The Drop: Ovi chasing Gretzky + Projecting USA & Canada 4 Nations Face-Off rosters!

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Hey everybody, welcome to another edition of the Drop presented by Discover Greg Wysinski,

spk_0 Ardo Cal. I am not in the four nations spirit. I'm wearing an NJ devil t-shirt. Shout out to my

spk_0 boy and you. I think this speaks to the enthusiasm gap between the Americans and the Canadians

spk_0 when it comes to four nations. We know that we are on the precipice of global hockey domination.

spk_0 Our time is now Canada can't even be bothered to dress up for the draft of the teams later on

spk_0 in the episode. The Americans on the other hand, we know we've been waiting for this month for years.

spk_0 Shine up the gold medal in 2026 because our time has arrived. Okay, John Cena, let's calm down your time

spk_0 is now. Speaking of T-MUSA, we will also have Bill Garen, who's the general manager, not only the

spk_0 wild of course, but T-MUSA for the four nations face off and the Olympics joining us later in the show.

spk_0 We, but like you said, we did put together our preliminary rosters for T-MUSA and team Canada.

spk_0 We'll get to that in a second. But first, winners and losers from around the national hockey league

spk_0 presented by Discover. I'll start with the winner. I thought the commemorations were terrific

spk_0 in the recent memory. The Steven Stamco's returning to Tampa, Mark Andre Flurry returning to

spk_0 Pittsburgh, a special shout out to the Penguin social media staff. I thought the letting him cut down

spk_0 the nets after the game while Crosby and Malkin and Latang are sitting there laughing at him because

spk_0 it took him so long. I thought that was really cool. I was at Stamco's night as you know, I think we

spk_0 the last episode was right before that and it was such an emotional time. I mean, it was sort of beautiful.

spk_0 It was bittersweet, I guess to be the word I use because it was bittersweet because obviously

spk_0 there's a lot of people that were very upset that Stamco's didn't end up potentially finishing his

spk_0 career with the lightning. But the presentation was great. The video was great. The lap around the ice

spk_0 celebrating with the fans was great and just provided a little bit of closure for everybody.

spk_0 Although as Steven Stamco stole me out for the game, maybe you never really turned the page when

spk_0 you've spent so much time in a market and when you feel still that lingering bitterness of a team

spk_0 not giving you the money you think you deserve and basically trading you in for a younger model

spk_0 and Jake Ensel who by the way, it should be said has made that line with Kutra off a

spk_0 brain point better than ever was with Stamco's because they're a defensive juggernaut and even

spk_0 better offensive team. So as a SaaS was to see that divorce between Stamco's and the lightning,

spk_0 it may have made them a better team and we wait for Nashville to become a better team

spk_0 with Steven Stamco's in the roster. Now to be fair, Nashville has gotten a little better lately.

spk_0 They finally got some wins. I guess that's a positive. But also they've the thing is they go down

spk_0 in most games by multiple goals. Yeah. Like they just dig themselves into a hole, but they also have

spk_0 a unrealistic low shooting percentage. Like that's going to correct itself at some point. It should.

spk_0 It's cyclical. There I think they're like like fourth worst offense team. It was goals per game

spk_0 in the league. So that is not what an Andrew Brunette team is. And so you expect that to be

spk_0 cyclical and then the cycle back and everybody to fit in. But like when I when I was talking to the

spk_0 Predators after that Stamco's game, they all seem to think that it was all coalescing. Things

spk_0 are moving forward. Everybody was feeling positive and they they've not really built on that momentum

spk_0 yet, which they need to because the central division is very top heavy right now. It certainly is.

spk_0 Now speaking of momentum and vibes in the locker room, why don't you give us a loser?

spk_0 I'm going to say more like Booans.

spk_0 Hard to O'Kale. The Boston Bruins. Now they have put together a couple of wins recently.

spk_0 But the vibes are off. You know, there's been so much attention being paid to the Jim Montgomery

spk_0 of it all. And here's where I'll defend Jim Montgomery. Okay. He took grief for yelling at Brad

spk_0 Martian on the bench. His captain had a turnover. Martian after the game said no big deal. He benched

spk_0 David Pastronak in the third period to hear the Bruins talk about it. They're all like no big deal.

