Gavin's Best Fit | The Game Sports Podcast

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:06] Speaker B: It's time for the Game Sports Podcast. It's your host, David McCaig Jr. The game is powered by 91 Network and featured on Spaces. 91N is a YouTube channel where you can check out video editions of the game and Spaces is featured through Stude and Village Media. The game is on the hockey and sports space of Spaces. The game is also on all audio platforms. Make sure you hit the five stars like follow and subscribe. And speaking of subscription, why not do that on Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook all at the Game Sports Podcast as well. Interact, get involved and a special shout out to TikTok. Lot of growth and interaction over the past month. We'd love to see it. Make sure you're tuning in on those clips that we like to tease and upload on all socials as well. Now I'm doing this recording on a special day that is St. Patrick's Day. The day of this recording is March 10th. You may not tune in until the 18th, 19th, 20th, 1st, but don't worry just because it's the 17th of March. We'll make sure that the content that you hear is relevant going forward so you're not outdated with any news. And the Game Sports Podcast reminds you. Yes, our core is hockey, baseball and football, but we talk all sports here on the Game Sports Podcast. And for tonight's agenda, you're going to have me solo for the first half of the show. On the second half of the show, you're going to have Connor Henry Peterson coming on by. And on this first portion, I might dive into a little side topic for a minute, but I'm going to be diving into a lot of heavy NHL content before Connor comes on. Where we're going to get into, of course, Strike Zone. Strike Zone's already back. Already back. Connor's going to come talk about Canada's performance at the World Baseball Classic and the season preview when it comes to the mlb, as that's just around the corner getting to the show. All right, I want to say I did of course record this on St. Patrick's Day and I'm sitting here on the video version with a green shirt on. I'm not going to show the green beer because to be honest, I don't have the green beer. I'm going to have one later. But this green shirt is a scotch and soda shirt. I'm gonna give a shout out to 45 social to business here in Sault St. Marie. They're not sponsors, but I want to give a shout out because this Shirt is really nice and comfortable. It's green and I thought the name made sense. Yeah, it's not a green beer by any means, but scotch and soda. You know, it's still a drink on St. Patrick's Day. Even though it's not a physical drink, it's still a green shirt. So I'm repping the green shirt here on St. Patrick's Day. And of course there's green in our logo. We love the lime green logo here on the game sports podcast. Just wanted to give a little shout out to that. But diving into the show now. Okay, the first thing I want to touch on is WWE for a minute. Now I know people may be turned off at that, maybe don't enjoy the wwe. I come from the Attitude era and of course on the show for myself and Alex Par Prior and even of course to Scott Nason and Butch where they really dove into wrestling really frequently. But I come from the Attitude era where wrestling was at its peak, where the pop in the arena was out of this world. For anyone who came out Stone Cold, the Rock, Kurt Angle, the Undertaker. Names go on, right? John Cena, when he first, I remember when he first started, but nonetheless BWE has something cooking with a certain someone. His name is Obafemi. Now the story lines of WWE as of late because yes, I've dove back into WWE just because it's been an all around sports guy trying to really get back to some of the good wrestlers that they have. Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes. A lot of good athletes there and the series Unreal is fantastic. But they have something cooking there with Obafemi. Okay, something is brewing really good. And if you would have watched Raw last night, you would saw Obafemi and Brock Lesnar. How that's gonna be a match of WrestleMania with Seth Rollins. Watch in the background. Does Seth Rollins see a new vision? I. I don't know. But what a storyline that the fans got what they wanted with Oba Femi. That is fantastic. Now WWE may not be the interest of what it once was, but Triple H has had some good cooking story lines. Nothing beats WrestleMania when Cody defeated Roman Reigns. That was the end game of WWE if you want to compare that, but there's still a lot of good story lines to still happen with the RKO man, not his real name, but the Viper. Randy Orton. I almost called him something else there. Randy Orton and going heel. Everyone turns heel on Cody Rhodes. John Cena, Randy Orton. What's next? CM Punk storylines. They're starting to make sense. There's Some good ones going. If you like wrestling, tune in. Obafemi is certainly a gem to keep an eye out for. Now I'm going to transition to the NHL because Connor Henderson is going to be here within the next six to seven minutes and we got a lot of baseball to cover. So it's going to be a little bit of a shorter show. It's going to be under an hour. It should be okay. You never know. It might not be, but we're going to dive into the NHL. Okay. And things that I want to touch on with the National Hockey League, the World cup and Austin Matthews is injury along with some other side topics before Conor joins us. And the World cup of hockey. Okay. The 2028 World cup is to kind of build on from the international intrigue from the four nations and that's as per NHL.com and when it comes to the locations of it, it's going to be there will be teams in Prague, there's games in Calgary, the semifinals are in Edmonton. And look, there were people that were not really happy with the tournament being the United States and those people being the spitting Chiclets guys, of course, outside of Paul Bisonette. But I'm just going to say something flat out. Maybe it's not the best time to to go over to to the United States for a tournament. But I will admit something. It's sad to say as a Canadian, but the USA Hockey and USA Sports are really taking over sports right now with a lot of gold and a lot of hardware. So I understand their point. But I am excited now for the 2028. The 2028 World Cup. Maybe some redemption in preparation for the 2030 Olympics, but nonetheless, Bill Daly announced on Monday that Calgary, Edmonton and Prague will be the World cup host cities for 2028. And at some instance the World cup might be better than the Olympics is what the NHL.com says. I will strongly disagree