[00:00:05] Speaker A: Booyah. It's time for the Game Sports podcast. It is your host David McCaig Jr. The Game Sports Podcast is powered by 91 Network, also featured on Spaces, which is through Village Media and Sue Today, wherever you're tuning in, if it's through social media, if it's on 91 network, any audio platforms, make sure you like, follow and subscribe. I am joined here for the first first segment which is our top shelf segment by co host with yours truly on top shelf, Brandon McCarthy. I called you the cart last week, man, but we're not. I'm not gonna change that. I'm not doing that again this week. How you doing my friend?
[00:00:39] Speaker B: I'm itching to play Mario Kart. Every time you say that Dave, you're.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Throwing the banana back and making people slide or you're oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, I get that. Honestly, people probably wonder where I pull nicknames on. I'm gonna tell you something, I just say it. Whatever comes to mind. Whatever comes up here. Sometimes I don't think I just say how, I just say it and I hope it makes sense.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: I feel like you're a good like chirp chirp guy. If you're playing like beer league you.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: I honestly, you can ask any of my former teammates. I sucked at chirping but as I got older, as I got older, it's, it changed for sure. I don't know why. Maybe it's because of experience on a podcast or meeting new people or crowd. I, I don't know. But yeah, the chirp game has went up. But if you ask any of my former teammates, I was the worst person to chirp 100. I feel like chirper.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Feel like maybe you'd be like a Seth Jarvis like character guy, loves to go for some postgame pints.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Oh hell yeah. You know, you got me, got, got.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: A good wrister, you know, just loves talking to the media, loves the game, love.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: You know what, I'm going to give you props to that cuz that was who I was. Now in men's league I'm a fraking Zach Hyman power guy driving the nets because the weight gain is for real but also just getting older and smarter. I feel like I'm smarter than whatever was. I wish I could take this brain and put it on the 18 year old Dave and it would have been lot better. A lot better. But you're wearing a very nice shirt today because the weather's nice in Toronto but we're not here to talk about weather. Love the TSN Representation. Obviously we've had James Duffy on this show so I consider him a friend of the show. Obviously everything all affiliated with tsm. But you have the TV in the background. I think I'm gonna have to get you maybe to put our logo behind you on the tv. Maybe get a little bit fancy. If TSM will let you do that though. I don't know if they're will.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: I'm not too sure man. But I, I, I, I had to rep the, the polo today, of course. I mean it's 19 degrees here in Scarborough, so it's just absolutely gorgeous. I was gonna drive up to Timmy's earlier which by the way they ran out of world the room cups.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: People are just fuming fiends with those cups. Fiends.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: So had to settle for the regular cup. But I was like, I'm not gonna drive, I'm just gonna walk. It was like a June day out there. It was amazing.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: So cannot go wrong.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Need to call up Deer Creek and book a tee time.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Is it open out there? Is our courses open or No, I haven't checked.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: I don't know. This I knowing, knowing Ontario could drop to like minus two tomorrow.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: It's ridiculous. You know, it's been enough for the winter. It's time for the good weather. But you know what? Even despite this good weather going on and with, with, with baseball around the corner, obviously it's with the season almost underway there, we still got hockey. We're getting to the end, near the end of the NHL hockey season and we're hitting near game 70 the day that we're recording here March 19th. Most of everyone that is going to listen to the show is going to tune in on the 20th of March for this. So we're going to be about a day ahead of when the upload is going to be. So tonight while Brandon and I are talking for Leaf fans, just in case to remind everybody, the Leafs do play the Avalanche tonight, in which I think every damage game is coming down for critical for the Florida Panthers, the Lightning and the Leafs just to try to battle for either top of the division or home ice whatever is the consolation prize. And that second place prize, sorry is going to be that whole mice if you get first place. You're getting home ice either way, right? So for at least a couple rounds, right. So it's, it's very big couple weeks for all three of those teams and there's been some a bit of a slide for Toronto, right. And even Florida facing some injuries like cut. But when that team's healthy. You know how that team is going to be. Okay. Tampa Bay, big trades at the deadline. I like what they did bringing back Gord and Buickstad having their Berkstrand. Sorry I said Buicks Dad. Bjorkstrand. Sorry. Coming over.