spk_0 This happens. The man's coaching for his job. You know, in the litany of mistakes that Bruins

spk_0 management has made, one of them is undoubtedly making your head coach a lame duck in a season in

spk_0 which you really need things to go well with your team. And Jim Montgomery is not the reason why

spk_0 the goal tending tandem of all goal tending tannins no longer exists. And the fact that Jeremy

spk_0 Swainman is playing like a goalie that did not have a training camp with a sub 900 save percentage.

spk_0 And Jonas Corpacello is not a good replacement for the Linus Hallmark. He's not at fault for them.

spk_0 Signing Elias Linholam is a perfectly good complimentary center. But by no means in my book,

spk_0 a number one guy. And so on and so forth. I don't feel like this is all Jim Montgomery's fault.

spk_0 But undoubtedly he'll pay the price for it. And that's why he's being aggressive. He's trying to

spk_0 get their attention. The man is trying to save his job. Now, is he the coach that is on the hot

spk_0 seat in the NHL right now? I would say so, right? I think so only because a lot of first year coaches

spk_0 in the NHL there are there are, but also like some of the other places where you're looking at. I

spk_0 mean, I think everybody you've talked to in Pittsburgh says Mike Sullivan is saved. Despite what's

spk_0 happening with the penguins, you know, Derek Lelon with the Detroit Red Wings is one you look at

spk_0 and say there could be a change there if things don't turn around there. But in Montgomery's case,

spk_0 that's the market where A, we know the media can really turn up to heat on somebody if it's time.

spk_0 And also the fact of the matter is, is that management did not reward him with the extension.

spk_0 They're like, we're talking to him about it. Well, that's different than putting pen to paper.

spk_0 And he's a lame duck coach at this point. And you can feel the heat getting turned up if the

spk_0 Bruins remain middleing. Stay with it. Give us a winner. Kale McCarr. Kale McCarr.

spk_0 Not kale the food. No, no, never a winner. Never a microphone. Oh, that's not true. Have you ever

spk_0 had a good kale Caesar delicious? Okay. Well, the Caesar salad, but with kale. And the crunch of it

spk_0 is just have romaine. Point being is that kale McCarr was one of three because romaine is inferior to

spk_0 kale and kale feels healthier. It feels it feels healthier. Get out of here. It has a palpable crunch

spk_0 as a guy who is a carnivore. I need to feel like I'm eating something substantial. So if I can

spk_0 eat a mushroom burger because the mushroom mimics the meat. If I'm eating a salad, I like to feel

spk_0 like I'm getting good roughage or roughage in my tummy. And I get more of that with kale than I

spk_0 do with romaine. Kale literally tastes like something you eat right out of the forest. I know.

spk_0 Isn't that beautiful? No, don't you feel connected with nature when you eat kale? Please.

spk_0 Kale McCarr was one of the three players to lead the NHL in points after October. Now, why is

spk_0 a significant? Well, because he's a defense man. And in the history of the National Hockey League,

spk_0 it's only been three instances where a defenseman has led or had a share of the points lead after

spk_0 the first month of the season. The other two times was guy named Bobby Orr. Oh, you don't say.

spk_0 Yeah. And coincidentally, those were also the two times that Bobby Orr led the NHL in points,

spk_0 despite being a defenseman. We're talking 6970 and 7475. A lot of us thought kale McCarr based on last

spk_0 season could score 100 points, Arda. What if he goes beyond that and becomes only the second

spk_0 player in NHL history to lead the NHL in points as a defense. I would love it. We're already making

spk_0 comparisons to Bobby Orr. Like kale McCarr is so good that he is being put in the same category as

spk_0 Bobby Orr, who many people thought was untouchable up until kale McCarr. Yeah. Unbelievable. And he's

spk_0 actually doing it at a time when hockey is good and competitive and gold tending is great and

spk_0 defense is great. Oh, you don't know. And there's like a lot more teams. So one might say,

spk_0 kale McCarr is doing things that Bobby Orr never did. Even if I made $88 million, I would never buy