with that point, but I wanted to touch the point on no games will be in the United States. I know that didn't bring a lot of happiness, but I'm excited to see the World cup and seeing these tournaments in between the Olympics. It adds intrigue. It's a lot better than looking forward to yearly All Star Games, which are not enjoyable at all any longer. And this is going to be exciting. We're going to see some good matchups. I would presume Sidney Crosby is not only going to be in this, I think he's going to be in the 2030 Olympics still. But this will be a good in between Tournament gearing up for the 2030 Olympics. Next point when it comes to National Hockey League echo Gudis, this is an old topic, okay? But we haven't had an episode since this had happened and since this act from Rako Gutas has occurred. Of course George Perros comes in and says quote unquote, we have a process in place that we feel confident in. We've been doing it a long time. We sweat over these decisions and pour over these decisions every night all season long. We have a process in place that's consistent and we have a team that works for me and together we with me that evaluates all these plays. It's a very experienced team and veteran team. And he goes on but at the end where he mentions some of the best guys who played the game work for this department and help make these decisions. So our process I feel confident in and I think the players should be confident in this team to do so. Now look, if you're a Leaf fan, you're upset about this. Some that are, some that aren't because they go there goes the tank in the vision for Gavin McKenna. Look, that aside, you don't want to see somebody get hurt in a dirty play. This is the same guy that put Sidney Crosby out from the Olympics. Just reminding fellow Canadians out there. Which could have been a difference in the finals. Sorry states. Even though we all shot you 40 million to 17 even though you won the game, I would have liked to see us have a couple more shots. Sydney on the ice, the sand. But that aside, listen here. This suspension is a joke. He should have gotten more. He is a repeat, repeat, repeat offender. I don't care how long ago it was. He's a dirty player and ultimately public enemy number one in Toronto. Look what he did at Wall when the Florida Panthers eliminated the Leafs in the playoffs a couple years back. Wooing his face. He has definitely made his mark on Toronto market and this neon Matthews is likely as lucky luckily. Sorry, a season ending injury and not longer. This could have been career threatening for the one of the best players in the game and Toronto's captain. Someone who puts butts in the seats at games. Okay, does that matter when I come make a decision? I. I would probably say not, but I'm sure it takes a little bit of the conversation. Rico Gutis is a repeat offender and this is David. Look, Hunter McDavid got involved and said he told reporters he thinks it's time for the league and players to reevaluate the the process the department undertakes to come to these decisions because it seems like there's a lot of frustration here. This is not just Toronto media. It's not just Toronto fans. This is players in the National Hockey League voicing this because despite perils feeling confident, Connor McDavid and other people aren't sounding confident and fans are certainly pissed off. That was a dirty play. It should have been double digits or why not Eye for an eye really set the tone. Good. If you're out for the entire season like Auston Matthews. Maybe that includes playoffs, maybe it doesn't. Maybe that's a little far fetched. You're right, it is. But they the amount of games that they gave Gudis isn't throwing the book. They go and reference the book and give what they feel is fair value. But this was not enough games for Raccoos and Judd Moldaver. Matthews agent sharply criticized department player safety and I don't blame him. Everyone is upset at this and I think the player of the department of safety rather needs to take this away. No appeal it whatever the case may be. But this is a joke. This is dirty. Goodis is a joke. Sorry, I know he's in the NHL and I'm not but look he. He's. He sticks out his knee intentionally because Matthews beat him just like every other player goes around and beats him. Suspension. There's my swear for the day. Next topic we'll touch on as I'm going to move on from that. Leon Draisaitl out for the year for the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunate injury for Leon of course resting up for the playoffs. And if you look at the NHL standings right now the Edmonton Oilers are third in their in the Pacific Division. Leon Drysdale is a critical part of that team. If he goes down, is there a risk that the Oilers are going to struggle? Yeah, you have 97. Yeah, you have Nuge, you have Bouchard and players do step up. But do the Oilers have that depth in place to stay and maintain the division? The Kings really improving just slightly above.500. They're cracking a couple wins in a row. After not doing well in the past 10. They're starting to get up. The Anaheim Ducks is great in Vegas. Like this is a pretty open division here. Anything can happen in a matter of a couple weeks. I don't suspect the Oilers to follow past and beneath third. But look, missing Leon dry side is a big loss. So make them miss the playoffs. I don't think so, but it might bring them down. And if it brings you down, you might risk playing someone in your division. Maybe you're playing the Ducks or Golden Knights, which I'm sure the Oilers are fine with. But you also risk playing the Avalanche or the Dallas Stars in the next round or if Minnesota catches up, which is not ideal for the Edmonton until you hit the conference finals, hopefully. So look Leon Draisidle out. How will it affect the Edmonton Oilers? I'm excited to see how the rest of the season goes for Edmonton and how Connor McDavid is going to maybe get take another step because he's already been taking steps all the time. What's this next step that Conor's going to do to really lead the Edmonton Oilers? And if this is not going to phase the team at all, or if it will, but if you're missing one of the best players in the world, you're going to feel the effect. But T.R. maples haven't the last couple games, so maybe not. We will see what happens now. Speaking of teams coming up the rankings, especially this year, the Buffalo Sabers. We've talked about this team multiple times on this podcast and they look good and I'm a big Owen Power fan. Rasmus Darlene fan. Look, Owen Power is sick. I would love to see him in the blue and white. Everyone knows I'm