Maple Leafs Rise and Steelers Surprise | The Game Sports Podcast

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. It's time for the Game Sports Podcast is Your host David McCaig Jr. The Game Sports Podcast is powered by 91 Network and featured on Spaces. 91N is a YouTube channel where you can check out video editions of the Game Sports Podcast and Spaces is featured through Village Media and Sue Today originated in Sault Ste. Marie is now expanded, but you can go to Spaces and check out the space that interests you. The Game is featured on the sports and hockey space of Spaces. Now the Game Sports Podcast also available on all social platforms, audio platforms. Look, you search us, we are there. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, wherever at the Game Sports Podcast you will find us. And we love the interaction, especially with a lot of recent clips that we've had on TikTok. Love the interaction, we love the chirps, we love the positivity. We just love the overall good vibes. But either way we hope that you always keep it locked here on the game. The Game has been around for 10 years. January 5, 2026 was our 10th and anniversary where previously we were the Game Sports show. Then we changed brands in 2022 to the game Sports Podcast because we were no longer on live radio. But even before the Game Sports show there was a show called Coffee with the Coach that was around before 2015. So truly the roots of the show go beyond 10 years, but a lot of big things coming this year and that's in thanks to the three interns that are a part of the Game Sports Podcast family. Now. What I'll touch on here with the Game Sports Podcast if you aren't following us, you're missing out. You're missing out. Okay? I'm telling you right now, you're missing out because the interactions that we have are great and we have something that we are uploading each week and that is a throwback clip from our one of our many special edition shows that we have that is in particular we had a recent one with Pete Mahovich, Marcel Dion that was uploaded. We have a James Duthie one that you might see. There's a lot of guests that you're going to have see on our socials as well. So we hope that you check out those prior editions that video editions on 91N or any audio platform that you enjoy. This week. The agenda we have, we have Top Shelf right off the hop with myself and Brendan, still no Alex Parr, just calling that out each week. And then we have Jordan Trudeau joining after Brennan in the usual rotation to talk Chuck A. Puck Major Jr. And Sue Greyhounds. Then we have Connor Henderson coming on by for some strike zone. That is baseball content. As we're recording right now, there's still some news going around the Kyle Tucker Boba Shet news. No signings, but we'll talk about some of the signings that did happen. And then to end the show, we got in the pocket. Yes. I'm not wearing my Steelers gear and it's kind of a sad day in Steelers land. Not because of the loss, but because of Mike Tomlin stepping down as the coach. 19 years. That's basically the only coach I really watched with the Steelers as I when I started cheering them in the early thousands. So telling you right now, there's a lot to get into in today's show and just so little time. But me doing an introduction, that's under three minutes, that's a record. I'm just going to tell you that right now. That's record for me, even when I talk to myself. But I'm not myself, right, technically because Brandon has been here for the last minute or so. Brandon, my friend, we're going to kick off right away with Top Shelf. That's usually not the right introduction that I use because kickoff would make more sense for in the Pocket. So let me rephrase that. Let me toe drag and go top shelf and get started with Top shelf. Sounds a lot better. How you doing, my friend? [00:03:15] Speaker B: I'm great, buddy. [00:03:16] Speaker A: Good. [00:03:16] Speaker B: Thanks for having me back on the show. [00:03:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Just crushed a delicious spaghetti bolognese. Oh, I'm feeling. I'm feeling like I had my pregame meal and I'm ready to rock. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Love it, Love it. And I got my Maple Leaf cup here, you know, And I'm not just having the Leaf Cup. We talk because they're winning hockey games now. Okay. That leaf jersey has been up for a while, no matter when they lost. True fan here. But we don't just talk Leafs here on the game. We talk all teams in the National Hockey League. But obviously you got to give a shout out right now to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They're finally playing the hockey that we expect to try to battle back after a tough start to the season. But as the Toronto Maple east win, they're not the only team that's winning. And when it comes to the Atlantic Division, so kind of a drunk standings continue into 2026 here, Brennan. But what I, what I want to get into today is we're gonna have more of an. Of more of open discussion and obviously as we discuss other topics. But I wanted to Start with something that I highlighted yesterday. Okay. And that was when I was watching Toronto and Colorado. So again, they played January 12th. You may hear the show or listen the 14th or 15th, but what I'm gonna tell you is relevant. It's relevant all year. Nathan McKinnon is a dog that watching him play hockey is spectacular. And that's not news, that's not expert reporting. I know that isn't. But watching him. When you're in Canada and you're located here in Sault Ste. Marie Brennan's in the GTA region. You Colorado games, they're, they're far between. It depends if they play a Canadian team. You know, you're watching your team, you got life. You're not going to watch every game. You're watching highlights, right? You're watching highlights of McKinnon. You're watching this and that. And the other thing, the games that we see, the more the Canadian teams, even Detroit, from my area, a lot of Detroit is shown too. So you don't get to see these teams as much. But if you follow the sport, you watch every team. But I always think it's a treat when we get to actually watch a live game, if it's on TV or anything. When it comes to watching Colorado, Edmonton, when it comes to watching Pittsburgh and I'm talking Crosby, McKinnon and McDavid for those three teams respectively. And Leon, can't forget about Leon before, obviously Malkin and Latang, great. [00:05:13] Speaker B: But now. [00:05:14] Speaker A: And McCarr, I can't forget about McCarr on Colorado and I'm not. But I gotta highlight Nathan McKinnon right now, Brennan, because watching him play yesterday, he just makes everyone around him better. Everyone. And when he was the first overall pick, there was question why he was drafted first and not Seth Jones. I don't know if you remember that. I was thinking about that yesterday, saying how ludicrous would that have been if they didn't take Nathan McKinnon first overall. He is such a dog. Dude, he. He is so good and so powerful on that ice. It's amazing to watch. [00:05:45] Speaker B: And yeah, I mean I said on the last podcast, Dave, I'm probably most looking forward to seeing 29 don the Canadian jersey at the Olympics and last night, I mean, it's, it's pretty much just a steady goal. That's the mentality for Nathan McKinnon. What I mean by that is it's. There's never a dip or an off night. They could be losing seven nothing and he is going to be going guns a blazing Right. It's just, it's Mr. Consistent and like you said, it rubs off well on his team as well. [00:06:16] Speaker C: Right. [00:06:16] Speaker B: And you know, last night the Leafs played incredibly well, but you just notice it was okay. Here's the response from Colorado. There's. There's never really a dip in their play. And when you, when you look at their record on paper and you watch the team, it's like, yeah, you know, sometimes when, when a team like Buffalo, for instance, when they went on that eight, nine game winning streak, it's like, okay, they're going to come back down to earth. No, no, the, the stats match the players and how they actually play the game. You know what I mean? And it's. Yeah, it's incredible to watch. And if, if, you know, like you and I getting ready to watch Team Canada at the Olympics, like, you know, you're, you're sitting there licking your chops because you're like, we get to watch Makar and McKinnon on Team Canada, so that'll be unreal. But for the Leafs, man, you look back to December, I believe it was December 21st, when they laid back to back eggs. The second, the second leg game against the Stars, they lost. [00:07:19] Speaker A: And it was like 5:1 or something. [00:07:22] Speaker B: Yeah, it was like, oh boy. Right. And that was the pre Mark Savard firing. And then December 23rd, they had that 4:00pm or maybe slightly before around 4:00pm game right before Christmas in Toronto and they beat Pitt. And I'm like, okay, that's nice. All right. Right before Christmas. Gotta go into Christmas on a high. And since then, Dave 8, 02 picking up points in the last 10 games. They've been on a roll. Matthew seems to have his swagger back. You know, they're getting guys back off the ir. It sounds like Stallers might be ready to go by the end of the week. You know, the defense has been great. Troy Stetcher for me, I think has been the biggest impact on this team. Even when they were in that bit of a rut, that guy brings it and he has the passion and for his size, he's a beast. And I think that was a big, big move from Trey living because he was in some choppy waters there. And you know, perhaps Mark Savard lost a bit of the guys on the bench and they didn't like how he was operating the PP and how that was, you know, how that was operating really on a nightly basis. So I think that that's probably the two biggest things. Troy Stetcher has been Mr. Consistent. The firing of Mark Savard. Your big guns are showing up. The captain's leading the way. The defense have been steady. Joseph Wall, Jesus, I buried the lead. He's been unbelievable. That's the thing too. If Stallers does come back, you got. [00:08:46] Speaker A: Wall and Hilda, three goalies. [00:08:48] Speaker B: Right? Right. So I, you know, I think he'll eventually assume the spot, the number one spot. But you're going to have to call your way back there. Right. [00:08:59] Speaker A: Because Wall was not the bench. You're going to the bleachers. [00:09:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:03] Speaker A: If you struggle, Wall be like, hey, I'm the guy. No, no, no. Hildebe said no, no, no. I want to be the guy. