Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: It'S time for the Game Sports Podcast. It is Your host, David McCaig Jr. The Game Sports Podcast is powered by 91 Network. 91N is a YouTube channel. Just head on over to that to hear and see all episodes of the Game as well as other providers on the platform of 91. And the game Sports Podcast is also aired on Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcast, make sure that you are following through there as well. Well, if you have joined us through social media, that could be TikTok, that could be Instagram, could be Facebook, or it could have been through the community platform called Spaces on Village Media and Su today's platform. Either way, wherever you are getting your content for your podcasts and to be involved in the discussion that led you to the Game Sports Podcast, hit that. Like hit that. Follow, hit that. Subscribe and make sure you're commenting below to get into the fun and interaction here on the Game. So on this episode here tonight there's gonna be three segments. The first segment you just have truly with kind of a little round table for myself if you will, a very short first segment because in the second segment and third we got some action packed that is filled with hockey. And in that second segment I'll be joined by Jordan Trudeau for our newly founded segment Chuck A Puck, which is devoted to of course where the Game Sports Podcast is based in Sault Ste. Marie where we have it as a local based podcast where we devote to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for news about the greyhounds, but as well as and throughout the Ontario Hockey League. In the third segment that's where we're going to have our top shelf segment where I'll be joined by Coast Brendan McCarthy talking about all things the National Hockey League, but we're also going to get into the world Juniors there as well with our predictions. So we got hockey throughout the basically the meat and potatoes of this episode tonight. But for the opening of the show I'm going to kick it off and start with some football. Obviously we will not have an in the pocket segment this week. Okay. Obviously this week going into the holidays people have a lot going on with the with with if they're renovating their house like Justin's doing or if you have plans because of Christmas parties like others with hosts or if you're like myself where you're still going to make sure you get content for your listeners and viewers but you're going to be starting to celebrate the holidays with wearing all your ugly Christmas sweaters. And I'M wearing one right here and if you're on video you get the option to see what that is. This is my Joker Christmas sweater. I got this a few years back and it's one that I will make sure to wear every year just because of the price that it was and because I think it's awesome. If you don't like it, try to keep that comment to yourself. But jokes aside, we're going to be talking about football to kick off the show and just around the corner NCAA is going to be starting. Obviously it's playoff picture. Make sure you look on to the previous episode of the game sports podcast where Justin and myself had our predictions for that or make sure you interact on the clips there on social media. But we're into week 16 in the national Football League and we have our pickup and our pickup is between myself, Justin Heiko and E.J. russell, the main co hosts of the in the Pocket segment. And I'm going to take Justin's duty today in his absence and talk about the standings updates. Then I'm going to take the picks and tell you my picks for this week with a little bit of reaction going into week two 16.
So for the standings for the pick em you have keggers Gridiron picks in first with 150 points. In second you got hikes picks the all original Heights picks with 149 points. And the Browns is the Browns. That is E.J. russell, the 139. And E.J. has had some inconsistent picks this year. Arguably he could and would state that if he was making his picks accurately he would likely be tied with me if not maybe a little bit more because EJ is the defending back to back to back champion. But he did miss deadlines of making picks and you pay the price when you do that. So right now it is quite the lead between from EJ to Justin but also to myself. But one point separates myself and Justin as we get to the final weeks of the season. So going to the predictions this week for week 16, starting off with the top of the week, you got the Broncos and you got the Chargers. I got the Chargers in that game. The Chiefs and Texans. I'm going to choose the Chiefs in that game but it's going to be very good football game. Just telling you that right now and obviously with status with Mahomes, obviously with Patrick Mahomes with last with last week leaving the game and kind of being down as you know he if he can go, he'll go is the quote that we have from NFL.com but he did practice fully but there was some issue with his knee, of course last week. So ultimately it seems like he will go and that's how Mahomes is. So I think he'll be in the lineup and that's why the Chiefs will be the one victorious because that's just how it is with Mahomes. He'll come back and he'll just, he'll seem like he would have been injured. He's going to probably come throw 300 yards. That's just how Mahomes plays. He's a very, he's a battler and it hasn't been this season that maybe people predicted for Mahomes, but overall he is going to be okay, it seems like, and that he will be good to go. So continuing with the picks, I don't get sidetracked too much. I'm going to choose the Steelers over the Ravens this week. The Steelers have clinched a playoff spot, but I am going to pick the Steelers. The weeks that I haven't picked them, they won. So I'm going to keep picking them because as everyone knows, I am a Steeler fan. I'm going to pick them to get the dub. But also just no bias. I feel like they play the Ravens well and after last week's performance, I think they're really going to kind of step up and play more defensive football game in this game and they have the task against Lamar Jackson and Henry of the Ravens. Just the Falcons over the Giants. I got the Lions over the Bears. The Lions had a tough matchup last week against the Bills. What a great football game that was. Bengals over the Browns, Colts over the Titans. I'm going to choose the Rams over the Jets. I'm going to choose the Eagles over the Commanders in a very good football game. Cardinals over the Panthers, Vikings over the Seahawks, Bills over the Patriots in an absolutely big absolute slaughter fest. Just calling it right now. And then I'm going to choose the Jags over the Raiders. This week I'm going to choose the Dolphins over the 49ers. Kind of a hot take there. Buccaneers over the Cowboys and the packers over the Saints. And in the packers game, I'm going to say that the packers are going to win 2418 over the Saints. And for the Cowboys game, I'm going to choose the Buccaneers 24 to 21 over the Dallas Cowboys. The most points this week, the Buffalo Bills. The least point this week will be the New England Patriots. And if you're on video and you were looking as you see, I was making my picks. I was submitting my picks on the Yahoo app. If you don't have this app, it's very fun to play and go against your friends to predict who you think is going to win the games that week. But for week 16, before I get into that, I just want to say, obviously for in the Pocket segment, make sure I remind you that in the Pocket is sponsored by Sports Center Bar and Grills. Who see me Ontario's best sports bar for over five years in a row. Best wings for over two years as well. Sports Center Bar and Grills, the original home of the Game Sports podcast. Make sure I mention that without forgetting because obviously we're talking football. That means we're talking in the Pocket right now, essentially, even though it's not devoted as a full segment as usual today, make sure that we give love to our sponsors, especially if it's local here in Sault Ste. Marie and obviously a big part of the Game family. But the week 15, before I get into a little bit of week 16, week 15, that Lions game between the Lions and the Bills was a damn good, exciting football game. And Josh Allen has cemented, I don't care what anybody says, he has cemented his MVP this year. I know some other players may have an opinion to that, but I think Josh Allen, who's had such an amazing year, heck, he just got engaged to Haley Steinfeld. He's had his engagement, he's having a good football season. Everything's kind of going as planned this year for Josh Allen. It kind of feels like that magical year for Josh Allen, but they've always been really competitive in the regular season. But Josh is playing on a different level this year. And if he could be this consistent throughout the regular, throughout the rest of regular season, going to the playoffs, the Bills are going to be a team to watch. And we may have seen a potential super bowl matchup between the Lions and the Bills. We could have maybe seen something unique there. I think there's, there's there that would be a dang good football game, but obviously the Chiefs might have something to say about that. There's other teams that would be in the mix of that. But again, the Bills scoring over 40 points on the Lions. A Lions team that is injured, right. That has found out they lost Montgomery. Now, longer term, the Lions just can't catch a break with the injury bug, but they do have some guys that project to come back by the end of the season. I think that'll give them a boost going into the playoffs, but again to finalize with the Bills, that was a damn good football game. And Josh Allen in my opinion is going to be your MVP and he has shown why he will be the MVP. So this week, going into this Week with Week 16, Games of the week, you could choose a lot of games. There's a lot of good football games this week in my honest opinion. The Thursday nighter I think is a little bit of a underrated kind of snooze fest I'll call it. And what that means to me is it's going to be a game that isn't supposed to be exciting, but it has an underrated side to it where it could just be a sneaky good football game for the week because the two teams, Broncos and Chargers can make the game exciting. But if you look at other games in the week, I really like the Eagles commanders game. I think that's going to be very exciting. I think the Dolphins Niner game is not really a storybook game that you're like wow, this has a lot of implications and it's going to be the best game we've seen all year. No, it's just two of the same team that are kind of at a stale point in their season and they, they. I still think there's something to prove for both teams so I think that's why there's going to be that excitement. The Packers Saints is not a good enjoyable Monday nighter for me, to be honest. I think that's going to be an absolute slaughter fest like it was or is going