a Leaf fan. Obviously. If you're watching video, you see what jersey's behind me, the individual that's not playing the rest of the year for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I got Tavares to my left, I got signed jerseys to my left. Every lot of Leafs in here. Greyhounds and some other teams, but mostly Leafs. But that aside, the Buffalo Sabres, as much as I would like to see Owen Power in the blue, I'm going to come back to reality for a minute. The Buffalo Sabers are a very intriguing team and watch them play against Toronto the other night and beat them in a shootout. The Leafs put up a good fight in that hockey game. They look good. They look really good. They're ahead of Tampa at the time of this recording. Couple games in hand, four points. So basically can almost say that they're tied for the Atlantic Division. Okay, Montreal Canadiens are, you know, they're creeping up. I don't think Montreal goes above third. I'm sorry, Tampa. Buffalo are going to battle for those top two and Montreal and Detroit are going to battle for the third and fourth in the division. Now, sorry Boston, you're not wild cards in your in your future, but at the end of the day, I do not see the Buffalo Sabres winning this division. I'm sorry to tell people that despite being 91 having street A very consistent lot of winning streaks this season. Tampa Bay has really had a struggle as of late. But this is a team that I feel can really bounce back quite, quite quickly. And I think at the end of the year, Tampa Bay is likely winning this division which is going to set up a Buffalo Montreal first round, which I'm all for. But I'm speaking about Buffalo here and I want to touch. Are they for real? I think they are for real. They are. This team has been waiting to be for real for over 12, 13 years. So they've been drafting, they have a lot of good pieces there. Are they a Stanley cup contender? Yes, obviously. But I don't think they're going to be a team that goes past the second round this year. This is a team that has really stepped up this year. Massive improvement, a lot of young talent. But they're going to be going against some teams that have some of that veteran presence. That includes Tampa Bay Lightning. If you go past the second round, if you do, you might be meeting the Carolina Hurricanes in that round. How will you know if Boston gets through? Will that be an intriguing matchup? Montreal being there last year, does the one year playoff experience really matter? I'm really looking at Tampa Bay here and that regular season game that they had, my goodness, that was great. I hope that lines up for the second round. But the Buffalo Sabers going past the second round, I can see because they're likely going to be meeting the Tampa Bay Lightning there and I don't think they beat Tampa Bay in a seven game series. I thought maybe last week, last couple weeks, been thinking this is a team that could beat Tampa. Not this year. I think Tampa Bay is not. I don't. They're not my Stanley cup winning team but, but they're definitely my, my team to get to the conference final out of the Eastern Conference. And Buffalo will get to the second round. Buffalo will impress. But this is that year where you get the young guys exposed, get them ready and then you gear them up and I think next year they can really take that step and that could be a hot take. So do I think they're for real? Yes. The playoffs, will they become up from the team on top? No. Do I hope that they do If Toronto doesn't make the playoffs, which, let's get real, ladies and gentlemen. Okay. Unless Bull grew gets two goals a game and the leaves skyrocket into the we're not going to see no hockey in Toronto. And despite from a Canadian perspective, we might only be able to cheer for the Edmonton Oilers, which, of course, if they are the only Canadian team, I will be. But I will be telling you, I will be on the Buffalo bandwagon really hard. And if they get to the Cup Finals and you got Buffalo, Edmonton, give me all of that. Or if you got Buffalo against the Minnesota Wild, give me all of that. Okay. Of course we want to see a Canadian team win. I am on the Buffalo bandwagon this year, especially if Toronto doesn't make the playoffs, really cheering for them. I think it's great that they're getting to where they got to be. Despite being for real, though, I think it's going to be hard for them to be better than one of the Tampa Lightning, even the Carolina Hurricanes. And as long as Vegas doesn't win, I'm a happy guy. And Florida doesn't seem to be a problem. And truly, I don't want Tampa to win. So those are three teams that I really don't want to see win. And now people are saying, well, Dave, you forgot Montreal in there. They're not. I meant it's not the only Canadian team. Yeah, you know what? I didn't mention Montreal on purpose. I'm a Leaf fan, but as a sports host, I'll tell you, Montreal, they're up and coming. They showed that last year. They're showing it this year. They're looking real good, real impressive. I'm excited for what Montreal can do. And they're. They're another team, just like Buffalo. I don't think they make that big step this year, but in the next couple years, this is a team that's going to be knocking on that door. They got the right pieces there. And don't forget Montreal fans. I made sure I talked about Montreal. I wasn't pointing them out. Not because I'm a little bit bitter that Toronto is behind them now, but I was waiting to talk about Montreal because I wanted to give them a little love. Montreal deserves how well they're doing this year. I don't know if goaltending is going to be a big problem for them in the playoffs. I imagine next year that'd be maybe something they address in the offseason. But you got Fowler, so do you trust them? Bank on Fowler. Will the young kid really step up? Or does a veteran presence have to be there for him next year? But Montreal and. And the Edmonton Oilers, the Canadians, Canadians and Oilers, those are the. The two Canadian teams that we're going to be really pushing for here in Canada to come through. Of course, I'm really pulling for McDavid to finally get that cup and despite my jokes about Montreal, they're going to be very impressive. But if they do get Tampa or Buffalo in the first round, I think it's going to be extremely difficult for the Montreal Canadiens. And if they finish fourth in the division and they cross over to the Metropolitan Division, I would maybe like their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. If they got Carolina over Tampa or Buffalo. Hot take. But I think Montreal fans, despite having bad, bad memories of last year