A look ahead to the Discover NHL Winter Classic, why the Toronto Maple Leafs are a more dangerous team this season, dissecting the New York Rangers’ problems, and even some breaking news.
It’s all featured on this week’s episode of the “NHL @TheRink” podcast presented by SKIP.
Mike Zeisberger, NHL.com’s Toronto-based staff writer, joins co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke this week. Zeisberger breaks down the Maple Leafs and gives reasons why, under first-year coach Craig Berube, they look like a team that can finally do some real damage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
From a buy-in to the north-south approach Berube has brought to the team to a top-four defense group unrivaled in Toronto in the past decade, Zeisberger hits on all the factors that lead to him thinking the Maple Leafs are finally for real.
The conversation with Zeisberger also features a discussion on the Rangers, who are 4-13-0 in their past 17 games after starting the season 12-4-1.
Rosen and Roarke talk about what they’re looking forward to in the Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field on New Years’ Eve (5 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX, truTV, SN, TVAS). In particular, Rosen spoke about why he hopes Blackhawks center Connor Bedard has a big game in his first big event on the national stage as an NHL player.
They also discuss the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship that begins in Ottawa on Thursday. Rosen and Roarke, both American, so maybe biased, provide insight into why they think the United States will repeat as gold medalists for the first time.
Breaking news occurred during the recording of this episode, when the Detroit Red Wings named Todd McLellan their new coach and Trent Yawney as assistant, replacing Derek Lalonde and Bob Boughner, respectively.
Will this coaching change in Detroit impact the Eastern Conference standings? Does it make the Red Wings a playoff contender? Rosen and Roarke react and discuss.
They also talk about the team they think is the best in the NHL right now, the team in a playoff position today that won’t be at the end of the season and provide some New Year’s resolutions for the podcast.
The "NHL @TheRink"podcast presented by SKIP is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
