Baseball is so back | The Game Sports Podcast

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:06] Speaker B: It's time for the Game Sports Podcast. Your host, David McCaig Jr. The game is powered by 91 Network and featured on Spaces through the Hockey and sports space of Spaces. Spaces is featured through Suited and Village Media. 91 Network is a YouTube channel where you can check out video editions of the game and other podcasts. And speaking of the Game Sports Podcast, we are on all social media platforms, Tick Tock, Instagram, you name it at the Game Sports Podcast. And we've been loving the social media interaction on the pages. So make sure you're getting in on that interaction and keep an eye on all uploads with our clips to the social media pages. And of course, you may be tuning in on the audio platforms that the game is on, which is essentially every audio platform is where you can listen to the Game Sports Podcast. [00:00:53] Speaker C: Make sure you're keeping us on your [00:00:55] Speaker B: favorites bookmarked five stars. Whatever it is, you don't miss a minute of our content. And this week, as always, and as always, say electrifying content coming to you this week. And to give you the agenda this week for the Game Sports Podcast, you're going to have me solo here for the introduction for about 10 to 15 minutes until Jordan Trudeau is able to come on by where he's going to be coming to discuss some Chuck A Puck action which is focused on Major junior hockey. And we're going to be focused on the OHL in particular as well as the Sioux Amory Greyhounds for a playoff preview and also much more. Then to conclude the show, it's going to be myself, Jordan Trudeau and Connor Henderson with some strike zone getting into baseball as baseball season is back. I'm sitting here wearing my Vladimir Guerrero Blue Jays T shirt. Yeah, I didn't change the background. I still got the Maple Leafs jersey in the background because hey, if you look outside, especially in Canada, it is still a feeling of hockey season. [00:01:51] Speaker C: Okay. [00:01:52] Speaker B: But for this introduction isn't going to be our top shelf segment. It's not going to be in any order. I'm just going to pick out of the topics I want to talk about. Start there and end with the topics. I have three topics I plan to touch on. It is WWE briefly, March Madness and then yes, I'm going to get into some NHL. But we're not going to consider this a top shelf segment because we're saving the meat and potatoes of the show for the next two segments with Trudeau and as well as Trudeau and Conor for Trike Zone and for Chuck A Puck Respectively. Now I'm going to start the show by discussing a little bit of wwe. I talked about this last week to start an open show. It's unbelievable. But the only thing I'm going to touch on this week and I know there's people that aren't wrestling fans and look, yes, it's fake, it's entertainment, it's cinema. But there's been some content that's been cooking for the past couple years and some that's just been lame. And we have definitely seen more of a dry spell per one Hot Take. I just want to put a prediction on this. I want to say that I said it just in case it happens. WrestleMania. I feel Opa, Femi and Brock Lesnar's match is going to be the most highly anticipated match which has just been unbelievably streamed online. It's going to be the best match at WrestleMania. But I feel the Rock is going to come out and screw over Roman Reigns. And to add one more thing to that, I think CM Punk is going to turn heel and sell himself out to the Rock. Which I think if CM Punk heard me say that he probably, if he commented that'd be great and he saw it, that'd be great. But he's been keen on saying that he wouldn't sell out. It'd be unexpected. And the Rock and CM Punk a little bit of a feud in the day. Wouldn't that be just something out of the blue? Would be a story nobody predicted. Maybe people are predicting it. [00:03:47] Speaker C: I haven't seen too much online about it. [00:03:49] Speaker B: CM Punk retains a title and it gears up the Rock and Roman reigns for WrestleMania next year. If you want my opinion about one more match, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, I am going to say that I think Cody retains that title. I don't think they're going to switch it back to Randy yet. I think people are going to love the Heel turn. Randy will have his next title, but it won't be at WrestleMania. But there's going to be some interferences there. So I'm a little bit torn on that decision. But I am going to stick and say they gave Cody back the championship. I don't think they're going to take it back from him so quickly. [00:04:26] Speaker C: That's just my prediction. [00:04:27] Speaker B: And if you really want to hear Oba and Brock Lesnar, I think Oba [00:04:31] Speaker C: gets the win over Brock Lesnar. [00:04:33] Speaker B: There's the three matches people are really [00:04:35] Speaker C: gearing to hear about. [00:04:36] Speaker B: But tell me what you think about the Rock. [00:04:38] Speaker C: If you think he's Going to turn on Roman Reigns if you're a wrestling fan. [00:04:41] Speaker B: Next topic. Ron March Madness, baby. We are there. I should have been, maybe should have been switching shirts mid conversation. I don't have my Duke Jack, my Duke T shirt on and you know, I could have had it underneath this. Nonetheless, March Madness where the standing star. We are getting into the sweet 16, okay. And if everyone knows or mind you, yes, I am a Duke fan. I've got to see a lot of good basketball and college basketball ranks in my day. And let me tell you that this tournament has had some notable upsets, okay? If you look at some upsets, Iowa, Texas, okay, VCU over North Carolina, okay. I like to use the word control. Chaos with that perfect brackets, not a thing that's gone and the defending champs gone, right? So listen, I'm telling you right now, this tournament, I said at the beginning is going to be wide open and we're seeing some great basketball. And I'm keeping an eye on my notes here because I had a lot of points that I was typing away to myself today and even noting on my phone, okay. The Big Ten has been dominant head into the Sweet 16. That's one thing I wanted to point out. Okay. And I really think, well, St. John's had a clutch win against Kansas, right? But the Sweet 16 is so. It's so hard to predict. So hard to predict. But I wanted to take this moment to kind of dive into who I think is going