with the Washington Capitals crossing over the Metropolitan Division, I think it'd be a little bit different against the Carolina Hurricanes. Mont's more mature this year and I think maybe they could be a team that could upset Carolina if they get over there. But if you get that third seed and you're playing one of Tampa or Buffalo, it's going to be very tough for the Montreal Canadiens. Now I talk about Buffalo if they're for real, I talk about Paros and the department player safety and the Matthews hit, which I thought was brutal. The World cup and of course Leon Dreisa and all around in the National Hockey League. But of course some Leafs are thriving since they've been traded and players are thriving since they've been traded. But when I even watch a team that's had some pieces really work out, I'm liking what Colorado's done with Kadri and Nicholas Waugh. The Avalanche are looking real good. They've looked good since day one of puck drop. Okay, they've looked real good. So nonetheless this is a team that is likely still the favorite for many I know Dallas fans might be like, sorry one sec. Minnesota you can't take down for granted. Even though I watched them play against Toronto last day and Toronto really stepped up their game, Colorado Avalanche is still the team to beat and pretty soon when the playoffs come around the corner in the next while they're just under 20 games away when we have our predictions, you'll probably be surprised on a few of my predictions or Brennan's predictions and the rest of the top shelf gang what we select Now Last thoughts When it comes to the National Hockey League, I had somebody ask me where would Gavin McKenna's best fit be? And everyone expected me to say the Toronto Maple Leafs. And to be honest, I don't even know what's going on in Toronto. Speaking of as a fan, are they trying to win the Dragon? Look, every team's going to come out their hardest and play their hardest, okay? I don't think Charles sitting there saying I Want to tank for Gavin McKenna. Okay. As much as a fit as Gavin McKenna would be on any team in the National Hockey League, let's get real. I think Gavin McKenna's fit is purely with the Vancouver Canucks. I think that would be perfect. I'm sure Vancouver fans wish they had Connor Bedard. They didn't get that wish, but they might be able to get their Wish with Gavin McKenna. I think his best fit is with the Vancouver Canucks, a team that's looking to rebuild. They have some people that they can move, maybe some veteran pieces. They can keep someone like Pedersen, maybe, maybe move on from Debko, you move on from Brock Besser, you keep someone like DeBrusk. Pedersen could be an interesting fit in Buffalo. I talked about that last week. Okay. There's a lot of intrigue that really can help Vancouver look at a prospect redevelopment, all headed by Gavin McKenna. That is my final pick for his best. Now, I had somebody then spin and ask, hey, Dave, as a Toronto Maple Leaf fan, why wouldn't you say Gavin McKenna is a fit for the Leafs? And I answer this individual friend of mine from the GTA area and I told him, Keaton Verhoff, that is the guy that would be the best fit for both Toronto and the player Toronto needs. That cornerstone defense meant something they've been lacking and expected out of Morgan Ry, and he showed potential of that, but obviously isn't the fit. I think Verhoff to the Toronto made police is the best fit. So if it went Vancouver 1, Toronto 2 in the draft, I'd be okay with it. But let's get real. Toronto's likely going to have to give away their pick to Boston. They have to give away their pick to Philadelphia next year. And they got a lot of things to think about. Okay, so they just got to get through the season, see what happens and then reassess. But that aside, there's a lot of teams, if you look at that are going to be hunting for Gavin McKenna, that is the New York Rangers. You got the Toronto Maple Leafs, as I mentioned to you, but they might be giving away their pick. Chicago Blackhawks are in there. Calgary Flames. Why not Gavin McKenna to the Chicago Blackhawks with his cousin? Wouldn't that be something? Just saying best fit though. Vancouver Canucks and, and I think on a side note, Keaton Verhoff to Toronto would likely be the better direction overall. And that would probably be. Actually as much as I would prefer McKenna, Keaton Verhoff is quite the second place prize. He's going to be an absolute Stud in the National Hockey League. Okay, so that has been top shelf with a little bit of dash, WWE with yours truly. But we got more here on the Game Sports podcast. Conor Henderson coming on by to talk a little strike zone. Don't go anywhere. And we're back here on the game sports podcast, St. Patrick's Day edition of the Game. Okay, this legend, rookie of the year, if you know, you know, God, that feels so good to say, you know, Even though we feel like we just finished a season of strike zone, we're now resuming another one, a strike zone. Okay. I am joined by Connor Henderson, co host with yours truly, on the strike zone segment. But the main, let's say the, the ace, the cleanup hitter, the defensive stud, everything of this segment is the man right here. Connor Henderson, my friend. How you been? [00:21:50] Speaker A: Dave, you're too kind. I've been missing speaking with you, been missing baseball. It's great to be back. And we have the World Baseball Classic in full swing to keep us busy here over these past few weeks. And Canada put on a good show. [00:22:04] Speaker B: They did, they did. And tonight, obviously. So we're not going to be talking about Venezuela, the States tonight. By the time people hear this, the game will likely be decided. And I'm training for Venezuela. Okay, no reason, no reason, no comment. But that aside, okay, you talked about Canada and boy, proud. You know what people? People were chirping, said, of course Canadians are proud and they lost in the quarterfinals. Look, people, that's the first time we've gotten to the quarterfinals and baseball in Canada has not been in the same sentence unless you're talking about the Toronto Blue Jays, okay, When it comes to the world baseball stage, we have not been in the same categories since ever, obviously. We made the quarterfinals for the first time on the international stage. And it was so exciting watching some of these young guys and these players, the Nailers, Denzel, Clark, Wilkerson, these pitchers that are fighting for MLB spots. You have a guy on Czechoslovakia who's a plumber by day and striking out Ohtani by night. I think it was Ohtani. I don't know, but he struck out someone by night. [00:23:01] Speaker A: This 79 miles an hour, Dave. [00:23:04] Speaker B: Hey, man, I have a chance, okay? I got a chance. No, that, that. It was a. This has been a great World Baseball Classic. And, and top of the bat to, to the, to, to the MLB players and the players involved in this. It's been very entertaining. But we're talking about Canada here. We're not going to dive into the finals too much, but of course. Because there's nothing to really talk about with the finals yet. Canada. Connor, I want you to take the floor. First time ever in the quarterfinals. Ella, proud to be Canadian for baseball right now. They're. That is so great what they put on and they arguably could have won that game. Connor, I'm going to give you the floor about Canada's performance and just about that game against the States that they kind of let slip away. Let's call it. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Sure. Canada had across the board a performance to be proud of through the group stage. Beating Colombia, losing a one run game to Panama, beating Puerto Rico in a tight 1, 3, 2 and then beating Cuba. These are the types of performances that, you know, we've never seen this on the world stage From Canada. I remember in 2013 Canada was led by Joey Votto, Austin Morneau and a bunch of like probably car salesmen, plumbers, car salesman, car salesmen and insurance brokers. And look, they were out there playing their hearts out too. Back then they got into a bench clearing brawl with Mexico in a game that they won. [00:24:26] Speaker B: About that. Yes. Oh man. [00:24:29] Speaker A: If you have a chance listening Google 2013 or YouTube 2013 Canada, Mexico brawl. And at the World Baseball Classic, I think like six or seven players got ejected. It was wild because Mexico was losing and they, they signaled to Peg one of Canada's players and it just spiraled from there. But Canada won the game from then on. You know, we haven't had a whole lot of success on the world stage until this year where led by, as you noted, the Naylor brothers, Bo and Josh, Canada really showed some heart and some fight. And getting matched up against the US in the quarters is such a tough draw. [00:25:03] Speaker B: Tough. [00:25:04] Speaker A: It's a brutal draw. And they were down five nothing but they made it close. It was five three. I believe it might have even been four three. But there was a moment where Canada had two runners on, nobody out and a chance to, to tie things up and just couldn't crack through. [00:25:21] Speaker B: Dave Betar kind of woke up there a little bit and it would have been nice to crack that off a Yankee bat. Okay. Would have loved every second of that. As a Blue Jay fan, my wife and I were invested. I've never heard in this household, don't get me wrong, we watch all sports but let's watch the Canada quarterfinal baseball tonight. Like that has never come out of my mouth. Like honestly, obviously. And honestly. So to go and sit down in the middle of the snowstorm that we're still having here in Canada know, obviously the Leafs haven't provided any entertainment to watch. And despite the last two games, the NHL, you know, since the Olympics been really hard watching hockey and watching the Blue Jays lose, watching Canada lose this year, it's been quite, it's been quite tough. But Canada despite that loss. I wish that seventh inning wouldn't have happened that way. I wish they just wouldn't have had anybody on because then you try to remember the would have, could haves. Just like the Jays when they had two outs away and Muny for just remembered how to hit a. Hit a ball and Hoffman forgot how to pitch a better pitch. I guess. I don't know, it just didn't make. It didn't make. It didn't make the end result like a celebration, don't get me wrong. But still something you can tap your cap and clap to Canada because they put on one heck of a matchup against the powerhouse in baseball, the arguable favorite in this tournament. I, it was so good to watch Conor and from my wife and I to, you know, after little Arlo went down for the snooze to say we're going to be watching some baseball tonight. I don't have to stress about anything else in sports. It was great and I'm proud to be, you know, to say that Canada baseball, I hope it doesn't take steps back. I think we can still see steps forward. There's. The Nailers are coming back. Denzel Clark. There's still players that would be coming back and maybe there's people in the pipeline that we don't even know that will be coming up very soon. Right. But that seventh inning was the killer. I looked over my wife and I said that's it. You know, you try to be optimistic but trying to be realistic, which is hard for me sometimes, especially as a Toronto sports fan through and through, you're just like, they're too good. USA is too good. Mason Miller is. It's. I had, I had, I had visions of when I used to saw. When I saw Miller coming out of the bullpen with Cleveland back in the back in the 2016 playoffs. It's just, you just know. You just, you just know. And that seventh inning was the killer. But to have two runners on Connor not get runs, I think that's bad. Don't get me wrong. If you're got to at least get a sac fly out of that at least or a ground ball to second base to try to get that runner from third home, but they couldn't get it done, turn up his arm and, and picked up a little velo and caused some chases and Canada wasn't able to capitalize. [00:27:57] Speaker A: Yeah, no, absolutely. And it's hard to feel too upset with the overall performance, but in the moment it certainly, certainly hurts to be that close and to have a chance to upset a Goliath team like the United States. And it's not like they brought their B players like this US roster is loaded with superstars. They came to play and sure, yeah, like, are they using the best pitching lineup possible? No, but they certainly brought a few absolute studs. Some of the comments that we've seen too come out of this from the US team in particular, Tarik Skubal, who of course you know, I'm fond of as a Detroit Tigers fan have been so strange where, you know, he initially comes in and says, I'm only going to pitch against Great Britain, you know, and those guys like who's on Great Britain? I can't name a single player the best pitcher in the world and he only wants to throw 55 pitches or whatever against the worst team in the bracket. And then Connor, you know, he's in a contract year so I mean, I can see why he would want to hold back. But you've got that mixed in with Paul Skeens now who in the semifinal game for the United States against the Dominican Republic pitched against one of the greatest assembled