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And Wall was outstanding last night. I know. In overtime I didn't stay up for the whole game. I got to be honest, I went to bed after 20 minutes overtime. I mean man, I've hit the post and then Wal didn't even see it. And. And the puck bobbles over. Who was it? Nelson or Nature's stick? Yeah, Nelson's, I think. [00:09:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:27] Speaker B: And I mean. [00:09:28] Speaker A: Ah, right. [00:09:29] Speaker B: But then the Leafs find a way. I woke up to a nice four three dub and you know we're recording this what on January 13th. The Matias Michelle revenge game going down tonight. I don't know if I'm staying up for this one. Are you? [00:09:43] Speaker A: I try to but I actually sadly passed out at the. I would say around the 10 minute mark of the third period and I woke up on the couch at 5am I to spread it out on the chaise like this. My dog to my left waking up with a sore back. And then I said what happened in the Leaf game? And I saw it but I said okay, that was worth me waking up with this pain. But I wish I would have saw that because the overtime was just seemed so exciting when I saw highlights. [00:10:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:10:07] Speaker A: And it's just what you notice when a team can get clicking. That is what's the Leafs have been doing and Matthew's putting the puck in the nets and the the roll guy stepping up. Obviously you know the status pending with Nick Roberts at the time of this recording. Things can change. Tonight they play Utah the time that we're recording. So we're not going to dive into too much but we. They might lose and drop an egg. Today might be nine nothing Utah. [00:10:31] Speaker C: Right. [00:10:31] Speaker A: And then the mindset changes for tomorrow. But this is what leads me to my next topic. Brandon, I know we have such limited time so I we've talked about it on this show so much mob as much me and you because Obviously, you're more newer, like Par. And I have talked about this to exhaustion, but the atmosphere, Scotiabank arena, you mentioned Troy stature and the team really trying to be motivators. And again, we've talked about this last year. You. We did a clip about it last year, I believe, if I remember. But one thing that I noticed is that I think the fans are a problem in Toronto. We've talked about this. No to exhaustion. But what I realized, it really grinds my gears. And I'm going to a leaf game next week to watch Mitch Marner's return. Okay. And then that better be the most electrifying leaf game that I've almost. I've ever been to. I've been to a couple beauty ones in my life, but when I see people. The leafs are up 3 1, 4 1. They're up in a game and there's a minute left. People leaving their seats. Oh, I want to beat traffic. I want to do you people that sit in the 100 level, that pay that money that you do for your tickets if you pay for them, and you leave to go out because you want to make sure you catch the bus, catch the train. Sorry, I'm not from the gta. Brennan. We have a bus. We don't really do trains here. A lot in the Sioux. Catch your Uber. Okay. Catch your cab, get your car and leave. You stay there to that final buzzer. And when they acknowledge the fans, you acknowledge that team for getting you that dub and working hard for you. Because you know what? I think a big problem with this team is the way that they don't feel the momentum from the fan base when they're at home. Now, they've been okay at home. They haven't done well on the road this year, but they're starting to get better. Big win in Colorado as we just touched on. But the fans at Scotiabank arena, no matter the quietness library that you see throughout the entirety of the game, I. It grinds my gears more when people leave the game early, even when they're winning. If you're losing 7:1, I'm still sitting there, Brennan, watching that game. But I understand if you leave at the four minute mark when it's 7:1, I. I'll. I'll give you a pass on that. But if you're up winning, gonna win the game, you stay there till that final buzzer. You listen to Taking Care of Business as their victory song. You dance around, you high five your friends, your fellow Leaf you, and you cheer that team as they salute the Crowd getting off the ice, that's what a passionate fan base does. Look at the Montreal Canadiens. Win or lose, that fan base is always, always passionate, supporting their team. Even if they're booing, they stay till the end of that game. And that's what grinds my gears, that I want to say. You talk about Troy stature, talk about the winning of this team, turning around the fans could be a big part of this turnaround, too. And I don't think they really understand that. Because you think it's professional sports. Why does it matter? It does matter. Helps players do feed off that energy, I can tell you. Not just from. I don't. I never played professional hockey. I played junior. But even having 3,000 fans in this, in the crowd that are home cheering you on, momentum is great. [00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree, Dave, but the game you're referring to, January 23rd against the Golden Knights, my brother's birthday, by the way, coming up for Jake McCarthy, that, that'll be a raucous crowd and the emotions will be high. I mean, you're going to have, you know, drunk fans in the Upper bowl going crazy. You're going to have boos and jeers at Marner. It'll be a playoff like games. The fact that you're. You're going to Toronto and you're going to be in the building for that game. I'm jealous, first of all. But, man, you will be involved in. Stay off your phone and pretend it's 2002 or 2003, because that is. That is the hot ticket item. It'll be packed. Yes. It's expensive. And as you said, like, people find a way, even if they don't pay out of pocket, they have connections. Place will be packed, right? [00:14:10] Speaker A: I paid just so everyone knows. [00:14:13] Speaker B: Yeah, well, there you go. Because you're a real one. But even, even the suits, Dave, even the suits, like, oh, yeah, Marner, like, they'll be, they'll be in their seat like this is a highly, highly anticipated matchup and we'll get, we'll get a little taste of the reunion this Thursday in Vegas, but I mean, in Toronto, man, it's going to be wild. It's going to be wild. [00:14:36] Speaker A: Yeah. 100% it is. Now, I know we stuck a little bit of Leafs and I was going to touch on Steve Sullivan's effect, but maybe we could table that for next week. What I wanted to touch on is Braden Point had a scary, scary little injury. It seems that he's weak to week with the Tampa Bay Lightning and his Olympic status is Un Here. Clear isn't promising given that injury yesterday, it looked a lot worse. A week to week, I think is a win if you're a Tampa fan, but I think Connor Bedard replaces him if he gets hurt. Do you think it's Sam Bennett or do we have to have this conversation again, like, who's the replacement? Who's replacing Braden Point, if that. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess. I guess you have to shuffle. I guess you'd have to shuffle Ben. I mean, Ben is technically a center, right? [00:15:19] Speaker A: And he could play left, but he's also not a pure goal. I shouldn't say that the guy won the Con Smythe, but I think Braden Point's more dependent on offense. Right. So does that mean. [00:15:28] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:28] Speaker A: Are you looking at Bedard or Bennett? I know Bennett just won a Con Smythe, so I'm not saying he's on offensive, but I still think Bedard's better offensively than Bennett is. [00:15:35] Speaker B: And Point. Point to center too, right? Yeah. Okay. So. Well, Bedard might be better offensively than Bennett, but as. As you and I have been button heads all season about this, it's. It's about the overall complexion of that, of that roster. Right? I would, I would call Sam Bennett right now. Even if he's on the ice, even if he's on the power play, I would say, sam, there's a phone call for you. You got to go to the Florida dressing room and get him in there and shuffle the deck. There's enough guys that can move around. And, you know, I think. I think he. He needs to be there. And I think he probably felt a bit snubbed, right? And I said on the last episode too, he was, he was a big, big piece to that Four nations team. Had a big goal in the final against the States. I go, Sam Bennett. I'm not on the Bedard train. A lot of people are. A lot of people are. My cousin included. Johnny McCarthy, Dave McKeg. But I'm not ready. I'm not ready to send Bedard. I'm not ready. [00:16:32] Speaker A: I think it's such a hot item. And you know what? The interaction we had on TikTok about that, Just me getting ready, roasted about Bedard. I can't believe it. I just can't believe that. I'm just shocked, right? Just, Just shocked. But it's wild now, right now. I know time got a little. A little shorter on us, but one thing I want to mention before I go over to you before we wrap up, Rick Bonus is in, in Columbus. And obviously Columbus looking at Making some change. There's been some management change in Buffalo. Teams really trying to shake it up and Columbus just trying to find the right fit behind the bench there. And I think, you know, bringing in a bonus will be. Is a good experience. Guy who didn't have the success, just like Maurice didn't have success in the jets either, but regular season success. But look, we did in Florida. I'm not saying Columbus is going to do that, but Columbus has a very good rookie, rookie platform. Good, good young players come up. I'm a big Adam, Adam Fantilli fan. I think Adam Fantilli is great. And you got to give respect to Zach Marinsky and that team's went through a lot with Goudreau too. Right. That team has really bonded together with the passing, the unfortunate passing of Goudreau. But what I wanted to give to you was. And if you had any reaction to that or if you had any items you wanted to. To bring up quickly before we let you go. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah. I think adding bonus is a bonus. [00:17:41] Speaker A: Waiting for it. [00:17:42] Speaker D: I was waiting. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Love it, love it, love it. [00:17:45] Speaker B: No, I think he's been itching to get back. Right. I mean, I've seen some snippets of him on air and, you know, it's one of those things where like maybe it's just not. Not his thing or Tortorella came on the TSN panel years ago and Tai Domi even came on the panel. You know, sometimes it's like, whether it's like post playing career or post coaching career, it's like, don't force the broadcasting. Even though that seems to be the thread for a lot of coaches and players after their playing or coaching years. But I think it's been itching to get back into the league and I think for Columbus, like you said, a young, pretty fiery team and Fantilly and, you know, Warrenski and all the guys. Yeah. So I think, I think bonus will add a bit of life. And I know when he was manning the bench for the jets, like, they, they really gelled with this guy and they really seemed to like him and play hard for him. I know it didn't end obviously the way they wanted it to, but I think, I think it's a nice fit for Columbus. [00:18:41] Speaker A: I agree. Couldn't agree more. Any final thoughts before we let you go, my friend? [00:18:45] Speaker B: That's it, buddy. [00:18:46] Speaker A: That's it. That's good. I know it's just the two of us with top shelf. Someone will rejoin us in the. In the near future. It's it's going to come soon. I can feel it. I can feel it. It's just going to take a little bit of a push, but, you know, we'll keep an eye on the Braden Point thing. And obviously Gavin McKenna still topping the midterm ranks. Maybe have a little something to tell Jordan Trudeau about that with the NHL draft, because I had someone give me a very hot take that. You know that I'm sure I didn't agree with it. I don't think he's going to either. But somebody else going one. Not McKenna, but what do you have? Brandon, before we let you, maybe. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Maybe the other guys can talk about this, too, but other than some of your dates back in your heyday, were you ever ghosted this much then by Alex Parr? [00:19:26] Speaker A: No. You know what? What's even more funny? When I asked him about a program to use for graphic intros for our students, for. For our brand, he answered that that's. He only answers me about anything not related to the pod. If I went on there and said, hey, how's your day? He'd respond if I did. If you bring up the pod. Crickets. [00:19:42] Speaker B: I feel like Trudeau has something to say here. He's smirking about something. Maybe he can say. Say no part is going to come back when the Leafs are in the cup final. [00:19:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:51] Speaker C: 100. [00:19:51] Speaker B: So never. [00:19:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Yikes. Yeah. If he does come back for that, I don't even know if I'd walk. I'm just kidding. I would welcome him back. Love you, Par. Miss you. But nonetheless, Brandon, we'll let you go. Thank you, my friends. We'll be back next week. [00:20:02] Speaker B: All right, thanks, man. Cheers. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Cheers. All right, that was Brennan with top shelf. Now, Jordan, I threw an unexpected loop on this. I got strike zone coming in first before. Before. Chuck a puck. [00:20:11] Speaker C: Okay? [00:20:12] Speaker A: That's how I'm gonna throw a little loop to our listeners and viewers. Because I say the agenda way it's going to be, sometimes we change it around. It's the way it goes. Attention to detail. Sometimes it's not the problem. It's just that we like to throw loops and keep you interested on the other end. I love when you two are on together. I do that on purpose. All right, let's introduce. We're going to do strike zone. We're take a brief hockey break. We're going to talk strike zone for just a handful of minutes, okay? There's a lot of things that can happen between the next 24, 48, 72, 96 hours. In baseball, we Want to keep our content relevant, so I want to introduce who's going to be talking with Strike Zone. Jordan Trudeau, my friend. How you doing? [00:20:45] Speaker C: Pretty good. Be better if I don't have to do my driveway for the rest of the week since I just did it three days in a row. Hopefully there's no more snow coming this week because I'm. I'm exhausted already and it's only Tuesday. Excited for the week to continue on, hopefully without snow. [00:21:07] Speaker A: I'm gonna get a plow company very soon. Connor Henderson, you beautiful Manu. Rookie of the year. If you know, you know. How you doing, my friend? Great, Dave. [00:21:16] Speaker E: We got no snow on the southern front here. [00:21:20] Speaker A: Gonna go jump out. Lucky guy. Okay. Not only is he a newlywed, he's got no snow where he's at. Lucky dude. Okay, it's. How's the weather? Is it cold there? Are you still in the pluses? [00:21:32] Speaker E: Yeah, it's about 2 degrees. [00:21:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:21:34] Speaker E: I've got the winter tires on, but they're just for show. [00:21:36] Speaker A: Nice, Nice. You're not going to ruin those summer ones, though. Okay. So it's okay. You're just going to ruin the winters. You don't want to ruin the summers. Love that thought. Okay. Baseball. I know times then. Okay. So, Connor, thank you for coming on to Chocolate Strike Zone with me and Trudeau before we jump on to chuck a puck. What we know right now. [00:21:53] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:54] Speaker A: What we know. Breckman's a Cub. [00:21:56] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:57] Speaker A: The Cubs also bring in Cabrera, made a move for pitcher, trading out Canadian top prospect Casey, which if you listen to our previous edition, I broke news. I had a friend tell me through some connections that the Cubs were going to make a trade for a pitcher. And guess what happened 24 hours later that that happened. Kid, you not that same person said the Cubs are looking for an infielder. They got Brickman. So I'm messaging this guy. No response about Tucker and about Boba Shet. All he told me about Tucker is that that guy is going to get the money that he wants. That's all he told me on text that should. You know what? I don't want people zooming in on the name. Why that works right now is because the Mets apparently offered him $50 million. So things are happening. I don't know if this guy, he is connected in the sports world, he works in the world, he's more hockey than baseball. But he says he has a good friend who can give him very accurate information. But the only thing I can say, Jay's fans, is he said he'd be very surprised that Bo left Toronto. [00:22:51] Speaker C: Okay. [00:22:52] Speaker A: I don't know if that's no truth. Okay, We've talked about that on this show. But what we can talk about, Connor, is that Breckman's a Cub has made a little bit of moves. All right, Bush, Bishop, Boba, Shet met with the Phillies. He's met with the Yankees. Apparently he's talked to the Boston Red Sox or met between the two teams. I think he went to Boston, one of the two. We know he doesn't need to meet with Toronto. Breckman, Bichette, Tucker, what do you got? Connor, what do you want to. Where do you want to go? What can we talk about? Because obviously we can't predict where these guys are going because they can change tomorrow. Breckman happens. Maybe you want to go there. You can choose from that crop that I said and go nuts. [00:23:26] Speaker E: Sure. I'll start with Bregman because that's concrete. He got his five year, you know, $175 million deal. Believe it was 175. 170 or 175. The present value of the contract, if you factor in his one year with the Red Sox and now his five year extension, it totals out to be about $190 million over six years. If you take the present value of it, which is, you know, he bet on himself. He didn't take the long term deal the Tigers gave him last year, offered him six years, 170, and it worked out for him. Now he's with the Cubs. You know, he's got his, you know, family there with some stability for the next five years. And he's a top three third baseman in baseball, maybe top five. Yeah, any team would want Bregman on it. And good for the Cubs. Trudes, what do you think? [00:24:14] Speaker C: I was surprised. I didn't think he would go there. I thought. I thought the Red Sox were for sure going to. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Or the Tigers. [00:24:21] Speaker D: Right. [00:24:22] Speaker A: Like. [00:24:22] Speaker E: Yeah, well, I think the Tigers were heartbroken from last year, so I don't think they pushed as hard. [00:24:26] Speaker C: It was a crazy signing because the Red Sox gave up. They signed Bregman, which really led to devers. Morale. I'll use the word morale for nh like players. His morale went down. And so there's a star third baseman that they were forced to get rid of because, you know, the old friendly competition and then they don't even retain Bregman. They only had him for a year. I mean, that's bizarre to me. And I know, like Twitter, like Red Sox fans on Twitter are super, super upset about it. I mean and yeah, like well warranted that. That's just seems like a very bad situation. Mismanagement of assets. I think it's good. It'll get the ball rolling. Right. So one big fish is off the market. So now it's going to heat up for Tucker and Bichette. [00:25:15] Speaker E: Right. And if anything it means that Tucker obviously is now going to be on the move with the Cubs getting Bregman. As Dave mentioned, the $50 million rumors out there for the Mets, I've seen two things. One, that the Jays were offering something long term in like the 300 ish million dollar range and that the Mets are going with the short term, more aggressive AAV in like the three year. 120 to 140. And now we're hearing three years 150 for Tucker who is the number one free agent on the market. He's been the number one free agent on the market. Left handed, power hitter, good defender, you know he's good for 30 home runs. 25, 30 home runs. He's everything you want in an outfielder. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Dave, Bo and Kyle smarten up to school, sign in Toronto because the boys in Toronto are ready to win. Not for this year, for the next few years. Sorry Tigers fans, larger fans could fly a kite. Telling you right now, and I'm not just being a host or a fan, I'm telling you right now, if I'm a player and I don't think like every player, I want to go somewhere to win. And you don't go to win with the Mets. Sorry Yank, I'll give the Yankees credit. They're a team that's had success not winning, but they make the playoffs. Dodgers, they win. You want to win, go there. The. You know, I always get the question would you rather have fifth? Like would you rather have individual success and no, no Stanley cup or no World Series or Super bowl or would you rather have a mid career and have team and trophy success? I would take the mid and lower and have that trophy success any day of the week. Man. Having that you get bonuses if you win anyways. The credibility, the teams that you're on, the legends, the statues of your teams that you get. Your name will always be on that roster. It doesn't matter if you're like Woody Harrelson from Jackie Moon and semi pro where you sat on the bench with the Celtics and got a ring, you still got that ring and you were a part of that win. Smarten up. You and Vlad Best Friends. What's going on here? Going to Philadelphia? What are you doing? What's going on? Like, what planet are we on? Like. And this offseason is great for Toronto. I ain't complaining. But look, if they did get Bo and Kyle, this would be the best offseason Toronto history, sports. [00:27:21] Speaker E: And you don't even need Bo to stay at shortstop long term. Realistically, like, I mean, between the injuries and like, his decline in athleticism, he's still one of the best contact hitters that you're. You're going to find in the game. [00:27:34] Speaker A: Like Springer. 1, Bichette 2. You put Vladi. 3, Kyle Tucker 4. The list goes on here. The list goes on. And trade sat down there. That's. But I don't mean to talk Chase. I'm just saying bow in Philadelphia does seem like a good fit. Okay. But there's nothing better than him in a fit in Toronto. Okay, I'd. And I would rather bow in Toronto than Kyle telling you right now, I'd rather bow than Kyle any day of the week because of that chemistry. True. I don't know if you agree. I know we don't have too much time, but again, it's, it's. This is wild that Bo hasn't resigned. Kyle Tucker is Kyle Tucker. That's. That's a luxury. Why Bo hasn't resigned is what blows my mind. Well, I think money. [00:28:10] Speaker C: I think it's his position. I think teams are willing to. Teams aren't willing to pay him as much to play second base than he is shortstop. And teams would much rather him at second base. I think that's probably the real big hang up with the Jays is him getting hurt and then Jimenez playing all shortstop in the playoffs, he was late out. Like he. If Bichet's at shortstop, I don't know if the, if the Greyhounds, if the Blue Jays make it that far. Right. Well, I mean, obviously they were, they were like pounding the ball all, all postseason. But just that presence and some of the plays that Yemen has made, you know, they were game changers. So I think the Blue Jays would want him at second. They just signed, you know, the guy from Korea, so he's obviously going to slot in utility wise. [00:28:55] Speaker A: Moto corners. [00:28:56] Speaker C: Yeah, Okamoto. So you know the, the place for Bachetta, second base. And do you want to pay him 300 plus million to play second base? I don't, I don't know. I. I think his bat's worth it. [00:29:08] Speaker E: But yeah, I've been seeing numbers like in that five year, you know, 150, 170. Right. Like I feel like if you can get a midterm deal with him, that would be ideal. But at his age, when he, he looks across the diamond and he sees what Vlad got, I mean you got to think if you're him, you believe that you're just. If not, you're playing a more premium position defensively and you probably want to test that market. I don't know, maybe I'm lowballing it. [00:29:33] Speaker A: No, but Okamoto was a. Is another ad for the Jays to the great off season plays third base. You can play first. That gives you the ability to put Yaz at short and Ernie at second, who just got named to the World Baseball Classic for the United States. So there's a, there's a lot of options there. Maybe the Blue Jays feel that the outfield position is more valuable to obtain than go that, that infield route because of the, the uncertainty with Anthony injury. Santander, who I would love to see get traded, which I was crediting the move last offseason, but that was wrong. A couple points I want to say quick. The Arizona Diamondbacks Nolan Arenado today got traded from the Cardinals to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Happened today for 22 year old right hander Jack Hernandez, originally an 8th round pick in the 25 draft out of Arizona State. And that's a big move for Arizona, bringing in just a 10 time gold glover in Nolan Arenado. The New York Yankees acqu. Fire Ryan Weathers from the Marlins, former first round pick. Now this is what's crazy. The Marlins are expected to receive outfielder Brandon Jones and Dylan Lewis and Yaso. Now if you look at Brandon Jones, that is someone that with you look at the Yankees prospect pool. This is somebody who was a top 15th in baseball but just, just an absolute beast with some power potential. Okay, so definitely check him out again. I didn't think the Yankees would part that way, but Weathers is a dominant left hander and former first round pick with the Padres if I remember correctly. So there's some trades to list to you. And Obviously as per MLB.com Cody Bellinger and the Yankees seem to try to be rekindling their relationship. So I think that takes the Yankees out of the Kyle Tucker scenario. It does seem like to be down to the Mets and the Blue Jays, maybe the Dodgers. Boba Shet seems to be down to the Phillies, Blue Jays, Yankees and the Red Sox. So that is going to be interesting to keep an eye on. Connor, any final thoughts before we let you go? [00:31:25] Speaker E: Yeah, I Think this is the Japanese league renaissance between Murakami to. I know you played in Korea, but Murakami to the White Sox. There's been a couple pitchers that have come over now. Houston signed an arm from Japan for a three year deal. And then of course, Okamoto. This is a really, really cool time to be signing those free agents from the npb, which is the Japanese baseball league, for those who aren't familiar. [00:31:52] Speaker A: So let me ask this con before you go by the next time, by next week when we do a show, will Kyle Tucker and Boba Shep be signed? [00:31:58] Speaker E: Yes and no. I'm gonna say Kyle Tucker. [00:32:01] Speaker B: Yes. [00:32:01] Speaker E: I'll say Bobaette's gonna hold out. [00:32:04] Speaker A: Nice. Good guess. Okay. All right. We won't say where you think he's gonna go unless you want to say where you think. Okay. [00:32:10] Speaker E: I'm always wrong. [00:32:11] Speaker A: So it's gonna be interesting what happens for sure. So definitely comment below what you think. But Connor, my friend, thanks for taking the time to talk some strike zone today and having Trudes join us with it. Yes, we miss you. Talk soon, brother. All right, Trudes. It's a little bit of baseball, okay. And I know Hike's gonna be coming on soon. He can come and just join us on Chuck a Buck. We still have 24 minutes left to talk on the show. So I'd like to devote at least 10 more minutes to around there to talk major junior and hounds and give about almost 15 minutes to Justin for in the Pocket. So we wrap up within the hour. [00:32:44] Speaker E: So. [00:32:46] Speaker A: Ohl, where do we want to start here? Carter George. Everything was official last week. I was also getting texts last week saying that the. The trade seems that it was going to be official that everything was going. We were. He debuted, won the game. It was an anticipated debut, of course goaltending for the Hounds. If you look on the Sue Greyhounds fan page, who my like are they trading Miller? Why they trade the young. Drawing a blank about the young kid that they moved that I was a big fan. [00:33:12] Speaker C: No. Noah Tagalaria, a former Beaver. [00:33:14] Speaker A: Former blinder Beaver. Yes. So again it's. It's wild, right, that you know with some of these moves that have happened. And as before, while we continue Justin Heiko's jumping on Heiko. We're just starting with. With the chock a puck. We had the strike zone go a little bit longer so you can definitely chime in on some. On some chocolate puck for the next five minutes. So if you feel like you want to. But Trudes, we got Carter George got his debut here with the Hounds. You talk, talk, give floors yours man. Talk about the Hounds. Carter George, Ohl floor is yours. [00:33:45] Speaker C: Yeah. So the past weekend for the Greyhounds was a good one. A bit of a bounce back weekend after they had been in a lull after the Christmas break. And so they ended up winning three straight. A couple dominant wins against Sudbury, one narrow win against the Ottawa 67s. That was a really, really good game of hockey. If you attended low scoring Greyhound like tough defensively Greyhounds winning that 1, 2, 1 with and Miller in the net. And then Carter George having a pretty easy night on the Saturday with a huge win 5 nothing over the Niagara Ice Dogs. There were two key games this past weekend. I actually wasn't impressed with the Sudbury game. I didn't think that the Greyhounds played very well. They got some, they got some scoring. Their offense carried them through. I didn't think their puck movement and their structure was as sharp as it was Friday and definitely Saturday. The thing that stuck out, stuck out to me was their defensive zone play. They blocked a ton of shots on Friday and that really led to Landon Miller being very, very relaxed in the crease and only facing about like 16, 17 shots, which was huge in that victory. Huge. They really, really settled on their assignments in the defensive zone. And the same theme carried on to Saturday. And what I was thinking was, and talking a little bit with Greyhounds fans, if that formula is continued and you play that way in front of a goalie like Carter George, that is a very, very good recipe for success. I don't think it's really been part of the success in the past. A lot of the Greyhound teams, the recent Greyhound teams that have come through the playoffs have been really, really solid offensively. I think, I honestly think that the, the 2023 team with Gavin Hayes, Bryce McConnell broke, Joseph Nosa, obviously the usual suspects. [00:35:45] Speaker A: I feel. [00:35:48] Speaker C: That team, I feel like that team was probably the most dangerous offensively in the whole chl. They just were so inconsistent. The Karen's team back in 2021, again, really, really solid offensively. We're just missing some depth pieces. Greyhound's team, while still young, plays super, super well in defensive zone. So I think that type of formula, if they continue to develop that, you know the goals will come. But if you're always solid in your own end, that's going to frustrate teams and that's how you win playoff games, as you know, Dave. So that's what I noticed. One other thing, Carter George is super, super good at