to win each game. Not get into too much explanation, but give a prediction. Who I think is going to win each game. Purdue. I'm going to say Purdue gets that win over Texas. Iowa, Nebraska. I'm going to go with Iowa over Nebraska. Going to give you another upset. I'm going to say Arkansas, Arizona. I'm going to say Arizona, Illinois and Houston. I'm going to say Houston, St. John's and Duke. No bias, but going with Duke in that game. Michigan, Alabama going with Michigan, Michigan State and UConn. I'm going to go Michigan State and Tennessee and Iowa State. I'm going Tennessee. Some upsets in there and I'm excited to see what you think. So comment below who you think is going to be taken away this week. Sixteen, no brackets anywhere. Completely busted. We've had some upsets. Not total madness, kind of. It's not heavy from a Cinderella story perspective, but it's controlled. Say chaos over Cinderella runs this year and Cinderella, some clutch moments that we saw. But Duke and St. John's is a fire Storyline Matchup Michigan, Alabama, you're looking at a potential shootout. You got Iowa, Nebraska, Big Ten battle, you got Houston, Illinois. It's a heavyweight matchup. Of course Purdue in Texas. I guess that's a Cinderella story if you really want to pull it out because of it being the 11th seed. But I think Texas is going to put up a good fight against against Purdue and a lot of the games that are that are be played between Thursday and Friday, mind you, are going to be games that there's going to be a couple blowouts. I'll say two games I think are going to be a blowout. I really feel despite being a fire storyline that Duke's game against St. John's is going to be more of a 20 plus win for Duke in that game and I truly think that Arizona is going to give it a little bit to Arkansas with a 20 point plus win on that just because I'm really impressed of how Arizona contains a floor and really has good on the defensive side of the ball and capitalizes when they when they push on offense. I think Arizona really like the makeup of Arizona's team. So no offense to Arkansas, good basketball team. But Duke and Arizona, I think I have more of the convincing wins this week where other ones are going to be tight and the one that's going [00:08:19] Speaker C: to be tight, Texas and Purdue. [00:08:21] Speaker B: Okay, going to be going to be exciting. Iowa, Nebraska, another very exciting game in my honest opinion. But these this has been a tournament that has not had those Cinderella stories but it's had some good storylines and it's got a gear up for some ext storylines that could be Cinderella stories. Texas, maybe St. John's Iowa. [00:08:39] Speaker C: Right. [00:08:39] Speaker B: There's some storylines that we can still see that could be certainly a lot of catch on the social media channels and for fans. But the perfect brackets gone and look perfect brackets is the hardest thing in [00:08:51] Speaker C: my opinion to get. [00:08:52] Speaker B: And I I know based on history success isn't there for that. But there has been some that have had some good brackets in their days, of course, but this tournament was not [00:09:02] Speaker C: predictable in my honest opinion. Some may disagree, but in my opinion it was not. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Let me know what you think about the sweet 16. I guess you could say 616 if you really want to, but the sweet 16 and then you got the elite late Final Four before the national championship. So next week we'll be talking about Elite eight basketball for March Madness and I promise I'll wear my Duke sweater [00:09:25] Speaker C: next week if that Duke gets the win. Of course. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Third and final topic for we bring in Jordan Trudeau to talk a little chuck a puck. The National Hockey League. Look, we sit here today and if everyone knows you want me to react something about Toronto, I'll keep it simple. The Leafs are in second last. Tied in second last, the Florida Panthers for the Eastern Conference and hold. The only team behind them is the New York Rangers. And of course in the NHL you [00:09:51] Speaker C: got St. Louis, you got Chicago, you [00:09:53] Speaker B: got Vancouver and you got Calgary. And you also have the Sharks who are behind them with Seattle tied with them. And I guess you could say the [00:10:01] Speaker C: jets are behind them. [00:10:02] Speaker B: So the Leafs, there's still some teams behind them, okay, in the standings and people are keep messaging me saying the Leafs are ruining their tank. Ruining their tank. Look, teams aren't going out there to tank. Players are still going to try. But you know what? The Leafs being 2 and 5 in their past 10 to 5 and 3, it's like why are you getting those three other points? This team is so sad to see what's happening this year. I'll be honest. That's what I'll say. But if you're looking at something to talk about that's not Toronto related which I want to dive in something that's not Toronto related. Some news going around of course. Pierce family tragedy. [00:10:35] Speaker C: Very sad story. [00:10:36] Speaker B: If you haven't heard about it, definitely condolences out to the Pierce family. So it's. If you haven't heard about it, you know there was Jesse Pierce was in her children and her family dog were passed away tragically due to a fire in their family home and it was a house fire last Saturday. So definitely a very sad story. [00:10:56] Speaker C: Condolences out to Jesse Pierce's family, friends and to all those involved who worked with her as well. [00:11:01] Speaker B: But I wanted to give a little little highlight per se. Of course James Hagens is signed. An AHL has signed a tryout agreement with Boston but and a big, big but. Talking about Additional point here, 2026 Global Series in Finland, Carolina and Seattle. I like it. I like it. Kako, you got ajo. You got some players on both sides [00:11:25] Speaker C: that can play the Global Series in Finland. [00:11:27] Speaker B: I am a fan of that but I don't like given the circumstance of being a season I would have rather it be a tournament for them but then the games will be taken as seriously obviously. So in that regard I want to [00:11:42] Speaker C: know your comments about the Global Series. Just like we've talked about the the [00:11:45] Speaker B: Winter Classic, the Heritage Classic, the value [00:11:48] Speaker C: added to the season. Value not I would like to hear [00:11:50] Speaker B: your