teams in the history of the World Baseball Classic, the Doctor, and played this absolutely, you know, tight two, one game the United States did. And Paul Skeens even said, and I know you're a huge Paul Skeens guy, but going into that game, he said, this is the quote, the Doctor is the toughest lineup I've ever faced for sure. And then he went on to say, I think they would probably say the same thing about facing us. [00:29:37] Speaker B: You know what, when I watched, I was watching that game, the Dominican in the States and I was cheering for my boy Vlad and the Dominican and that energy he loves slide at home by the way too. Hey, that Vlad. Hey, listen buddy, there's a season to play here, okay? You gotta watch yourself. Yikes. But I don't know why I'm just so better. I don't want the, the States to win. They're winning everything right now. But you know what? Paul Skeens, his point, arguably that is the toughest lineup he would. He has face to point in his young career and he's looking mid season form, Skubal, mid season form. But you would expect from these juggernaut pitchers, I call you they're called aces. Okay. But I'm going to say juggernaut for sake of this show today because when you got those guys on the mound, it's almost like a guaranteed win. Almost. Unless you're the Pirates and Paul Skins. But at least you can know guaranteed you're going to have under two runs against you. But what fascinates me is the States. Despite having these stars, you see the glimpses of some of these guys that have some of that bad at bat discipline. Judge swinging freely. The guy is, don't get me wrong, best hitter in baseball right now. I think Ohtani might have something to say about that. Maybe Schwarber, some guys might have something to say about that. But I am most threatened when either Ohtani and Judge are up. And I would arguably go up with Judge a bit more because of being more seeing the AL side more. But in watching, when I watch the World Series, Ohtani is human. But Judge swinging hard too, that he is swinging to mash that ball and like it's a playoff game. These States guys are trying, they're taking it serious. And I just see some of that plea discipline with some of these guys really come out to play these type of players. I almost feel I was a coach. I'm watching him saying, how can I get under Judge's skin? How can I get under Schwarber's skin? How can I get under these guys? Make them chase that ball because they will. Because their mindset is hitting that ball out of the ballpark. Okay. The best favorite player for me on the States that I like to watch, it really sets the tone is Bobby Witt. Bobby Witt is such a stud. Okay. And his he's fast, he's great in the field. That is the type of player that is annoying to play in playoff games because he's always on base, he'll steal to get on second and he's always getting that sac fly home or causing havoc in the field while stopping everything that goes past him or near him. Sorry. At short. So I kind of went on different tangent there because you talked on skiings. But that US team is so dominant through and through. And when Skeens talks about that's probably the best line of the Dominican plate. Yeah. A lot of these lineups people are playing right now. There's the best team that they've seen, best lineups that they have seen. And I couldn't agree with skiing more despite having a young career. Still. [00:32:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think if and for those who don't know, know and you'll recognize these names the Dominican Republic for the population size. They have this lineup. Fernando Tatis, Junior Kettle Marte, Juan Soto, Vladi Junior Manny Machado, Junior Caminero. [00:32:36] Speaker B: 30 home run. Sorry, 40, 40 plus Junior had last year. [00:32:40] Speaker A: Sorry, I think 45 dingers he had last year. Julio Rodriguez batting in like the seventh or eighth hole is like a 30 home run hitter for, for the doctor. And then on the flip side, you look at the heroes for the USA in that game. Gun Anderson. No relation. [00:32:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:32:56] Speaker A: Roman Anthony. [00:32:58] Speaker B: Oh, Roman. So good God. Red Sox got something special there. [00:33:01] Speaker A: This is, this is the definition of a 2026 baseball game where it was a 2:1 score, all three runs scored were solo home runs and the pitchers combined for, for 15 Ks for the Dominican Republic pitchers and 8 Ks for the US pitchers. If there's one weakness in, I mean, you said it, they're swinging for the fences, they're taking hard cuts. They had 15 strikeouts against these doctor batters. And at the end of the game, in the culminating moment, strike three called on a pitch that. [00:33:37] Speaker B: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I, I, you're, you're good. I'm sorry to cut you off, but the pitching, the pitching I umps, man, like open, open your eyes, man. Like I can't. Sorry. Keep going. Yeah. Ejected me. I'm already ejected. [00:33:51] Speaker A: And those who don't know, ABS is basically the review system now for calling balls and strikes. It's brand new this year for the MLB and pitchers and batters can review umpire strike calls. It's not in the World Baseball Classic. So the final out with USA beating the Dominican was on a strike three call after like a seven pitch battle where the US pitcher threw the ball and it was like a solid half foot below the bottom of the strike zone. Beautiful frame job by the catcher, but it's just a hard way to end that game. It's a hard way to end a game like that with a bad strike three call after. Good battle by the batter. [00:34:33] Speaker B: Good, very good battle. I think the last couple games I've watched quarters, semis, umpires, get it together, man. If this is what we're going to be seeing all year, I'm going to throw my controller at the television. I'm, I'm about, in my place of work about automation and efficiency and you know, trying to adapt to today's society. If everyone's picking up what I'm putting down. I love the human element when it comes to sports, when it comes to referees, umpires, but, and I know that's a risk in the game, and I say I love it. So all this is going to happen, even though I'm getting mad at it right now. And we just had a segment with a friend of the show and Andrew Palaya, which is a big issue here for the noha for hockey. I'm not talking about. I'm not talking bad about wrestling. I want to emphasize that. Okay. But obviously, when there's. What I expect from a ref is that consistency in the game, if this is what's being called, let's call it. Umpires are being consistent, but