Evolving Hockey Podcast

Upfront: we had some technical issues with this one, but we were all quite happy with our discussion(s) so we decided to upload this anyway. Apologies. The Panthers are your 2025 Stanley Cup Champions! We spent the first half covering the final, discussing team strength, and talking about portable CD players. Later we covered the surprising number of trades and signings over the last two weeks. 

In the second half, I (Josh) proposed a potential framework for a ranking system to order sports based on how great they are. Shawn and Luke were both less than pleased with my (amazing) system. Earlier, we also discussed the ongoing Final(s), contract impacts from playoff performance, and bowling.  

[Boyz II Men voices] although we've come to the end of the road, we're not going to skip the Selke voting results. In the first half, we chatted about the Conference Finals series and previewed the Cup Final. Later, we spent 30 minutes yelling about the Selke Trophy. 

It's that time of year - it feels like we've done this episode before, but this time we got to talk about terrifying children's movies and our love for Moneyball while doing it. We spent the whole episode covering the contract model, and it was a blast, as always.

Oh, what a treat the first round was. Really something to cherish. We move on to the second round, and once again, we've got you covered with a new preview on the site. We spent the first half haphazardly moving through our first round impressions, and moved on to our second round preview in the second half.

We're one week into the NHL playoffs, and the twins were dodging tornadoes today. We spent the whole episode discussing terrifying Habs fans, Hellebuyck, the unlikely Wild, the Leafs over-performing worst players, and amazing forkballs. This year's playoffs are shaping up to be a real treat. 

We released our 2025 NHL playoffs preview on the site for the first round a few days ago - check it out! First, we had to get some irritations with the current NHL remote viewing experience off our chests. After that we spent the entire episode discussing every round 1 matchup! These episodes are always a blast.

The episode Josh and Luke have been waiting for all season. We spent the vast majority discussing our Awards picks for the '24-25 NHL season (accompanying the recent article on the site). In between we chatted golf, The Truman Show, and advertising. 

Since our week off, we've become a sports talk show. In the first half we chatted about Ovechkin's record (and differing levels of interest around it) while discussing other interesting records. Later, we covered the overlooked (by us) Habs and wondered why more people don't utilize the 10-key portion of their keyboard.

We're making our way to the regular season finish line, and we're vibing. In the first half we chat about the draft, exercise habits, old tweets, and the dismal Canucks and Rangers. Later the twins rant about Twisters, discuss Ovechkin, and cover a few horrendous defensive skaters. 

It's possibly the most boring time of the season - everyone is waiting for six teams to figure out which two will take the last wild card spots. That didn't stop us from getting chaotic. We spent the first half discussing the recent Athletic ownership survey. Later we reined things in w/ the playoff race and explained Rush to Shawn.

Just like that, the 2025 NHL trade deadline came and went! We spent the entire episode recapping last week/the actual deadline. Along the way we discussed handling team changes re: modeling, Buffalo and Seattle, life hacks, and skunk cabbage. 

After a long night, Luke and I finished and released our Trade Deadline Targets article on the site (check it out)! We spent the entire episode discussing the article, the current trade market, philosophical ways of evaluating trade targets, our favorites, and a couple movie recommendations in between. 

We took a week off to fully enjoy the 4 Nations Face-Off, and now it's time to evaluate. We spent the first half doing just that (to varying levels of success). Later we dove into some deep model talk, quizzed Shawn on decade-old draft orders, and pondered Classical Music. 

We've officially entered the 4 Nations break, with the tournament only a few days away. In the first half we attempted to cover all the Nations while rambling about file systems and technology. Later we analyzed the evolution of dump and chase vs. zone entry systems and bad skateboarding. 

In the last week, three (well really four) major trades occurred. We spent the entire episode breaking down each one. In between we rambled about fast food, faceoff specialists, haters, and why aren't there ambidextrous hockey players? 