playing the puck. He didn't have many opportunities on Saturday, but you could just see the calmness that he and his anticipation when the puck is dumped in or when there's a loose puck in his own end. He jumps right on it. He jumps out of the net and he's on it. And that's going to help a power play. That's going to help a power play that sometimes struggles still to get from their own end into the other team's end. So he's going to help this decor, this power play, this offense, even on the offensive side of the puck, which is huge and it's exciting. Greyhounds fans should be excited. There's a lot of difficult teams, there's a lot of tough competition in the Western Conference, but let's enjoy the ride here. And they got it like kudos to the coaching staff, to the players. Keep on that defensive zone because that's going to be the key. [00:37:15] Speaker A: Makes sense. You know what, what I liked is the aggressive. The, the you get Clue Che back, you get Carter George, the way that the hounds out of here, Brady Martin's back and just the way this team is built. It's an exciting team to watch. And there's a lot of parody in the league here where people are saying well are they, are they. Can they be Branford? If they got that far, could. Could they beat Kitchener in a seven game series? Can you look at. Can they be Flint? You know, Flint has had such a good year and I think anything can happen. And I'm not saying that as someone who's local in Sault Ste. Marie, I, you know the. Even London's kind of battling back a little bit, right. It's, it's been very. We use the word, we use the word drunk. Standings has been what we've, what we've used in the National Hockey League. But with the ohl it's not too far different. There's. But it's in a good parody of way it's not like that from the National Hockey League. And I feel anyone can win when they go into the playoffs that type of year where yeah you have a few people that I think have their arms stretched out a little bit further. But you can, you can see that any team can give away any or win on any night in a seven game series. Okay, so overall from the, from the Suse Amig Greyhounds this week Trude's. They got. They start their road trip. They. This week they got a game in Sarnia and a game in Guelph Thursday And Friday, but they return home on Wednesday against London here at the GFL Memorial Gardens, which is so nice to see. Memorial Gardens. Then this weekend you got obviously the Battalion or sorry, next weekend, the weekend, the 24th and the back to back here. So the Hounds got some games where, you know, when you look at Sarnia, you know it's a team that you should win against. Right. When you look at Guelph, another game you should win. But when you look at the North Bay Battalion, a team that's over 500 behind the Hounds, if you look at technically with points, but a team that you know could steal a win, they, they're, they're a pesky team. I would say that the, the Hounds are going to be a little bit tougher in these back to back games, but again, games they should win. Okay. Games that they should win. So those are four games that they could really help to move up the standings. And they're nine points behind Windsor right now in their, in their division. [00:39:12] Speaker D: So. [00:39:12] Speaker A: And Flint, overall, they're a little bit behind Flint. Flint has a good little lead as a top up there. So in the, from the western perspective, but overall, the Hounds have a schedule ahead that they should win games with. Having Landon Miller and Carter George back there really solidifies what they can possibly do. And this leads me to the one point, you know, we don't have too much that we're going to touch on today with the OHL just because of time as an overall tracker. But I know Delorio and Novotny are wearing the C at the Connor McDavid's OHL Top Prospects game that I wanted to mention. I really like watching the OHL young prospects or the top prospects games. I feel like the chl, I really like watching that, watching those games for those, for those around the major juniors because they really do go hard in those games. And those games have a background because scouts are there watching you. So it's not like the NHL All Star Game by any means. So those would be great to, great to watch. But one thing I want to make sure I mentioned was the hot take that I heard truism. I want your reaction. Someone told me not to say who. They told me not to. They wanted to be on. They didn't want to be. There's reasons Gavin McKenna will not go first is what this person said. They said, Gavin McKenna will not go first overall. I said, okay, I'll bite, I'll bite, I'll bite. Who is. And they said, I'm close. He said, I like two Players more Chase Reed and Keaton Verhoff. I like those place more and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a big fan of Verhoff. If I'm a team McKenna, I think McKenna's going one. Just so everybody knows spoiler when we do the pre. The pre draft down the road. But if I was the number two, give me Verhoff. That kid is what I want on my team. I'm telling you right now. I'm telling you I love big defensemen. The guy can move. Okay. Everyone would know how I build my defensive core. Okay. If you watch my NHL franchise mode, it would do. It would tell you how I build my D core. Owen Power leading the way. Okay. But that aside. [00:40:58] Speaker C: Jokes aside, better than Chase Reed. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Keaton Keaton Verhoff. Better than Chase Reed. I don't know. Chase Reed's going top five. Top five? [00:41:05] Speaker C: Yes. [00:41:06] Speaker A: Fact. Do I think he's going top four or three? Yes, I think there's a chance there for sure. It's hard, but I would and I'm a big Chase Reed fan. I am, I want and I excited to hopefully have him on the show before he goes away at the end of the year. From a hound perspective. But I'm still taking McKenna one and I don't. It doesn't matter if you take reed or Verhoff second or third, you're getting a good defenseman. But I still think McKenna has to go on. But Tru is before we transition and go into in the pocket, does McKenna still go one in your eyes? Is he still your early number one or does Chase Reed or Verhoff have the upper hand now on him? [00:41:38] Speaker C: It's really funny now because, you know, we went through days of McDavid or Eichel or Sagan or hall or, you know, like all of those. Like, is it this, this guy or this guy? Like there's only two now. It's. It's. Could be anybody. Like, it's just how the league works. Sometimes there's a. There's a set choice like Matthew Schaefer was the obvious, you know, first overall from last year. But it's this, this draft in particular is like. It's. It's going to be interesting. I really like and a name that we didn't even talk about. I really like from Sweden, Ivar Stenberg. I think he had an outstanding world junior and I didn't know that he was. That he was draft eligible. I thought he was 19 in a tournament. So he's going to, you know, throw a wrench in there too in terms of skill. McKenna, he does have all the skill to be a first round pick. And I wish I actually had more information on him at Penn State, but it just, it sounds like he's having a really solid year there. Maybe the production hasn't continued like it did in the whl, but he's, he's playing against men. So as. As a 17 year old. So I mean, I think he's still, he's still in the running for that spot. NHL Central scouting has him as, so. And yeah, I haven't actually watched Keaton Verhoff a lot. I've watched Chase Reed a lot. And I think if you are going to be better, like if you're going to beat Chase Reed as the top defenseman in this draft, you have to be pretty damn good. So we'll see. Yeah, I think, I think McKenna still has that spot right now, but we'll see when it comes down closer to draft time. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Heiko, before we officially sign you and do you think that Gavin McKenna is still going number one or is this a hot take that Chase Reeder Verhoff goes ahead of McKenna? [00:43:28] Speaker D: I think it's a pretty hot take still. I mean, something has to go horribly wrong or, you know, for to. To bump them out of that spot. I mean, either. Not. Well, not necessarily, but one of these other guys got to pop off too. I mean like something you got to dethrone them and, and I mean the world Juniors kind of set the stage where a lot of guys got some attention that otherwise maybe they wouldn't have gotten. Not from people in the crowd, but definitely on TV. But yeah, no, I, I think McKenna is like that. That's a. Locked in number one. I mean, barring any nonsense, the back half here or back quarter now that we're in almost halfway through January. [00:44:03] Speaker A: Yeah, good quote. I like that. And I meant to put him on the spot. He loves when I do that, put him right on the spot. But I know this is a hot take. When I heard this, I thought of you. Truth. I was so curious and somebody had Chase Reed going number one. So Chase Reed, you have some of our followers that have you number one. Okay, I, I'll be honest, I don't. But you're definitely a top five and I think that's pretty, that's pretty good. [00:44:24] Speaker C: You're only a top five. You're not number one. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Oh, that's great. Oh boy, that's. I'm really hurt my feelings. [00:44:32] Speaker C: I mean, the Vancouver Canucks just traded their number One defenseman and they're looking for Chase Reed. I'd love to get Reed in the back of my Canucks jersey when luckily I didn't get a Hughes on the back of it because I would be very, very upset today. Yeah. [00:44:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Or they get McKenna, maybe persuade Bedard down the road when he hits free agency to come join his cousin in Vancouver. And Vancouver's a powerhouse down the road. Why don't we just make that a rumor and start it off here? Cruise, we talked. Chuck a puck. You came on for. For strike zone. So I want to say thank you for taking the time a little extra today and can't always get into everything we want to talk about, but there'll be a lot to talk about next week after this weekend's games. Going into next week's game as the playoffs push is obviously still bit of ways, but you know, the standings are starting to shape out more. The stret. The spreads are starting to happen sort of parodies remaining. It's going to be very exciting. And let's enjoy what I want to tell people here in the Sioux and I'm sure you'll agree in any other place that if your team's doing well in major junior enjoying these guys that are here, that are the big names. Carter George, when Jeff Carter was here, Tyler Kennedy, these guys that, you know, stick with me from my childhood, that was so great. Kyle Kajewski, I still can hear juice in my hair, you know, in my head. Right. It's. It's great. But Carter George, I loved that trade that was needed. Raftis, that was a very. That was. That was good. You got some depth in net now, and that's what helps you win championships. So I think we got to enjoy the teams. Brady Martin, I don't think he'll be here next year. I don't think he plays here next year. I think he goes to Nashville. And Chase Reed, I'll tell you, there's a very big risk that he won't be here next year either. Okay. They might not be just because of the draft, but it's because he might go play college a little bit earlier. Who knows, right? I. I don't know. Things could definitely change. All right, so let's enjoy this team that we have get to the rink to enjoy. All right, so thank you again, Truits. We will talk next week, my friend. [00:46:21] Speaker C: All right, see you next week. Take care, guys. [00:46:23] Speaker A: Hopefully you don't have to shoot. [00:46:25] Speaker C: Let's hope, man. Yeah. [00:46:28] Speaker D: You got a shovel. It's going. [00:46:31] Speaker C: We're Gonna have to shovel. [00:46:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:32] Speaker C: There's 24 salt tonight because it's okay. Yeah. [00:46:36] Speaker A: We're in winter. [00:46:37] Speaker C: All right, here guys. [00:46:40] Speaker A: 20 centimeters coming hike too shut the up. [00:46:42] Speaker D: 20 centimeters. We're not doing no 20 centimeters tonight. [00:46:46] Speaker B: All right. [00:46:48] Speaker D: There's 20 centimeters in my driveway. Tomorrow morning I'm putting it all in the back of my truck bringing it to your house. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Then I get stuck in my driveway. [00:46:54] Speaker D: It's gonna take me. It's gonna take me all morning to load it up back my truck but I'm still gonna bring it to your house and leave it there. [00:47:00] Speaker C: I hope. [00:47:00] Speaker A: I hope I'm wrong. I hope. All right. I appreciate you taking the time. I know everything got kind of push. There was a big discussion with baseball because baseball off season, this is the busiest it's ever been. [00:47:11] Speaker D: It's kind of been a mess. I mean even I have. Even I know what's going on. So obviously it's. There's stuff going on. [00:47:18] Speaker A: It's going on. It's wild. And you know what? Enrollment is already going up in Canada for baseball. I wonder why Rogers just saying saying. [00:47:26] Speaker D: How many. [00:47:29] Speaker A: In the pocket partnered with Sports center bar and grill 10 years strong with doing this segment prett near. We're in our ninth year so just under 10 years and you know this is the first time in the pocket that I'm going to be talking about the Steelers having a new coach and Justin Heiko called this last week saying that if, when. If they lose and Tomlin's going to be shown the door and the Houston Texans showed the Pittsburgh Steelers the frickin door. I'll tell you that much. They. The defense was impeccable just like Dane hanshaw Of course CO1 of the CO with the game said you're not going to get a lot on that defense and he was bang on that defense is number one in the league for a reason. I don't blame Rogers. I don't. [00:48:09] Speaker D: It's just like. But Houston, Houston's offense also wasn't trying to win. [00:48:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:15] Speaker D: You know what I mean? Like I don't mean that as like a. You know I'm trying to be offensive towards the Steelers. It's just like C.J. stroud was having an equally shitty time and yeah against Pittsburgh's defense just that Aaron Rodgers had a worse time essentially is how that went. The Houston defense is the true star of the show there. [00:48:34] Speaker B: See I, I think when I look. [00:48:37] Speaker A: At the Pittsburgh Steelers last night and this we're recording this on the 12th and we're going to talk about. There's more games and there's more upcoming games that we have to talk about too. And with time, I won't dive into too much. I want to talk about Tomlin stepping down, but CJ Strout drops for fumbles that you couldn't capitalize on twice. Right interception. Couldn't capitalize. There's three possessions in the game that you were unable to let alone move up. And there was a time in the game where the Pittsburgh Steelers had just under 10 plays and they only moved, what, nine yards. Like that's, that's not going to bring any success. They have good running backs in Gainwell and Warren. They have Metcalf on the, on the wide out. I think they could have made the white oats. They still needed another guy. [00:49:12] Speaker D: I feel like you're thin at wide receiver. I think that was a. But you got rid of Pickens. [00:49:19] Speaker A: But Rogers, he's getting mad at the players and people not opening up. You know what the problem is? The Houston defense is just too good. And they pressured you. They're better than your old line and they showed why they're the best defense. And Rogers getting frustrated ain't gonna make anything better. Make those around you play better either. Gone are those days. [00:49:36] Speaker D: So you know what, and I hate it's so early in the show to be doing this. I hate making this comparison. But you remember like there was a time where the Leafs were kind of in that purgatory where they were good enough to just miss the playoffs kind of thing. And so we weren't getting any quality draft picks. Not to say that a first round pick is a first round pick and it's a player that's a talented player. However, like in the Steelers are kind of in the same boat. You've made the playoffs now for what, 17 years since Tomlin's been there. [00:50:05] Speaker A: Yep. Since he's been there. Yep. [00:50:07] Speaker D: How many high draft picks have you like, you just haven't had a chance to restock the. The cupboards? [00:50:12] Speaker A: No. [00:50:12] Speaker C: Nope. [00:50:13] Speaker A: So that you can sell at a premium. Like, I've had people tell me, Dave, you're a Steelers fan. They've been Tomlin, when he got. I didn't even see it posted. I was. I'm a big Tomlin fan, as everybody knows. I think he's a great coach and he, he might not coach like tomorrow, but he's not going to be able to have a job for long. But it's going to be on his terms, where he wants to go. And I stopped the rumors about Baltimore and Harbaugh coming to Pittsburgh, I don't see that happening. I'm not going to lie to you right now. I do not see that happening. But Tomlin will not be long without a job because, you know, he's still relatively young, 53 years old, still very young. He could still jump into coach and he has quite the pedigree. A couple Super Bowls, 19 years with the same team. He's definitely not going to be, he's definitely not going to be getting out of a job. But he had a very, he had a very good quote in his statements. And when he mentioned, mentioned this in this final statement, he said, while this chapter comes to a close, my respect and love for the Pittsburgh Steelers would never change. I'm excited for the future holds for this organization and I will forever be grateful for my time coach in Pittsburgh. The only thing out of that statement that says he's coaching anymore is that while this chapter closes, everything else was about Pittsburgh. The class act, the way that he's tough. He was the coach for Pittsburgh. He is a definition of what that is. So anyone who replaces them should be any short of what he can bring. But there's a lot of already people saying, should Brian Flores be the next clear choice? Should. Look, I'm telling you, let the dust settle. And I'm a fan of this and you may not agree because in football it takes time. Look at the Cleveland Browns, you can really fail at this. Trade some of these guys that have such high value and recoup the cupboards isn't like hockey, but you need to. [00:51:49] Speaker D: Yeah, the NFL is tough. It's tough to trade guys like. And all you're getting is fourth and fifth round picks and you know, unless you need six kickers, there's not, you know what I mean? Like you're, it's kind of a crapshoot down there. Hey, you gotta purge some big contracts, have some cap space and it's gonna be shitty for a bit. You just hope it's not shitty forever. Like in the endless spiral of signing every 80 year old quarterback you can find for 10 years, shitty. [00:52:22] Speaker A: Do you know how many coaches they've had in 57 years? The Pittsburgh Steelers? [00:52:25] Speaker D: I can think of two basically in my lifetime of watching football. And it was Bill Cower and Mike Tomlin. I'm sure Noel is in there somewhere. [00:52:36] Speaker A: So the last 57 years, Chuck Noel, Bill Cower, Mike Tomlin, that's it. [00:52:41] Speaker D: Yeah, like I couldn't, I couldn't think of anything else. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Like there and he was. Pittsburgh hired him in 1969. [00:52:48] Speaker C: Chuck. [00:52:48] Speaker A: No, he was before with Indianapolis Colts. You knew that Bill Cower was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Pittsburgh hired him in 1992. And then of course, Mike Tomlin was with the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive coordinator before going to Pittsburgh in 07. Okay, so three head coaches in 57 years. That is, that is loyalty to your coaching staff. That is success as an organization. Everyone doesn't like Pittsburgh. Just like people don't like the Yankees. They want a bunch of in the day. They're always successful even though they don't win a Super Bowl. They make the playoffs, they sneak their way in, annoyingly. I get it. I'm a Steeler fan. I cheer for a team that's a lot different than the other teams I cheer for. But three coaches, you have some big shoes to fill if you're going over there because the coach you got to take over. But I think it's also very good opportunity. Okay, so won't dive into that too much. But three coaches in fifth seven years at least I've had three coaches in one year. I think fighting, firing Carlisle, firing Hornichuck and hiring Babcock, I think that counts as three in one calendar year. That's that they had. So think about that in the reference. When you're talking about coaches, look at the Cleveland Browns. If you want to stick to football, look at these teams that just fire their coaches left and right because they can't find the right guy. Sometimes patience takes up. But Tomlin came into Pittsburgh, drafted big and it worked out from this. From there they drafted Ben and they were able to, they were able to go. [00:54:06] Speaker D: Sometimes a head coach can't fix a pre established culture either. That's the. I mean some teams have bad owners. [00:54:13] Speaker A: That's. [00:54:13] Speaker D: And that's the way it is. And some things will never change. There's certain teams in the league that are like that. Sometimes new owners figure it out. I mean, a la the Carolina Panthers, when you know they had a new owner, he bought the team like three or four years ago. The first two years were a disaster. He was making the head coach come and report to him every Monday and you know, and things kind of. They're on the right track now. I mean, we had Carolina Panthers in the playoff game this past weekend and we almost had the Carolina Panthers in the second round. It's. It's crazy how certain teams, I mean, you can just, you can commit to a turnaround and three, four years, boom, you're right back into it again, I wouldn't get too down on the Steelers just yet. [00:54:53] Speaker A: That's. [00:54:53] Speaker D: Get the right pieces in place and, like, guys are doing okay. [00:54:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And that. I won't. We won't go too much more into that, but I think you got to give respect to Tomlin spending 19 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Harbor out and. And his success in Baltimore. You know, Mike McDaniels interviewing for the Browns job. Don't do it. So, you know, there's. There's a lot of coach. The coach carousel is going to be interesting this offseason, but I will predict Harbraugh and Tomlin, even though I kind of mentioned this, a little bit offset before, but I think they both get hired this offseason and go somewhere different. It's going to be very interesting about who goes where and what happens. I'm very, very interested. And I don't think that, you know, I think some teams might be firing their coach because of who's available. And we talked about that last week with Harbaugh. [00:55:42] Speaker D: Now, I think that's what happened in Miami, to be completely honest. I just think that they haven't hired yet. [00:55:50] Speaker A: There's two good coaches available, and they got. They. I'm sure they're licking their chops because of how much they want to change that team so bad. Bad. [00:55:58] Speaker D: I mean, there's a lot of good offensive coordinator spots open right now, too, and probably gonna become open as other people become available or jobs change around and stuff. You know, we got. We got a lot of playoffs still and people to lose their jobs still. It's shitty to say, but it's just the way professional sports works. [00:56:19] Speaker A: I'll say the wild card round to kind of jump into that, you know, speaking of that. Because job score could change the wild card round. Every game was great. I just wasn't a fan of the Patriots game. I thought that was a little bit of a. A snooze game for me. It wasn't something that I tuned in for the whole time, but every other game was great to watch. [00:56:34] Speaker D: And the Steelers game was kind of a stinker. I was expecting a little more, but it was defensive and I mean, much to the Patriots games, Defense, too. It was a very defensive game. Justin Herbert got the living kicked out of him that game. Like, that fourth quarter. Like, I thought it was like the second last series or third last series. I thought he was dead. Like, I thought they were gonna have to scrape him off the field and. Okay, well, he's probably out. Whatever. No, he's back in there and like just getting killed. I mean they fired their offer their offensive line coach today. So the story checks out on that. But like, man, like the, the New England defense just couldn't, I mean just like Rogers couldn't breathe last night, Justin Herbert couldn't breathe against New England. I mean that's, it's a, it's a weird year. But part of me says, you know, this is Josh Allen's super bowl to lose, so to say, with all the new blood coming up in the playoff pool. But New England's defense is bananas, Houston's defense is bananas and all the Bills do is run. So it's going to be like, it's going to be a heck of a. And I mean, I don't mean to forget the Broncos here, but I honestly don't think the first round buy is going to do the Broncos any favor. And I think the Bills are going to smoke. [00:57:46] Speaker A: I think so too. [00:57:47] Speaker D: Josh Allen, at the end of that game on Saturday, I was all in on Jacksonville and Josh Allen just kind of put that on his back and said, no, I'm winning. I mean, what else do you, what. [00:57:58] Speaker A: Did we talk about last week and it was posted on our tick tock was Josh Allen, when's it going to be the time that he takes over? When, when is it going to be his time? And I saw some comments on there. Well, it's not just Josh Allen. There's more to a team and you're right. But we're talking big moments and quarterbacks have the ability to carry a team and really lead the charge. Look at Tom Brady's Patriots were good, but I'm just using an example. Patrick Mahomes. I know Travis Kelce and they had some players but Mahomes and those Brady ingredients are able to bring a different energy to the game. They're in. They're in. He's in that conversation with those with, not with Brady. Sorry, but with ability. I'm talking ability. He has the ability. He's one of if not the best quarterbacks the league. So he has the ability to do that. As my point. [00:58:42] Speaker D: But if you're just saying like pure game breaker like Josh Allen is the guys on that list. If, if you need a, if you need an individual player to perform in a moment, Josh Allen's probably the guy right now. I mean we obviously there's, you could rewind a billion of our shows and have me saying the opposite. But right now he seems to be dialed in. He's probably the guy to watch out. We'll see how the weekend goes. But I think Josh Allen is the, the guy to watch out for and whoever wins like that New England Houston game, that's going to be like one of Those old style UFC's where Brock Lesnar just come out and punch the out of someone. Like that game is just going to be back and forth. Defense, defense, defense. It's going to be a good one. [00:59:27] Speaker A: It is and I think, you know, we'll get to our, to our picks but we, it's going to be interesting to see this week. I've always said the Broncos I think are just gonna be that first round buy and it's not going to help them and they're not going to go far after that. I think this year is not a fluke, but I think it's a good stepping stone year for them. Just like the Panthers. Like I didn't expect them to win against the Rams, but they put up a hell of a fight. Love seeing the Youngs battle back this year. He was not good last year. And the, The Bears down 20, 21 to 3. What the Packers? I knew you were going to lose that game. I said that the Bears are winning that football game. [01:00:02] Speaker D: That fourth quarter was wild though. That was absolutely wild. [01:00:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think they can't like the Bears are for real. Everybody, this team is for real. [01:00:11] Speaker D: Like I was not a big Caleb Williams fan in the NFL. He'd really had yet to kind of wow me a little bit. But like that fourth quarter he made some throws that you just shouldn't on the run and how accurate those balls were. That's crazy. And I mean I think the go ahead. I'm not sure if it was the go ahead touchdown play, but I, anyone that's watched football with me knows I go banana every time someone runs a wide receiver screen. It's like this is the stupidest, it's the fastest way to lose 2 yards is running a wide receiver screen. I mean odd times it works when you're playing Madden and someone makes you go ball. But it's like they pulled everyone for the wide receivers and they just sent one guy down and they just bombed. It was like wait a minute. So that's, that's the way to make that work. Like I don't think, I don't know, maybe I focus too much on that. But like man, just the stuff that the Bears offense did, the Ben Johnson flair that maybe we got used to in Detroit. You're starting to see the next level of it with Caleb Williams a Little more athletic of a quarterback than our buddy Jared Goff there. [01:01:16] Speaker A: But honestly 361 yards for Caleb Williams. 25 points in that fourth quarter. Unless unbelievable. Divisional round starts this weekend. Saturday 4:30 is the early game. Bills, Broncos. I will label out the games. We'll start the picks and maybe remind us of the standings again just as a little kind reminder of that. But we got the Bills and The Broncos at 4:30 we on Saturday and the Niners Seahawks at 8pm Good start to the weekend. On Saturday you got the divisional round. NFL sorry the next divisional round games. What I mean to say Sunday 3 o' clock and then Sunday at 6:30. Now I have one thing I want to mention. The college football championship. I'm an Oregon fan and Indiana absolutely destroyed. It was absolutely ludicrous. That Indiana Hosers team is absolutely stellar. Good luck Miami. You'll be lucky to get out of that first quarter. I think Indiana is going to absolutely roast Miami and I think it's not going to be even a game. But that doesn't have happen till Monday the 19th. So you get a good block of football Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As I'll give a prediction right now, Indiana is winning that national championship. Okay. And it's going to be a very easy win for the, for the Indiana Hosers and the Miami Hurricanes. Well they had a good game the previous game but just like Oregon did to get to the, to the, to the final four if you want to call it that. Okay, so Indiana, I'll say congratulations in advance and we'll see if I'm wrong next week though. So the games that we're talking NFL here, we were not going to dive too much into ncaa, but it's been, you know, it was a good year for more. I, I will say though for the Indiana, for the game with Indiana. I, when I, I was just taking a moment here to pop up the stats quick. When I look at Oregon, obviously they, they've signed a recent top prospect. We'll save that for another, for another day. When I look at them when they played Indiana, that was not a team that you think would be in that final last four remaining. But Mendoza, five touchdown passes. [01:03:16] Speaker D: Okay. [01:03:16] Speaker A: Dante Moore, he's still going to be a