Interview with ESPN’s Don La Greca: The State of New York hockey

With the New York area hockey teams looking a lot different they did at season’s end, I met with 98.7 FM ESPN New York’s Don La Greca to discuss the state of New York hockey.

A few months ago, Belen Michelis from ESPN Communications was kind enough to arrange an interview with Don La Greca, co-host of The Michael Kay Show on 98.7 FM ESPN New York as well as the New York Rangers radio broadcaster.

At The Michael Kay Show’s recent Beach Bash event, held at Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, I was able to catch up with him for a quick conversation about the NHL, and more specifically the state of professional hockey in the New York area.

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First off, I had to ask his opinion on the past year’s playoffs. The last time we met, the playoffs hadn’t even started. Although La Greca made a passing comment about the Blues going from worst to first, no one would have suspected they would win the cup, or that the Tampa Bay Lightning would be swept in the first round.

“I thought they were great. I mean, you worry – does the regular season mean as much when the best team in the league gets swept in the first round? But it was entertaining, Carolina’s run was great, St. Louis’s run was great, I thought the games were terrific. I had a lot of fun.”

While most hockey fans who didn’t have an allegiance to the Boston Bruins began to root for the feel-good story of the St. Louis Blues, I asked La Greca if he too was on the “Gloria” bandwagon.

“Being a New York guy, seeing Boston win again would have been a little bit much, although I do know that Charlie McAvoy is from Long Beach, Long Island. He’s someone I met, I was kind of rooting for him.”

“St. Louis is such a good story. It really was. They were a last place team on January 3rd. I was looking back at my notes because the New Year’s Eve and they were last in everything. And remember, Craig Berube took over in November and nothing seemed to work. But then they called up Jordan Binnington and everything seemed to come together.”

We were just about a week removed from the 2019 NHL draft where two of the New York area teams, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, held the number one and two overall picks, respectively.

With Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko welcomed to the tristate area since then, I asked La Greca what he thought about the state of New York hockey. More specifically, I asked him about the surprise addition of the New Jersey Devils acquiring P.K. Subban via trade from the Nashville Predators.

“I think it’s terrific. I start with the Rangers – the letter worked, the fans are patient, and they’re starting to cash in. They get Jacob Trouba, they get Adam Fox, they draft Kaapo Kakko, who looks like he could be a finisher, you got John Davidson back, and the fans have confidence so I think the fans are really hyped for this season.”

“The Devils go out and they get the best player in the draft, at least they believe so, in Jack Hughes, and they add P.K. Subban. Subban gives you a right-handed shot and now Vatanen can move down to the second pairing.”

“But he might be the most famous athlete they ever had. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, they’re Hall of Famers. Subban’s the kind of guy who can go to a Knick game and he’ll be on the Jumbotron. People will recognize him. That’s going to put hockey in the forefront. I’m trying to get him as a weekly on the Michael Kay Show. Not just talk about hockey, but talk about other sports.”

“And then you got Lou Lamoriello running the Islanders, so there’s confidence there that he’s moving them in the right direction. They had a great season after losing their best player. So really all three teams, all three fan bases, have to be pretty hyped up about what’s coming in the future.”

P.K. Subban has emerged as not only an excellent, Norris Trophy-winning defenseman but a larger than life personality in the world of professional hockey. He’s trading in the seemingly quieter locale of Nashville for the city that never sleeps, so one has to wonder how Subban will adjust to the pressure that comes with being a New York athlete. La Greca believes it will be no problem for the 30-year-old defenseman.

“He’s going to love it, he’s going to thrive under it. Subban knows what it was like growing up in Canada in Toronto, he was a Raptors fan, he was on First Take with Steven A. Smith.  He just gets it. Subban’s got a celebrity girlfriend in Lindsey Vonn.”

“New York, he’s going to gobble it up, he’s going to be fine. Subban has been in the spotlight, he played in Montreal, under the pressure of playing in Montreal there. His philanthropy is going get a lot of people loving him, he’s a very likable guy.”

“Also let’s be honest, he plays for the Devils, so the scrutiny isn’t going to be as hot as if he were playing for the Rangers. I think he’s got the best of both worlds. He gets to play in the biggest media market in the world, but he gets to play for a team where the scrutiny isn’t as high as if he played for the Rangers, so he’s going to fit in perfectly.”

With so many new faces calling the New York area home next season, who is the new face of New York hockey? For years that distinction seemed to belong to beloved New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Although Lundqvist is still an NHL mainstay, he’s nearing the twilight of his career. However, La Greca still thinks Lundqvist is New York’s favorite hockey player, even with the new kids in town.