reaction below but the key topics I'M going to talk about is combined between the east and Western Conference for the playoff picture. Detroit continues to battle. Ottawa continues to battle. Boston is battling. If you look over at the Metropolitan, you got Columbus and the Islanders battle and Pittsburgh just barely holding on to that second place position. Philadelphia Flyers still have a hope. With still just over 11 games left to go, it is going to come down to the wire. [00:12:17] Speaker C: Very, very tight. [00:12:18] Speaker B: Buffalo, Tampa, you know, Carolina have a lot of breathing room. But Montreal, Boston, Detroit, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Columbus, the Islanders, the Flyers and also the Washington Capitals have a lot of time left to catch up. And if you want my predictions, I ain't going to give it to you this early because it's literally too tight to tell. But what I'm going to tell you this is the Allers are looking like they're cooking. Led by Matthew Schaefer and Ottawa Senators winning eight out of their last 10. [00:12:52] Speaker C: That team is starting to really cook. The pesky sands are showing why they [00:12:56] Speaker B: made the playoffs last year. Joy is having a little bit of that PTSD kick in. You know, that last game of the season it might come down to, but it's really hard to not highlight. With 10 games to to go. Teams that are hot going in and that's Boston, that's Ottawa, Columbus 61 and 3 and the Philadelphia Flyers 72 and 1 getting hot at the right time. Are those teams quickly Western Conference little bit different of a picture. You got your top three in the Central just decided basically the Mammoth and Nashville all battling out in the Pacific. [00:13:32] Speaker C: This division is brutal. [00:13:33] Speaker B: Okay, this, this. No, it's just brutal. [00:13:35] Speaker C: It's. [00:13:36] Speaker B: It's the worst division in hockey and I love to say that. Not because I, I'm a big Connor McDavid fan, but because Mitch Marner is [00:13:42] Speaker C: on the goal as on the Vegas Golden Knights. [00:13:45] Speaker B: Look, Anaheim Ducks leading the way in that division. Vegas is second, Oilers third. They're going to battle for home ice. The Kings aren't out of it. Heck, Seattle's not out of it. This is still a division and a conference that's wide open. But the only three teams that I'll say that have breathing room is the Avalanche Stars and the Wild. Everybody else, they still got to pull up their big boy pants and they still got to grind out the next 10, 11 or 12 games towards the end of the season because the playoff [00:14:09] Speaker C: picture has not been finalized. [00:14:10] Speaker B: For both pictures, I want anyone to comment below. But what they think needs to be, has to be will be playoff matchups. And right now, if there's one matchup that I have to click and really look at in the West. Give me Minnesota and Dallas. That's one that I really want to see. It sucks that this would be a first rounder and if I'm looking over at the Eastern Conference, give me Tampa, Montreal, give me all of that. I think that is going to be an exciting series. Buffalo to win the division would love that. Boston, I'd love to see on the outside looking in out of all of it. But Montreal, Tampa, Minnesota, Dallas, book it. [00:14:44] Speaker C: Those would be some great first round matchups. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Like I said, it's just going to be more content, feel, more discussion, more kind of update for you to chew on in these three segments that I talked about here. Wwe, March Madness, a little bit of NHL because we did not have an official top shelf segment or a segment [00:15:03] Speaker C: for this first part. Just me talking for fun for the [00:15:05] Speaker B: first 15 minutes like I promised you. And trust me, it's easy for me to talk for 15 minutes. Probably more. Definitely more. I've done it for two hours plus on this show, so hopefully you have listened to this part up to this point and you've been going back and [00:15:21] Speaker C: forth at me on your speakers in your car and you're in your ears [00:15:24] Speaker B: and you're just venting about what I'm saying about teams on the outside looking at our teams that you don't want that I said Boston not making. I hope I'm making everyone cook and pulling out their phones to comment because this is going to come down to the wire. This can be the last game of the season. [00:15:38] Speaker C: We're going to see some teams that are going to depend on this person, [00:15:40] Speaker B: this team losing and this thing to win. And it's going to come down to be a lot of excitement in the [00:15:45] Speaker C: National Hockey League as it comes down the stretch. [00:15:47] Speaker B: And the Maple Leafs will not be part of it. The Panthers will not be a part of it. The jets sadly, will not be part of it. [00:15:53] Speaker C: Nor will the Flames or the Vancouver Canucks. They've been out probably since the beginning [00:15:57] Speaker B: of the season to see this playoff matchup. [00:16:00] Speaker C: And I will say I am sad as a Leaf fan for the first time to likely not see them in the playoffs for over a decade. [00:16:06] Speaker B: It was a long time coming to get there and they didn't even do [00:16:09] Speaker C: much when they got there. Very, very sad. [00:16:12] Speaker B: All right, that does it for me for a little bit in terms of hockey chat. Until next week, of course, when it comes to the National Hockey League, where Brendan will be rejoining next week, where we'll have a full segment to dive into for top shelf now truths. We're going to transition. I know time is tight because we got Connor Henderson coming on at 7:30 for 15 minutes. We got OHL, we got Sue Greyhounds playing London Knights. We got the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. That's what we're gonna dive into. How you doing my friend? Good to see you. Good to hear from you. Love the sweater. [00:16:48] Speaker A: Oh yeah, thanks. Yeah. I got this from, I got this from my mother in law in the, in the fall. So it was a nice, it was a nice fun, nice fun World Series shirt there. I figured this is a good day to break it out since we're going to talk strike zone later. He invited me on the show so I'm doing well. I just got back actually. I was hoping. I know we have don't have a lot of time but I actually spent the last half of March break in Edmonton catching the Oilers games. The two