to be between the Bills and the Patri. But I do like the Buccaneers and the Cowboys despite the injuries that the Cowboys have faced this year. The Buccaneers, I think that's going to be a competitive game. So the way that I say that there's exciting games to watch this week, it comes from a factor of being games that are just going to be enjoyable to watch and overall exciting. There isn't the storybook games like I was saying a few moments ago, like the Bills Lions, that type of game. But there's still some good enjoyable football in my opinion to watch. And there's maybe not as good as last week but just some good football to watch going into the break. Especially with the NCAA football just with playoff pitcher a few days away, recording Here on the 17th, 20th is when things get started. But that has been kind of an in the pocket overview for this week. Want to make sure that my picks are announced and shown and everything and that it was shown on video as well that my picks were made. But what are your picks for this week? Let us know in the comments below. The second thing I want to get into before we get into our segments that feature hockey in its entirety for this episode, baseball. Look, we talked about it last week. Soto went to the Mets, absolutely secured the bag the Yankees, Max Freed. And today before we uploaded the and recorded the podcast, Cody Ballinger was traded from the Cubs over to the Yankees. Obviously a Tucker get traded from Houston. Chicago is making some moves of course, but the Yankees are staying busy. They swing and miss on Soto so they're trying to bring in ways to replace them. They get a good pit, their rotation looks absolutely scary. But Ballinger is going to essentially be a replacement in my opinion for Soto in that lineup for the Yankees. And he's a guy who can hit 30 plus home runs who's going to be a consistent hitter. He's a left handed bat. I think it's a very interesting trade for the Yankees and I think it's a good move for the Yankees on a team that has some dangerous hitters already with with of course judge with Stanton, they're still figuring out some other moving pieces of Torres is going to go. Obviously I don't think Torres will be returning to the New York Yankees, but this is a team still that was in the World Series this year and they're still thinking that they are a team that should be in the World Series. And the way that they're buying, they're being aggressive. I think Cody Ballinger is going to have a heck of a season especially playing at Yankee Stadium. I think that is a very good fit for Cody Bellinger. Now point that I want to bring up to the story is something that I saw on TSM but also through Bleach Report Sporting News. The Toronto Blue Jays had interest in Cody Bellinger. Heck, they had interest in Cody Belger last year for the free agency. But the Blue Jays are swinging and missing on everything. They don't get Soto, they didn't get Ohtani last year. They didn't try to sign a pitcher yet. Apparently they were looking at bringing a pitcher like Max Freed, but that didn't happen. They were apparently looking at Ballinger. If you're clicking on what I've been saying the past few seconds. Apparently. Apparently. Apparently. Look, I believe that they're in on Soto. The proof was there. The vis. Everything was there. Okay. But when you're going against teams like the Yankees and the Mets and never mind just the money side, just that storybook, it's A little bit different of a pursuit that you have to do in Toronto. And I think Atkins and Shapiro, this is the final kick at the can for them. Okay. And the way that things are going, they may not sign anybody or they're going to get into a point of their where they're just going to sign somebody just to say that they did, which is very concerning. But there are still some available players out there and without getting into them too much, I want to talk about kind of the strategy that Blue Jays should be facing. It is still. Teo is still there and Bellinger, who the Cub signed this year, didn't hit 30 home runs, but he will hit 30 this year, Yankee State, and mark my words, I think he'll have a bounce back year. But going back to the Jays, that is a kind of bat that you want in your lineup. I think a welcome return with Tiasco Hernandez would be very interesting and I think should be taken.
Obviously they did trade for Jimenez from the, from the Guardians. So they're doing what they can to try to upgrade this team and defensively they look great. Jimenez, Varsho, this is a in Vladimir Guerrero at first, but this is not a team that in my opinion is going to compete with the Dodgers, let alone maybe not even compete with the Yankees and the Mets. So this, if they want to compete. First off, you focus on resigning Vlad and also extra and extending Vlad is what I mean to say. And, and Boba Shet. You lock up the core and you give him money that he wants. I've said this on previous episode Pay the Man for the Blue Jays. They need to do that to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They still need to bring in support, bring back to Oscar. You still need to bring in some pitching on the bullpen. You still need to maybe improve the rotation. There's a lot of question marks still and a lot of the names are starting to fall and if you don't sign guys that would be an attractive piece to your team. They're going to start trading and start overpaying and that's not going to be the right approach. They have very good depth in their system. I like a couple of their pieces that they have, especially Ricky Taman from the, from the minor league system. The Blue Jays need to focus on signing players and not spending an astronomical amount of money. And that astronomical amount of money would have been with Soto. But Soto is a generational talent like S.H. otani, but he shouldn't have been paid more than Otani. I don't care what anybody says. Sh pitches Soto in my eyes, I think my cap realistically would have been a $600 million guy. And even that's too much money. Money. Okay, just saying that out there right now, but the Blue Jays want to spend money and they're in on these guys and they're not getting them. What's the problem? What's happening? Don't overpay or react or be aggressive just to be aggressive. But why are they swinging and missing on every guy? It seems like. Why are they in on every guy but they can't get them? What is the reason? Is it because of Canada? Is it because of. What is it? What is the rationale for. For this? I think what needs to be looked at from an ownership perspective. And if Atkins isn't successful this year, never mind just Adkins, there's going to be a full clean house with the Blue Jays because when they had this young team before the COVID bubble all kicked in, this was the window where we thought we'd see some extra extended baseball coverage with the playoffs and seeing a championship. If you're a Blue Jay fan, which everyone knows that I am, but if you would have told me that the Tigers would be ahead of the Blue Jays at this time, that's not something that I would have predicted. So it's been not successful. They haven't had good playoff runs as choke against Seattle. The Minnesota games were an absolute joke. There was a lot of immaturity there. These. This team needs to have a season if they want to stay together, if they want to be here. Because if it isn't successful this year, this is the year. The Jays, if they are not successful, might create more painful years because of if you resign Vlad or not or whatnot, or if you overspend on a player. I want to see Atkins be smart. And you should if you're a Blue Jays fan. But overpaying, Is that the answer? No. But bringing in the right guys and keeping the guys to keep that integrity in the organization. You have Vlad Bo resign them and bring in guys that are going to be impactful players. But you keep swinging and missing on guys. What is happening? Figure out a way to bring in guys to help attract more players to go play in Toronto. And Lenny, last baseball news or the last piece of baseball news story that I want to get into. And it's kind of a topic that I'm going to save that I'm gonna save for when we have Connor back on the show. But I want to talk about Tropicana Field, the trop in Tampa Bay, obviously they're going through a lot there in Florida, but there's been obviously been a lot of discussion about home games, split games, Montreal, all that's all that happening. Talk of different expansion. Look at Oakland, leaving Oakland, all this happening. I think that Tampa should be relocated to Montreal and the Expos should be put back in the MLB with two Canadian teams. Creates a Canadian team rivalry. They play in the same division. You have the Yankees and Red Sox there. You're going to bring more money over to Canada to say international game. Look, I think they should bring a team back to Montreal and that team to go there should be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays are, they don't have a standard a very like an effective field. They I feel like the fans obviously are not as bought in as they should be. Where Montreal fans would be ecstatic to have a team back. Bring back the Expos telling you right now. Any other news for baseball we'll get into as the. Well the winter goes along as we lead up to the summer as more names are going to be signed and getting traded obviously for Ballinger today for the Yankees. Right handed reliever Cody Poteet goes to the Chicago Cubs in that trade. Obviously Ballinger had an off season and there's some pretty pricey tag that the Yankees are taking over. But I'm very curious to see how Ballinger does in that Yankee lineup. I think he's going to be a good, I think he's have a very good bounce back season for the Yankees. Just calling it right now.
All right. This has been the opening segment where I talked in the pocket in a brief way and then obviously baseball. I'm going to take a quick breather. When I come back, Jordan Trudeau is going to be joining me for the chocolate segment where we're going to talk about Ohl and obviously with the center of that podcast segment of the segment of this podcast, sorry, being devoted towards the Sousa Marie Greyhounds. You don't want to miss it. Be right back. Welcome back to the Game Sports Podcast. David McKay continuing to host you this evening. We are now in the Chuck A. Puck segment. I am joined by Jordan Trudeau. Trudes, my friend, great to see you. Third straight week. You know we're Christmas and the holidays just around the corner. It is fantastic. We have our break coming up in a couple weeks but don't worry, we're still gonna have clips as news happens with either the Hounds or the World Juniors. Just so the viewers and listeners know that you won't be not hearing from us in a cup throughout the two weeks if nothing happens. But nonetheless truths. How are you my friend and great to have you on again here tonight.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Yeah, good. Dave, how are you doing?
