Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Foreign it's time for the Game Sports podcast. It is Your host David McCaig Jr. The Game Sports Podcast is powered by 91 Network and featured on 91 Network as well as spaces through Village Media and Sue. Today we are starting off the show with our Top Shelf segment and who It's a very exciting segment because something is just around the corner. Less than a week away. I am joined by the ghost of Top shelf with yours truly going first to the one, the only. I say that often with all my co host Alex Par. Pure leader Par. If you know, you know par. How's it going my friend?
[00:00:40] Speaker B: It's going well. I just got to shift my mind right now. It's all been on Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season but now I got to go back to the sports that aren't predetermined. So I'm just trying to flip that switch right now.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Dude, you know what, I wanted to spend time talking about that today, but I just don't think we're going to and it really doesn't make sense. But we will talk about that at some point. WWE is been a lot, a lot to digest. Okay, lots. But we're talking top shelf. Brandon all the way in the GT area. GTA area. Easy for me to say. Gapar in the Ottawa area, Trader from Sault Ste. Marie and you got Brennan all the way in the GTA area. Who's no trader to two Saint Marie. It's just in the Toronto area. All right. I call everything in the Toronto area. It doesn't matter if you're. Doesn't matter if you're Ajax, doesn't matter if you're Branford, doesn't matter if you're Brampton, doesn't matter if you're Burlington. I don't care where you are in the GTA area. But nonetheless, problem bear if you know, you know, look at the screen. How's it going, my friend?
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Doing well, lads. I just crushed legs and then I crushed two Harvey's burgers. So I feel like it was like, yeah, yeah. I feel like it was like, all right, like treat yourself after hitting legs. Like I feel like you could hit a bag of sweet chili heat after you do legs, you can do anything you want basically.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: So.
[00:01:52] Speaker C: But then also the health nut like Gary Roberts would probably say that is counterproductive. So you know what, whatever. They were quick. 22 for 5.49. So whatever. I'm here, I'm ready.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: What's on the burgers?
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Good question. What is the brand?
[00:02:05] Speaker C: I actually did. I actually did no sauce and just did pickles, tomatoes, onions, olives. I know you guys are giving me a. Like a got two heads look.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: I don't know, but don't know if I agree with.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: That's where I'm like, all right, I'll. I'll try to be somewhat health conscious by no sauce, but no cheese. There's cheese on there. You got to have the harvest cheese.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, that's kind of a weird thing. But you know what? If you like it, you like it. To each his own, dude.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: I do that. I'll do that with burritos, too. Like, I'm like, I don't need to, like, layer it with, like, chipotle sauce. Like, just. Just give me the. Give me the meat and potatoes.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Okay, I get it. I get. I gotta go. If we're talking Harvey's burgers quick, I know we only got 20 minutes. On today's segment, you gotta go with jalapenos, banana, peppers, cheese, onions, and ketchup.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: And if it's my Harvey's burger, you go somewhere else. I do not like Harvey's burgers.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: Oh.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: And this is all we have for tonight's show. Ladies, gentlemen, have a good one. Yeah, but at 30 minutes, that would be a record. That would actually be the record of ever, any segment. But, fellas, here on top shelf today, we got lots to get into. We're going to start right into. Right into that Harvey's burger first right off the hop. We're not going to go around the side dishes. We're not going to go around the side dishes.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Buddy is hungry.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Yeah, we are diving into that Angus. Double Angus. Whatever you want is just getting into it. Okay. Yeah, everyone's liking those references today. They're fire for the third for four nations. Face off is just around the corner. February 12th is puck drop for four nations. And I'm pumped. Look, before we dive into it, you got to be pumped because, yes, you know, there's a few. And this is a debatable conversation. We have to get into it. But there's four countries in this, and there could be more countries and more players involved. But look, look, let's not look at that. Let's look at what we're getting. Something that we've been starving for last couple Olympics. We haven't had the professional athletes. Right now we're seeing something that we haven't seen since the. The championships. Well, before COVID when they had Team North America, which is the coolest jerseys ever, by the way. They honestly have the players together for the first time we see Crosby, McKinnon, McDavid all on the same team, Matthews donning on the USA jersey outside of the world Juniors wearing the sea, may I add. And honestly, I'm excited about it and it's going to be one hell of a tournament. It's going to be full of talent on the ice despite some guys that are not playing in it. And there's a lot to digest coming up in the, in the few weeks when it comes to four nations, as we near puck drop. Just to remind everybody too, when it comes to four nations, the four nations captains for the US Is Austin Matthews. I've already mentioned for Finland you got Alexander Barkoff and for Sweden you got Victor Headman. And of course, I don't even know why it was a thought to that one reporter's question that he asked Connor McDavid, who do you think will be wearing the sea for four Nations? For Canada, he of course knew that answer is going to be Sydney Crosby. I don't even think anyone else would have accepted that. C. Okay, but those are your captains. Four. Four nations. And you can look at the rosters online. We're not going to go through each roster top to bottom. The rnhl.com you can search Google and you can find it any which place. But we got four really good hockey teams stacked to say the least. I think one team is slightly stacked than the other and you might be surprised who I think that is. Maybe not. But I'm going to go to you first, Brennan, about the four nations. We're going to have a little roundtable discussion about four nations, about which. What's, what's going through your mind? What are you feeling? What are we, what are we preparing for this tournament? What do you think? Yeah.