Oilers games there, I know they didn't pan out exactly how we wanted them to, but I also caught the Edmonton Oil Kings game which is a WHL team. So the same league as the Greyhounds in the ohl. So for OHL fans out there it's, it's just the Western Hockey League. So the winner of that playoff will play the winner of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in the Memorial Cup. So it's the same major junior title just in a different area of Canada. And I thought it was really cool. I got to experience the Oil Kings beating the Calgary Hitman 5:1 on Wednesday. And that was the day before the two, the two Oil Kings games. That was a, that was a pretty sweet experience. [00:18:04] Speaker B: Well, if you'd like and I'm okay [00:18:05] Speaker C: to say this while, while recording, if you want to call pivots, it's Connor's on in a few minutes. We could do strike zone first then do chuck a puck right after that instead. Like if you'd like to do it that way. [00:18:15] Speaker A: Oh no, I, I can, I can talk about that at another time because obviously we got big news in Greyhoundville. I wasn't at the games this past weekend. The last game I saw was their loss to Brantford. 3 Nothing at home. Which I thought they played a pretty good game even though they lost. I thought they outshot Brantford. They made Branford look like a team that was. Not only had seven losses all year. I just, I don't think that that was too bad of a game. I think that they, they just couldn't score. They couldn't Execute. They couldn't put the puck in the back of the net, which I've found has been a little frustrating for them as of late. But I mean, now we're into crunch time, we're into the playoffs. There's no more time to adjust. There's no more time to say, well, we'll figure it out, you know, in a couple weeks. No, we're in the playoffs. The time is now to win. So I heard it was. I was disappointing to lose home ice, but that home ice would have only been good for this series anyway. Right. With being fourth place, if you move on, you're more than likely not going to have home ice the rest of the way if you go any farther. So would it have been nice to get home ice against London? Yes. Can they still beat them? Should they still beat them? Of course. Right. They're the team that bought at the deadline. London is the team that sold. So does that make it any easier? Does that make that a sure thing? Nope, not at all. And it's still got a good hockey team, so I mean it's exciting. I don't. It's been a while since there's been a Greyhound Knights playoff series, so yeah, I'm pumped up for it. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. We'll see. We'll see what goes on. We'll see what type of shenanigans goes on in a, in a four plus gamer series with these two teams. [00:20:18] Speaker C: Kind of a hidden rivalry. [00:20:19] Speaker B: A little bit here. [00:20:20] Speaker C: More hidden, you know, because it's closer. You got, you know, some obviously Saginaw, the Sioux. I think when I think about a little rivalry because of looking back to a number of playoff series, but London, the Sioux. Yeah. When you're from the Sioux, it's just [00:20:34] Speaker B: something that you don't like about London. [00:20:36] Speaker C: It's because there's good all the time. Yeah. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Nobody likes London. Right. And the ohl. Except for London. [00:20:44] Speaker C: Yeah, except for London. [00:20:45] Speaker B: And honestly, it's like I think everyone [00:20:48] Speaker C: in the league is cheering for the Sioux Greyhounds in this series, to be totally honest with you. [00:20:52] Speaker B: But that's because I'm also jealous because [00:20:54] Speaker C: of the hunters that build a team. I would love to see that in the National Hockey League for the team that I cheer for. [00:20:59] Speaker B: But it's again, it comes out of envy. But at the same time it's going [00:21:02] Speaker C: to make some good hockey in the seven game series. [00:21:05] Speaker B: And I figured because of time and [00:21:07] Speaker C: I knew we'd have little bit less time based on what you're coming on and when I was talking that we [00:21:12] Speaker B: would go across until Connor comes on [00:21:14] Speaker C: the next couple minutes, predicting each series [00:21:17] Speaker B: to obviously just who we think is [00:21:20] Speaker C: going to win each series and in how many games, just like how we did last year. [00:21:24] Speaker B: And I know last year you and I didn't have a perfect score, but you know what? We're resetting. We are resetting. And if you're okay with it, I'll start then I'm going to give you the second and you can just go through a reaction then by the time [00:21:36] Speaker C: you're done that, I'm assuming Connor will [00:21:38] Speaker B: be ready to talk a little bit [00:21:39] Speaker C: of a strike zone. [00:21:40] Speaker B: So a little bit of a short and sweet chuck a puck this week. But you went on some Hounds talk there. But then we, we got some baseball [00:21:48] Speaker C: to of course dive into. [00:21:49] Speaker B: But to go through the bracket, the [00:21:51] Speaker C: east, the Western Conference, sorry, is what [00:21:53] Speaker B: I'm going to start. I got Kitchener sweeping Saginaw in four. I got Windsor beating Guelph in five. [00:21:59] Speaker C: I got Flint beating Owen Sound in five. And I got the Hounds beating London [00:22:05] Speaker B: in seven for the wet for the Eastern Conference. What's that? [00:22:12] Speaker A: I hope it's not seven, but we'll see. [00:22:16] Speaker B: It's gonna be seven. I got the Bulldogs over Sudbury beating them in four. I have Barry over Niagara winning in five. I got Ottawa and Kingston. This was tough for me, believe it or not, but I got Ottawa in six for Peterborough and for, of course, the Battalion. I'm gonna go with the Battalion, beating them in six. There's your upset. Supposedly upset for the first round. So those are my predictions giving you city names and team names. I'm just being sporadic on my. [00:22:51] Speaker C: On my predictions here on how I [00:22:53] Speaker B: want to go, but those are my predictions for this year's first round playoff [00:22:58] Speaker C: bracket in the ohl. [00:22:59] Speaker B: Trude's. What say you? [00:23:02] Speaker A: Okay, I'm gonna go western to east as well. So I'll go in the same. Like, I'll go the same order you did. I like the Kitchener Rangers in four. They're gonna be at Saginaw