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Great, man. I look forward to this a lot. I look forward to seeing you and I don't say it to the other guys as much as I probably should. Okay. But this, this, this segment that we have I think is so great. It's unique. It's something that you don't see in Sault Ste. Marie and we're glad to bring it to those that if it's from the Facebook page, if it's from if through spaces through Village Media today either way to give them a sec a secondary platform other than their phones between their friends to react and listen to what we talk about. Obviously we want to upload as many clips as we can and we I've only been able to upload a couple in particular to the Facebook page for the fan page. But obviously we were expecting a guest this week but that got rescheduled till after the the holidays and there it's a very unique time in the Ontario Hockey League because the, the roster freezes this week before obviously the World Juniors kicks off which obviously Canada has its first game on on a Boxing Day officially. So it's, it's a busy time around the, around the junior hockey ranks and the Hounds just wrapped up up that will and I'll give you the the floor for that talk about this past week leading up to before now being in the break because they don't have a game until while they play on the 18th and the 20th. They play on the road. So they played at home. Sorry, but those were their last home games before the break is what I meant to say. So they have two road games before they go on their Christmas break because then they're off until the 28th of December where the host Windsor here at home. So druids a lot to get into this app on this segment overall. So in such such little time. Why don't you before we get into the roster freeze and Gibson and players potentially being traded and trades in the Ontario Hockey League. That did happen today. As we're recording it's December 17th at 7:15pm if everyone's curious now, let me know about last week though. The Hounds, they had their last little stretch of home games before the holidays. How do you think last week went? Let's put it down. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: So yeah, I just wanted to say thanks again, Dave, for having me on. I look forward to this Too. This is, this is becoming a good part of my week and obviously I'm, I'm a very passionate fan and like follower of the OHL and the Greyhounds. So, yeah, I did, I did. And, and that was a great experience. Maybe sometime I can talk about that too because like I, that was like a dream come true for, you know, a kid from the Sioux that spent his winters playing hockey and going to the Gardens to cheer on the Hounds. I still remember the old GFL man.
[00:21:50] Speaker B: The Memorial Gardens man, Gard.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: So, like, that was a dream come true in its own right where I didn't actually get to play for the team, but I got to work for them. So. So yeah, hope. Hope everyone's enjoying the show and yeah, I'm excited to have like others on here that, that want to come on.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Because this show is going to be segments local. It's Hounds, it's local guests. You're a fan.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:14] Speaker B: You know, obviously on the show we've had a lot of great, you know, known hockey players come on the show and you know, we've had. That is for our top shelf and our special edition segments. Those are for that, for that, that platform and that piece of the show. That's where we'll do those interviews. This show, sorry, this segment of the show is dedicated and devoted to the Hounds is the words devoted to. With that OHL flavor of news. But to have that interaction with the local community to give you a platform to come talk on and have comments about. Okay, but keep comments appropriate, please. They. They have been. I'm not saying they haven't been. They've been good. But please keep that up because obviously you can have an opinion. You can chirp us, you can chirp, you can chirp, you can. Whatever you want to do, you can.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: Just, you know, sue fans, we know how we, we all Sioux fans are, right? Oh yeah, it's passionate Church and. And then this upcoming time is huge. Yeah, it's. It's really important times for junior hockey and it's an exciting time. So, yeah, this past weekend they went 1, 2, 1, 1, lost 1. So that puts them to 2 and 8 in their past 10.
So in Greyhound standards over the past few years, not good at all. Right, so a couple of my notes from this past weekend, again, we mentioned this last week, they're struggling to keep the puck out of their own net. Both goalies, they struggled a little bit. So each one was pulled this past weekend in back to back games and. But like I think a lot of the goals that we saw a lot of the goals against really stemmed from turnovers like defensive zone breakdowns and odd Ben rushes. Like I wasn't really looking too much at the goalies like I've done in the past.
Like when I've been critical of Miller Shanko being like, you know, okay, that was a bit of an easy one. Should have had that one maybe or, or you see Dean come on in some articles he said, yeah, like you know, Landon should have had those two and we lost four. Three. Like I think what we're looking for right now or what I looked at was those three things. Turnovers, defensive zone breakdowns, not picking up guys in defensive zone and giving up a lot of odd man rushes. One thing I really noted was their neutral zone forecheck, their structure in the neutral zone forecheck. I found, I don't know about a lot of other Hounds fans found. I found that I, a lot of times I would see no, almost little to no pressure on an opposing puck carrier from their blue line all the way into the Greyhounds end. So like that's, that's very, very difficult. Like that gap control, you know, is huge. Dave. Right. So like just allowing that time and space, I think that just needs to get tightened up.
So. But all in all, like all that is characteristic of a young team, right? And like we've talked about, Gibson is gone. He's gone for good. Now there are still moves to be made, but the bulk of the answer right now is already in the dressing room. So they have with Chase Reed signing. They signed him last week, the day like the day of, they announced the day of the Wednesday game. He's now their ninth 17 year old so very young team. The nine 17 year old and he's, he's like a, he's six feet. He's committed to Michigan State. He was a former late round pick and you know, you kind of got to give props to him and Hunter Solomon who have been playing top four minutes. So they've stepped up in that top four pairing with, in those top four pairings with Brody McConnell Barker and Kaden Carlisle and as 17 year old players in a 1920 year old heavy league, that's, that's really huge for their development and like they're not perfect by any means but what a huge step for them to get those type of minutes at a young age and they're doing a great job. So.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: And you know what, make it the, the youth movement may not always be a popular thing and obviously we haven't, you know, Seen an OHL championship or close to it. Obviously the. We have the sign when you enter the Suzanne reboot the Memorial cup obviously in the 90s and how story book and historic that team is. Okay. But obviously we've seen a lot of good teams with the Sioux Grounds. This team does know how to develop. The history of there with drafting and having talent and being a competitive team has been frequent that we've seen. But seeing this young team in this youth movement excites me as a, as a Greyhound fan and decides a part of the local community because I know what the future is going to take when you, if you're patient with these, with these players and you allow them the time and develop but you put them around some good veteran players as well. But this is going to be a growth opportunity for a lot of those young guys, the Sioux Greyhounds to take steps forward and next year we're going to see the, the benefits of them being that year older and what it's going to pay off to be next year. Do I see them winning next year? No, I, I don't, I don't see that. But the year after that I think things could start being into serious contention right where we can see that two year window where the Hounds could be in that upper threshold in the conference, in the league and also potentially being OHL champions if not debuting and getting back to the Memorial Cup. So that is what the goal is now. If you. And you have to understand as a team where you stand, you're not in the upper threshold. You're not a team that is going to win the OHL championship this year and you have to sell and you have to make moves this weekend. Yeah, you know, this was the last weekend where, you know, we see probably some of the faces that we've seen. They're likely that there's going to be trades and obviously Trudes and I are recording this before the, the freeze and before the World Juniors. And as trades happen, if trades happen this week or as things come up throughout the break, we will break that news on here for you and give you that interaction opportunity. But this is a team that is that I'm excited to see what they do during these next few weeks if or this week alone, but also after the freeze, what happens because it's pivotal. And speaking of that, I'm just going to read up and people see me looking at screen. I want to make sure that I quote the right trades of what happened. Okay, so London got Cam Allen from Guelph. All right. He Was leader on Guelph. Very good trade. They got. They got a couple second round picks, got a couple third round picks. They had a couple fourths and they got a fifth. Obviously different years. There's some 26 in there, some 25s and 27. Some 28s ranged out between the picks. But they got a haul for Cam Allen. Did. Did Guelph and as London paid that up. And let me tell you this, obviously London is a team that always seems to be successful. But that is the type of trade that we're going to see that might mirror what's going to happen with Andrew Gibson. Okay. But I was talking to Trudes about this offline. This is something that, that I actually think Gibson has the opportunity to get more. I'm more of a Gibson fan than I would be Alan. Another trade obviously would. So Guelph has also that they've acquired Justin Botnil from the Kitchener Rangers for fifth round pick. That's another trade that was. Was posted. And also today Guelph has traded their import for forward Vilmer.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: To Brampton. Okay. So Guelph has gotten into the roster freeze this and these trades were posted as obviously throughout Guelph's in X page as well as the OHL website. But also through the Sue Greyhounds Fam fans club page on Facebook is where that was posted. There's just a couple listed there. True.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Now Guelph's been very active all three trades they've been involved in so far.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:52] Speaker A: Well that two. Two of those trades impact the market for the greyhounds.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: So Ulrichsen's an import.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:30:00] Speaker C: Here.