spk_0 kale. I just want to be clear, which brings me to a winner. Igor's wallet. He said no to $88 million

spk_0 and it's looking mighty good right now because he is absolutely stellar. He's had a terrific stretch,

spk_0 a terrific start to the season. The Rangers are rolling. They're one of four teams in the Metro with

spk_0 eight wins to start the season. Very, very good and Shesterkin arguably, maybe not so arguably is

spk_0 the biggest reason for that. So of course, he's going to command a higher salary. They look very

spk_0 good. He bet on himself and he may have won, especially if he wins another Vezna or maybe even

spk_0 the first Stanley Cup for the New York hockey Rangers since 1994. What if that were to happen,

spk_0 Arna? Imagine the bananas that will befall that man. Loser Central Division powers talking about

spk_0 good start to the Rangers talking about bad start to the national predators and the Colorado

spk_0 avalanche combined record of 914 and one through their first few games of the season. The predators,

spk_0 as we mentioned, bottom four in goals per game. They can't get on track offensively Colorado.

spk_0 The worst goal tending in the NHL right now at a 834 team save percentage of their first few games.

spk_0 The difference between the two teams is that Colorado is getting reinforcements. You know,

spk_0 Luckinans back, Nucrysian coming back. They're going to get an influx of that. They're going to

spk_0 feel a little bit better about themselves. Nashville, as you said, needs to figure themselves out

spk_0 pretty quickly. I think attendance needs to figure itself out pretty quickly in the city of Winnipeg.

spk_0 One of my losers is Winnipeg's support. Now, I want to be careful here. I'm not saying the team

spk_0 should move. I'm not saying that this is a crisis optically as a fan of hockey when you see a team that

spk_0 has the best record in the NHL and they're struggling to fill 13,000 people in the arena.

spk_0 That's a concern. Now, I drilled into this. I dug into this. He's done the research, folks.

spk_0 I spoke with a good friend of mine, covers the jets for the athletic. We're out to test.

spk_0 Show him. So he explained that a lot of this certainly has to do with corporate support.

spk_0 The fact that essentially the buck is being passed on to fans. Ticket prices might be a little

spk_0 prohibitive for many people in the city of Winnipeg to get into the arenas. Also, the season ticket

spk_0 holder retention has been a concern over the years. It was very strong in the beginning, 2011,

spk_0 2012, et cetera. And now it hasn't been so. They've instilled new programs to try and rejuvenate

spk_0 that. For example, just Jersey off the backs, skating with the players, photo day, all the fun

spk_0 stuff that fans would love those invaluable. You can't buy four experiences, which you can't buy

spk_0 for a few season ticket holders. You get those invaluable experiences. So these kinds of things

spk_0 are being thought of optically still when you have 12,000 in change for a game where the Winnipeg

spk_0 jets are going. What are they now? 11 and one are ridiculous record. That is a concern

spk_0 certainly from the outside looking in my next winner. The people in Phoenix, Arizona who are

spk_0 going to get a terrific hockey team when Winnipeg relocates their next. Oh, is that what now you're

spk_0 trying to say? Oh, right. Can't wait. Winner from the Alex of Alex of Etchkins pace early in the

spk_0 season 82 games, 52 goals 104 points and a plus 60 rating. Arda, he's 34 goals as we do this

spk_0 podcast away from catching Wayne Gratsky. More importantly, he's on pace to break 900 career goals.

spk_0 By the end of the season, what do you think of Ovi start? I love it. I think he's super motivated.

spk_0 The team looks good. He's doing I love that someone posted it. It makes so much sense when you look

spk_0 at it. The someone posted the picture of just Ovi standing like this on the power play. Yeah. Right.

spk_0 He's just waiting for the puck. He just does this Ovi spot. Everyone knows. Yeah. Everyone understands

spk_0 we're all in on it. It still happens and it's still works. And you can't stop it. It's great.

spk_0 One more loser for me, people who won't listen to Connor Hellebuck. How we found out this week,

spk_0 the Connor Hellebuck two years ago made a 45 minute presentation to the NHL's competition committee

spk_0 in an effort to clarify what should or should not constitute goal tender interference.

