A2D Radio

The Stanley Cup Finals are finally set, and it's the Florida Panthers taking on the Vegas Golden Knights for the Greatest Trophy in all of Professional Sports, the Stanley Cup. Both of these teams had very different roads to the Finals throughout the Playoffs. The Panthers were written off very early, facing the Presidents Trophy-winning Boston Bruins. They went down 3-1 in the series before coming all the way back to win the series in Game 7. They took all that momentum and ran through the rest of the East Bracket, eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-1) and the Carolina Hurricanes (4-0). Matthew Tkachuk has put this team on his back and carried them through the Playoffs. He is second in the Playoffs in Points with 21 and tied for third in Goals with 9. Tkachuk also had three of the four Game Winning Goals in the Eastern Conference Finals in Games 1, 2, and 4 to seal the deal. The Panthers had a tough road and have made it count all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1996. The Vegas Golden Knights will represent the Western Conference. Their road wasn't as tough as the Panthers, but is there really an easy road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? The Knights’ path had them having to beat the Winnipeg Jets (4-1), Edmonton Oilers (4-2), and the Dallas Stars (4-2). Now, people had a lot of concerns with the Goaltending situation in Vegas and how far not having Robin Lehner would take them. They sure answered those concerns mightily all season long with strong play in net and in front, especially in the Playoffs. They were able to beat the Jets easily, shut down the powerhouse that is the Oilers and send the Stars packing. The team in front proved that whoever is in net doesn't matter because they are playing with a purpose and are looking to bring home the Cup for the first time in franchise history. This Vegas team is also the healthiest they have been since getting to the Finals in 2018 against the Washington Capitals. Looking back on the Conference Finals, what went wrong for the Stars and the Hurricanes? Vegas and Dallas went at it in 2020 for a chance to head to the Cup Finals. You know it was fresh in many players' minds on the Knights roster, and they were definitely looking for redemption. Vegas' veteran leadership kept this team in control and composed all season long. For the Hurricanes, it was just a matter of not getting bounces. It's been a challenging road for them in the East Finals, going 0-12 in their last three trips there. The Hurricanes were in every contest, and all finished in one-goal games. It was a hard-fought series for both Eastern Conference teams. Only the Panthers got all the bounces throughout the series. Will the bounces continue for the Florida Panthers as they prepare to face off against the Vegas Golden Knights for Lord Stanley's Cup?

On this episode of “Here's The Thing,” Thomas Arnone and Mitch Williams discuss the previous week of Philadelphia Phillies action. The Philadelphia Phillies lost the opening week series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies were able to salvage the final game of the series after a huge home run by Trea Turner and a walk off hit from Alec Bohm. The Phillies started a 10 game National League East road trip in Atlanta to end the week. The Phillies split the weekend series against the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies lost the opening and closing games of the series while taking both of the middle games. Zack Wheeler looked like the Ace we needed during his start on Saturday while Taijuan Walker pitched very well in his start on Friday. Aaron Nola struggled once again during the series opener on Thursday and Sunday’s pitching performance was absolutely dreadful. Join Mitch Williams and Thomas Arnone as they look back at the Phillies up and down previous week. Losing a tough series at home to the Diamondbacks and then splitting a series against the NL East leading Braves. The Phillies must win both of the next two series’ to make you believe they are a playoff team again. Do you Agree or Disagree with that statement? Join Mitch and Tommy and let them know! The guys will also look back at Zack Wheeler’s dominant performance Saturday afternoon and discuss if that is the start that locks him in. The guys will also discuss the situational baseball issues concerning the Phillies. Things like swinging at a 3-0 pitch after 7 straight balls or the continued lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. These are the small things that help teams win close games that the Phillies are NOT doing currently. Mitch and Thomas will also look ahead to the series against the New York Mets and even further ahead to the Washington Nationals series. Finally, Thomas will throw some questions to Mitch to get his thoughts on a few things.

On the third episode of The Rob Ellis Show, Rob speaks with former NFL player turned analyst, Brian Baldinger of the NFL Network. He will get his thoughts on the upcoming 2023 Philadelphia Eagles season and the challenges of their schedule. Rob and Brian will compare the Eagles roster this year versus last year’s. They’ll do a deep dive into Howie Roseman’s tenure as Eagles G.M. and where Jeffrey Lurie compares to other NFL owners. We’ll also discuss Brian’s NFL career, being undrafted and becoming one of the top analysts in the NFL. After the interview, Rob will give his thoughts on the State of Philadelphia Sports so far in 2023, including the Sixers' hiring of Nick Nurse and the Phillies through 53 games.