The biggest trade in years happened last Friday. We spent the first half discussing the transaction, our analysis, and home improvement stores for some reason. In the second half, Josh was accused of questioning Bedard's value, so we talked bad teams, #1 overall picks, and vibes. 

After a week off due to another Vikings playoff loss and a physical move by Shawn, we're back to cover the current playoff landscape. Fair warning: we did our classic poor job of staying on topic, but we tried. In the mix: Blue Jackets, Bruins, Canadiens, and Connecticut? 

We're, once again, back at our regularly scheduled time. We've never been late. In the first half we discuss the current social media landscape re: hockey, Frank Vatrano's interesting new contract, and tax evasion. Later we chat about Canucks drama and Classic Rock. 

The last remaining authentic podcast is back. We spent the first half investigating the Stars' wrongdoings then talked try-hard hockey players and misleading prospects. Later we covered audio engineering, Hockey WAR history, bad sports movies, and rivers. 

New York, as a state, is struggling. As certified East Coast Skeptics, we do some Sabres and Rangers forensic analysis, discuss alternative between-period entertainment options, break down defensive player types, and reminisce about our prior laughable models. 

We're back after an unexpectedly long absence while Shawn's on the road. In the first half we chat about the interesting nature of fandom. Later we evaluate some of the public team projection models, discuss Awards (against Shawn's will), and talk movies that make you feel terrible!

We recorded several hours after the recent firing of Jim Montgomery. We spent the first half discussing the Bruins and similar teams out East. Later we checked in on recent additions from the summer, tried to figure out Seattle, and debated the validity of the 2005 Best Play ESPY. 

We recently released all of our GAR/xGAR/RAPM data along with every corresponding chart for the '24-25 season. We spent the first half covering the models and interesting early results. Later we tried our best to figure out the Capitals and praised the Jets. 

It's election day! Please make sure you get out and vote! We spent the rest of the episode discussing shaky probability theory, potential GAR standouts, special team curiosities, mathematical education, solfège, and early-season division standouts. 

It's still a little too early to make "proper" evaluations of teams and players (GAR and RAPM aren't out yet), but that didn't stop us. In the first half we discussed declining NHL viewership and America's Team. Later we covered some site house cleaning items, interesting traded players, and hockey stats history. 

We're once again delayed a day, which means we get to record during the early part of the Frozen Frenzy. We chat about this annual "tradition", the Predators surprising start, statistical uncertainty, Hellebuyck, the Sharks defensemen group, and classical composers. 

We're (about) a week into the '24-25 NHL Regular season, and while there's little to talk about re: useful stats, there's plenty of hot takes to discuss. We battled through some Twin tech issues (it's fine) to cover Utah, Georgiev, the NHL schedule, surprises, and farm jacks. 

A new NHL regular season begins today (sort of), and we're all in. We spent the whole episode discussing our team point projections for the coming year, our recent article, division strengths and weaknesses, cup favorites, and dark horses. Buckle up. 

With our recent Free Agency Review article up on the site, it felt like a good time to devote an entire episode to it. We discussed our contract model's performance, outlier contracts, winners/losers of the summer, recent signings, and Gothenburg. 

We're back with a real doozy. Outside of a few rambling moments, we spent most of the episode discussing Seth Jarvis' new deal, contact structures, team/player benefits, SOFR, and modeling. If you're someone who enjoys numbers, this one is for you. 

We took a month off because, frankly, not much has happened and/or we all needed a long break away from hockey. But ... we're back in true and proper form. We discussed golf, coffee, offer sheets, our recently fantasy projections release, and the Minnesota State Fair all while kind of forgetting how to do a podcast episode. It's nice to be back. 

We took a few weeks off to recover from July 1st, but we're back in full force with this rambling excursion. In the first half we covered recent NHL news, discussed Byfield's contract, and pondered the Sabres' status. Later we answered listener questions and talked films! 

Even though it's only been two days, the NHL decided to spend a Billion dollars already. We spent the entire episode covering free agent signings, our contract model's performance, team evaluation, and winners/losers. This was chaos, just like Monday. 