[00:05:36] Speaker C: So when you look at all four lineups, obviously the States stand out and they are loaded up front, they got a great decor and their goalie depth is off the charts.
And the other thing too, guys, as of today, February 5th, we're a week away till puck drop. Of the four nations, the USA no.1 has withdrawn and they haven't had to replace anyone due to injury. So they, they are loaded. Like you look at the other teams, Canada, they, Alex Petrangelo we talked about in the last pod, Dave, he withdrew. Right. Miro Heskin on, on Team Finl.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: He's out.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: Jacob Markstrom on Sweden, he's out. Wayne Carlson's out. Right. Ricardo Kel replaces William Carlson. So you look at that and they're just kind of humming along like, yeah, we're we're waiting for the tourney. I would give the slight edge. I guess us three can rank forward, D and goalie, but I would probably give the slight edge to the forward group for Team Canada. Call me bias, whatever, but when I look at them, I just get the sense that Team Canada is so well rounded and well balanced up front. You have star power, you have grit, and you kind of like, know each player going in has an idea of, like, what their role is. I get the sense up front for the States, it's kind of like each forward is someone who's like, I want the puck.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, Matthews, like all those.
[00:07:09] Speaker C: Matthews, Jack Hughes, The Kachuk brothers, J.T. miller, Trocheck Kreider, like Jack Eichel, like, the list goes on. Right. Like, phenomenal talent, skill is off the charts up front, but you kind of can get the sense of, you know, if you're Sam Bennett, you know your role going into Team Canada, but if you're Jack Hughes, you're walking in there like, I don't care if Matthews has a C on his chest. I'm the captain of the New Jersey Devils, and I think I, you know, should be always kind of dictating and controlling the offense.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: So that could kind of affect them a little bit, but, you know, if I could do one minor blemish, that's it. Other than that, I think the US Top to bottom, like, they are loaded, but the slight edge, maybe just in terms of a well rounded bunch, I would slightly just lean towards Canada, good.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: Points, and I definitely will definitely be doing the rankings for sure, but where we think each team is but par. What about you? I. We've talked about four nations for a lot of, you know, we've kind of just teed it up for this show, this preview of it, and a week away, we get to see this action. What do you. What are you thinking?
[00:08:21] Speaker B: I. I don't know if I'm as excited as the average man. To me, I kind of share the same opinion that a lot of people do of, like, it kind of just seems like four countries that you pulled out of a hat and you put in a tournament and said, hey, here you go. But on the other end, if we went the whole career of Connor McDavid without seeing him in a Team Canada jersey alongside Sidney Crosby, I would be a very upset hockey fan. It is so good for the game, and I think I might just be a little salty at the ticket prices because I really wanted to go to the game in Montreal. Canada versus USA how much?
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: When I was looking, if you wanted to go into the 400s, as high as you could go, they started at the same number. Yeah, right. NHL, what are you thinking? And they're. They're slowly. They're slowly coming down. I don't know. I have no idea. Insane, if you ask me. If we're talking about teams, though, I think this is very much now with Markstrom out, Finland not having the as deep of a skater roster as some of the other countries. This is kind of a two horse race though, is it not?
Canada, usa. I'd like to see somebody challenge them a little bit more. I don't want to see this tournament decided in that round robin game essentially of Canada and the usa, because that's.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: I don't.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: I don't even really know how the tournament structure works, but I don't know. It just feels like there's something missing for me. The only thing that's really drawing me in is Crosby and McDavid getting to play together. To me, I. I just don't know what's missing. Dave, like, what are your thoughts? Are you as excited as maybe the craziest fans out there, or are you kind of more on my side here?
[00:09:59] Speaker A: You know, after the last couple Olympics, we haven't seen Canada get the gold medal on the international stage. The World Juniors was a choke this year. That was awful performance by that team and they should maybe, like Brandon said, they were not. USA was favorites to go into that, but the performance that they put on the ice was atrocious and brutal to watch. And their gold song sucked. So everything about the World Juniors this year sucked. I didn't like it. So with Canada, I. We need some redemption on the international stage here. Some kind of a reminder that we are the nation that we are. But when you look at the teams, okay, there is four very good and stacked overall hockey teams.
[00:10:38] Speaker D: Okay?
[00:10:39] Speaker A: We're going to rate the teams in a minute. I think from one, not. I think we will, but from one to four. But am I excited? Hell yeah, I am. I. I get to see Crosby and McDavid play together. That's the equivalent of this generation, like seeing Gretzky, Lemieux, okay, those that. Seeing them play together, okay. And it's like when you get to see actually Crosby, McKinnon and Marchant, there's a lot of story there. And overall it's. You get to see these guys play together. I think it's still missing one piece. I think Bedard should still be there. I'm sorry, I Know, it's not a popular opinion, but I see, I see Seth Jarvis as a spare. I think Bedard should be there over Seth Jarvis. Okay. Or you could think of Mark Scheifele, I don't care.
