Podcast Ombudsman Report for Blueshirt Bandwidth Ep. 61

Welcome back to the Blueshirt Bandwidth Podcast Ombudsman Report. Each week, Charlie Vidal will listen to the latest episode of the podcast and correct the record on anything Joe and Eric get wrong. If you aren't already, you can listen and subscribe to the podcast here.

Episode #61

While Rick Nash is obviously the best and most impactful Ranger to ever wear #61, you can make an argument that Pascal Dupuis was the most notorious. Dupuis spent 6 games with the Rangers in February 2007 between being acquired for Adam Hall and being shipped to the Atlanta Thrashers for Alex Bourret. Bourret never even reached the NHL, playing in 77 games with Hartford after that trade.

If you recognize Bourret’s name from last week’s Ombudsman Report, it’s because Bourret was a 16th overall pick and was marked as an out-and-out bust having played in zero NHL games. Brennan Othmann has the same number of NHL goals as Bourret.

Pinnacle Masks

As a hockey fan who grew up collecting cards in the 90s, I remember the Pinnacle Masks insert set.

This is the John Vanbiesbrouck card that Eric was referring to:

Forwards Who Haven’t Scored

Of course just two days after my report ran calling out Conor Sheary for not scoring, he got his first of the season against the Avalanche on Saturday afternoon:

Barclay Goodrow was mercifully excluded from the list of forwards who have not yet scored this season because he found the net on Nov. 11 against Ottawa:

Braden Schneider

In the Braden Schneider conversation, Chip said that he is “not better than Fox or Borgen, and more expensive than Morrow.” Looking at the advanced metrics for this season, Evolving Hockey has Schneider as the Rangers fifth best defenseman behind Fox (obviously) and Borgen, with Morrow rating as the Rangers worst defenseman through his eight games this season: 

Taking a more forward looking view from JFresh, none of Schneider, Borgen, or Morrow are projected to be particularly highly regarded, with Morrow projecting out the best of the three:

Last Week’s Games

Looking back at the games played the week prior to the podcast being recorded, Eric said that the Rangers were “outplayed by Carolina and thoroughly destroyed by Tampa Bay.” MoneyPuck generally backs up Eric’s assertion, although the Rangers outplayed Boston on Black Friday!

Making the Eastern Conference Final Twice in Three Years

Although it seems like a long time ago, the New York Rangers actually made it to the Eastern Conference Final twice in three years between 2022 and 2024.

Since the lockout, 16 teams have made it to the conference finals at least twice in a three year span. Of those teams, only the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres, 2020-21 New York Islanders, 2022-24 Rangers, and 2022-25 Dallas Stars have failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in any of their trips to the Conference Finals.

Big Hits

Here is a link to the clean hit by Brandon Hagel that injured Adam Fox.

For reference, here is the hit on Jaxson Dart that Chip was discussing on the show:

Panarin to Russia? Probably Not

Last week, the New York Post's Mollie Walker discussed the possibility that Artemi Panarin might return to Russia:

Panarin’s longstanding “feud” with Vladimir Putin was mentioned on the show. Panarin first spoke out against Vladimir Putin in 2019, when he “decried the lack of freedom of expression in his home country, complained the nation was rife with 'lawlessness' and said Russia had better people for the presidency than Putin.”

During the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Panarin was publicly accused of assaulting an 18 year-old woman in 2011  by his former KHL coach, forcing Artemi to take a leave of absence from the team. The claim was shown to be bogus, and the Rangers swiftly put out a statement saying that Panarin was being targeted by Putin for his support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Instagram post.

All this leads me to conclude that Panarin is unlikely to return to the KHL this offseason, especially given how much he might be able to make with the salary cap continuing to rise.

The Florida Panthers were mentioned as a possible trade destination for Panarin. Even though the Panthers have some key players (Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov) on LTIR, teams must be cap compliant in the playoffs now.

Thanks to his no-movement clause, Panarin will be able to choose his destination similar to how Patrick Kane forced his way to the Rangers in 2023. Unlike Kane at the time, Panarin is still playing at an elite level and does not need the same hip surgery that Kane had just months after the Rangers season ended at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.

Accounting Lessons

Eric said that people become as rich as James Dolan because they care about the balance sheet, and the revenue that comes with playoff games.

Revenue is recorded on the income statement, not the balance sheet. Net income (profit) after expenses at the end of an accounting period is then recorded on the balance sheet as retained earnings which is part of shareholder equity.

James Dolan became rich because he was born to the right person. His father, Charles Dolan, founded Cablevision and essentially wired the tri-state area for cable television.

Who Scores a Goal First?

One listener raised the question of who will score a goal first: Conor Sheary, Brennan Othmann, or Igor Shesterkin? Chip said that it would be Igor. Eric said that it would be Othmann. Of course, Sheary had to then almost immediately go and score his first goal of the season against Colorado.

Shitload v Fuckton

Chip said that we need Charlie to define shitload versus fuckton. The difference between a shitload and fuckton is context dependent, and frankly in some contexts a fuckton might not be appropriate. I would consider 35 games played by a backup goalie a shitload of games, but at some point if a backup goalie plays a fuckton of games, then he’s just your starting goalie.

That being said, a fuckton is always more than a shitload.