consistent in a way that the ball is obviously outside the zone. Like, you see the view from the camera when it's behind, you're like. And I wore contacts and my glasses. The kind of game I was wearing my contacts for the US Game, I was wearing my glasses because I was out before. And I can tell you both visions that I was playing with, they look like balls. A lot of the times I just need to. I'm hoping that the championship game here doesn't get dictated by that by any means. It takes away from the excitement of the game. And you really hope that these calls are consistent, but that they're not missed too much or in those important moments when a batter needs to bear down and be in the pressure situation, ump has to do the same thing. You got to get down, you got to see, you got to do what you got to do. I've never been an ump. Conor can tell you. I probably would never be an up. Okay. Human elements of risk. But you have to be consistent. But consistent by not just calls, but by adapting to the game in a way that your mentality has to be like the players. Pressure situation. Players care about this game. They want to win. Doesn't matter what sport you're talking about. So do your best in doing that. But everyone make sure you're not abusing officials. Okay, I'll just add that in there. So I got one. I got a couple things before we get into the season preview, before we let you go. Salvador Perez And Ronald Acuna Jr. You know what they both have in common besides playing for Venezuela tonight, They're gonna be the two deciding players that impact the win for Venezuela tonight. Prediction before this show comes out, remember Sal Perez and Ronald Acuna Jr. When it comes to winning that championship? Early prediction everybody. Okay. But this game hasn't started yet. It's 7:51 on our recording time. Okay. When we're done recording, I know what I'm Gonna go be doing okay. I'm gonna have one screen at a Leaf game. Yes. And the other screen of the World Baseball Classic tonight. Very excited about that. But Connor, any final thoughts when it comes to the World Baseball Classic? Anything else with Canada? Anything that Canada needs to change? Or do we just get to look forward to the future because. Or was this a once in a lifetime? Are we going to see this again? Are we going to see this again? [00:37:17] Speaker A: We are trending towards better baseball in Canada. It was really cool to see Canada's coaching staff have folks that are familiar to those at home like Russell Martin or Justin Morneau himself as the hitting coach. I think Canada is on the rise here. It's core in this tournament were younger guys like Josh Naylor. You know, he's late 20s, 28 years old, I believe. His brother Bo, I believe is younger. Our core is here to stay and it's an exciting time. It's very similar to basketball in that sense where Canada seems to be on the rise in those non hockey sports. [00:37:51] Speaker B: Shay Gildrus, man, like, come on, how do you not be good without Shea? And I'm gonna compare something with hockey. Switzerland. Switzerland for hockey, a team that has stars. Some guys that are coming up, some guys that play minor leagues. I will compare baseball. I agree with you 100, 100%. But if I'm gonna go that hockey route too, I'm saying Switzerland. So like it's coming, people. There's a lot of things to enjoy when it comes to Canadian baseball. Now this year, Connor, I want to keep it simple. Okay? We're. We got the season around the corner. The Blue Jays open up their season against of course, Oakland or. Sorry, yeah, Oakland. They still, they're still called. I see. I almost second got. I caught myself there. Okay, I'm so. I'm calling them Vegas. Okay, I might start calling them Vegas very soon. But they're playing the Athletics. Let me correct myself. They're playing the Athletics and Gosman takes them out. And That's Friday the 27th. That's next week. Okay. Now I know normally people are going to say, well, don't you do a season preview the week of. Nah, not right now we're not. We're going to do a preview for you right now. And when it comes to strike zone, you got us throughout the summer. I want it now. I want the season prediction now as of today because baseball's trending this week even more and it's going to cause you, the listeners, to find us more on your search, okay? There's my absolute reason. But besides that, I want to go around the league, Connor. Both of us. Okay. I will start and I will name the predict. I will predict who will win each division. That's the first thing. Second thing, I will predict who will. Who will be the final two in the World Series and who will win the World Series. After you go, I have. I will make three pop up questions for you to wrap up strike zone. And they're only for you to answer, not for me. If everyone follows, great. If you don't, too bad. Just turn up your volume and follow along. So I'm gonna go first when it comes to the divisions. I'm going to start in the. In the AL with the American League East. The Toronto Blue Jays are winning the division. The American League Central. This might be a hot take, everybody. Okay. Sorry to people that thought I was going to pick Kansas City, but I am picking the Detroit Tigers to win this division. The American League Central, The American League West. For this, I'm going with Seattle. Okay. I got to give Seattle to. To win that. And the National League going to the nl. The National League East. I'm going to give that to the Phillies. Sorry, Mets fans. Sorry. Boba Shetland. With a National League Central. I'm going to give that to the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati is going to be really exciting to watch in Milwaukee, but Milwaukee will be number two. I'm putting the Cubs at one. The National League West. As much as everyone probably liked me to say San Diego Padres, I'm not. I am going with the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League West. Now World Series final rematch time, baby. It's the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But guess what? This year's winner, the World Series is coming back home, baby. The redemption. This is the redemption season. This is Vladi's redemption. This is the Blue Jays redemption. This is that ball in the wall that didn't get taken out. It's that slide at home that was out, but was it out kind of thing. Kirk ground out to a double play for the first time in 77 years in a World Series. That pot fly that paw has caught that nobody would ever catch in any loud atmosphere or run into a player. I could tell you if Conor and I ran into each other, we're not catching that ball. I don't care how good Conor is and