[00:30:01] Speaker A: And he went for a second and two thirds. You're looking at it. Right? Yeah. So Obviously he's a 19 year old import and it. So that kind of. Unless Brampton is gonna, you know, double up on imports, that probably negates Nord going there.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: Because. But that's the type of market you would see for a 19 year old import right there. So that would be comparable. That return for Ulrichsen would be a comparable return for Nord which is. I think it's pretty. I think that's a pretty fair, fair deal for an import player that's 19 and that's NHL drafted. So like that's similar. That would be a similar market. Similar market for Gibson too. So Allen, you know that. That hall that he agreed that. That Guelph acquired for Allen that two. Two seconds, two thirds. And then Noah Jenkin the 07 defenseman to add that.
[00:30:53] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Like that's the type of trade that you're looking at as a Greyhound fan. Like that should get you pretty excited because we're. We already have nine zero seven which is 17 year old sophomore players. We already have nine. Nine of so a lot of not that's.
That's a lot of 17. Like that's a really, really good core group of 17 year old players that you can move forward with because they have that now they have three or four years left. A lot of those players. So like you know you're so that that type of trade now for Gibson would be very, very similar if not a little bit more because he. He might be valued a little bit more than Cam Allen I think.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: So that's again no bias Team Canada.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: Right it. But he made Team Canada. He's a higher NHL pick. I. I don't know but anyway the market's the same like it would be the same. So you know Kyle Raftis is looking for at least 2 seconds 2 thirds and a young player for Gibson and then the whatever change is left over.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: A young ready player that gets up into the lineup and be a big part of their future.
[00:32:06] Speaker A: Probably an 08. I would, I would. I would say I would predict because they're. They already have a solid 07 group.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: And they're probably looking at. I think they probably looking at an 08 to go along with some picks for Gibson because I think they only have one right now. Carson Andrew. See because all the other ones didn't report. He only had one 108report out of the first five rounds of picks which was very, very. Everybody was criticizing the gm.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: There for that. For that draft. Right.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: So you gotta try to repair that. You got to try to. You gotta replenish that.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: Which could pretty much repair itself now because with the new NCAA agreement.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: Yes. And that that agreement can go both ways. I know there's, there's like and there's not like about it. I understand both takes. But if as a former hockey player I didn't play NCAA just everybody knows my highest was trying out at a hound camp. So then Thunderbirds level. So I haven't had that experience but I can tell you there's a lot of people that I know. Even me when I was. If I was thinking I was going to make an OHL team. You have to make that decision. If like OHL or ncaa. Right. You have. You have to make that decision. And for me if people know who I am. Jokes aside, school wasn't always something I focused on. So I probably would have went the other side, as everyone would say, if I had the decision. But there's people that I know. Brett Perlini, some guys. Just name a few or name one of the guys. Sorry, I don't want to go through the list. But guys that went to play NCAA hockey. Right. And that made that. That was appealing. I thought it was really cool that he decided to take the jump and go play, obviously for. For Michigan State. Very cool. Right. Obviously there's a few friends of mine that played in the O. Some of them made the NHL. Colin Miller was one of them who's still playing for Winnipeg. Either direction that you go. But now the opportunity for both and having that agreement is really cool to see. We talked about that more last week and when.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:04] Speaker B: And when we have Peter Florio, we'll say the name of the guest who is going to be coming on soon. I'm sure he'll have his opinions on that, too. So we'll dive into that topic more. Back to the trade deadline, though. That's. Well, the roster freeze prior to the deadline that is upcoming. I think this sets the tone for the roster, but I think it's very. I think it's fair to say truths and I. I'm going to make the prediction right now. I don't think the Hounds make a trade before the roster freeze.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: That's what you're predicting.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: I'm gonna. I think if they're gonna move anyone, it's Nord. I think that they might move their import forward. They might maybe move if they get an absolute.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: Owen Allard has been day to day. He's been listed as day to day, so he's missed the past few games and there hasn't been a lot of information released about his injury. So I do that in quotations is because, like, there's no other real details on it. So that could point to a potential trade.
[00:34:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: But like, we can't say for sure. It just seems like a really big coincidence.
So, like. But then again, you got to remember too, that Nord and Alard are both. Oh like, they're both owned by Utah. Like, their NHL rights belong to Utah. Right. So they could also have like a say in. Well, we want them to stay together, which could, you know, potentially be risk, like tough on Kyle Raftis if he's receiving that pressure.
Obviously, it's just speculation.
It makes sense. So, like, that's. That could be. It could be a little difficult to find a deal for them both because one's an away, one's an import. Like, so Yeah, I don't think it's impossible. I think those. They're two really, really good players and a contending team would.
Meek would find a way to. To get them both on their roster. But like. Yeah, I. I don't know. I. I'll. I don't challenge your prediction challenge.
[00:35:57] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: I just think I want to say, well, Gibson. Yeah, Gibson can't. Gibson can't get traded. But I will say they might. They might trade own alert.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: Within the next day or two.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: If they wait, do not think they would maximize their value more for a team that might be a little bit desperate on pulling the trigger now if they say, hey, no, okay, we want this. Oh, we don't know if we want to pay that. Okay, that's fine.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. But I'd say so. Yeah. Like, as the cl. As it gets closer to the deadline, the. The risk you run with that as well, though is that you run out of buyers. Right. So, yeah, like, if you're. If you're playing that game, then. And if people pick up, like if other teams pick up, you know, other assets, you. And then you run out of buyers, you kind of. Then. Then the price is kind of fixed. Right. Because if there's only one buyer and they know you got you. You kind of gotta unload then. Then the kind of. The ball is in their court. No pun intended, I think. But I think Gibson is.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: Will be.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Like there's gonna be a bit of a bidding war there.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: Now that London's out. So that's important too. London's out of the run for Gibson.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:37:19] Speaker C: They're.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: They got their. Their defensive upgrade. So that leaves Kingston Oshawa, who at their. At the top of the Eastern Conference and are looking to buy or will be looking to buy. And then possibly Brampton too, because Brampton's already. You know, they've already. They got Ulrichson, so they're already in buy mode. So I think one of those three teams would be. I'm not sure who would be buying in the west other than London. Windsor's. Windsor could, but they're still young. And then they might want to.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: Not the future for that. They might want.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah, like Kitchener.
I don't know. They got like London. Well, do you want to go up against London, I guess right now? Cowan, Barky, Dickinson.
Now they have Allen. Yeah, they. They got. They got. They went to the Memorial cup last year. They pretty much have the same team. Jacob, Julian, like, so they got a solid. They got a really solid team. So I think it's gonna be interesting. It's gonna be an interesting deadline.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: You gotta think that I've said I know Windsor was one that had my eye on. To wait to see if they're gonna do something, but because they have some assets I think that Raftus would like to get, but it depends if Windsor would part from those pieces. Right. So you got to think it's. Windsor's got to be in that top three of pushing, but you got to think that Kingston and Oshawa are pushing, especially if they're in that pressure to buy now and win now, especially with London paying what they did. If they want to upgrade their team and try to be. Be a step ahead or in. In line, they're gonna have to do something. And interesting. Like I, I know it happened with, with Radish going to the Hounds, but in that freeze where it didn't happen, people knew that Radish was going to be a greyhound. His jersey, I think, was getting stitched here.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Leaked information that his jersey was getting stitched here.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: He had a picture. He had a picture, I think, with a greyhound jersey on at the gold medal or whatever. I think I remember that going around. Yeah. So, like it was normal, right. Where it gets out and then. So, yeah, we could see the rumors start to fly, you know, near the end of the World Junior Championship, you know where Gibson is going.
[00:39:34] Speaker B: I just like that what Gibson's playing right now. He's projected play top pairing in the World Juniors.
[00:39:39] Speaker A: I saw that. Yeah. No, that's really good for him.
[00:39:42] Speaker B: So that's why that value is.
Yeah, I almost would. And people won't like this. Take the risk of waiting. I almost would. Good. Because you know you're gonna sell him. You know where he's gonna get sold. You can wait on him. I think with, with a lard and Nord, there's kind of unique. You could just kind of field out the, the, the, the, the range right now and if you get something, great. But I think that everything is in the hounds to. They have the assets that the teams want with Alar Nord and, and with Gibson, of course, even Charlie and that. I, I think teams should be looking there too. Like they have some pieces where they can just reek and rake. Sorry, rake in draft picks right now and some young prospects and really build off these young, this young core that they have. It's exciting times, I think, despite not being a very impactful team this year. And I see a lot of posts on Facebook right, where they're like, this team is soft this team is this. This team. These are. This is a team full of young kids.