spk_0 This is a guy who knows a thing or two about goal tending. He's considered to be one of the best in

spk_0 the world. Hellebuck said the committee listened attentively to his presentation, but wasn't

spk_0 willing to move forward with his approach. Now don't we need the collective and collective guys

spk_0 like Connor Hellebuck to help better define the most controversial aspect of NHL officiating

spk_0 in this league right now. I think so. Listen to the man. He's going to be the starting goal tender

spk_0 for Team USA. We'll get to that in a second shout out to Eric Comrie's backup goal tender for

spk_0 answering all the questions that hockey fans needed answers to. That was great content from

spk_0 Winnipeg Jet Social. Speaking of Team USA, yes later in the show, we will have General Manager

spk_0 Bill Garen joining us. Wish is in the festive spirit. He is wearing Team USA threads. He is also

spk_0 put together his projected roster. Now the way I did it for Team Canada Wish, I said this would

spk_0 be my team as of two day. Okay. That's how I constructed my team Canada roster. How did you

spk_0 approach your Team USA roster? A combination of what's going on this season. What I think will be

spk_0 in place for 2026. There are some guys that are on my roster that maybe aren't having the best seasons.

spk_0 Okay. But I think are going to be there regardless when the Olympics come round. And then also just

spk_0 thinking about balance and also thinking about how I want the team constructed. So let's get right

spk_0 to it. Okay. Your top line J. T. Miller, Austin Matthews, Jason Robertson, Jake Gensel,

spk_0 Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, Chris Criter, Jack Hughes, Brady Kachuck, Mapoldy, Dylan Larken,

spk_0 Matthew Kachuck. Obviously these things can move around the lineup. On defense, John Carlson,

spk_0 Brock Favour, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Quinn Hughes, Jacob Slaven, my reserves,

spk_0 our Zach Werenzki, Vision Trochek, and my goal tenders, Connor Hellerbuck, Jake Ahtinger,

spk_0 Jeremy Swaman. Now obviously, that trodemko would be a name in there as well. The injury

spk_0 this season makes me think that he probably won't be a part of this team USA with the four nations.

spk_0 Some folks on the outside looking in, I had to make the decision on, do I want some role players

spk_0 involved like Vincent Trochek, where do I want to put the pedal down and just gas it up and go

spk_0 offense offense offense. So I thought Trochek probably makes this team as a stabilizing force down

spk_0 the lineup, which means a guy like Cole Cawfield is on the outside looking in Clayton Keller as

spk_0 well. And then on defense, I had to make a decision on Carlson, Werenzki, and Jake Sanderson.

spk_0 I think Carlson's playing pretty well. They might like a veteran on the back end like him

spk_0 to go along with the players that they've also selected. So I'll go with Carlson and Werenzki as

spk_0 the goalies. Pretty, I mean, as the defense, pretty good team. The big question is whether or not

spk_0 you can find enough guys on this roster to play the roles that you need them to play to make a

spk_0 championship team team great. So here's my question about Carlfield. So 10 goals and 12 games,

spk_0 right? So I get your explanation. I buy that because Trochek's a good face off guy too. Like he's

spk_0 accepted. So like, yeah, so that's good. Here's my thought though. Does Carlfield make the Olympic

spk_0 team? If he continues to have good numbers this season early next year, is he an Olympic candidate?

spk_0 He could be the thing. So his spot kind of came down to whether I thought Matt Boldy or Cole

spk_0 Caulfield would be on the team. Okay. Now Matt Boldy is first of all a member of the Minnesota

spk_0 wild as is the guy putting together the roster for this team. But second of all, he's a better

spk_0 all around player than Caulfield. And Caulfield's issue for me is I don't like his defensive game all

spk_0 that much. That could be a function of the TV plays for or it could be a function and how he plays.

