Mario Ferraro joins the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast! Before we get to Ferraro (1:34:49), Keegan and Sheng touch on surprises from the San Jose Sharks’ Rookie Faceoff roster (2:08) and the Pittsburgh Penguins hiring Doug Wilson (8:00). Then, we look at how post-salary cap era Stanley Cup winners and contenders have been built (11:50). Based on that, Keegan and Sheng believe Mike Grier’s “hybrid rebuild” can work (15:15). Here’s our snapshot view of every Stanley Cup winner and how they acquired their key players, the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes (19:50), 2007 Anaheim Ducks (23:05), 2008 Detroit Red Wings (26:55), 2009 Penguins (29:45), 2010 Chicago Blackhawks (34:12), 2011 Boston Bruins (39:50), 2012 Los Angeles Kings (42:20), 2013 Blackhawks (46:15), 2014 Kings, 2015 Blackhawks, 2016 Penguins, 2017 Penguins, 2018 Washington Capitals (48:55), 2019 St. Louis Blues (53:24), 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning (55:30), 2021 Lightning, 2022 Colorado Avalanche (59:27), and 2023 Vegas Golden Knights (1:02:00). It's worth noting that a number of a high picks like Eric Staal and Drew Doughty and Alexander Ovechkin and Alex Pietrangelo and Steven Stamkos who led their teams to championships weren’t acquired through “tanking”. Sheng also evaluates how near-Cup winners were built, the 2015/2017 Ducks (1:07:00), 2013/2019 Bruins (1:09:55), 2019/2023 Hurricanes (1:12:30), 2020/2023 Dallas Stars (1:16:47), 2012/2014/2015 New York Rangers (1:20:27), and 2010/2011/2016 San Jose Sharks (1:24:00). What’s the similarity (1:29:50) between Dean Lombardi and Mike Grier’s rebuild plans?  Keegan and Sheng agree that there are many ways to build a contender. (1:31:20) Now, it’s Mario! (1:34:49) We talk first about Ferraro’s new dog, Wilder. Ferraro talks about hanging out with Joe Thornton in Ontario this summer. (1:37:50) Ferraro’s Youngest of Plugs YouTube channel has had two episodes in the last two weeks, after a year’s hiatus! (1:38:35) Ferraro chats about building a relationship with the new guys like Mike Hoffman, Givani Smith, and Leon Gawanke. (1:41:00) Ferraro talks about his reaction to the Erik Karlsson trade. (1:44:50) Finally, Mario discusses trying to do too much as a player, which gets you away from what you’re best at on the ice. 

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