[00:40:38] Speaker A: People very young, very young for the. Oh, why don't we like.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: I'm going to put this back in the people that. That. Do you have the negative comments positivity. Look, passionate fan base. I get it. And look, I'm a sports guy doing a sports podcast. I've been doing sports for over a decade on radio and doing on this show. I understand talking about certain players and giving your opinion. I understand it more than anybody. Judes knows how opinionated I am. But besides that point, these are kids that are 17 years old. Put yourself back when you were 17 and this pressure. It is in your life. Pivotal points in their life to determine that education. Complete that education but also maintain the mind frame. To be a successful mindset. Sorry. To be a successful hockey player. To try to accomplish their goal of playing professional hockey. Okay, so like when I see that this team is soft or this team is. Yeah, you know what? It's not like the times where we saw the. The big rugged guys like even the. Not as tough as they were or that team that made it in the finals with Kachuk and Radish and all that stack team that used to grind, hit, get goals. I understand it's a little bit different, but that's what a rebuilding team is. And what I want to see with a rebuilding team is strides forward. Players that have a work hard mentality that play with a fire up their ass. And guess what? This team that I have seen and I missed and I swore. There's the one swear this episode that I gotta get the free card. Throw them.
All right, there you go. Red card in the air. Now throw the puck. Yeah, they throw the pocket, the invisible pocket. I gotta start putting one up here and throwing it.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: I forgot to get one. I meant to get one this past and I just.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: But they do play with fire. I missed the games this weekend. I wasn't able to attend this weekend. So I was really relying on some feedback and videos and yourself. But it's.
I do see a team that does really try to compete as best as they can. There's flaws in their game. This is what will happen with a young team.
[00:42:29] Speaker A: Tr. I like their Niagara. I thought they were. They were a bit flat. I thought like they, they didn't have a lot of energy. They couldn't get a lot going against Niagara. That Niagara team I got. I kind of got to give them credit. They're a lot better than I thought they were. Yeah, like I They're. And I looked at their record after the game because I only.
I didn't know their exact record because I don't really keep an eye as close an eye on the east. But they're 20 and not like they're 29. Like, they're. They got a solid. They had a solid first half, so, like. And they got some good players on that team. So I thought. But I, like, still, like, you're. You're looking at. You're looking at the Hounds roster. You're looking at what they can do, and the expectation is still high. It's a winning culture. And like, I. I would think that the only. They do play with fire. They do. And you mentioned, like, the 2018 team. Like, yes, people do want to see that. I think what. What the fan base really, really wants to see. And they have a really good chance and I hope the organization, you know, follows through on the. Follows through on this. They have a really, really good opportunity here to build around. And we've talked about this, to build around that 07 core. Mainly Brady Martin, mainly Travis Hayes, Landon Miller. So, like, I think really what the fan base is calling for is, yes, please, you know, go through a rebuild phase and we'll take our bumps now if we can get rewarded later when Brady Martin, Travis Hayes are 18, 19. And this team is ready to be a stud, folks.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: Brady Martin's gonna be a stud.
[00:44:04] Speaker A: Bid once for the third time, as per the Sue Today article, which I'd like to talk about more next week or next time, I guess, because the holidays are next week, but, like, possibly bid again for the Memorial cup in. In 2027. So, like, yes, we'll take our bumps now.
[00:44:23] Speaker B: We're talking about that. Especially if. Yes. Next. Next episode. That is.
[00:44:28] Speaker A: The new OHL commissioner was in the suit to watch the Niagara game. So, like, he had. He had a interview with Brad and there was an article on Suit today. So. Yeah, how like, yes, we. We want to make sure that we do things now to build for our future and, you know, get the Memorial cup back to Sault Ste. Marie. That's what all our Sounds fans want. Right?
[00:44:55] Speaker B: That's so hot to have here. I'll say that.
Yes. We need events like that here.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Oh, we do.
[00:45:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: We're starving for it. We're starving for it in this city. Okay. As much as it's great to have Mariana's Trench come here every. Every year and have all these different bands, it's time to get some events like the Memorial Cup. Okay.
[00:45:17] Speaker A: All right. Saginaw. And it was like I really enjoyed it. So yeah.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:45:22] Speaker A: Yeah. That would be awesome to have here.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: Good hockey here. The west, the Q. Oh, great. Great hockey. Great hockey. And we would probably see if we get in 2027. Let me get this. You'd probably maybe. Yeah. You wouldn't see Gavin McKenna. He'd already be in the NHL by then. But you would probably see if he makes it. Landon Dupont. And now me and TRS had some good conversation about Landon Dupont. The next Kale Makar saying it right now. We're gonna leave it here because we don't have time to get another topic. But Cale Makara 2.0 is coming up right now in the Western. Look him up, he's 16 but he's, you know, obviously a right handed shot defenseman from Calgary, Alberta. Who else is from Calgary? Kale McCarthy, Calgary, Alberta. Just everyone wants to know that. Fun fact, stud. He's 5 11. He's gonna get 6 1, 62 for.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: The Albert Everett Silver Silver Tips of the WHL.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: And if the Buffalo Savers continue on their trend to suck, they'll be the ones to likely get them in the draft. Sorry Buffalo fans, that's a low blow. That's a good segue though because on the next segment when I have Brandon McCarthy join, it's going to be our top shelf segment talking things in the National Hockey League. Trudes though to wrap up here for our Chuckle puck segment. Invisible puck has been chucked as I sit here in my festive sweater. We're going into the holidays.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Truth.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: I want to say thank you for taking the time, my friend. It was fun. Time flies when you're having fun. I know there's been a listener request about Peter Florio coming on. Don't worry people, it's coming. Okay. It's. It was supposed to be this week, but he'll be here next week. Joining truths and I intrudes would be great, you know, when we go to games and start getting a little bit of that. So maybe some clips live at a game. You know, maybe that's going to happen in the new year as well. But that aside, again, thanks for taking the time as always and I hope you have a great holiday. But we'll be in touch if big news happens throughout the holiday. We'll make sure to give the listeners some, some interaction opportunity if something happens during the holidays.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: Yep. Can't wait. Happy holidays, everybody. Happy holidays to you, Dave. And we'll talk to you. We'll talk to you very soon. Awesome.
[00:47:16] Speaker B: Awesome. I Love each week.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: It's a pleasure. Always a pleasure.
[00:47:18] Speaker B: You have a different background each week. I love that, by the way.
[00:47:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I gotta move around a lot. Yeah, I, I like, I love it.
[00:47:24] Speaker B: I love it, I love it. You keep it interesting. Me, this doesn't change. Okay.
[00:47:29] Speaker A: Knows where I'll be next or next time.
[00:47:32] Speaker B: Yeah, you might be outside next time maybe. Yeah, maybe, Maybe outside on the roof if it's a nice night. I don't know.
[00:47:38] Speaker A: Yeah, we could do vote. Where would you like to see me next?
[00:47:42] Speaker B: Or maybe we'll be in a studio doing it.
[00:47:45] Speaker A: Oh, maybe that would be great.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Who knows? All right, all right. Truths. Thank you. And again, we'll be right back here on the Game Sports Podcast, Brandon McCarthy is going to be joining me to join and discuss. Sorry, top shelf segment with the National Hockey League. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back to the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McKay continuing to host you this evening. I am joined by the one, the only Brandon McCarthy, my man from the GTA area. How are you, my friend? Good to see you, Davey.
[00:48:11] Speaker C: I'm doing well, my friend. I just crushed a nice steak and some noodles. Sometimes when we record at six, I always get like a hankering for food like 5pm onwards. So I'm like, should I eat before or after? So I was like, it's sitting there, it's waiting for me. Should I wait? But I'm like, no. Pre game, pre pod meal, we'll call it. And glad I did, glad I did because I'm fired up, ready to go.
[00:48:36] Speaker B: Though, not gonna lie. I, when I worked, when I came home from work, I had to from this morning continue to shovel the entry to my driveway because the plow went by here in the sue and scraped up all the snow that put up onto the driveway. And I was a couple feet up to my high waist of snow. This morning when I go outside at 7:15, have to be at work for 8. So I had to just send some curse words, shoveling snow. And I just half of it. And instead of like my wife and I carpool. So instead of taking my truck, we took her car. And because I've made this little exit so her car could just get through the exit so I'd have to do the entire thing. So I came home, finished that and then I sat on the couch just to relax. And that relax turned into a quick, a quick.