spk_0 But the other part of this too, Arda, and it's a philosophical question is we've never had an

spk_0 assemblage of offensive talent like this as as the United States. Okay. It is scary how good

spk_0 the group that I put together is you could have five or six other offensive players in the mix

spk_0 for this team. So the question is do we do the thing that Americans always do, which is to get

spk_0 brainwaring from the Miracle on ice and say we're the underdogs. We need to really grid it out and

spk_0 get guys in there that are gritty and underdoggy. Or do we just say, you know what? Let's just beat

spk_0 the hell out of everybody and get Caulfield on the roster and Clayton Keller and just go offense,

spk_0 offense, offense and overwhelm teams. And I don't think we're quite there yet as a nation. I do

spk_0 think you're going to see some role players in this team. You're you're you're Ryan Callahan makes

spk_0 the Olympic team type players. But but it would be interesting to see if they went the other way.

spk_0 Yeah. That's a question that we can certainly ask Bill Garen how much role playing plays a part

spk_0 versus offense offense offense. Tell me about Clayton Keller. Yeah. Good. Which is impressive. Tell me

spk_0 about Canada and and first let's start with your goal tending. What about it? What do you want to

spk_0 know? Who is he's playing goal for you? But you had Hallibuk, Aunt and Jiren Swaman is your goal.

spk_0 My goal tenders are Stuart Skinner. Uh huh. Okay. Jordan Bennington. Yeah. Now number three

spk_0 could have been Sam Montenbo just based on his start. Oh absolutely. He's been really good in games

spk_0 for the Habs. Could have been eight in Hill. He's history Stanley Cup champion. So he's played in

spk_0 you know, important games. I decided to go with Flurry. Mark Andre Flurry. Correct. That's number three.

spk_0 Okay. And here's why I think two reasons. I put him in the Ed Bell for 2002 Olympic spot. Okay. He's

spk_0 the guy that was celebrating with no equipment with the gold medal on the ice. That was definitely

spk_0 a Curtis Joseph, Martin Bruder, tandem. Mark Andre Flurry to me may not see the ice. He might

spk_0 get dressed for a game in Montreal. Yeah. Respect. But if there's one person that's going to keep

spk_0 things loose and the vibes immaculate. And I want that to be my third goalie. So that's why I would

spk_0 select Flurry for this particular tournament. Right. I you're now I know where you're going. Let's

spk_0 compare that to the first triumvirate of my amazingness that team USA has. Who is your second goal

spk_0 ie, Bennington? Yeah. That's great because then you get a goalie and an enforcer. But I also think

spk_0 that as an American, I'm all for you. Put Mark Andre Flurry on that roster. I actually hope he

spk_0 ascends to the number one spot for Canada. That would be stop amazing. Stop. What about the rest?

spk_0 That's happening. All right. So I got Mick David, Mitch Mariner, Sam Reinhart. Of course,

spk_0 these lines are subject to change. I'm sure that you know, you can jumble them how you want. I

spk_0 really put together the people I think will be on the team. Crosby McKinnon Martian. Now I

spk_0 do like that as the Eastern Canada line. I think that's a really nice touch there. Braden Point,

spk_0 Mark Stone, Alexi Laffronier and John Tavaris, Barzal and Mark Schifley with Connor Bedard as my

spk_0 extra forward. I like Connor Bedard as a choice for a forward. I know a lot of people are like,

spk_0 what about Stamcoes? Basically for me, I think Tavaris has had a better start to the season. If you

spk_0 find a place for Stamcoes on here, I don't think I'm getting too mad. But I do think Bedard needs to

spk_0 be on the line up. And I do think Tavaris is earned a spot. Let's be honest. This is this is a NHL NHL

spk_0 PA produced tournament. It's kind of fake. Right. We're doing it because we can't do the world cup

spk_0 because we can't figure out what to do with Russia. It replaces the all-star game. Entertainment

spk_0 value should be at a premium. If Canada leaves Connor Bedard off this roster, what are we even doing?