On this episode of “Agree 2 Disagree,” Thomas Arnone and Greg Milakovic give their LIVE Reactions to Sunday night’s Philadelphia Phillies against Atlanta Braves game. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves Saturday afternoon to ensure at least a split of the four-game series. The Philadelphia Sixers are rumored to be linked with former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse as their replacement for Doc Rivers. The Phillies started this week by losing the series at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks winning their game Wednesday in walk-off fashion. The Phillies stay on the road next week as they travel back north to take on the New York Mets and then the Washington Nationals. Join Thomas Arnone and Greg Milakovic as they live to react to tonight’s game. The Phillies need to win Sunday to bring you back as a fan. Do you Agree or Disagree with that statement? Join the guys and let them know who the Players of the Game should be in the post-game discussion. Tom and Greg will also discuss the rumors surrounding the Sixers and their possible next head coach, Nick Nurse. Does Nick Nurse move the needle for you? Does Nick Nurse help or hurt the chances of James Harden returning to the Sixers? If you don’t want Nick Nurse to join the show and let the guys know who you’d rather have to replace Doc Rivers. Finally, the guys will end the show as they always do with their Crumb of the Week segment. Join the discussion LIVE!!!

Former Philadelphia Eagles players Irving Fryar and Holiis Thomas will be discussing the Eagles’ 2023 schedule and giving their predictions on wins and losses. Last week the guys left off their predictions at Week 4 of the NFL season against Jacoby Brissett and the Washington Commanders. Irving and Hollis will continue giving their predictions for the Eagles 2023 season. Hollis and Irving will continue their analysis on Sean Desai and the Eagles defense. After his press conference last week, will Desai take the Eagles to LEAD the NFL in sacks in 2023? The defense saw some improvements, including Jordan Davis during OTAs, can Desai and company put it all together and possibly beat last year’s sack total of 70? To conclude the show as always, Hollis gives his history lesson in “History with Hollis.” What will Hollis talk about this week?

The boys are back for another week of Birds of a Feather! This week, the panel will come up with a wishlist of trades and signings they’d still like to see happen before the season begins. Howie Roseman is notorious for making signings or trades in August to give the Philadelphia Eagles a late boost before Week 1. Will he continue the trend this year, and if so, what position or player would he target? There are also several other players around the league that could or should be moved. Which ones would we like to see the most? To end the show the BOAF panel goes “NO HUDDLE” as they discuss anything and everything else surrounding the NFL, sports, and anything else that we find worth discussing!

The countdown to the 2023 NFL season is underway as the Philadelphia Eagles begin their OTAs following a successful rookie mini-camp, and already the Eagles are making a buzz. First, Nakobe Dean told the panel on Good Morning Football that the Eagles will be hunting, and not the targets going into 2023. Jordan Davis, now going into his second season with the team, has shown “major progress” this offseason. What is that major progress? Markus will break that all down. Wide receiver Quez Watkins calls 2023 a “revenge season;” will Quez get revenge on a lackluster 2022 season and prove that he is worthy of a starting spot in the receiving corps? Sydney Brown, the third-round rookie safety, is hoping to crack the starting line-up in an already light safety rotation, is he good enough to become the #1 safety for the Eagles? Dallas Goedert had a step back in 2022 thanks to an injury that sidelined him for a few games last year. Will this be the year he steps up? Should we deep dive into OTAs? Or should we wait until training camp begins in the summer to get a better picture of the team? Meanwhile, outside of football-related activities, AJ Brown had a scare on Saturday as a car nearly hit him during the Eagles Autism Challenge Bike Ride. Thankfully, the only injury during that moment was that his phone was dropped during the ordeal. DeAndre Hopkins drew some buzz as he said to reporters that he would like to play with Jalen Hurts. Don’t we all? Haason Reddick may be responsible for a new rule in the NFL regarding three active quarterbacks every week. This came after Reddick took out 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy in the NFC Championship game. What impact will the new rule have on the NFL moving forward? Does Howie Roseman have beef with Mike Florio? That is after Florio pressed Roseman about the situation with the Eagles' ex-defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Howie took a couple of parting shots along the way during the interview.