Spirit. I like Windsor, the Windsor Spitfires in four. I like the Flint Firebirds in four. I think it's gonna be pretty, pretty handed. Like not too much to debate among those series. I do have the Sioux Greyhounds in six, hopefully. Wonderfully. Come on, these guys do it. Or jumping over to the east. I have the Bulldogs in four. I have the Berry Colts in four. I have the Ottawa 67s in five. And I also have the North Bay Battalion in six. That's going to be a tough series because I find those two teams pretty even and they've played each other pretty even their past two games against each other. Head to head. The Pizza Battalion both separated by one goal, one team won each after the deadline. So it's that, that's going to be a tight, tight series. And I was looking, I was thinking Mike McIver, the veteran, really, really solid goalie for the Battalion, I would think that they have the advantage in net, so that was why I'm going to give the Battalion the series. But looking over on Peterborough side, they've got a pretty decent 19 year old goalie in Easton Rice. I mean we're just going to see Peterborough with a bit of, a, bit of a flip this year. They bought at the deadline when maybe they should have just waited in the wings for the next few years to go on a big run. But they, they gambled and we'll see how it works out for them. Hopefully they can get hopefully either of those. Well, nobody, only one's gonna get a first round victory but whoever's through there, like two likable teams. So that's gonna be a good series. Over in the East, Peterborough and North [00:24:59] Speaker C: Bay, couple of easy wins that we think predictable wins. But the one upset you see there and the suit over London's on upset even though it's a fifth and fourth seed. On paper it seems that way, but it's not. The suit and I'm not being biased, is the better team and you touched on it earlier being the buyers and not the sellers at the deadline. But Kitchener and Windsor, tough teams there. [00:25:22] Speaker B: Good, good teams there in the, the Western Conference, the West is definitely winning [00:25:26] Speaker C: the OHL championship this year. I'm just telling everybody, sorry, they're Bulldogs fans. Sorry to the Colts fans. Sorry. The west just looking too good in my opinion. [00:25:35] Speaker B: If I'm wrong, Maybe I'll do 20 [00:25:37] Speaker C: push ups on the show. Okay, maybe I'll give you 20 push ups. I used to be able to do them very well. We'll see how that goes. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Otherwise I wouldn't be able to. [00:25:45] Speaker C: So I guess let us know what you think if we're wrong about the first round each series, that we're wrong. We have to do five push ups. [00:25:55] Speaker B: Come on, there's five. If we get all the wrong man, that's. [00:25:58] Speaker C: It's a lot of push ups we got to do. Okay, that's a for us to say right now. Okay. We're full time jobs. Okay. [00:26:04] Speaker B: It's a lot. [00:26:04] Speaker C: That'd Be great for the social media platform. They would love that. [00:26:06] Speaker B: Okay, now without further ado, I want to bring in Conor because no time [00:26:10] Speaker C: is then for Conor, of course, Trude's. [00:26:14] Speaker B: Before we bring in Connor, any final [00:26:15] Speaker C: thoughts on on chocolate Puck before I officially bring in the rookie of the year. [00:26:20] Speaker A: The. The rookie of the year. Yeah, for sure. It's not going to be an easy series and I honestly I have no idea what to expect. I wouldn't be surprised with any avenue that the series goes. I think that as long as the greyhounds bring their A game and they execute and they play solid hockey, they should win pretty, pretty easily. That has been execution and consistency has been their biggest like debate and theme over the course of the year. So it's all going to be about whether or not they can play to their identity and find their game consistently over 60 minutes for the bulk of the series. You know, we'll see if that happens and I know they, I know they like playing in London so hopefully that gives them an extra boost. It's a good reason to be excited anyway. [00:27:20] Speaker C: Hell of a series that we're going to be seeing. [00:27:22] Speaker B: A hell of a lot of good [00:27:23] Speaker C: hockey coming up in the ohl. All right. [00:27:25] Speaker B: Connor Henderson, my friend. We got strikes on. We got limited time to see you [00:27:29] Speaker C: in back to back weeks, my friend. What a segment we had last week. [00:27:34] Speaker B: Talk to me, my man. How you been? What's going on? You're looking good. [00:27:38] Speaker C: Oh, I'm sure you're feeling good. [00:27:39] Speaker B: Baseball's a couple days away, buddy. [00:27:41] Speaker D: Yeah, it's here, it's here. It comes quick. Every, every offseason when the pitchers and catchers report it always seems like it's a surprise and the season is right around the corner. Couldn't be more excited. How's it going, Dave? How's it going? [00:27:54] Speaker C: Truths man. Great, great. [00:27:57] Speaker D: Better now. [00:27:59] Speaker B: Yeah, better now. [00:28:00] Speaker C: Yeah. He was okay with just talking people [00:28:02] Speaker B: when you come in. [00:28:03] Speaker C: I got it, I get it. All right. I get it and I understand. I understand. Okay. [00:28:09] Speaker B: Best man of your wedding. [00:28:10] Speaker C: I. I get it. [00:28:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. This is like the first time I've seen your face too. And like what I can't. [00:28:18] Speaker D: It's been a while. Three, four months. Three months. [00:28:21] Speaker A: Yeah. We get to see each other's face on strike zone. This is awesome. [00:28:26] Speaker C: And this is okay. Last week, Truth I we had predictions about who we thought was going to win each division and then I gave Connor some some rapid fire questions over or under for Judge hitting 50 home runs, Vladdy for 40 and I think I said the Cy Young predictions was my other one. And obviously Connor picked up the over for Judge, the under for Vlad and then pick Skeens and Scubal for the Cy Young, which I agree with all those except I said Vladdy, I think he's getting 41 this year. I'm gonna go with 41. 