how bad I am, or vice versa, how good we are. If run into you as a human being, you're dropping that ball. But Paes is wearing metal. I guess I don't know what happened. But all this redemption is going to happen and the Blue Jays are going to win the World Series. And that's a no bias honest decision. You can ask Connor. I have not picked the world the Blue Jays in the past. I have not done it. You know who I picked last year? The Dodgers. Who'd I pick in previous years? I am three straight on calling wins and I am going for four this year and I am going to be four for four for straight. The Blue Jays are winning the World Series this year. So Connor, division winners, World Series final and winners. And then I got my three pop up questions for you before we wrap up the segment. [00:41:59] Speaker A: Gotcha. Least what the heck. Ride the wave, Blue Jays. AL Central. Totally not biased. Justin Verlander back on the Tigers. They're gonna bring it home. AL West. Tricky. Give me the Mariners. I've had enough of the Astros being my pick for that division, so I'm gonna try to mix it up. I like the Mariners for the NL East. You've got some fun choices. I think it's very split three way race between the Phillies, the Braves and the Mets. [00:42:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:26] Speaker A: Dave, who did you pick for this division? [00:42:28] Speaker B: I picked the Phillies. [00:42:29] Speaker A: I'll take the Braves. [00:42:30] Speaker B: Nice. [00:42:30] Speaker A: NL Central. We've got the Cubs, Pirates, Brewers, Reds and Cardinals. You took the Cubs. I'm going to ride with the Pirates. Why not? [00:42:39] Speaker B: There we go. Paul Skeets is excited somewhere. [00:42:44] Speaker A: He can pitch every game for them. Right? Like you can do a 162 game. [00:42:48] Speaker B: Why not? Why not? Why not? He's young. [00:42:51] Speaker A: Put him in there. And then finally. God, do I have to pick the Dodgers for the NL West? I guess I do. It's disappointing, but I will. [00:43:00] Speaker B: Sad. World Series final matchup and prediction of winner way too early. [00:43:04] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. The Tigers have unlimited aura right now with Verlander back in the fold. So I'm taking them. And it doesn't matter who they're playing against. They're gonna go all the way, baby. [00:43:12] Speaker B: Okay, okay. No bias. You're taking the Tigers. [00:43:14] Speaker A: No bias at all. [00:43:15] Speaker B: World Series. Okay, I. I will accept that. They're not a bad pick. I'm telling everyone, even though the bias the Tigers are a good pick for. For the al. Don't get me wrong. Okay, okay. So maybe we could finally have that Jay's Tigers matchup that we've been waiting to have for years. Okay. Wouldn't that be just so exciting to watch? Now three pop up questions. Got the picture. It's only. It's only taking up one sentence here. I don't know why I'm ripping out the notes. [00:43:41] Speaker A: I'm nervous. [00:43:42] Speaker B: So I'm gonna list the question. You're just gonna answer them. There's three of them. Very simple young winners for this year. One for the nl, one for the al. [00:43:52] Speaker A: Oh my God. Our boys Scubal and ski and Skubal's gonna triple crown the Cy Young and and skiings is going to to bring it home as well. There's they're so dominant it's hard to go against them. Love that. [00:44:04] Speaker B: Aaron Judge over or under 50 home runs this year? [00:44:07] Speaker A: Give me the over, Dave. I'll confidently take the over. I think he's just riding the biggest high right now. Why not give me the over? [00:44:14] Speaker B: Last one. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over. Under 40 home runs. [00:44:20] Speaker A: I'll take the under. I don't want to. But I think that the answer is going to be closer to 30 for him this year. [00:44:26] Speaker B: Okay, love that take. Love that take. That is the season preview in terms of predictions and some predictions for the year. When we have Conor back on, we'll talk about the players in season as a whole. Okay, everyone, you got your preview with predictions. We didn't give you the preview to dive into some of the news. That's for when we have another segment for next week or potentially the following week as we get past opening weekend. But we hope Conor can come on for a quick 15 minutes next week to join and Trudeau can hopefully join for that as well. Have the three of us talk a little bit of baseball in a full season type preview where we talk instead of just predictions. Connor, any final thoughts for Strike Zone before we wrap up the show and the segment tonight? [00:45:08] Speaker A: No, it was great catching up with you, Dave. It's always nice to sneak in a little extra baseball when it's not baseball season. Looking forward to talking to you again sometime soon. Love it. [00:45:17] Speaker B: Thank you, Connor. It's always a blast. I want to say thank you to you, the listeners, the viewers, all the supporters of the Game Sports podcast. Keep the interaction coming on Tick Tock. We've loved it the past month here on the game and for social media. Don't hesitate. We'll answer. Yeah, we'll trip you back. We'll get you back. We'd love if you want to come on this show and get and challenge us to a little discussion. We're all for it. We've been around for 10 years. Has the Game sports podcast. We are. We've been around for 10 years. Gave me a little bit of goosebumps there for a minute. That is unbelievable how long we've been doing this here on the game and we appreciate it, appreciate all the individuals have been with us from the start and also new but nonetheless we will be back next week for another episode where I do expect more of a full roster between Brendan, myself, Jordan, Connor, even maybe Justin might make away even though he's looking at welcoming a new baby in the world. I haven't gotten any updates over the past week for that, but nonetheless another member of the game family is going to be expanding, but nonetheless we'll be back next week for another episode and 91N is what we're powered by featured on Spaces on all social media platforms, audio platforms for listening as well. And again, happy St. Patrick's Day. And to everyone out there, we hope that you stay safe, especially if you're in Canada, Ontario or in Sault Ste. Marie, that you're staying warm and safe because of this awful weather that we are having and still having again. We will see you next time here on the GAIN Sports Podcast. I'm here to remind you to keep your stick on the ice, Swing your bats, catch touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah. It.