On the second episode of “Bowen on the Birds,” Les Bowen talks about the new NFL rule on kickoffs, allowing fair catches made inside the 25-yard line to be moved to that spot. Special teams coaches see their turf being eroded. How does the new rule change affect teams’ approach to the kickoff? Les also talks about the paradox of being concerned about player safety on kickoffs while delving more and more into Thursday night games, which don’t allow the body to recover from Sunday. Joining Les is Chris Franklin, who covers the Eagles for NJ.com. Franklin has been the Eagles’ beat reporter for NJ.com since 2020. Les asks for Chris Franklin’s thoughts on how the Eagles defense will change under Sean Desai, and whether the team might still have a move to make at safety. Are Sydney Brown and Reed Blankenship the answer at safety? Also, new QBs coach Alex Tanney spoke with reporters last week. How will the former journeyman quarterback take his approach to help the likes of Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, Ian Book, and the recently drafted Tanner McKee? Finally, DJ Fluker, a veteran offensive lineman, was spotted working out with the Philadelphia Eagles. Will the former first-round pick end up on the roster come preseason?

After a devastating loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadelphia Phillies host the D-Backs in game 2 of a 3 game series with the hopes of tying the series up at one a piece. Bryson Stott and Kyle Schwarber cranked the ball out of the park to put runs on the board for the Phillies, while Nick Castellanos went 0-5. What do the Phillies need to do in order to turn things around and start climbing the NL East standings? Speaking of the NL East, following the series with the Diamondbacks, the Phillies are set to go on a run through the NL East with a 4 game road trip to Truist Park to take on the division leading Atlanta Braves. Can the Phillies upset the Braves and remind everyone that they are a powerhouse in the MLB? With Phillies pitchers Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Taijuan Walker struggling early, let’s look at who is the most important starter going forward and what to expect from the rest of the rotation. We also take a look at something that has plagued the Phillies for many years and that is their issues with runners in scoring position. Why are the Phillies’ RISP issues more than just bad luck AND bad hitting? Rounding home, let’s break down the fantasy must starts and sits of the week!

The NHL Conference Finals are well underway and have not disappointed. The Vegas Golden Knights are heading to Dallas, Texas to face off in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars. The Knights hold a 2-0 lead in their series heading to Dallas. This series has brought a new meaning to a long series being that both games in Vegas have gone to Overtime. The Stars needed to get some production from some of their young stars in order to compete against this Vegas team, and they are from Jason Robertson who was their best player in the regular season. Robertson has 4 points in 2 games against the Knights. The Knights however have gotten a few bounces to go their way which has led to 2 wins. They are also getting a lot of depth scoring as well. Will the Stars youngsters help them win Game 3? The Philadelphia Flyers have the 7th pick in the NHL Entry Draft. The Flyers situation is an intriguing one with where they are picking in the Draft. This Draft Class is one of the best Classes we have seen in some time. The big question here is, what do the Flyers do? Do they take the best available? Do they focus on a specific position? Do they stay at 7 or trade out? There are a lot of names out there that can help make this team better. A few of those names include Will Smith, Dalibor Dvorsky, Ryan Leonard, and Edward Sale to name a few. What do you see the Flyers doing with the 7th Overall Pick? The Eastern Conference Finals have been nothing short of crazy. Like the Western Conference Finals, this series' first 2 games headed to Overtime as well. Game 1 of ECF actually wound up being the 6th longest game in NHL History, falling 12 seconds shy of heading to a 5th OT Frame. The Florida Panthers hold a 3-0 lead on the Carolina Hurricanes down in Sun Rise, Florida. The Panthers have absolutely taken advantage of the bounces in their favor in this series. The Matthew Tkachuk factor has really seemed to help the Panthers keep and maintain momentum since the Opening Series against the Boston Bruins. Tkachuk has 18 Points in 14 Playoff Games this Postseason. Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes have dominated the Panthers in shots and Offensive Zone time. They just haven't gotten any bounces to go their way. The Canes have not been out of any game in the Conference Finals but find themselves on the verge of being eliminated. What can the Canes do to get back into this series and avoid being swept?