But Bedard, who like that guy, the future man, he's going to be a 2C in the future in the Olympics behind McDavid and I, he. I think he's going to be that. But we're not talking that. But am I excited? Hell yeah, I am. Because this is going to be the best talent on the ice that we have seen together in a competitive action on the international stage in a long time. From Canada down to us, Finland and Sweden, despite some players no longer playing. This is something that we should enjoy while we're seeing it because I think it's going to be hell exciting.
But I'll look, look now what I'll say is because we're rank the teams in a moment that, that you see the, the players the way they're made, the teams the way they're made up. Obviously Cooper is coaching Canada and you can tell because of his few, some of his buddies that he has on there, but they are had the guys were chosen for role and the last time Canada did that, and we talked about this before, it didn't really work out on the international stage. Okay. But this is a different area era of hockey and you just go down the list of teams with the rosters and defense and goaltending everywhere. Like those are losses for Sweden and Finland, mostly Finland on the back end. Like that. That is like, that is just, just bad. Like that is your number one defenseman going down. So it's kind of crappy to see those guys go out, but it's going to be overall exciting to watch.
[00:12:44] Speaker C: Fellas, I'll. I'll be quick here. I know I gave the. The slight edge for the forward group to Canada over usa but in order of teams, I'll go us, Canada, Sweden, Finland and I think the US will, will flat out win it just because of the goalies they have. Kind of reminds me of like when the Leafs faced off against the halves in the 2021 Covid year. They had such a loaded roster, but Carey Price was standing on his head the entire time like he won them that series. And I could see it being just McKinnon, McDavid, Crosby throwing everything they have, but it's ultimately like Hellewick has like the game of his career and the States win and they also have, you know, heavy star power up front.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Too. Yes.
[00:13:37] Speaker C: There's probably going to be a lot of, you know, guys hogging the puck and who's going to get the puck, you know, like that power play. They're going to have to, like, figure out who runs it fast. But I think. I think I will give overall, the States first and Canada second.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Like that par.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: I agree. Top to bottom, I think it's U.S. canada, Sweden, Finland. And I think most people would agree with that. Dave.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Here's what I'll say because I.
Here we go. In terms. Because we're ranking forwards, Us, I like between. I think US does have.
I. It's hard to choose Canada, but I think US has the edge on defense and goalie. I think Canada actually has the edge because the way it's built on forward and because they have someone named Connor McDavid the best player in the world. So I agree with Brennan, what he said earlier.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: So Canada, defense and goalies suck, though. So, yeah, their defenses and like goalie depth is not ideal.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: So forward rank is Canada is forwards. Canada's one. For defense, US Is one. And for goaltending, US is one. Okay, I actually give.
[00:14:45] Speaker C: I'd actually give Sweden like, they're. If you look at their. Their defenseman like, that is.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Oh, they got.
[00:14:51] Speaker C: That is.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: They're good.
[00:14:52] Speaker C: That is a. That is a decor.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: You.
[00:14:54] Speaker C: You. I ideally would like to have in like a final game. Like rugged, mean, big, physical.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: It's better than Canada's. It's better than Canada's. Sweden, Steve.
[00:15:05] Speaker C: It's pretty solid.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Like, they.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: They would cause some headaches and overall.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Winning the tournament, because I'm cheering for them. I'm saying Canada beats the States. And who's getting the golden goal? Crosby, baby. Crosby's getting that golden goal one more time, we get to see that gold, not the golden goal. It's not the same. It's not the Olympics. But I'm saying Canada is going to win this tournament. I'm going to root for Canada and be biased, but my rankings obviously have the States being number one and two out of the three categories with rankings in roster. But there's one thing that we're forgetting. One thing that we're forgetting is coaching. Coaching will play effect into this. Cooper's won a couple cups recently. He has guys on his team that he knows how to get out of. The best out of them. Sorelli, Hagel, and point guys that are going to be grinder type guys. Cooper plays a system. That's where it's going to really help. I think coaching's really going to step up. And I think Canada has the best coaching in the tournament. Not by much. Everything's all very close, right. I think Canada is the best coaching. That is going to be big power play decisions, penalty kill decisions. That is going to be playing a factor. So that's why Canada wins.
[00:16:07] Speaker C: Will Sam Bennett fight Matthew Tkachuk?