111 over on the 40. Okay, but Judge is definitely hitting over 50. [00:29:08] Speaker B: But we're not going to do anything [00:29:09] Speaker C: like that for, for division predictions. But what I want to use Strike Zone four for is our own roundtable reaction about what we think we can [00:29:18] Speaker B: expect for this upcoming season if it's [00:29:20] Speaker C: from the Blue Jays, Tigers or any team. [00:29:23] Speaker B: Because there's a lot of teams that [00:29:25] Speaker C: dove into adding and moving and, and [00:29:29] Speaker B: trading talent per se. [00:29:31] Speaker C: Boba Shet to the Mets is one way. The Baltimore Orioles buy in a whole bunch where I thought they would take a big leap forward last year. That's one of my dark horses. This year is definitely the Baltimore Orioles and a very tight AL East. [00:29:45] Speaker B: A lot of things to talk about [00:29:46] Speaker C: with baseball and Connor, I know you only have a select few minutes so I want to go to you first as like most of the preview coming from you, then to Trudes. And I'll have my final thoughts before we wrap up the show. [00:29:56] Speaker B: It's going to be a quick strike zone segment, but definitely needed because season [00:30:00] Speaker C: preview it starts this week. [00:30:02] Speaker D: It's really cool. I feel like for the Jays they're riding the high of that World Series appearance. And breaking news within the last couple hours is that both Ross Atkins and John Schneider were given extensions. Ross Atkins for five more years. So. And he's been with the organization since 2015. It's 2026 right now for those who don't know. And five more years on top of that is just. That is an insanely long tenure for any executive in any sporting event sporting team. So good for them. That's a strong show of faith from the ownership group for the Jays. Yeah, that, that, that's the biggest shock for me, Ed. But it, it, you know, it feels well deserved. [00:30:44] Speaker C: You don't think they should have given it to him? You think it should have been two and two for both? [00:30:47] Speaker D: I mean I would have said three and three maybe, but five and two, just that you don't see that sort of thing very often. A five year extension for an executive that's already been with the organization for over a decade. It's shocking. [00:31:00] Speaker A: And I don't know like, is it because of like what he did last year because. And I mean, they. They really. They had playoff or they had regular season success for, like, quite a few years, four years there. But they. They built such a. Like, such a dominant offensive lineup. And then you kind of saw that evolve as they, you know, they tried to get farther and farther into the postseason, and then they finally just like, exploded last postseason into, like, the World Series. Like, is it. Is it Rogers just being like, oh, my God, yes, you got us somewhere where we hadn't been since the 90s. Here's five more years. Or, like, but, I mean, yeah, like, we'll see what happens. I don't expect them to, you know, come out guns blazing or anything, but at the same time, you watch them in spring training and you're like, dang, like, they're still doing a lot of the things that got them to the World Series, which is, you know, really solid. And the additions look solid as well. And they seemingly have more depth and better pitching. So. I'm excited to watch the Blue Jays again. I'm excited to see what they can do. I don't think the Yankees did anything too good. They get Garrett Cole back, but, I mean, I still don't think they made the necessary moves. They didn't like, their problems we saw it in the postseason was defense and baserunning, and I don't think they. I don't think they improved on any of those levels. Connor, you're going to hate me, but I want to see what the Kansas City Royals are going to do this year. I think, like, they might. We might have to watch out for them. I still think the Tigers will win the division, but, like, they might be a little bit of a thorn in their side. And I also want to see the Pittsburgh Pirates this year. Like, we're seeing some of those players. O', Neill, Cruz, Mitch Keller. Like, we're seeing some of those guys, you know, get a little bit more experience and get a little. Another league in the. Or, sorry, another year in the league. So I want to see what they can do. They. They brought in some, like, some good players. Brandon Lau, Spencer Horowitz. They got, like, from the Jays. I interested to see. I. I want to see the Dodgers lose, but I don't think that's gonna happen. [00:33:12] Speaker C: So is everybody. Connor, look at one division that you. We, you know, because I was thinking we would go through each division and we talked about the Jays a little bit last week. We, you know, and I. We can dive into what we can here, but I wanted to give you the floor with maybe touch on the American League west or if you want to touch on even the, the, the. The east, the National League east with the Braves, Marlins, Mets. I feel like there's. When's the Nationals gonna take the step forward? Right. When the Astros gonna go away? Like, enough with the Astros, you know, when the Dodgers. We don't need to talk, but once Colorado gonna wake up like, you know, [00:33:45] Speaker B: one of it takes so long for [00:33:47] Speaker C: baseball, it's so different. But kind of touch on each division or anything that kind of stands out to you going into the season, Connor, that really, that really stands out to you that you're, you know, you talked about the Pirates being a prediction to win the division last week. If you look at the west, is it. [00:34:04] Speaker B: Is that maybe the Athletics this year? Not to beat Seattle, not to beat Seattle. [00:34:09] Speaker C: Not saying they're going to beat Seattle. We predicted Seattle wins the west, but Oakland, is that a team we should [00:34:15] Speaker B: be keeping an eye on? Should we be looking at teams like [00:34:19] Speaker C: the Giants making a bounce back, the Reds? Like, what do you think? [00:34:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I think it's an exciting time for, for baseball in general. I think there's this influx now of younger talent coming into the league and getting reps and playing games more so than. Than what we would have been used to about 10 years ago. And it's not just that players are coming in and taking three or four years to catch their stride. They're catching their strides right away. The development curves seem to be getting younger and younger. When you see guys like Skeens come into the league and instantly are dominant, it's no mistake. Detroit just announced that Kevin McGonagall has made their starting lineup. This guy was