[00:49:22] Speaker C: How was your alarm? To remind you we got a recording.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: You were the alarm. And she woke me up thankfully at 102 to get me, me get my So I do my. My little. Get into it. Get into the mode for the pod prepod.
[00:49:35] Speaker C: Mellow.
[00:49:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Pre. You had the pre pod meal at the pre pods. The pre Pod zonk.
[00:49:41] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:49:41] Speaker B: Absolute sleep. All right, so we got. We got. We got a sporadic amount of hockey news to get into, and obviously Trudeau and I touched on a little bit of the world Juniors, too. But I wanted to make sure that I incorporated it as a full wide scope because obviously we centralized it to. From a local perspective here in Sault Ste. Marie. So to talk about it in a whole scope. We'll get into that on the last part of the segment. I want to open up with the National Hockey League and get into those updates. And obviously you and I are Toronto fans. It's right above here. I have jerseys right here and I have my custom one from when I was 13 years old. I got that jersey down there, that custom one. So I. Obviously, we know who we cheer for and there is news to talk about for them. We talk about all teams, but there is news to talk about for the Maple Leafs that is breaking news from one of their, well, best players that have been up to this point in the season. Anthony Stolars, okay, is going to be out for four to six weeks for a knee procedure. And it's not uncommon for Stolars to miss time for injury. He's had injuries the past couple years. He's missed a good deal of time, and he's going to be out for another four to six weeks. And Joseph Wall is going to be the guy who's taking the. Taking the. The bull by the horns going forward for the next four to six weeks, which is very pivotal in the National Hockey League season. Right. You obviously got the Christmas break, which, you know, they don't get too much of a break at Christmas. They have a couple days off before they play. The only upcoming break, really, that they see from action is in February for the four nations. Right. That they really see for break in action. And that's when Stolars will be back, if not back a bit before that. So Wall is going to have a good heavy load to deal with here.
Give me, give me your take on that. Give me your take.
[00:51:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Solars in previous years. I mean, before signing in Toronto, he's effectively just been a backup. So his body of work has increased greatly this year. And, you know, I'm not going to speculate and say that factored into the injury, but in terms of his. His workload, like, basically the Keys were handed to him and they were. He was relied upon heavily that the last stretch of games. So I, he's been excellent. But also in terms of the timing, it's actually okay. I mean if this were to happen in February or March or you know, down the stretch, then you start sweating and if you're the gm, you're, you know, kind of shaking in your boots a little bit. So the timing is okay. It's four to six weeks. Apparently it's a quote procedure. So I feel like, you know, it's just something to get done now and they don't want to wait on this and you know, this gets them back. Probably ready to go between the pipes mid Jan. Maybe a little bit closer to later Jan, early Feb. But you know what, who cares, Davey, because you mentioned earlier too with the Four nations cup in February, that'll give him some time as well. So luckily for the Leafs, for the first time in a while they do have some great goalie depth. It's an awesome opportunity for Joel Wall to step in, you know, step in the driver's seat and say, okay, let me see, let me see what I can do here. Let me save the team. Let me make sure that the teammates, coach and GM look at me and, and think, okay, yeah, we can roll with this guy if we're in a pinch. And you know, it's, it's been a tough road for, for Joseph Wall late too. Remember he got injured in game six against the Bruins. Couldn't go about an hour till puck dropped. Couldn't go for game seven. Had a, you know, tough start to this season too. He missed a stretch of games as well. So it's time for Joe Wall to strap in and say, okay, this is my team for, for the, you know, next couple of weeks and into the new year. So a good opportunity for Wall. And obviously you got the Hildebees too in the support role too for, for relief if necessary.
[00:53:30] Speaker B: So what I, what I thought and we were talking about this off air too and I think this is a very unique opportunity as well. Sorry as I adjust my headset there. It's a very unique opportunity as well for Matt Murray as well, who they people may forget that the Leafs still have Matt Murray. Okay, so there's your reminder that the Leafs still have Matt Murray on their team. They signed them to a one year league men this year to be kind of what Martin Jones was the Toronto Maple Leafs last year, that third goalie depth piece. However, obviously the Hilda beast has come up and he's been basically the guy who's the third guy to go if Stolars can't and or Wall can't. Right. Held to be's had just under a handful of games to this point and he's likely now going to see more action. But my honest opinion is I'm a fan of goaltender developments and the patience that they've had with Hildeby, I think has been terrific. A lot of teams, unless, you know, unless you come up in your Martin Broder right away in the American Hockey League, which you don't see, they haven't seen that, which arguably what since Kerry Price, we haven't seen that with goaltender development. So I think goaltender development's so imperative that you don't rush them in today's game. And ultimately I think that when it comes to Hildeby, they should not use them in every game. I like the NHL experience, but I think they should also make sure he gets a lot of games in the American Hockey League this year. And let's face it, if he's behind Joseph Wool, he might not get those starts that are pivotal in his development. So I think having him down in the American Hockey League to start, do some games, call them up, that's the beauty of the two way, right? It's the beauty of being able to move up and down in the lineup and have them up and down. It's great to have them in that spot. Obviously, with Matt Murray you'll be in a bit more of a different situation, but I think having Matt Murray come on up and play in that backup role for 50, maybe even 60% of the time from the latter half of it. So you have Hildeby for probably the next few weeks and then going into after the new year, maybe send him down the American Hockey League league and then have Matt Murray come up and be the support, support cast wall. I think of it from two directions. One, Murray is a Stanley cup champion. This is a guy who's faced injury as well. This is someone who's trying to get back in the National Hockey League. And I still think he has the athleticism and the ability to play in the National Hockey League. But arguably he's the fourth goalie now, maybe even the fifth, if you want to go with the like the Marlies in Toronto have such good depth. But if Murray wants to come up and let's say he's a great supporting cast, he plays a handful of games, maybe seven or eight games and he goes six and two in those games with a 92 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA or something like that, all of a sudden if the lease feel like he is a piece that can go help a team in another team at the trade deadline, maybe be a backup role that they're looking for that becomes value on your team that you can package in a deal on a team that's maybe looking for that backup goalie for a wild card run or even a team that if a goalie gets hurt and they need a goalie to play and Murray's ready to take in, there's an opportunity there. So there's two ends that you can take. You can take the trade approach if he does well and it just gets him back into the National Hockey League because of the potential that he truly has. So I hope that they do give Murray that opportunity to come up and play even a bit more than 50% and allow Hildeby to have some games in National Hockey League, but to also continue playing a lot of games the American Hockey Leagues. I think it's pivotal for his development.
[00:56:45] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean that's a fair point, Dave. I think he could get a shot. I mean right now he is the four stringer. I think they're really happy with Wall and Hildeby especially considering their size. Like Stallers, Wall, Hildebeest, three Titans who have been, you know, all collectively playing pretty pretty well for the me please. And I think with Murray, like for me maybe I'm still hungry. This is why I'm using this analogy. But I'm kind of thinking it's, it's kind of like, you know, ordering bread and butter at a five star Italian restaurant. Like you don't need it. It's there and you're probably going to fill up on the apps and the entrees. It's there if you want it, if you're that hungry. But I think at this point I don't think Trey living is going to make a trigger decision just because of Stallers. Maybe if it was months or if this was a longer period of time then you think okay, maybe we give this guy a shot. But like Wall has been better and Hilda Beast I still think is is pretty solid as the third guy guy. So I'm sure if you're Matt Murray, you're looking up and I'm like, damn. Like all three have actually been okay. There's not really a spot for me right now and. And it's tough because he's playing in the Marleys and this is a two time cup champ. So I'm sure sometimes he's like, geez, I'm playing with a bunch of scrubs and a bunch of guys who are never going to make it. And I've hoisted Lord Stanley. But this is where we are right now and this is the, the competition. The, the Leafs brass have been salivating for. I love that word. Salivating for. In terms of the goalie depth. Right. And, and like we haven't had it in a while. The Leafs haven't had in a while. So I don't think it's gonna happen at the fair point. But if this Stoler's injury. I mean obviously this year the Leafs have been a little hush hush about things. They'll say day to day for a broken leg. So maybe we get to mid January and they're like, actually it's going to be another two weeks and then it lingers on into like four nations cup windows. So we'll see. There's a possibility. And like you said, is it a two way for, for Murray?