spk_0 Like he just wants people to watch this tournament. And I hope that they have the good sense to not

spk_0 try to like play it for serious and be like, we got to figure out how to win the four nations

spk_0 tournament. And I don't know if Bedard can do that. Put him on the damn roster so you can watch and

spk_0 play. He's going to be on the roster in my opinion. Devon Taves, Calmacar, best defensive duo in the

spk_0 league. Obviously, you keep him together. Shay Theodore, Alex Petrangelo, Josh Morrissey,

spk_0 and Evan Boushard. Actually, since Barzal has hurt, that's another thing. So Barzal has hurt. He

spk_0 comes back and has enough games. Yeah. I would put him in the lineup because he had a good good start

spk_0 to the season. But if not, that's where maybe Stab Coast. I'm interested that Dobson's your

spk_0 reserve there because he's not been really good this year. And I am interested to see

spk_0 how both of these teams and Sweden and Finland react to what's happened so far in the season versus

spk_0 previous reputation or spot on the 2016. Yes. I left out other obviously Nick Suzuki's not on

spk_0 the lineup. Robert Thomas is injured. So he's not there either. But that's my lineup. I think that

spk_0 that's a pretty good lineup. I do think that TME USA has the edge, which is why we're not going to

spk_0 be talking about four nations until the end of four nations on the show. The thing that scares me,

spk_0 though, like if if Canada wanted to overcompensate for how terrible its goal tending is and folks,

spk_0 it's terrible. They have so many guys on this roster that are accomplished two way players,

spk_0 more so than the Americans. Like Marner, Marshand, sit at one point, but not so much now.

spk_0 Point stone. Like there's so many guys here that I think are amongst the best two way players

spk_0 in the league that maybe we see the reverse of what we saw in Sochi where I lost my mind when the

spk_0 Americans decided to try to beat Canada one nothing. Like maybe you I'm not so I'm listen.

spk_0 I'm not saying a team with McDavid Crosby and and Braden point up the gut needs and Nathan

spk_0 McKenna the wing needs to like try to be the 1996 four to Panthers and play the trappers of

spk_0 the league. But I'm saying that if Canada wanted to insulate its goal tending by playing a little

spk_0 bit more conservatively, I think you've got a roster to do that too. And we're very top heavy that

spk_0 can possibly outscore its problems. Yeah. I do believe that. I mean with McDavid and McKenna on

spk_0 two separate lines. And also I want to be clear. I think a lot of people are going to focus on

spk_0 laugh for a near and be like, what about it? Like I think he's had a terrific stretch. It's a point

spk_0 for game player. And I think he rises. He seems to me like the type of player that rises to the

spk_0 caliber of player that he's playing with. He's playing with elite players. He's playing with great

spk_0 players on the Rangers. He plays with elite players on a best on best tournament. I think he

spk_0 rises to the occasion. And he also performed in the playoffs last year too. Exactly. Which is

spk_0 important as well. Yeah. All right. So those are our rosters. Feel free to agree with us 100% in

spk_0 the comments because I'm sure you absolutely will. The person that actually has this task for team

spk_0 USA and also of course for the Minnesota wild is Bill Garen. And he joins us now in the drum.

spk_0 All right. Joining us now on ESPN's the drop of former multiple time Stanley Cup champion both

spk_0 player and as an assistant GM now the general manager of the Minnesota wild and of course team USA

spk_0 for the four nations face off this upcoming February and the Olympic Games Bill Garen is with us.

spk_0 Bill actually first I just noticed in your background. You have replica Stanley cups. I'm curious.

spk_0 Do they give those to you once you win them? Is it like yeah they do they give you a miniature conference

spk_0 trophies and miniature cups which are are really cool. Are they engraved? Like do they have your

spk_0 knee? Yeah. Yeah. They have the whole team on it. Everything. Yeah. They're really neat. They're

spk_0 really special. It's it's a cool thing that you get. That's the world's most spectacular shot glass.

spk_0 Yeah. That's outstanding. Billy we've got a ton of questions for you about four nations and

spk_0 how to put how you're putting that roster together. Obviously they'll be announced in about a month.

