Podcast Ombudsman Report for Blueshirt Bandwidth Ep. 66

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.

Gretzky’s Number Retirement

Wayne Gretzky’s number has been retired throughout the league, but I cannot find any evidence that any team he didn’t play for actually has a banner for him hanging in the arena.

Year in Remembrance

Joe called the 2025 Blueshirt Banter retrospective a "Year in Remembrance," and Eric correctly pointed out that the term “Year in Remembrance” is reserved for remembering those who died. I think that we can all agree that this era of New York Rangers hockey that made it to two Eastern Conference Finals died in 2025.

2026 Milan Olympics Team USA Roster Decisions

During the discussion of why Adam Fox was left off the Team USA roster, it was questioned whether Fox’s missed assignment on Connor McDavid’s overtime goal to win the 4 Nations Face-Off contributed to him being left off the Olympic team. Watching McDavid’s goal, it appears that Fox was correct to follow the puck to Mitch Marner in the corner on his side of the ice, and Auston Matthews chasing the puck while leaving McDavid wide open in the high slot was the missed assignment.

Trigger warning: Canada winning

Joe and Eric also raised the point that during the (fictionalized) run up to the 1980 Winter Olympics, Team USA head coach Herb Brooks told his assistant coaches that he was looking for the right players, not the best ones:

Given that the 1980 team is the only group of American men to win an Olympic gold medal in the past 66 years, subsequent coaches and general managers have tried to take lessons in roster construction from Brooks. This overlooks the fact that team USA was outshot 39 to 16 in the Miracle on Ice, and it took an otherworldly performance by Jim Craig while Vladislav Tretiak was possibly hungover for Team USA to win.

Two Elite Defensemen on the Same Team

Joe and Eric discussed the rumors that had the Rangers acquired Quinn Hughes that might have signaled a divorce with Adam Fox because teams can’t have two elite puck-moving defensemen. A pair of recent examples include the 2006-2009 Anaheim Ducks with Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, as well as the 2018-2022 San Jose Sharks with Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Both teams split their elite defensemen across two pairs at even strength and then frequently played them together on the power play.

Putting two elite defensemen together worked out well for the Anaheim Ducks, who won the franchise’s only Stanley Cup in 2007, and made the playoffs the next two years.

The Sharks had initial success, making it all the way to the 2019 Western Conference Final with the aid of an atrocious 5 minute major called against Cody Eakin that allowed them to tie Game 7 of their first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period:

Clutch playoff performer Barclay Goodrow then ended that series in overtime:

First Outdoor Game

Eric mentioned that the first ever outdoor NHL game was played in Las Vegas. To be specific, it was a September 1991 exhibition game between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings:

Joe said that “Vegas would be the perfect place at night if you could cover the ice during the day.” That’s actually what they’re doing in Tampa for the NHL Stadium Series, with the rink being built inside a climate controlled tent that will be removed on game day:

Next year’s NHL Winter Classic venue will be Rice-Eccles Stadium, home of the Utah Utes football team and location of the 2002 and 2034 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies. This is the view:

Steve Yzerman

What has his tenure as Detroit Red Wings GM looked like?

Yzerman was named general manager of the Red Wings in April of 2019. The Red Wings had not made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons when he took over.

Drury took over the Rangers in May of 2021 with the team in the midst of a four season playoff drought. The Rangers have made the playoffs in three of his first four seasons at the helm.

In the six full seasons that Yzerman has been GM of the Red Wings, the team has yet to make the playoffs.

Defense Usage

Urho Vaakinanen played in the Jan. 5 game against the Utah Mammoth, which is his only appearance in the Rangers' last 10 games. He played 14:22, which is the least of any Rangers defenseman in that game. That is also the most recent game that Adam Fox has played in. Matthew Robertson and Scott Morrow have played in all three games (vs. Buffalo, at Boston, vs. Seattle) since the game against the Mammoth. Morrow has received the least ice time of every defensemen in all three of those games.

The New York Rangers have lost all four of the games mentioned.

Sullivan in Pittsburgh

Was Mike Sullivan's success in Pittsburgh just a result of having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? In 2017, Kris Letang was injured and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup with this defensive roster (in order of Stanley Cup Final ice time):

• Brian Dumoulin
• Ron Hainsey
• Olli Maata
• Justin Schultz
• Trevor Daley
• Ian Cole

Jazz and Yanz

Here are Jazz Chisholm, Jr. and Keith Yandle chatting during the Winter Classic:

James Dolan Interview

James Dolan joined Craig Carton in the WFAN studio last week, here is the full interview:

Chicago Steakhouses

Joe and Eric were discussing the many great steakhouses in Chicago. Gibsons, while somewhat of a tourist trap, is a great steakhouse. I had a client dinner on the patio at Smith and Wollensky overlooking the Chicago River in August and it was great. The best steakhouse in Chicago is Chicago Cut, despite (Editor's note: because of?) injuring Jack Hughes.

Charlie is Too Big

Joe said that “Charlie is getting too big for his britches,” and Eric chimed in add the context that I am “a tall fellow.” I am 6-4. AG stopped making jeans with a 36 inch inseam, so if anybody knows where I can find good jeans for tall people please put a recommendation in the comments.