[00:58:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I, from what I understand it was a. I thought it was a one way for Murray but. Or one way I'll look up his contracts. That's why if you call him up, if you do call them up, there's a risk of having him get claimed on waivers. Right?
[00:59:02] Speaker C: On waivers. Right, right.
[00:59:03] Speaker B: Waivers.
So I have to. I'd have to say one year contract.
Murray contract. One one way or two way? I'm cooking it up right now. But yeah, I think.
[00:59:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:59:13] Speaker B: Sorry to put you on the spot, but you're good. So it is.
So he did sign.
So when they did, when they did resign them, it, it says a one year contract is what the Maple Leafs website, it says and it's, it states one year. It's a one way contract contract. So okay, like he's been sent down. But he was, he cleared waivers.
[00:59:34] Speaker C: Right, right, right.
[00:59:35] Speaker B: Like Martin Jones when he cleared waivers and then he, he can go up and down. So there is that ability. Right. But again it's, it's a unique situation. They could do whatever they want. And if Wall gets hurt. If you're a Leaf fan knocking on wood for you and you have Hilda Beagle in you can you have somebody who's been an NHL Stanley cup champion and back you up and be a veteran piece to Hildeby. So that depth is great to have and it's never a problem. And their depth goes beyond that. Articunoff. I pronounced his last name wrong. That the goaltender that they have. I'm not even going to try to read.
[01:00:09] Speaker C: He's been great.
[01:00:10] Speaker B: Yeah, he's been too. So there, there's potential there to see a lot of tremendous goaltending in Toronto and Leaf fans. I know that myself and Brandon are very excited about it. And you should be because this goaltending depth hasn't been there there. Even when they had Joseph, Eddie Belfor, Frederick Anderson. Okay. They never really had that solid second guy that you can say, yes, you know what if, if this guy got hurt, I'm, I'm confident, I'm confident that we would still be successful as a team if you're speaking as leaf brass. So this is exciting to see if you're a Leaf fan and there's a lot of options, but Stolar's taking the time. It's the perfect time for it to happen. That was very good point, Brandon. Very good point. Now they played the Sabers the other night, the lonely Sabers and this team. Every year it seems like every year sucks. Let's just say it. I'm going to be loose and unprofessional about to say they, they've been. They've been, they've been. They, they are. They have such. I'm a huge Owen Power fan. Love Owen Power. I like, I'd like tall that two way defenseman that could be defense but also provide a little bit of offense with a cannon from the point. He's a big body defense. I talked to us on the previous episode of the podcast when I was on the Chuck A Puck segment. I talked about. I like a defenseman that is over 626364. That is big. But I like my defensive stats to be about three two way defenseman, two defensive defensemen and one offensive defense defenseman. That's how I would build my defensive core if I was a gm. Okay, defensive defenseman. One guy would play with an offensive guy, the other guy would play the other two way. Then you have two two way guys together. Okay. Owen Power defines to me he is leaning towards more of a defensive defenseman the way he's been playing but he's got to stick to that two way play. But you have Darlene on there. You got power, you got Dylan Cousins, you, you have young talent on that. Levi Annette is a stud. Lucan and Annette is great to have. Remember how good he was for Finland. This goalie was a. I had the potential was unbelievable. Coming up. The Sabers have lost over 10 games at the time of this podcast and they have been struggling. They've been. It is hard to watch if you're like, if you're a Buffalo fan. If you're a regular fan of any other team, you're saying, oh, this is a cakewalk for us to win tonight. It shouldn't be because I actually like how Buffalo is built. I think they have potential in that team to be better, but they have been shitty. Brandon.
[01:02:43] Speaker C: Very bad that that organization is a complete disaster right now. I was listening to Lindy Ruff's comments after the. The game to Toronto. He looked like he wanted to cry. He said he's at a loss for words right now and apparently the owner flew into Montreal where they're playing tonight. We're recording this December 17th and he flew in to the Bell center and said hey guys, we're all good. Trying to keep the morale high, trying to keep the spirits high.
And I'm like, oh my God, are you kidding me? Like this team, they don't have the it factor in terms of fans spending their hard earned coin to go see them play. I've been to an away game and for Leafs and Sabers in the, in the Keybank Center. Sorry, I. I spaced on, on the, on the name. The Keybank Center. I was there last year to see Matthew 60th and honestly man, like Sabers fans were getting shredded. Like absolutely shredded. And the thing is when you're so bad, you don't really have a lot to give. So they were just sitting there taking it. Yeah, yeah. Laughing. But like teams that, you know, maybe have a more of a storied franchise or a good like the Habs, you know, they're not good to share. But a stored franchise, the fans are so passionate they will give it back and they also have cups to flex on anybody else but the Savers, man, like the, the team ownership, the fans, it's. It's a complete dumpster fire right now. And they actually like we're playing the Leafs pretty well. Obviously sometimes the Leafs, it's classic Leafs, they. They make poor teams look better than they actually are. But I actually thought they played okay or maybe because at least we're still on a coming felt like they were still coming home on that bird from Detroit, kind of a turnaround game from Saturday night. But man, like that would have been great for them to edge out a game against Toronto and now they're winless in their last 10. So it's just, it's absolutely brutal right now. Bad like they don't have an IT guy.
[01:04:47] Speaker B: The.
[01:04:47] Speaker C: The players are fed up, the coaches at a loss for words. Ownership is trying to keep the morale high. No, this Is brutal. It's gonna be another failed season and they haven't made the playoffs since what, 2011.
It's been.
[01:05:00] Speaker B: It's been a show and truly Gavin McKenna. Okay, these are James Hagens. Obviously McKenna's not this year, but you have Hagens this year, who we get to watch the World Juniors is actually a pretty good segue to our final topic before we wrap up, I think. But the Buffalo Sabers have. Have the ability this year where, you know, right now they're 11 and 16 and I believe 2 is their record right now. Sorry to say in that time I don't have stats in front of me, but believe it's that Montreal is a. Is. Has essentially a similar record to them. Right. And in the bottom of the basement this year. If you, if you get first overall, I think Hagens is a great player, but obviously there's other players who could go. The draft pick that you want obviously is next year, right. That I think McKenna is going to be that talent that Bedard should be. It could be. Will be whatever you want to look at it. And their cousins, which is great, which is absolutely hilarious.
But the point that I'm making is I think this year if you get a top three pick, you can draft a good prospect, you can top five, you're going to get a good. I think Hagens is the guy in my opinion this year that a team and he is projected to be one. But this is a team in Buffalo that I say next year. And the reason why I brought up next year is because they're not. They don't want to have that opportunity. Buffalo is fed up with losing, having lottery picks and having these guys because a lottery pick isn't a sir thing. It doesn't matter if you have the first overall pick unless you're getting a McDavid or a Crosby or even a Matthews generational talent and you just get somebody who is just a regular first overall pick. I don't mean to say regular, but when I see Hagens, I don't see Crosby, I don't see McDavid. Right. I see us someone who's going to be a top six forward in your organization. Absolutely. But will it be like the effect that Savkowski's had on Montreal so far? Is that the type of draft we're going to see this year with the top few picks. So I think Buffalo fans, they want to see a run this year, but they're not going to see it. And like I said, next year you're not going to even Want to think about McKenna because you want to start making the playoffs. You're fed up with not making the playoffs. You're fed up with all these rebuilds and plans. There has to be a plan in place that shifts the Buffalo organization from a whole culture perspective, but also to try to draft better players and sign players and build around some of the young court they have. Because I like some of their pieces. Power Darlene. I love a lot of. A lot of their pieces that they have. They're just not that guy, that it guy. And they're at a very unique time in the Atlantic that is very stacked. Toronto, Florida, Boston is still good. Tampa is still good. Ottawa's up and coming. Montreal is rebuilding. Detroit is up and coming. There's a lot going on and Buffalo's on the outside looking in. And the way that they're progressing, they can have another 10 years where they don't see playoff hockey if they don't write the ship there. My honest opinion. So to transition to our final topic when a little bit extra here but we'll get into the World Juniors. The World Juniors from a full scope perspective. I'm excited about this year's World Juniors. I think Canada has a lot of exciting pieces. I think there's a lot of teams that are going to be pretty even throughout. Think of Canada, you think of Sweden, you think of Finland, you think of the States Gates. I think Czechia has a very good team this year too. I think there's even some five teams is what I mentioned there that could be. Make some noise in this for World Juniors. But obviously I think this could be a year where Canada kind of rebounds back from last year's quarterfinals. But some standout players. Brandon that I'm thinking of Gavin McKenna, James Hagens and Axel. Sandy Pelica. Okay. I, I'm a, I'm a big fan of. Of of Axel Detroit red wing pick. He's going to be a stud. Detroit has some studs on that back end. Right. Evans insider. Sandy awesome. But Hagens projected top pick in this year's draft upcoming. McKenna two years we might be able to see or we're going to see McKenna for the next two years. Right. The World Juniors which is going to be very exciting. I think there's a lot of even talent this year.
