The boys return after being healthy scratches for a while with a minimally insightful look at the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the future of hockey in Salt Lake City, and the timeless wonder that is Jaromir Jagr.

The boys have a field day tapping one into the empty net during the offseason by talking about the new NHL Retro Rewind jerseys, breaking down the NHL '94 Rewind game, and getting real with trying to break back into the beer leagues after a long COVID hiatus.  The Captain and the Keeper will return again once more before the NHL resumes again in January 2021, so stay tuned...

With the 2020 Stanley Cup awarded, the boys wrap up season one by talking about some Stanley Cup celebrations and handoffs of years past.  In light of the possible nearing end of Henrik Lundqvist's career in New York, and Mike Richter's recent birthday celebration, a spirited discussion takes place aiming to settle the score once and for all as to who is the real goaltending king of Manhattan.  Finally, on "Hugging the Post" the Keeper discusses the great female goaltending pioneer Manon Rheaume and the boys provide some ideas for increasing the presence of women's hockey at the professional level.  The Captain and the Keeper will return over the off-season for some updates and will be ready to lace 'em up again for the start of next season.        

Tonight the boys react to some of the recent NHL Awards announcements and discuss some of their favorite play-by-play announcers both past and present.  The Captain also puts home a couple of tap-ins on the doorstep after some more seemingly spot-on predictions about the ongoing conference finals.    

Today the boys play a solid 200-foot game and catch up with some news from around the hockey world including Oskar Lindblom's triumphant return from radiation treatment, some technical updates on NHL 21, and whether or not Zdeno Chara has played his last game in the NHL.  The Captain and The Keeper also discuss some of their favorite obscure hockey TV and Movie pop culture references and closeout with another installment of "Hugging the Post" by touching on some legendary goaltending performances that took the playoffs by surprise in years gone by.  

The boys run a 2-1-2 Forecheck while discussing recent NHL news, including the Arizona Coyotes' Draft Scandal, the world's oldest hockey player going out on top, and some upcoming NHL video game news.  After settling down and finding their legs, they grind out a "W" while tackling a few lesser-known hockey movie gems.  The Captain has an epiphany about the importance of vision required by GM's and coaches in the team-building process, and The Keeper talks about a classic (but slightly dangerous) goalie mask of the past.  

As the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs draws to a conclusion, the boys close out their predictions for Round 1.  The Captain/"Nostradamus of Hockey" decides to take the high road by rubbing every single one of the Keeper's bad first-round predictions in his face through an incriminating audio montage.  The Captain and The Keeper also express their thanks to their growing social media fan base by participating in a second Q&A session which, as usual, creates just as many questions as answers.    

(**Remastered and re-released with various audio level tweaks on 8/22/20.  Audio samples used under Creative Commons License - Madison Square Garden New York Rangers Atmosphere 2010 courtesy of "nyseagull" via Freesound https://freesound.org/s/398258/). 

The Captain and The Keeper touch on some recent NHL news, such as Tuukka Rask opting out of the playoffs, the Kirk Muller-Alain Vigneault controversy, Rod Brind'Amour's stylistic NHL fine payment, and Tobias Rieder's newfound ability to bag short-handed playoff tallies.  

The boys play strong in the neutral zone as they discuss memorable heroic vintage overtime playoff goals and The Captain talks about some impressive performances by captains acting like captains in "The Captain's Captains,"  and The Keeper freezes the puck at the buzzer on "Hugging the Post," talking about some of the biggest playoff stops of all time.  Naturally, topics like beer league ringers and Tomas Sandstrom's devastating slapshot in NHL '94 also find their way into today's intellectual discourse.