[00:16:10] Speaker A: I hope no.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: But I hope no.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: There's no. No way. Fellas. Four nations just around the corner. February 12th is first puck drop. And we have international hockey that we are getting into now. We only have a couple minutes, fellas. I. I won't get into this topic, but obviously trades are going around the National Hockey League. Miller has been recently traded to the Rangers. Biggest surprise, I guess. Right? Jokes aside, I think it's going to lead up to a very, very exciting trade season before Four nations happens, but mostly after when it comes to the trade deadline. But we'll obviously have to table that for next week or for our next episode, rather. Alex, I know you had a topics you wanted to bring up quick, so I want to give you time for that.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: How dumb was that Buffalo Sabres fight? Let me, let me summarize it for anybody here who isn't aware. Tage Thompson got absolutely lit up like he got hit by a transport against the New Jersey Devils. Star player of the Buffalo Sabres one. One of, I guess you could say Rasmus, Darlene as well. And nobody does a thing. So Lindy Ruff, their coach goes, you know what, boys? Get in here, get into this room. We're having a meeting. And he called the players out. He said, that's unacceptable. You got to stand up for your guys. So what do they do? They play a completely unrelated team and have a fight at the beginning of the game. And two guys that had nothing to do with that original hit had a fight and Buffalo lost the fight. And I just wanted to ask you guys if. Is that the dumbest fight that has ever happened in the history of the NHL? Because I don't know what that solves for fighting a completely different team and a guy that had nothing to do with it. And then you get absolutely filled.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: So, so to link, because Dave was talking trades and they were bringing in fights. You almost have to trade somebody on the Sabers.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:56] Speaker C: Like this week.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Yeah, right.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Because that, that, that is absolute, like, horseshit. Like, I, I watched that hit when, when Par sent it to us in the chat and I went back and watched it a few times.
First of all, stupid, because it was Stefan Nason on the Devils. And then it's like, oh, who was it? Gilbert on. On the Savers gets, gets pumped by Olivier Pop. It's like, like it's like, oh yeah, let's just like we don't have any beef with the Jackets. It's just like guys like hear out your GM and coach, you know, be physical, stand up for your teammates and when you know, let's go to the schedule, pinpoint the Devils. When are they back in town or when are we going to New Jersey? And you do like a, you really want some retribution, you do an all out like msg. Devil's Rangers brawl off the opening face.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Off had Brennan Press on the podcast talk about that. Awesome. Yep.
[00:18:53] Speaker C: That's what you do.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Yeah, baby. I agree.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: Like if, if you're Gilbert, you get maybe a, you know, a tap on the ass from the, from the coach saying good job but like gotcha.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: It's just like, okay, great.
[00:19:03] Speaker C: Like it's like, it's kind of like, you know, your parents being like, you know, eat your vegetables and you have one, you run away. It's like, okay, I did something right. Like as you know, it's.
I, I just don't think it's gonna really do anything. Like the Savers are a train wreck and you gotta think that they'll just make a big trade Cousins or something. Right. Because someone big gone.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: I agree though, Dave, because you just want him to be in blue and white.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: No, no, I think Calgary. Cousins is gonna go to Calgary. That's my guess.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: Interesting.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: True, true. Guess and I. We won't. We don't have time to get into why but we have 20 seconds. Quick around the horn. One line that you want to name in the four. Four nations that you want to see, but pretty obvious. Marchant, Crosby, McKinnon. That's what I want to see together.
[00:19:50] Speaker C: Bennett. Bennett. Oh, sorry. Bennett Marner.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: McDavid loaded up. Crosby McKinnon.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: McDavid. Yeah. I love it. Wow. This has been top shelf. This Dave McCaig on behalf of Alex and Brennan. Brennan, thank you as always.
[00:20:05] Speaker C: Cheers part.
[00:20:06] Speaker A: Thank you as always. And we'll be right back here on the game reminder. This is top shelf and make sure you hit like follow and subscribe and all things of the game sports podcast. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Game Sports Podcast. Your host, David McCaig Jr. Continuing to host you this evening. This is in the Pocket, the second last episode of in the pocket. Bittersweet Season 8 of in the Pocket, which is of course sponsored by Sports Center Bar and Grill. Suit Mar Ontario's best sports bar over five years in a row. Best wings over multiple years in a row. Look great overall sports atmosphere. We know for the super bowl you should be getting on down to Sports Center Bar and Grill if you're in Sioux St. Marie to enjoy it. If you're from outside of Sault Ste. Marie, you're listening. You're wondering what the heck we're talking about. Well, you can just give them a search on Google and see what they got. It's a great atmosphere. But if you're not watching at SportsCenter, hopefully you are able to watch it somewhere with friends, family. Either way you're able to enjoy the big game between the Chiefs and the Eagles. And of course on in the Pocket we do a Super bowl preview show every year of course because it's in the pocket. Talk NFL talk ncaa. We even talk local where and when we can for Sioux State Marine even outside of the region. And I do it of course the great core of the game sports podcast family including Justin Heikle and E.J. russ soul. But I have Justin with me of course tonight. Justin Hike my friend. How's it going?
[00:21:26] Speaker D: Bittersweet. We're running to the end of the season here.
Last game of the year. I think the consensus amongst football fans is. Is the same where it's just like a.
You know, you know, here's what it. I mean maybe they do a pregame game, you know, like a. Like an undercard and let the Lions play the Bills or something.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: The game that everyone want was the Bills Lions or. Or Lions just there. Especially if you're from our region of where our show is located. Everyone wanted that to be the case.