[01:08:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:08:54] Speaker B: And.
[01:08:54] Speaker C: And just from a broader scope, broader picture of things too. I mean Canada like really disappointing showing last year.
[01:09:02] Speaker A: Right.
[01:09:02] Speaker C: Like they didn't even make into the top four, you know and, and for years like Canadians have been spoiled with almost automatically a run to the gold medal game. And obviously the year they had Bedard, they won in Halifax. And then, and then last year it was, it was really disappointing. And, and you know, you lose and you lose and obviously you're seeing the States win too, like you're your biggest rival. So I think Canada has a pretty loaded roster this year. I was reading today that as a little bit of a team bonding trip, they. They went to a military base in Petawawa just to kind of do this little simulator thing to make it look like you were like, actually like, you know, on the front lines and in battle and listening to the guys talk about it after. Like, you know, for one thing, it should remind them because they're young guys and all they care about is winning, but it should remind them that hockey is secondary, that there's people who actually put their life on the line. So it probably puts it in perspective for them. And also I think it could probably provide them a little bit of motivational incentive. Just be like, we want to win for our troops because these are the real heroes. And I think it's important, you know, for team bonding trips, NHL, it doesn't matter the level, but for especially young guys, just to, you know, bond with the team, get to know each other and also have experiences that actually are going to impact you. So I think that was really cool. I was reading that today. I thought that was really, really cool that they did that. Dave Cameron. Yeah, Dave Cameron, the head coach was speaking on it and the players seem to really, really enjoy it. So. And also this year it's in Ottawa, so you got to think that they show up in a, in a Canadian city. I think they, I think they go all the way. This year I think it's going to be Canada, U.S. and it's going to be an absolute banger.
[01:10:53] Speaker B: See, and obviously co host of the show, Alex Parr is at the New Year's Eve game between the States and Canada. That is pretty epic game to go to. Obviously he lives in Ottawa and gets the chance to go see the world Juniors. It's definitely a great year to go and for just kind of recap purposes. And you could. Can predict obviously the. I want to hear who you think is going to win it all. Obviously you did say that if you kind of spoiled there with Canada, but I'm going to say from the standings perspective, group A, it's going to go Canada, us, Finland, Germany and Latvia. I have Germans over Latvia. A lot of people aren't getting love to Germany, but I'm Gonna put Latvia at the bottom from group B. I see Sweden, Slovakia, Czechia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan finishing last in the group B and the final four. And the final, Final four. I see Canada, Sweden, US and Czechia though. Okay.
I'm a fan of Czechi. I know I put them even a little bit lower like from the 2, 3 spot, but I'm going to have to say that Canada is going to be playing the finals against Sweden though, Brennan. And I'm going to give Canada the win over Sweden this year with us getting the bronze. How about yourself?
[01:12:00] Speaker C: So I, yeah, that's a good pick with Czechia. I think they'll be up there. I don't think they'll medal, but I could see them finishing maybe fourth. I think Sweden will be good again. They were a finalist last year. I think they'll be up there as well. But I, I, I think it's going to be Canada, US in the final. And I love my Canadian boys. Obviously I'm Canadian, but heart says Canada, guts says us. Sneaks went out and go back to back. So I'm actually going to give it to the States. I think they're pretty stacked this year and obviously they got that Hagens kid who you alluded to a couple moments ago and he's projected to go top three in the draft in 2025. So look out for the States. They're coming. They're coming for back to back chips.
[01:12:37] Speaker B: And fun fact. Trey Augustine's the best goalie in this tournament and he is the state's goaltender. Detroit draft pick. Detroit getting these gems in the draft day. The Red Wings. Here we go. Back in the day when they get all these good draft picks. We're going to start seeing it and it's going to be so annoying. Hopefully all the fans enjoy Detroit not being that good for a while because the ISER plan is going to work one day, you watch and it's going to be all these draft picks are wild and Augustine is the best goalie in the draft in my opinion. Okay, so you've got the States, I got Canada. Let us know what you think below. And Brandon, last question. And we're only going to do one kind of quiz answer question kind of type that we do. Obviously we do the redraft blind rankings. We spend some time on it. But today with time constraints we're gonna just do the one question and it's a start bench cut question that I'm giving you and it might be easy, might not, but it's a four nations edition. Okay, but it still ties into the world juniors coming up. Okay. Because it's still on the international stage. And this was something that I wanted to ask you last week, but obviously time constraints. Start, bench, cut. Connor Hellebuck, Jake Ottinger, Jeremy Swayman, all three USA goaltenders.
[01:13:46] Speaker C: Start, bench, cut.
That's a great question.
[01:13:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:13:50] Speaker C: Because I think I ended off my point on our previous pod on how just crazy that depth was. Basically comparing them to like a rotation. Baseball.
Start, bench, cut. Okay, you gotta ride the hot hand. I gotta start Helly. Like he's been. He's been great this year.
[01:14:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like.
[01:14:16] Speaker C: I feel like Swayman is a bit of a sassy character given his. His holdout this year to get the bag. Think so. I'm gonna cut that guy. I'm gonna cut him.
[01:14:27] Speaker B: I just.
[01:14:28] Speaker C: I don't know. He gives off kind of a sassy. A sassy character impression to me. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna cut him. And that means I'm gonna have Ottinger on the bench.
[01:14:38] Speaker B: Very good choices either way all around. But I will have to agree with you. I think that's also the rotation I go with. And Swayman, we know that he's struggling this year and he's probably missing his hugs with all. Mark, maybe that's. Yeah, we miss. I mean, misses little post game hugs. But jokes aside, that. Start, bench, cut. When we're back from the holidays, I'll make sure to make it up to you. But I will ask you one more thing to put you on the spot. Your most favorite world junior moment.
[01:15:05] Speaker C: I gotta go to 2009. I was just coming home from a family vacation and my grandpa was watching the game and we had missed everything just because we had flight disruptions and whatnot. But we came home for the most important part. It was obviously that the Jordan Eberly tying goal and the iconic words of Gord Miller.
[01:15:25] Speaker B: Can you believe it?
[01:15:27] Speaker C: And that was awesome. I believe I was in grade eight and yeah, it was just.
It was awesome. And considering how, you know, we practically could have missed that game, but we tuned in just for the most important moment, most important play, and one of the most iconic moments, if not the iconic moment in World Junior history for the Canadians, pretty cool. And it's something I'll never forget.
[01:15:57] Speaker B: I am gonna have to agree. And you know what? I know it's kind of a sad note to put it on if you're a Canadian fan, but my least favorite moment is when Mark Andre Fleury let in that whole overtime he had a very bad performance at the World juniors back in 2003. I want to say that was the year. Don't quote me. It doesn't matter because I try to delete it from my brain. But I could not agree that Everl that Everlay goal is iconic. Brennan, my friend, we want a little bit extra today, but that's okay. It's. You know what, we're going into the holidays. We have two weeks off. We're going to be back after the New Year's. Any breaking news? Of course, we'll hop on and do some clips and interactions with our, with our listeners. But besides that, I want to say thank you for taking the time tonight and also happy holidays, Merry Christmas and all that fun stuff that's going to be upcoming the next couple days.
[01:16:43] Speaker C: Thanks, Dave. Happy holidays, man.
[01:16:45] Speaker B: Awesome. That's been. Brandon McCarthy. I want to say thank you very much to Jordan Trudeau and also to you, the listeners. Make sure you like, follow, subscribe and all the platforms of the Game Sports podcast through spaces, that's through Village Media and suit today or on 91N, that's 91Network on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, wherever you are, Tick Tock, Instagram, Facebook, we're all over the place. You should find us to type in the Game Sports podcast on Google as well. And we'll be back not until after the new year. So our next show, just to remind everybody right now we're recording this is December 17th with an 18th upload. We plan to be back on January 8th, 7th or 8th, around that. So we're gonna have two weeks off for annual holidays that we have at the end of the year for this time. And we'll talk to you in 2025. On behalf of everyone here on the game, I'm here to remind you, keep your stick on the ice, swing your bats, catch touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