good pick in the draft. But one player that really stuck out for me from, from a, from a receiving perspective was Elijah Sarat from the Indiana Hosers as well was absolutely just great. But the whole second quarter was Indiana just not letting their foot off the gas. And it was just unbelievable to see how this was A team that Oregon was 13 and 1, Indiana 14, 0. Indiana hasn't lost a game all year. Year. And they're not about to lose. Okay? This is a very talented football team we're seeing in college. And buckle up, Indiana, you're going to be partying Monday night. All right, back to the NFL. Like I said. I just want to add at that point with more in Mendoza, that was a great. I thought that would be a much better quarterback matchup, and it was an okay quarterback matchup. It just wasn't the defensive matchup that we desired to help contain Mendoza, but we had the divisional rounds in the NFL. Justin, who are you picking? [01:04:09] Speaker D: Well, what do we got going on this week? So I'm taking the Bills over the Broncos, San Fran over Seattle. I was a little torn on that one, but again, I think the bye week might jam up Seattle a little bit. I like San Fran more. I'm taking the upset. Houston over New England. I think Houston again, they. That defense, just, New England's defense looks good, but that Houston defense, Will Anderson Jr. I mean, they, they were something else. And I'm taking Chicago over the Rams. Far as scores go, Chicago 31, Rams 28 and Houston 24, New England 21. Most points, Chicago fewest points, New England. So highest scoring weekend. [01:04:49] Speaker A: I think it's going to be great. We only have one thing that's a little bit different, of course, because this is where when you start getting into these games, you're going to start seeing the closeness and picks. I have the Bills over the Broncos, but I have the Seahawks over the Niners. I don't think the bye weeks in a matter. I'd like Seattle at home, especially because of the crowd. The energy there in Seattle, I think is going to be really good. And I think Seattle is not making the super bowl by any means, but we'll come and have a step over the Niners at that because of home field advantage. Texans over the Patriots. Texans defense, watching them yesterday, I know the Patriots is great, but they're slow. Yeah, defense, this is going to be a very, very low scoring, low scoring game. And I, I went a little bit lower in terms of scoring for you than that on Justin, but I'll let you know. We get there. Bears over the Rams. Bears are for real. Okay, so that means we're gonna have a final four. Bears, Texans, Seahawks and Bills. This is Josh Allen's year if I've ever heard of it. I'm just telling you right now. I got the Bears 32, Rams 27. In a yet another Bears comeback. Telling you right now, not as dramatic but a Bears comeback. I have 1714 Texans and Patriots low scoring game defensive game. There's a field goal that's going to win it and it's going to be the Texans to win it in the dire minutes. That's how even exact I'm going to go for you Field goal in the dire minutes is what's going to win that game because it's just going to be a defensive battle that entire night. So the most points that week or for this week, I'm actually to going go to go to the Bills. I think they're going to get more than 32 and they might hit 38 on the Broncos. Sorry Denver and the lease points this week Patriots. So that is the picks for this week and the standings. You don't have to remind everyone, Justin, it was a tough go for for everybody but I you know, I'm proud to. I think I've clinched. I've. Yeah, I've clinched the the title again this year and much due to people's mistakes and, and it's been an awful year for the pick' em league for us for the game sports podcast. [01:06:52] Speaker D: Yeah. Kind of a, kind of a rough go in the the pick them this year but we'll rebound next year. We'll get some fresh blood in there and we'll, we'll get her going again. [01:07:00] Speaker A: 62% has me in first place where usually that would put me in third in previous years. Okay, just, just thought I'd if you're. [01:07:07] Speaker D: The Steelers, you're right on pace. [01:07:09] Speaker A: Right on pace, exactly. All right, Justin, so that does everything for football. A little brief NCAA chat just to absolutely crap on my Oregon Ducks more so but give give luck or give give kudos to Indiana. Like even my wife was watching that while we were eating Ernie's. To be honest. We put on the game to watch it. My wife said, oh, sorry babe. It doesn't look like it's a. Yeah. [01:07:30] Speaker D: Like it's a big oof for me. Doug, you said who? [01:07:33] Speaker A: It shouldn't say who, but she said, wow, Indiana looks really good. I said, oh yeah, they're very good. [01:07:38] Speaker D: Yeah, that's. She's so polite. She is so polite. [01:07:43] Speaker A: She's so nice. Like then I get to watch the Steelers get absolutely just no, it's been a bad football week for the McCag House, but not a bad hockey week, I'll tell you that much. If you're talking about these. [01:07:53] Speaker D: Listen, the way it goes, if you're A Leafs fan, you can only have one one thing going good at a time. It never. Your football team is bad. The Leafs are good. Your football team is good. The Leafs are the worst. Like it's just base baseball is going good. Guess what? The Leafs don't even know how to tie their skates. Like it's that's just the way it goes. Tell me I'm wrong. To any Leaf fan out there. Tell me I'm wrong. [01:08:16] Speaker A: They're not going to. And honestly, it's going to be an exciting weekend of football and Saturday, Sunday, Monday, you got you gotta love this time of year. You love October's great right? But like playoff football, college football in the championship, the nitty gritty of the NHL season before the Olympics which is just around the corner which is going to be another who torture Watch. It's gonna it lot just great. And then of course major juniors. Heat knob Carter George here in Sault Ste. Marie, there's a lot of a lot of sports to look forward to so you don't have to you know when you tune into our podcast in your spare time, don't hesitate to lock in your calendars what you're watching for sports and try to keep track. Okay. Just telling you and while you're doing it, maybe get some wings from SportsCenter, get some pizza, go enjoy the atmosphere that Sue's best sports bar for five years in a row and best wings rated as well and partner of the in the Pocket segment just to remind you the Game Sports podcast also on Tick Tock, Instagram, Facebook at the Game Sports podcast featured on 91 n our video editions. Anyhow, our audio is on all audio platforms and of course featured on spaces that's through Suit Today and Village Media under the hockey and sports section for the Sault Ste Marie space. Now I want to say thank you to Jordan Trudeau. I want to say thank you to Connor Henderson and Brendan McCarthy full roster here tonight of course without Alex Par who is still MIA and not responding to coming on calling him out multiple times on each show until he gets his ass back on. But I want to say thank you to Justin Heik as well every week here Original OG in the 10th year of the Game Sports podcast. We just passed our 10th birthday and we've been doing in the pocket for nine years. The longest running segment that we have just above hockey. So hike. As always my friend, thank you. [01:09:52] Speaker D: All right, no problem. Good to be here. Good to be talking sports and and we're in that season now where you got to Start cherishing the football games we got left. So enjoy it, folks. [01:10:01] Speaker A: I can't believe we're already at the. We were just saying already. I can't believe we're at week one, but now we're in the playoffs. Talk about playoffs. Playing the final four remaining in football. That's the visional round. Like time does fly by, people. Time does fly by. It just makes me feel already thing my son's already 7 months old, so that time is flying by. And pretty soon there'll be a number two for. For Justin. Okay. And that. That's flying by. I think she's close, right? [01:10:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:10:28] Speaker D: And end of March. [01:10:29] Speaker A: We're getting there. We're getting there. It's coming. See? [01:10:32] Speaker B: Preparing. [01:10:32] Speaker C: Okay. [01:10:33] Speaker A: And he still has this great background. I always try to make sure I comment Justin's background. If you want to inspire your background with your podcast, look at Justin's. Okay, that's. That's perfect. [01:10:41] Speaker C: All right. [01:10:41] Speaker A: Just making sure I give credit out there to that. [01:10:44] Speaker D: Yeah, that's. That's just. That's one of my addictions on full display for everyone to judge. [01:10:49] Speaker A: I want to give a shout out my nephew and also godson to my as his birthday was yesterday. So I know brother in law sister tune into the show as well, but give a little shout out to my. To my nephew. So I want to give a shout out there and to any listeners. Just make sure if you want to give a shout out to anybody, let us know. We can give some people a shout out on the show. We used to do that when we were on live radio. Maybe I should start bringing that back. So if you want us to do a shout out to send me an interaction or an email. All right, until next week when the Game sports podcast we are uploading on Wednesdays now just so everybody knows, we will be back next week to talk to you. All of our usual agenda, football, hockey and probably some baseball. Especially if somebody signs somewhere that they shouldn't. Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker. There'll be a lot of news to get into as we hit. That will be January 21st for our next one. But when you're tuning in this on the January 14th, please like for follow and subscribe wherever you're tuned into and again, always thank you for tuning in on the game. And I can't forget I always get called out that I forget to broadcast my recognition for Podbean. So Podbean, there's a lot of one of our older. Not I mean older in age, I mean older term followers from day one when we were on Eagle.95.1. They're on Podbean, so shut out to podbean. You can follow us on there as well. So, Justin, again, Brent, thank you. Brendan, thank you, Jordan and Chris Connor. Thank you to you, the listeners, for making this all possible. Until next time, I'm here to remind you to keep your stick on the ice. Swing your bats, catch a touchdown, strain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.