spk_0 But one of the things I was curious about from mid season tournament which we've obviously not

spk_0 had before here in the NHL at least in a bit. How much does performance in this regular season

spk_0 impact your roster can guys play themselves off the team or is it is it more you know reputation

spk_0 base maybe thinking about them on the 2026 team as well. Well kind of kind of everything. Look

spk_0 I mean the players that we're talking about everybody has a good reputation. Everybody's an

spk_0 an all star everybody's an elite player so the reputations are all good. We have so many players

spk_0 to choose from in our you know us player pool. It's a it's a great problem to have. We're just trying

spk_0 to you know try to put together the best team not just you know go down the line and best players

spk_0 we have to fill roles we have to you know guys have to accept roles guys have to be willing to do

spk_0 things that they're not normally asked to do you know who's going to play in the power play who's

spk_0 going to play in the penalty kill who's not and are they going to be okay with it and you know

spk_0 like I said it's a good problem for us to have but there's some very difficult decisions to be made.

spk_0 Thank God I have a great group of people around me. Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Ezea, Chris Sherry, Chris

spk_0 Haller, all helping me out you know with these decisions you know communicating with Mike Solve

spk_0 in the coach and his coaching staff it's just a really good group and you know I'm honored to

spk_0 be working with these guys. What you essentially have two gigs right now right General Manjaro,

spk_0 the wild General Manager of Team USA I'm curious like on any given week especially as we lead up

spk_0 to the tournament like what percentage of your time is spent on wild related stuff versus Team USA

spk_0 stuff how do you you know parse that time such that you're giving ample time necessary to both gigs.

spk_0 Yeah kind of you know ebbs and flows it just things might come up things come up with the wild all

spk_0 the time things come up Team USA all the time you try to plan our team USA calls because you know we

spk_0 can look at everybody schedule make sure we put time aside to do that but you know we I can't

spk_0 really say if I'm doing 50-50 you know 70-30 whatever it just it depends on the day really and we're

spk_0 getting close to decision-time for Team USA so I would imagine we're going to be putting a little

spk_0 bit more time into that and yeah like I said but this is really exciting it's a huge honor and just

spk_0 to be talking about the players that we're talking about putting them all together on one team all

spk_0 four teams are going to be fantastic but we're really excited about our group of players. Two

spk_0 questions for you Billy first off how many spots on that roster do you feel like are kind of

spk_0 up for grabs or in flux right now because obviously you've got a pretty solid group you know it's

spk_0 going to be there how many spots do you think are open at this point in the process?

spk_0 Well we're pretty far down the decision making process I don't know because look like I said things

spk_0 can change daily we don't know you know what happened there could be injuries there could be

spk_0 you know different circumstances we just don't know so we're trying to you know we're trying to

spk_0 we're trying to look at everybody we're trying to look at you know if we have a certain roster you

spk_0 know what are the who are the backup plans for that and and how does that decision process go and

spk_0 just things like that we're trying to be prepared for anything but yeah we're getting close to it

spk_0 I hope that answers your question. Yeah, yeah, the other thing was I was I was talking to Mike

spk_0 Badano recently who you obviously were a teammate on a couple of national teams with and he told me

spk_0 the reason that Canada has been so successful internationally or at least one of the reasons is that

spk_0 they were able to set their egos aside they had all these star players but they played within the

spk_0 team that you made mention of trying to get some of these guys that are obviously top-line superstar

spk_0 players in their own teams to maybe buy into different roles on Team USA how confident are you

spk_0 that some of these young American stars going to be able to do that I'm very confident I'm very

spk_0 confident in these guys that you know you have to you have to check your ego on the door and you

spk_0 know what I feel I feel that happens on any championship team I feel like we had that with the 96 team

spk_0 in the world cup and you just have to do things that you're not used to do but it's all about the team

spk_0 it's all about we're playing for our country here this is way bigger than us like we have to do

spk_0 things that we're probably not used to doing or play roles that we're we're not used to playing maybe

spk_0 play the minutes that we're not you know used to playing like every guy in this team is going to be

spk_0 used to getting you know forwards close to 20 minutes or over 20 minutes tonight defense one

spk_0 25 you know plus there's just not enough of that to go around so you have to accept that

spk_0 and and that's a that's a really big part of this a lot of the discourse among hockey fans as we

spk_0 approach four nations is that Team USA is going to be a very strong team dare I say the favorites to

spk_0 win the tournament goal-tending strong all positions look really really good I'm just curious what