Definitely some good moves there that they made. So the Atlantic Division still looking very tight. Obviously there's a division in the west that's also very tight that Colorado is a part of with Dallas and Winnipeg. So the playoffs are shaping up. And Brandon, before I get into kind of the. The side and we're going to have some fun topics. So we're going to have a question each after. But what I wanted to save. I was hoping Par was going to be here because I wanted to talk about that overtime format. Okay, I wanted to really bad. But we'll, we'll hold that this week. But there's one thing that I'm going to give us to talk about and Par is going to have to miss it. The seating for the NHL playoffs. The seeding currently right now, long story short, you finish second division, you're playing the third, you finish first, you're playing a wild card. One of the either if it's a crossover wild card or your own wild card. So obviously the NHL playoffs is different than what it used to be. While back where I recall it, Brennan recalls it, Par will recall it. I'm sure most of the listeners will recall it as a one to eight seed, which is commonly what you see when it comes to the NBA. Obviously baseball does its own thing, but you have something in the NHL that was put in place because you want to create rivalries. And over these seatings. Seating. I'll call it the seating format. Let's just call it that. Not a seating form. Sorry. The divisional format. That's what we'll call it. The divisional alignment format. You've have seen some rivalries come into play. That's Washington. Pittsburgh is by far the first that you think of because of the times Pittsburgh kicked Washington's ass until Washington finally won. And when they won, guess what they did. You obviously have Toronto, Boston. That has been won for quite some time. You've also had, I think it's fair to say LA and Edmonton have been won and Edmonton's been on the success side of that for each one of those battles. I'd like to see Winnipeg. Colorado has developed a pretty good rivalry as well. It hasn't been as long or as many games as you would have seen Pittsburgh, Washington or even la, Edmonton. But you're Seeing a lot of. A lot of the same matchups in the first round. And I'm going to gear and I'm going to see towards the Atlantic right now, you're going to see either Toronto playing Florida in the first round, or you're going to see Toronto playing Tampa, or you're going to be seeing Tampa play Florida. Okay. On the other side, you're going to have Dallas, Winnipeg and Colorado. Like, two of those teams are going to be playing each other, which is going to eliminate one of the top three teams right then and there. And then a team might squeak away from a wild card. It doesn't give you that true format. Brandon, I wanted to give you the floor to talk about how the NHL should go back, if you agree to that, because I think it should, and I'll save my point for last, but to give you the floor about the seating format, Carson to the divisional alignment format, what do you prefer to see? Are you fed up with what's going on currently and wanting to go back?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: I definitely do. I mean, the whole incentive to finish as a higher seed was that you would draw the seventh or eighth seed and, you know, not assume, but have a pretty damn good chance to advance, right?
[00:07:11] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: You know, whether it be Washington versus really crappy team or, you know, whoever won the President's Trophy that year gets a pretty favorable matchup. Now it's like, I think teams are almost kind of trying to maybe go into cruise control to, like, maybe not get the second seat in their division. Like, I think the Leafs are almost in a bit of a cruise control because really, if you finish top, what, top three in your division, you might. You might land a team that you would otherwise maybe see in, like, the conference final. Right. And I just don't think it's really fair for the team that had a really good regular season. Right. The gift should be, okay, you get a team that just kind of snuck in there. Right? But now it's just like, you know, the playoffs started tomorrow, March 20th. It'd be Toronto and Tampa again. And I'm like, I get what the league was visualizing, right. Building rivalries within your division, building animosity. It's like, okay, but if it's the same teams every year matching up, like you alluded to Dave, L.A. and Edmonton, it's like, come on, right? The NBA, they've always kept the 1v8. I mean, they've implemented the playing round, which is kind of cool. Wasn't really necessary, but they've always kept V8.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: You know, wild card BS. And it just seems to be even more complicated every. Every morning it's like, okay, this. This match up here, you know, it's just like. It was also just refreshing to look at a 1V8, right?
[00:08:50] Speaker A: It was.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Now it's just like, wait, like you said, like Toronto, Ottawa, Toronto, Florida, Toronto, three possible outcomes. Where in like, oh, four, for example, it was like, boom, four C5 seat. Toronto versus Ottawa. Lock it in.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Boom.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Game 1X date.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: I'd love to see it. Pardon me?