[00:22:01] Speaker D: A non title fight just. Just a game just to appease the fans and then you can let that reality TV nonsense of a game that's going to be happen.
That's. That's kind of my opinion on it. All jokes aside on the refs and Taylor Swift and everything else, it'll be interesting. I think it's David versus Goliath kind of game to be honest.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: It is. And nope, some people don't think of it that way. But under the pressure moments you seem to Holmes has really stepped up. That Chiefs team is going for a three peat. We as a fan base for football, just the overall culture for football. We get to see potential history a three peat in the super bowl. Right. And yes, it's not fun to see the same teams wins often or win as much back to back to back even in this case. But obviously there's chief fans out there that are just absolutely pumped about what's going on in their football lives right now. And you know, they. This is a Super bowl that I do wish that Jason was still on. The Eagles would have made a little bit extra, more of a storyline. And it's funny on their podcast where he was wearing all Eagles gear, talking to Travis, but going back and forth on who he's supporting. It's. It's great content leading up to it because it's. I know I'm talking about one person and I'm talking about the Kelsey brothers, which all you see on your feeds, obviously Justin highlighted it, right? You got the star power that's involved in this from the Kelsey side. Of course everyone's going to talk about Taylor Swift. You know what, I'm sure it's going to be a bet on FanDuel or somewhere that how many times the camera goes to Taylor Swift, you know, that's. I'm sure that'll be somewhere, you know, every time that Travis Kelsey gets a reception where that camera is going, okay, touchdown. Even if they get it, even if they get a touchdown, it's not Travis. You know where the camera is probably going to go. And she jumps up and down with Travis's mother. Look, we understand this is not the game that you wanted potentially, especially if you're not a Chiefs and Eagles fan, okay? This is the game we got. And I still think this is going to be a very hard fought game. And Jalen hurts Saquon Barkley. The Eagles got tools, okay? And the Chiefs aren't made of diamonds, okay? They're not unbreakable. They're not. They're not this force field that can't get through Saquon Barkley designed to break force fields, okay. Like Derrick Henry is.
[00:24:16] Speaker D: And it's. It's kind of scary watching general sports media over the last couple days because absolutely no one is talking about the Eagles, right?
[00:24:24] Speaker A: No one is. It's all cheese Mahomes Kelsey, a mention.
[00:24:28] Speaker D: Here and there about, you know, the Eagles coach and how he, you know, started the season. It was sort of make or break year for him. You know, he might not make it to the end of the season. And here they are, Super Bowl. And I mean, like, no one's talking about Saquon. No one in the media. I mean, he gets a mention here. There's. But like that's scary going into this game. Like the guy, like all the. All he does is get touchdowns, 60 yard runs untouched. Touchdown.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Yep. Like that's he has an opportunity to run through this cheese. I think that the Chiefs focus going into this game and because now we'll get into the full preview on either side. Chiefs focus in this game should be stopping the run game from Barkley and from Hertz. Okay. And the Chief's focus on offense should be I don't think deep threat. I know Worthy's got some exceptional speed and you know they. That was the steal of the draft last year. One of the steals. Unbelievable.
[00:25:21] Speaker D: Chiefs got to work the clock. I mean the Eagles are going to score fast.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:25:26] Speaker D: That's. I mean if they've done anything in the playoffs so far, they get up on teams, they score fast and their defense gets the ball back like quickly. The Eagles defensive line is disgusting. They're getting some players back from injury after having two weeks off.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:25:42] Speaker D: Which only bolsters the defense. So I think the Chief's key to success is just going to be slowly working that ball down the field to work the clock. You know, just kind of dice up the middle on the defense there. Obviously the Travis Kelsey game. But the other tight ends as well. I mean. And the Chiefs are no slouch at running back either. They got two good backs. Yep.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Can't forget that.
[00:26:00] Speaker D: And they're a well coached team. I mean.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:03] Speaker D: You don't make it to the super bowl not being well coached on either end of it. But I mean Andy Reid, just imagine what kind of kind of burger he's gonna get if he3 beats it.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: It's gonna be a triple Big Mac.
[00:26:13] Speaker D: There's gonna. There's gonna be some marketing deal somewhere. One of the burger places is gonna have like the Andy Reid combo or something like that.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: Yeah. And he's gonna be biting into it post game if the Eagles or. Sorry, if the Eagles. No, if the Chiefs get pull away with the win. And this is. There's story behind these two teams obviously. That's right. It's. It's that it's. You have like obviously not of last year, the year prior and you got the Chiefs team that is so poised for that 3p. They were talking about the 3 peat last year when they won this when the one last year when they won the super bowl last year when Travis Kelsey and Patrick. Patrick Mahomes and all them were on the stage. They were talking about three peat at that point. This is a determined team. And look, Patrick Mahomes is the. He is who. He is one of the. I still think Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. There's a lot of Similarities there, but Mahomes is one. He can debate that he's the best quarterback in the league right now and given what he's had to success. But he's had a good supporting cast around him too. Kelsey's done well. We're drafting worthy, good running backs. He's also done very well under pressure. But the Chiefs, this, this team winning three, I didn't think it would happen and that didn't happen yet. They still have to win Sunday for that to happen. But I didn't even. I thought they were going to choke a little bit through on the way through because the way the Bills were because, you know, and it didn't happen.