spk_0 the conversations in the vibe is like among you and your GM and coaching staff everybody's good

spk_0 I mean honestly like everybody's good you look at the players the candidates look at the players

spk_0 Sweden and Finland have like everybody's going to be good it's going to come down to buy in sacrifice

spk_0 acceptance of role and timing our timing's going to have to be good we're going to have to be

spk_0 playing well at every you know and every fast this is this is a plug and play

spk_0 tournament as well we're going to the chemistry's going to have to be right and we'll work we're

spk_0 going to work on that I mean honestly I wouldn't consider anybody a favorite to tell you the truth

spk_0 because you just don't know what's going to happen the way I look at things too is like you know

spk_0 it's just like in the NHL when you you look at teams on paper and this team's great that team's

spk_0 great well you know you got to play the games so let's just let's just do the best we can

spk_0 to put the team together to bring them together and then let's play the games.

spk_0 Last one for me on foreignation's building you are obviously in any unique position as a GM in

spk_0 the Minnesota wild and the GM of this team where you might have a couple guys in contention for this

spk_0 team a lot of projections believe Brock Faber is going to be on your blue line on team USA some

spk_0 believe Matt Boldy could crack the four group how do you approach putting your own guys on a team

spk_0 like this and there's is there anything in the back your head that's like you know what let's not

spk_0 make sure they don't get hurt let's let's give them some extra rest we're really good successful team

spk_0 we're in a playoff push how do you balance those two things when you have guys in your own team

spk_0 and contention for a USA roster. When we're putting the roster together for the Minnesota wild 14 USA

spk_0 we want to put together the best roster we can and we we we want to win we want to we need to put

spk_0 the best roster we can on there and if those guys are included they're included and that's just as

spk_0 easy as that if they're not they're not but we'll we'll do whatever we have to in order to win.

spk_0 I have a fun two-part last question for you Bill on my end we know that Mark Andre Flurry

spk_0 noted prankster my first part of this question is what was the as a player when you were a teammate

spk_0 with him back in 09 what was the favorite prank that he pulled on you. He never did I mean

spk_0 never. No no I think he respected his elders a little too much. So he never he never did.

spk_0 What about in general was there one that you like. I like to win a fun guy's cure from the from

spk_0 the score but I I just never knew how we got up there and and had that done I thought that was

spk_0 I thought that was great I loved that one. Yeah well I was gonna ask my second part was are you off

spk_0 limits now that you're his general manager but I guess the answer is still no like he wouldn't dare

spk_0 prank the GM of the team right. Oh no he would he would I think I think the guys know me well

spk_0 enough now that I don't I don't mind that sort of thing so if he were to do it it would be

spk_0 I would advise him not to because I have my ways of getting back if people too but

spk_0 yeah no he would not he would not hesitate. Last one for me Billian thanks for your time

spk_0 great start for the wild man you know obviously the central division has been

spk_0 extremely competitive up top so far with what Winnipeg is doing but what are many one or two things

spk_0 that have gone right for you early on in the season that you're most impressed with.

spk_0 I think a couple things I think the detail in which we're playing with I think you know that was

spk_0 one of the big messages during training camp the detail detail and how we operate every single day

spk_0 not just game day not just during the game but you know I mean my god when you get in your car to

spk_0 come to practice you know when you're when you're in practice the detail which we practice in

spk_0 and then I think that the you know that just carries into the game and I think that our puck

spk_0 management has really taken a big step the guys are really playing strong situational hockey and I

spk_0 think puck management is critical in in doing that and playing winning hockey.

spk_0 All right well we will look forward to seeing the announcement of the team USA roster for

spk_0 four nations face off in the near future as we march towards the tournament in February.

spk_0 A Bill Garen GM of team USA and of course the Minnesota Wild Bill thank you so much for your time.

spk_0 Thanks a lot you guys.

spk_0 Thanks again to Bill Garen for joining us here on the show and thank you for listening and

spk_0 watching the drop presented by discover take that off. No I refuse to.

spk_0 Goodbye. Bye.

The Drop: Ovi chasing Gretzky + Projecting USA & Canada 4 Nations Face-Off rosters!

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