The Panthers! We spent the first half discussing the Final, team management, and general league happenings. In the second half, we took the timely opportunity to dive into Sabermetrics, WAR theory, and contracts while previewing this summer's Free Agency!

We're two games into the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, and there's some stuff to discuss. In the first half we chat about our Cup projections and team construction/expectations. Later we discuss the recent CapFriendly news and contract data/information in general. 

The 2024 Conference Finals have concluded, and we now move on to the Stanley Cup Final! in between we do our odd version of a post-mortem for the Rangers and Stars, discuss team construction, and ponder the meaning of "generational talent". 

In typical fashion, we're moving on to the Conference Finals with more pressing matters to discuss. In the first half we chatted about buyout structures, AI, and the Selke award. After the break we discussed second round results and our favorites for the Conference Finals! 

We're about halfway through the second round, and things are a little tense. Don't worry, we're here to alleviate your tension. We spent a full segment diving into the series (that we've watched), discussing the Canes and/or angry Rangers fans, and teaching Shawn the meaning of veracity. 

We're on to the second round of the 2024 NHL playoffs! We spent a full hour with no breaks discussing the first round and our models' thoughts on the second round while covering some interesting past playoff performances and geography. 

Round 1 of the 2024 NHL playoffs is halfway done, and we're here to discuss archaic idioms and our coffee habits instead.  In between we spend the actual majority of our time covering the ongoing series, a few interesting statistical tidbits, and The Leafs.

We're a few days late, but that's not our fault! The NHL decided to start the playoffs earlier than expected, so we're scrambling a bit to catch up. We spent the entire episode covering each of the first round series. In between there's some nonsense as usual. 

It's been a few weeks, but we're back to discuss... Kyle Dubas in the twitter replies. Later (and before) we chat about the terrible Eastern Conference wild card race, potential changes to the NHL playoff structure, shooting talent, and eclipses. 

It's that time of year again: bad teams. We use the Sharks and Blackhawks as a jumping off point to talk historically bad teams (the '92-93 Senators and Sharks), and then cover the current playoff picture. In the middle, we chat about preseason expectations and models. 

The NHL trade deadline came and went, but we had more important things on our minds: 4v3 strength states. In the first half, we talked twins, the Wild's bold 3v3 goalie pull, and scoring rates. Later, we did a full breakdown of the deadline! 

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we first explained to Luke why everyone is talking about Matt Rempe and then cover the very recent Devils coaching change. Later we reminisce about Wikipedia-while-working and chat about the ongoing deadline happenings.

We just published our '23-24 NHL trade deadline targets article on the site and spent well over an hour talking about our targets, the Evolving Tanev deal, and contending vs. non-contending teams. This one was a blast.  Article can be found here

We're back after a long holiday weekend to chat about Jarmo Kekäläinen's firing, the Blue Jackets, and the tank race. Later we cover some Jágr trivia, trade deadline (non-) targets, and music composition. 

It's time for some data discussion! The NHL recently announced that they completed a season-long audit of their tracking methods, and we took this as an on-brand opportunity to spend the first half chatting about it. Later we discussed the awesome Greig empty-net slapshot, empty net goals in general, geography, and vacuums.

We're back - at our proper time! In the first half we discussed the All Star game, Lindholm & Monahan, the Canucks, and regional pronunciation. Later we talked NHL players in recital, expansion cities, and team predictions for the rest of the '23-24 season. 

It's our pleasure to welcome our first returning guest! Charlie, one of our favorite people in hockey, stopped by to chat about the Flyers' surprise season, the coaching and organizational overhaul, interesting players, Tyson Foerster, and some of our favorite albums from 2023. Charlie O'Connor can be found here: PHLY Sports TwitterIn light of the recent 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault charges, we are encouraging those who are able to support and donate to the following organizations: WOAR Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence RAINN National Sexual Violence Resource Center