[00:27:41] Speaker D: Like even during the regular season. At any point during the regular season, where were you or anyone that you talked to excited about the Chiefs doing anything? Like it just seemed like you never heard about them.
[00:27:53] Speaker A: Nope.
[00:27:54] Speaker D: They were just winning. They were like, you didn't know they were winning because no one talked about them. And then you got to like the last month of the season and everyone's like, oh, yeah, the Chiefs are, you.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Know, the Chiefs are back again. Right. And Eagles deserve to be there too. This has been a good team all year in battle that Barkley move, the Giants. I can't. Some team. I. I can't. Giants, Panthers, Browns and the Browns. We'll have to go there in a second. I know EJ is not here to defend it, but we're going to go there before we, before we get this show because obviously somebody doesn't want to be there anymore. Big piece of their defense. But besides that, going channeling back to the super bowl, we're going to see an exciting Super Bowl. These are two very good offenses, very stable, very good defense. You brought up the defensive line for the Eagles. I think both O lines are respectable as well. But I'm very excited to see what the D line for the Eagles does against Patrick Mahomes throwing game. Right. I like to see how they cover Kelsey, how they cover Worthy, how they stop the run game. I'm interested to see how the Chiefs are able to stop Barkley and Hertz. If Barkley's not running the ball well, guess who is going to run the ball? Hertz is going to run the ball. And he also has a good arm on him. Hurts. Okay. And he's got. He's got a good offense. This is not going to be a cakewalk for the Chiefs by any means. This is not going to be a cakewalk for the Eagles by any means. This is going to be A very close, very tight field goal to touchdown score difference at the end of the game. That. That spoils my prediction or my score prediction, I guess, sort of about what I think the distance is going to be. But this is ultimately two teams with a lot of similarities but a lot of motivation to win. The Eagles because of revenge. The Eagles just because no one expected them to get there. That just that motivation. The Chiefs, three peat, right? Three peat history. A piece of history which is always exciting to see in sports and that we don't get to. We get to witness this different piece of history each year. Like, you can reference LeBron James getting the most points of all time. You can reference potentially Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record this season in the NHL. You can think of baseball. If anyone ever comes close, I'll still say his name. Barry Bonds, his home run record. I know people say that's an asterisk. Nah, he got there. So there's a lot of historic moments. Now, those were individualized that I talked about. Right. If you think of teams, you think of the Islanders in the 80s winning for the Oilers, winning for the dynasties. When it came to basketball, the Golden State warriors, the Bulls, when it comes to the. Saw some good teams in the NFL where the Bills didn't win any super bowl that they were in. Okay, but you had good teams. Now he's like the, like the Niners you had. The Cowboys were good. Obviously the Niners are okay. That's the team in that, that decade. But we've seen, in the NFL we haven't seen a three peat. And this is a potential to see that or you get to see a team play spoiler, which is going to cause excitement around. And this is still going to be a very highly viewed game. Justin, I don't think people, I know people maybe aren't as excited as they should be, but you know, everyone's going to be watching it.
[00:30:50] Speaker D: Well, honestly, I think there's nothing more than the Philly fan base would love than to be the spoiler on the three peat.
[00:30:57] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:58] Speaker D: There's no better fan base to represent that, I think, than the Philadelphia fan base.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:31:04] Speaker D: And I mean, honestly, even if the game just stinker, we still got some commercials to look forward to.
[00:31:09] Speaker A: Oh, yes, very good commercials.
[00:31:11] Speaker D: And, and, and a halftime show.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: So speaking of that halftime show, Grammy Award winner now, Kendrick Lamar, he had some. He had a good night at the Grammys the other night last weekend, let me tell you. Okay. And they're not like us, you know, that's coming out and there's some lyrics in there that I wonder how he's going to be really how he's going to emphasize that while he's singing the halftime show. But I think it's going to be a good show. There's gonna be some guests that are going to come out. 100 you know, Dre did that when he had his my favorite halftime show of all time, mind you. But you know, Kendrick is going to have something like that too. Some people are going to come out there. There must there has to be. There has to be. That's just he has a group.
[00:31:48] Speaker D: There'll be surprises.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: 100 it's too bad because if the Lions were there, you know, Slim Shady would have came out too. But maybe he doesn't want to be there. So Justin, I want to we we kept this preview very wide open. Just overall, in summary from my end, I think that when I look at the offense, they're very even. I think still given what the offense has for the Chiefs, I would give them the upper hand. Still, if you had to choose on the defensive side, I'm giving the edge to the Eagles a little bit. I kind of like that defense a little bit more. People will disagree on that. The the quarterback position. Look, sorry Mahomes is who he is but Hertz look also very talented. I got to give the edge to Mahomes kicker. Look, not everyone's a big fan of but Kerr, but he's one of if not the best kickers in the league. So overall you got a team that's favored in this more so and it is the Chiefs in this game. Not going to give my prediction yet because I want you, Justin, to highlight some key things where you think differences are. But like I said, I think the Chiefs have to stop the run game for the Eagles. I think the Eagles have to stop the passing game for Mahomes. And the better defense, very expert media point coming here, folks. The better defense is what's going to help win the football game. Justin.