in single A at the start of last season, and he is now their starting shortstop. Opening day this year is aggressive development. And I feel like with the influx of not just analytics as we knew them growing up, where it's like, he gets on base, he generates power, he drives and runs, but how to get better spin rate, launch angle, rest, recovery speed and explosiveness. Those sorts of analytics, like the biometric analytics. I feel like I've made it so that these players are getting good so fast, and they're, they're. They're optimizing their development so much quicker than we saw in the past. And it's just a really exciting time. And it gives a little bit of spice into the league that. That is much needed, especially when you've got a team like the Dodgers that's like looming over everybody like the evil empire that they Are team. [00:35:54] Speaker C: Someone needs to dethrone them. I know exactly who needs to dethrone them. And as you speak of PCA signed a six year extension with the Cubs today. $115 million. And I didn't know that Netflix is streaming games this year. I must have missed the boat. [00:36:08] Speaker D: I didn't know that. [00:36:12] Speaker C: Yeah, they had, they had Jay's games but Yankees are playing the Giants and open night on Netflix, which is tomorrow at 8pm is on Netflix will not be watching that game. And go San Francisco. Let's start the year off strong. Maybe Yankees, right? Yeah, it's on. [00:36:27] Speaker B: It's on Netflix. [00:36:28] Speaker C: Guys, that's, that's very, very interesting. And if you look on the website for mlb.com they know how they have a section where you. [00:36:35] Speaker B: How you can find every game all [00:36:38] Speaker C: season to watch an MLB watch. Very, very interesting. I was kind of reading that. You can go up, there's Netflix. Obviously you still got Apple involved. [00:36:46] Speaker B: It seems like there's a lot of [00:36:48] Speaker C: ways to watch baseball. But you know I talked about this earlier. [00:36:51] Speaker B: When I look outside, that doesn't really look like baseball. [00:36:55] Speaker C: It looks like baseball season probably seriously. But one team, the Jays played the open. Connor. They play this team on opening night, the Athletics. This young team that's soon going to be in Vegas. When, if whenever that's going to happen. When, when you look at a team you talk about young talent. [00:37:15] Speaker B: That's something that sports out to me [00:37:17] Speaker C: is that's a team with young talent. That should. Rooker, Kurt, guys at the Athletics, Butler, Clark. [00:37:25] Speaker B: That's a top lineup. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Rooker, another season. Jacob Wilson's really solid at short too. [00:37:32] Speaker C: I think that's a top lineup in the league. I could be crazy but I think that's a team that hits the top 10 and hitting from when I'm looking at it on paper. Same with the Reds, right. They're you know, pitching. [00:37:46] Speaker A: Hey Connor. It's a very like sexy lineup. Like, you know what I mean? Like they got guys, guys that could run, steal bases. They got guys that got power. Like, like they're not one dimensional. Like it's like guys that like yeah, that guy's an athletic to like right. Like this guy is going to like, you know, like that's what I think when I look at them and they're pitching. They always like Oakland or I guess not Oakland anymore. But I love them. I just love their development style. [00:38:16] Speaker D: It's great. [00:38:17] Speaker B: It's called patience. [00:38:18] Speaker C: It's called the long game. Long with Moneyball, all of that con. [00:38:22] Speaker B: I Know your time is limited. [00:38:25] Speaker C: So before we let you go. Right. I believe you're running short on your time here. So any final thoughts with the from a strike zone perspective? Maybe a dark horse. Do you have dark horses that you want to. That you want to give us? You know, you touched on young talent invading being a good preview for this year. You touched on some predictions last week and we talked about the Jays signing and. And Netflix streaming games, some random season preview points. But any dark horse teams this year that you're like that, those are teams to watch this year. [00:38:57] Speaker D: I liked your suggestion of Baltimore. I think we've been waiting for them to make that breakout with all that young talent that they have. If you go up and down their roster, they've got a number of, like, high octane high, you know, and talented guys didn't really click quite as strong as you would have hoped for if you were a fan of them. But they're also in just an absolute juggernaut of a division too, like they're dealing with. Every team in the AL east brings their own unique brand of thunder. Like last year, I was high on the Boston Red Sox heading into the year, and they didn't, you know, do as great as. As I thought they would. But again, like, they're no pushover. The Rays always do some crafty stuff. For as much love as the Oakland A get for being innovative, the Tampa Bay Rays are right there with them. The Jays obviously have now influxed a huge amount of money and resources into their program, and the Yankees are the Yankees. So it's tough sledding, but if there is any one dark horse, I think it would be the Baltimore Orioles. [00:39:56] Speaker C: Love that. True tip of your dark horse. What do you got for a dark horse? [00:39:59] Speaker A: And they always seem to play the Jays really well. Like, I always hate when the Jays play Baltimore either. It doesn't matter is that it's at Rogers center or at Camden Yards. Like, it just seems like, oh, man, like, they can't beat these guys. Dark horse. I don't know. Yeah, I'm gonna go with the Kansas City Royals again. Connor's not gonna like me for this, but, like, okay. I think that that that team, like, they got some really, really solid young players and we saw them on showcase at the World Baseball Classic too. And like, they've got some momentum now to really, really, you know, make a push there. I like, I saw those Biebs about, like, skiings looking at Bobby Witt Jr. Online. Like, how, like, he, like, smiled and he, like, never smiles. Not even at his girlfriend. So, like, that's how good that guy is. Like, you just know, like, how good that guy is. And, you know, they add some pitching, they can have a really solid young team. And, yeah, we'll see. Like, can the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies, like, make