chuck.
07:35It's 97 one.
07:36Yeah.
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