[00:33:00] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm I'm going to try not to give away my prediction in this, but the Eagles come in with a chip on their shoulder I think is a dangerous thing and it's not just one player individually. I mean obviously Saquon with the Giants not wanting them with their I can't reason behind that. So he's coming in with that, you know, weighing on him and there'd be nothing better to throw in their face than the super bowl. Like the coach of the Eagles. Same thing. Everyone's been doubting them continuously. Even, even the Philadelphia media and soon to be able to toss that in their face, I think would thoroughly enjoy that.
And, and, and honestly I think they're just the tougher team in all this. I think Kansas City has to face some adversity at some point this season and it's.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Will this be it?
[00:33:48] Speaker D: Yeah. And I don't mean that like, you know, the Chiefs deserve to lose. I think they're going to run into the same issue where the Lions had with that time off.
They were just, the Lions were a well oiled machine. They had some time off and you know, it just, they couldn't get their feet back under them.
And I mean there's always the argument that the Chiefs, you know, they've been there, this is their third time, you know, being able to win the super bowl consecutively. So you know, maybe they just have a formula, but complacency can happen too in sports. And I mean the guys are older. There might be some guys looking at this being their final game and sometimes that's in your head. So I, I don't, there's, it's hard to choose. There's a lot of variables here. But like I said, I mentioned the Philadelphia defensive line earlier and I think with those young, hungry guys in the line there, I think they're going to push around KC and just cause a little bit of havoc for Mahomes like that.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: That's good points.
[00:34:41] Speaker D: I just, I think interceptions are going to be the difference in this game. I think the defensive line is just going to be getting in there, causing Mahomes to make some early throws and the Philly defense is going to capitalize on that. That's, that's where I think that's, that's gonna go. That's my key to the game right there. And we'll see. I mean, Mahomes is a good qb, really good qb. So that, you know, it might not play out the way I'm hoping, but.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: One we gotta see.
So speak of that then. I think you've pretty much said it. But who is winning this? Who is winning the Super Bowl?
[00:35:13] Speaker D: Justin, I'm, I'm taking the Eagles out of spite. That's. And the score, score wise, I did, I did pick it pretty tight just like you did. I got, I got Philadelphia 30, Kansas City 27. So a field goal game, feel a field goal game.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Now I'm gonna have the pick that everyone is going to really boo at. Okay, really hard to choose because when I, when I look at this game I just laid out everything and I just really feel like this is. We're going to see history. It just the writing's been on the wall. I think everyone should have expected this. I got the Chiefs winning 28 to 21 by a touchdown. And that's not. Doesn't seem like a high scoring game. I'm hoping we see something very high scoring like 48, 42. That would be wild. I want to see just scoring. Defense forgets how to play. They turn off their batteries on their controller. But truthfully we just talked about defense paying key points in this. I got the Chiefs winning the super bowl for their third title and we get to see more of Taylor Swift than Travis Kelsey.
[00:36:21] Speaker D: I guess you're in your Kansas City Chiefs era then.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: I guess I'm there. Are you ready for it? I said that last year. If you know, you know Taylor Swifties. Last topic Justin's and over a couple minutes we're going to wrap up after this. I think this would be a good maybe a little take for we're not just remind everyone I'll talk about this at the end. But we don't have a show next week so we're going to touch on this right now because it's fresh by the time we talk about it in a couple of weeks or next week if it's a clip. If the trade happens. Doubt it. But down the road in our next show we can get in a little bit more detail if we have have it in our agenda by that Miles Garrett, Justin Cleveland Brown Myles Garrett. Okay. Has requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns. I love it because as a Steeler fan you got to love Miles Garrett getting the hell out of that division if hopefully the Ravens don't come in and get him. But I don't think the Browns are going to trade them in division. There's no chance. I don't. I don't think that that would happen. And obviously I've been looking around and thinking of fits and really I was actually looking at rosters of teams and a lot of teams that are on the rebuild side that I think could be interesting. Takes kind of like maybe if it's the Dolphins, maybe if it's the Patriots. I'm. I'm kind of interested in a few of those teams. But I want to take this as a prediction just in case we have to talk about a trade Justin in a couple weeks or just allow us a segue into a little bit more if time allows next week. Of course, Miles Garrett did say that he Wants to be on super bowl contender, that's one thing. And I'm going to get a fan base very excited right now. Very, very excited ones that watch the show a lot. I'm going to say that the Detroit Lions are the team that's going to trade for Miles Garrett. I feel like that 28th overall pick, which I believe that they have, and they can sacrifice that 20, 26 pick, adding miles Garrett to that defense on a very good defense already would put them over the top. And I think that would just, it just sounds sexy. That's what I think's going to happen. Dark horse team, Washington commanders.