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what you see. That's what you saw a lot in the early thousands, which I was going to say there was. Yeah, yeah. There was some repeated matchups, but it was a better format. Right. And that depended on multiple divisions. Right. Now if you just go with true 1 to 8 seed, it wouldn't be as likely. You'd have those repeated matches each year. Likely.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Right. But it'd be a lot. It'd be a lot less common. Like to give you a quick little insight is if you. If the east did a one to eight today, Washington would be one, Florida would be two. Or. Sorry, nope, nope. Carolina would be two, Florida would be three. Four would be the Tampa Bay Lightning. Five would be Toronto. So Tampa would still be playing Toronto. So that is still there. If you're looking at sixth, you have the New Jersey Devils. If you're looking at seventh, you have the Ottawa Senators. And if you're looking at eight, because I'm looking at Montreal at 73 and the ranges of 72. So you'd have the Montreal Canadiens getting into the NHL playoffs. Right. That would have. And I think I got all that correctly. Did I miss that? You Ottawa correctly. I think I did. So the matchups would be Washington, 1, 2, 3, 4. Did I go over 1, 2, 3? No, I did my math correctly. I want to make sure, because I'm recording this correctly. So for example, you'd have Washington playing the eight seed, which would be Montreal. And then for the other seed, you'd have the Ottawa Senators playing the Carolina Hurricanes. You'd have three. So you'd have three versus. Oh my goodness. You get what I'm saying? I've said it all before. I don't want to waste time. Okay. So you'd have a better layout. Toronto and Tampa would be playing each other for sure.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: But there'd be a cool change. It could change, yeah. But be a cool little series. If you're looking at the Ottawa Senators playing as the seventh seed going against the Carolina Hurricanes. I think that that's pretty cool, right?
[00:10:48] Speaker B: I just, I just think a lot of the first round matchups we see should be the, the big ticket item for the conference final. Like you want to see the, the juggernaut teams in there the longest, but now like Dallas, Colorado, I want to see Dallas and Colorado for a longer period in the playoffs and then one of them is already out. I don't think the format is as ideal than compared to the 1v8.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Keep the divisions I recommend. So my thought is, yes, I want the 1 to 8, but keep the divisions. Win the division, get a reward for it. I think that's great. Recognizing if you win a division, that's a grind for the year and that places where if you're first or second in the Eastern Conference, so between Washington, Florida or Washington, Toronto, whoever gets first in the Atlantic, those are your top two seeds based on those points. So you have those two divisions, but then from there down and that still works out the same number one and two based on points, it still works out that Washington would get one. And let's say Florida, if the playoffs started today, Florida would have two because they have less points. Seed them, reward the division champion from the Atlantic and the Metro, but seed them from one to eight and that's who plays each other from four and five. That's where you're likely going to have those two good teams that could have been third or second could have been, you know, even lower depending on the year. But maybe that's the one matchup that you might see commonly. Toronto, Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa, you know, it depends. That's what that common matchup will be. But from the other ones, like with Washington playing Montreal, with Carolina playing Ottawa, with Florida playing the New Jersey Devils. Right. Yeah. That would be the format that you would be able to look at and be like, okay, new rivalries can be made.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: Make it interesting. There's a different approach to making rivalries opposed to just making it a consistent playoff matchup each year because you are eliminating strong teams and stop like force.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Feeding fans these matchups. It's like, okay, we get it. There's been Toronto and Tampa the last couple of years now. Like Davey, how about like Toronto, New York, Rangers, first round, original six matchup.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Who would give me that?
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Right? But it's like, no, it has to be in the first round divisional matchup. If we're like the two and three.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: And it's just it ha. Like it has to be that, like, let's, let's go back to when, like when the Leafs played the Islanders in the first round, like that was cool, right? And there was a rivalry of that when. Remember when Domi took out Pekka at.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: The knees like, yes, new.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: New rivalries can. Can start. You don't have to force feed me. Toronto, Tampa, okay, there's a rivalry, okay? It's. It's etched in stone. Let's build some new ones and go back to the original one V8.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: That's all 100%. This has not do. Would Toronto lose in the first round? It doesn't matter.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: No, it's the same with Edmonton and la. Like, give me Edmonton, you know, somebody else.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Give me LA against somebody else. Okay? Because right now why would maybe Edmonton as much you hope your integrity stays in place. Hockey's very hard to script. Very hard. But you can go on cruise control. I like that term that you said because it's like, okay, we're gonna make the play, you know, win a couple. We're okay. Yeah, we'll get in there.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: It's all good.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Yeah. But right now, why would the Oilers be like, okay, if I finish first in the division? If they finish first in the division, they're going to finish behind Winnipeg. Okay? No one looks like no one's catching Winnipeg. I don't think so anyways. Okay, so if Winnipeg is going to get one, so they're going to play the lower wild card. Maybe the. The St. Louis Blues. Could be the Vancouver Canucks, could be the Calgary Flames. We don't know. Okay? But Vegas is going to get the Minnesota Wild. That is a tough matchup. I don't care what anyone said. Minnesota's sneaky good. That team is sneaky good. I like the pieces that they have there. They got veg. They got. I like what they have there in Minnesota. So Edmonton gets who? Los Angeles Kings. Do you think the Edmonton Oilers wants the Los Angeles Kings again or the Minnesota Wild? Who would the Oil Oilers want first? I'll tell you right now. I'll tell you. I'll tell you why they. They would rather go. I think in my opinion they'd want la. I think the Oilers would want LA because maybe many though.