“Yeah, I think it is, because you have that Eli Manning feeling. You’ve got to ask yourself – ‘is it coming to an end?’. Fans appreciate everything Lundqvist does because fans don’t know when it’s going to be over. I don’t know if he’s going to be here for the entire length of his contract. This might be his last year.”

“He’s approaching 450 wins, they’re trying to get him into the playoffs again, good looking guy, and he gets it. So it’s a feel-good story, but it’s also a story that tugs at your heartstrings because you realize you’re getting to the end.”

“Lundqvist is the reason the Rangers got a resurgence. When they come out of the lockout, Sports Illustrated had them as the worst team. The Rangers became a perennial playoff team because of Lundqvist, but you know P.K. can slide in for sure.”

“Hughes might be able to be that guy someday. Kakko, we’ll have to see. He should become more comfortable once he gets his feet under him in The Big Apple. So I think there’s going to be a little bit of a fight for it, but as of right now going into this season, it’s still going to be Lundqvist for me.”

Both the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils made pretty substantial upgrades to their roster this past season. This was following the area’s other team, the New York Islanders, surprising the hockey world by making the playoffs one year removed from losing John Tavares in last year’s free agency. With the strong state of all three teams, could we be seeing all three make the playoffs in 2020?

“I’m not really sure. You take a look at where are you going to slot each team because I don’t think any of them except maybe the Islanders can get in that top three in the division. The Capitals are still the Capitals. You’ve got the Penguins who are always up there. Carolina looks like they’re going to be a team to contend with.”

“Even with Columbus falling out, can you assure there’s going to be a spot to make it in the top three in the Metro? So the Devils, Rangers, and Islanders all might have to compete for the wild card. Well, the wild card you got so many teams competing for that. You got Florida who I think is going to be terrific with Sergei Bobrovsky and Joel Quenneville. They’re a non-playoff team that’ going to jump in the playoffs.”

“I think Montreal can jump back into the playoffs again and then you talk about the teams that are already in the Atlantic Division. Boston’s still a great team, and Toronto is as well, so it’s tough when there might only be two spots for three teams to get in.”

“The Devils still have a little bit more work to do. How are they going to figure out their goaltending situation? Is Cory Schneider the guy? What about MacKenzie Blackwood? Or are they going to have to find someone else? So no, I can’t really say all three will make it.”

During the two decades of Brodeur’s dominance, New Jersey never had to worry about goaltending. Although Schneider has been a good heir to the crease in his first few seasons in New Jersey, injuries and poor play have plagued him over the past two campaigns.

The surprise emergence of Blackwood last season gave Devils fans hope, but it still seems like goaltending is a question mark for them. This was La Greca’s response when asked if Blackwood can be the Devil’s next number one.

“Yeah, he could. But I need to see more from him. They’re committed to Schneider, he’s got a $6 million cap hit, he’s a difficult guy to move. They want him to be the guy because of that. But they showed that if he’s not winning they’ll go to someone else. It was Kinkaid for a while, and then he left, and then Blackwood, but I don’t know if I could say that’s a guy.”

“But we’re also talking about a Stanley Cup champion who a year ago, Binnington wasn’t even on the damn team, and he led the team to a cup. I don’t want to say it’s an easy position to fill, but it’s where you least expect it. Until you know what you got there, it’s difficult to say that they’re a playoff team.”

This interview took place on Friday, June 28th, just as free agency news was beginning to be leaked. Prior to the news that Cam Talbot was expected to join the Calgary Flames, there were few scattered rumors the Devils might be interested. La Greca didn’t seem convinced Talbot was the guy to put the Devil’s goaltending questions at ease:

“Man, that guy has bounced around everywhere. I don’t know if I’d want Cam Talbot. Good kid, but I think he’s succumbed to the contract in Edmonton, they dealt him to Philadelphia, and there were too many goaltenders there.”

“He was a great back up for the Rangers when he won the President’s Trophy but is he a number one? I don’t know if he’s a number one.  I mean, how many teams you going to play for? But maybe he figures it out.”

With the NHL free agency officially beginning just a few days after this interview, the landscape around New York hockey and the NHL as a whole could look very different in the days that followed. Even though questions still need to be answered and players still need to be signed, it’s clear that a bright day is on the horizon for New York hockey. Whether you root for the Devils, Rangers, or Islanders, it’s a good time to be a fan.

Once again a very special thank you to both Don La Greca and Belen Michelis from ESPN Communications for making this incredible interview possible. If you’d like to hear more, The Michael Kay Show is broadcast on ESPN 98.7 New York weekdays from 3:00-7:00 pm Eastern.