[00:38:26] Speaker D: Justin, we're on the exact same wavelength. I think the two teams that need a game record like him, the Lions are obviously a win now. Team can afford to get rid of the draft picks and, and Washington, I think, is again, like you said, a dark horse team where you don't necessarily want to get rid of those early picks because you're still a young team, but what a guy like Miles Garrett adds is something else to that young team. So I mean, like you got a quarterback on a rookie deal, like you've just got some flexibility with the money there. Yeah. To make that happen. And, and I really do think that the entire team would benefit from a move like that. Now, whether or not this whole trade request is even just a ploy to get more money out of Cleveland, interesting remains to be seen as well because, you know, honestly, the attitude could just be, if I got to be here in the show, you gotta at least make me the highest paid defensive player.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Or something of all time.
Of all time. But imagine the past rush of Garrett, Naden, Hutchinson.
[00:39:24] Speaker D: But I mean, another interesting one would be the, the Chargers.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: I like that. I was even thinking the Bills. I wonder if the Bills would be.
[00:39:31] Speaker D: The Bills are screwed with Vaughn's money contract, I think, I think they have like $24 million next year. Yeah.
[00:39:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
I I interesting. I I as a Steelers fan, it's good to get him out of that division because he loves playing Pittsburgh, he loves playing that team. And anyone who's a Pittsburgh quarterback might be a little bit more comfortable or Cincinnati or Baltimore might be a little bit more comfortable now knowing that the big Miles Garrett is not coming to, you know, pass Russia and put you down on the ground and say, no, no, I'm Zach Lunch or just overall be a threat out there. So Lions though, get on it. The Commanders would be cool. That'd be different. Something we haven't seen that sounds, it just, it seemed that would just taste good, like, nice, right? But the Lions, Lions fans get, get excited. Put that in motion. I think that would be a perfect fit. Justin. In The Pocket Season 8, second last episode, my friends. Super bowl preview. You got the Eagles, I got the Sellout, I got the Chiefs. I want the easy way out on a three peat, but will remain to be seen next week. We don't have an episode here on the Game Sports podcast next next week we'll be taking a week off just because of schedule conflicts on my end for the most part. A lot of things going on, if you will. But Justin and I, and also Alex Brennan and Jordan Trudeau, all of us here, the whole crew of the Game Sports podcast, if we need to do something within next week, we'll make sure we get you interacting with clips or with something. As I hit my mic there, we get you something that will be interactive next week. But please note, there will not be an episode next week. We will be back within the pocket the following week. That will be the week of February 17th. After the long weekend is when we will be back. Long weekend here in Canada. So, Justin, thank you very much, my friend, for another episode of in the Pocket.
It's second last one, man. Can't believe it.
[00:41:29] Speaker D: Yeah, it's. It's kind of crazy how quick the season goes. It seems like we were just kind of doing a preview show, getting ready for Labor Day weekend, and here we are. It's. It's February. We're all sick of the snow.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: Yep, yep.
[00:41:43] Speaker D: Just waiting for, you know, waiting for hockey playoffs in spring to come along. Now, not that I'm looking past the super bowl by any means, but once the super bowl ends, you're just kind of sad for a bit.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:41:56] Speaker D: Next. The next big thing on the agenda is like hockey playoffs.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: So it is. And then before you know it, there'll be season nine of in the Pocket and then by then there'll be a baby McCaig.
[00:42:07] Speaker D: That's crazy stuff.
[00:42:10] Speaker A: Said that out loud.
[00:42:11] Speaker D: Now you gotta get your nap times hammered in.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: I'm telling you, I might be at your recording time. That's where I'm gonna be at these early recording times that we did. No, no, it's not going to be happening. It's gonna be the later recording time. Me and Justin are gonna just be recording buddies through and through. Anyone else here on the game that hurt, that hears this, look, I'm sorry in advance for the late recordings. Justin could be my backup as to why that happens.
[00:42:36] Speaker D: Once you have a kid. You no longer have a schedule. You have that schedule.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. 100. Justin, thank you again. My friend wants to thank you to Alex and Brandon as well and everyone here on the Game Sports podcast. Make sure you hit like, follow and subscribe on all the platforms of the game. Okay. We're powered by 91 Network. It's a YouTube channel. Get on there. Subscribers count is increasing. We'd love to see that. Go on to that and check it out. We're also on. You on. Yep, I just said YouTube. We're also on spaces, which is featured through SU Today and Village Media. Check us out on there. Follow along, find your space that you want to be a part of and interact with. Also Instagram, Facebook, Tik tok at the Gamesports podcast. You can also listen to the show on any audio platform. Just search us. We are there.
Games Force podcast is everywhere to search us. We will be there. Like I said, we will be off next week to the exception of some clips for you to interact on. We'll be back the week of the 17th. Expect upload by February 19th. 20th area as normal on the Wednesday or Thursday. We'll get to a fully loaded show after our break. Justin, thank you again and again. Thank you to Alex and Brennan. I'm here to remind you, keep your sick on the ice. Swing your bats, catch your touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