[00:14:40] Speaker B: To shake it up.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Yeah, to shake it up. That'd be great to see as a viewer, but I think Edmonton would want LA because they've beaten them four straight times. Right. They know they got their number, right. It's kind of like, oh, I know we can beat la. That's the integrity piece. Where Boston, they're nowhere to be seen right now, which I love. As a Toronto fan, but Tampa, Toronto, Toronto's beaten Tampa, Tampa's beaten Toronto. So that can go either way.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: It's a coin flip.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a coin flip. But you know, if that's Boston against Toronto, Boston or Florida, who do you think Boston would play? If it was the roles was Boston and, and Tampa flipped, Boston probably like, give me Toronto, baby. Right? Because they've beaten them every time in seven games. I, I hope integrity and I'm going down a pipe hole here with integrity and NHL is hard to script, but you got to think that that's the discussion, right? Who do we want? Who do we really want? You got to be careful what you wish for because sometimes miracles can happen or those bounce back times can happen like Washington beating Pittsburgh. But you know, honestly, looking at some teams and how they play against some teams, if I'm a leaf fan, I'm scared about who they play anyways because it's the first round voodoo that they play against. If you're a leaf fan. But if I'm la, I don't want to see, I don't want to see Edmonton again. I want to see a different team because yeah, the Oilers beat me four times, but also because I want to shake it up. Like every year I just. At my house, I know it's going to be a Boston goal, horn going off or a freaking Tampa Bay Lightning goal.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it's getting stale. It's getting a little stale.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Very stale. Time to change it. Just like they need to change the overtime format. But we will get to that next week. Next week. Any final thoughts with the playoff format brand before we go to the next topic?
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Hopefully Gary's listening and he can change it up.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: I know there's some GM meetings which is going to get. That's actually a great segue into my, my point. There was some GM meetings, there was some discussion today, but they were talking about that I want just put on this platform again that we'll table just because of time. But NHL is reimagining the format for the all star game for 2026 because we're going to have a different and all like the Olympics, right? That's where people think you're not going to have an All Star Game. But if you
[email protected] they talked about and this came from NHL Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said a decision on the format the All Star weekend should become should come before the start of the NHL playoffs next month. And there's no clarity about it overall, but there has been some discussion from what I'm hearing about some of the insiders that they might look at an All Star Game before the playoffs start and if that's the case, different don't like it. Especially if you're a fan of your team. What if someone gets hurt? Right. But will they actually with the Olympics have.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: That's not going to happen. Everyone's going to say cough, cough, I'm injured. Or I'm going to respectfully decline the invitation. No one will show up. How do you just give them a breather before the playoffs or sorry, before the Olympics. When's the Olympics? So shortly after.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So the players would leave for that for February. So February. So New York Islanders are scheduled to host the All Star weekend at the UBS Arena. So. So the, the Olympics are in 2026 in Milano, of course. So that is by December this year they're selecting their players. So they have their players selected. So when they go over that is where. When the Olympics are taking place around the same time. And usually when you have the Olympics, there is no All Star Game. There's usually a break. That's what the pattern has been before. But it this year that they're looking at having the All Star weekend just next year. Right?