it to fourth in their division this year? Like, hopefully, like, at least. But, I mean, baseball's back and it's a great time of year. [00:41:15] Speaker C: Dark horse. It's not really, because I said it. Athletics was one, but I wanted to go to one in the nl and people are going to roll their eyes to it, I think, but something just in here. The Marlins, not a play team. Just a little dark horse this year. Just. Just to make a little bit of noise. I think they're going to push through a little bit, but you watch, they'll probably be last place in the mlb. Maybe that's what my heart's trying to tell me, and I can't figure it out. [00:41:40] Speaker B: All right. I like the way we took this [00:41:41] Speaker C: preview show just to take it that, you know, some fun facts to talk about. Last week, Con and I dove into a lot of it. And Trudes, I'd like you to come on more because when hockey's done, man, I want you to come chat some baseball with Conor and I a lot. So be nice to have the three of us together for banter throughout the season. But ultimately, Spaceball's back. And November 1st, you know what that date was? That was the day that the Jays lost the World Series. Never forget it. Sit in my basement, turned off the tv. As soon as Kirk dove, or dove, he didn't dive nothing. As soon as Kirk went into that double play, my TV went off. A couple tears down my face. Now I better. Next November or this November, better be celebrating in my basement with my shirt off, swinging it in the air, going [00:42:30] Speaker B: outside, going like this. Okay. Just swinging it around with a. With a Johnnie Walker blue. Yeah, I got a celebratory one ready in the closet. [00:42:37] Speaker C: I've been waiting for 10 years to drink because the Leafs don't give me any happiness waiting for that to happen. But there's one matchup I want this year, Connor. What is that matchup? [00:42:47] Speaker D: Jay's rematch against the Dodgers. [00:42:50] Speaker C: Secondly, Jay's Tigers in the al. Champ, I want. [00:42:54] Speaker D: You were so close last year. [00:42:56] Speaker A: We were very close. [00:42:57] Speaker C: I want all of that. Give me that. Give me some cinema this year. [00:43:03] Speaker B: But, fellas, before I say bye, any final thoughts? [00:43:06] Speaker C: I don't want to cut anyone off. I know time was limited today. Anything else you want to add with Strike Zone or to. To add any points before we sign off officially on tonight's show? [00:43:14] Speaker D: Yeah, Dave, if just based on what you said there, we saw a Max Scherzer Toronto Blue Jays vs. Justin Verlander Detroit Tigers start in the playoffs. I mean, what more. What more could you want? [00:43:27] Speaker B: I would look and pinch myself. [00:43:29] Speaker C: Thousand two. [00:43:31] Speaker B: Where am I? [00:43:31] Speaker C: Unbelievable. [00:43:32] Speaker B: But I gotta say the best shirt [00:43:34] Speaker C: of the day is definitely truths. Definitely truth. That shirt is just great, man. I love that. I love that shirt. So nonetheless, guys, thank you very much for another. [00:43:42] Speaker B: For a little kickoff second episode of [00:43:44] Speaker C: Strike Zone this year. Last week was the first. First getting in and getting geared up. A lot of banter that we have and we hope people enjoyed it next [00:43:52] Speaker B: week and throughout the season. We usually do it bi weekly. [00:43:54] Speaker C: Just everyone knows Strike Zone is usually a bi weekly thing because there's a [00:43:58] Speaker B: lot of baseball per day and week. [00:44:00] Speaker C: You just don't know what to talk about. [00:44:01] Speaker B: And we always headlined by one thing, scandals. So let the scandals come because Connor [00:44:07] Speaker C: and I love talking about scandals. [00:44:09] Speaker B: As long as they'll stay away from the Jays and Tigers all the. [00:44:12] Speaker C: To the Dodgers this year, all of [00:44:14] Speaker A: them go all the way to the [00:44:16] Speaker C: Dodgers and to the Yankees. I'll touch. I'll do that too. [00:44:20] Speaker B: So, Trudes, I want to say thank you to you, my friend, for. For a brief segment of Strike Zone [00:44:24] Speaker C: and a brief segment of. Of Chuck a Puck today, rather. [00:44:27] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you as always. It's always fun. [00:44:30] Speaker C: Always fun. Always fun. [00:44:32] Speaker B: Connor, the rookie of the year, if you know, you know, Absolute legend, my friend. The second straight week. [00:44:37] Speaker C: It's great having you on, brother. And thanks. [00:44:39] Speaker B: And we'll see you probably not next week. The week after we'll have you back on. [00:44:42] Speaker C: And as we get to our bi weekly. [00:44:44] Speaker D: Thanks, Dave. It was lots of fun. Good to see you, Trudes. [00:44:47] Speaker A: Yeah, good to see you too, man. All right, everyone. [00:44:49] Speaker B: This has been Strike Zone segment. This has been three editions of the game. Me talking by myself at the beginning, [00:44:55] Speaker C: the Chuckle, Puck and Strike Zone. [00:44:56] Speaker B: Okay, enough talking for me. We're gonna wrap up to the conclusion portion here. Again, thank you to Jordan Trudeau and to Connor Henderson to you, the listeners. Make sure you hit like follow and subscribe. And all the platforms of the game sports podcast, Instagram, Facebook and also Spaces, [00:45:15] Speaker C: which is through Village Media. [00:45:16] Speaker B: And so today the hockey and Sports Space of Spaces 91N is the YouTube [00:45:20] Speaker C: channel where you can check out video editions of the Game sports podcast. [00:45:23] Speaker B: And next week we'll be back. We'll have a full segment of Top Shelf. We'll have some OHL playoff reaction to [00:45:28] Speaker C: Choco Puck with Jordan Trudeau. [00:45:30] Speaker B: And if time, we'll dive into other content that is hard to talk about, [00:45:33] Speaker C: in particular Elite eight with March Madness. [00:45:35] Speaker B: A lot to talk about when we get into next week, of course, but we hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weeks this week. [00:45:41] Speaker C: And we hope that you enjoyed this edition of the Game Sports Podcast. [00:45:45] Speaker B: And until next week, I'm here to [00:45:46] Speaker C: remind you to keep your stick on the ice. [00:45:48] Speaker B: Swing your bats, catch touchdowns, train your [00:45:50] Speaker C: threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.