[00:18:00] Speaker B: Just next it and in New York PBS arena. No thanks.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree. Don't do it during the season. And it's okay because every two years we're gonna have a World Cup. Now we're gonna have a World cup in the NHL. So you have your World cup. You have your Olympics every couple years. Maybe the All Star game needs to start taking a backseat back seats and just move on from it for a while. Maybe every decade or something if you want to throw it in there for fun in the preseason or something after make it interesting. But it's time to move on from it and yeah, time to focus on the Internet.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: They still want it. They still want to implement it. It's just don't force it, man. And especially before the playoffs, you think players are going to give a crap. They're in load management mode, gearing up for drop on game one. So enough like the NBA. It was a joke this year too. The ulcer break is so stupid.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: So stupid and dry stale all the. All that right there for sure. So that is what I had from NHL.com to bring up. It's going to be a wild week. Ovechkin, the Great eight has just as many goals to go before he ties Gretzky eight goals away. And we got, we got the Washington Capitals, okay, they just over the 10 game mark left. You know this. Will he get eight goals in that time frame? I'm saying yes, we're seeing it this year and that would be great to see going into the playoffs and Washington boy having quite the season. Very, very good.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: I think Perube and the Leafs are happy that that is the main focus for like a regular season record because in the past it's always Matthews has to get to 90 goals or the Leafs break a team franchise record to do X. And it was just like, who cares? And then you get to the playoffs and you know how that movie ends for the Leafs now. It's like, I think Berube, that's why, I mean, in their minds they would never say like, yeah, we're in cruise control, but I think they're just preparing like for the playoffs and perhaps maybe like just playing that kind of, you know, Berube style, not like the run and gun under Keith. So I think there's effort there. But I'm sure at the back of their mind, especially the leaders on that team, like they're like, we know it only matters when we get to playoffs. We know we are capable of getting into the playoffs, but it's what we do in Game 1 of the playoffs and beyond. So that's in their minds probably like good, you know what, Obi, take the spotlight and the attention for the rest of the season because nothing's going to happen. So it's actually ideal for Toronto because last year it was like, all right, is he going to do it? Is he going to play Matthews? What's Keith? What's Keith going to do? And then no one gives a crap. No one's talking about the Matthews crazy goals goal frenzy last year.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: So this is a great piece of me, though. This is a great piece of history to see. We'll probably never see that. Maybe we will never see this again. Maybe, maybe we'll. I know one thing we'll never see is Gretzky's point record ever get touched in our lifetime. That will never, ever get touched. Heck, even his assist record, I don't think that will ever, ever get test. The only person that could have maybe came close was Mario Lemieux if he was able to have a healthy career. But that did not happen.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: I got one. I got one for the stills for you.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: Yes, do. Yeah. Question each. We'll do that to wrap up. Top shelf. You go first.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Okay. On the eve of March Madness.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Oh, thank you for that. Yes.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: On the eve of March Madness. Wednesday, March 19th. We are recording. First NCAA team on the hard court. That comes to mind for you.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: First NCAA team.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: I'm a. I'm a Duke Blue Devils fan, so I gotta go.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: Okay. First thing that came to mind.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Which NHL team is the equivalent to Duke?
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Duke has had a good coach. They've won a whole chunk. That is a very good question.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: We'll say. We'll say in this century. So not all time, but we'll say starting in 2000. So for the last 25 years, I.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: Am torn between two teams, but I'm going to go with one. I'm going to go with the Chicago Blackhawks.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: Okay. I like that.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Well coached, good players, attractive plays to play. Maybe that doesn't. Yeah.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: Shifts in the last 25 years, right?
[00:21:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Good. Yep. Few cups in the last few years. 100%. Right. I was humming. I was thinking between Pittsburgh and Detroit as well, because Detroit had success in the thousands. Right. But first team that came to mind for some reason was Chicago. Because the coaching, they've had some. Say what you want about Joel Quinville? I. I'm a fan of Joel Quinville still. The Patrick Kane, Jonathan Taves. They've had some good players at Duke be recruited into the NBA.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: As we might take some heat for saying that on the air about Mr. Joel.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I. I've said it before. Said it that I. What he's done, not good. But as a coach. As a coach, the guy knew how to coach.
Brit separate. That is certainly a problem, though.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Babcock would probably say that he was a good coach, but his methods. His methods were pretty effed up.
[00:22:31] Speaker A: And I'm not trying to compare Coach K to Joel Quenville. Okay. That's not what I'm trying to do.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: I'm just saying. I'm just saying. Coaches very good, well coached. When they had. Who they had in place. Players, championships. Chicago came to mind first. Gotta go Chicago.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Cool. What do you got for me?
[00:22:46] Speaker A: I'm gonna go with. If you have to build your team around one of these players and they're two of. Two of the highlight guys in the NHL that are young stars. And you probably know where I'm going with it. One is more of a star right now, some people tell me, which I think is ludicrous. Okay. You have a. You're a gm, you build in a team. You have Connor Bedard or you have Macklin Celebrini. That is your pick between the two. Who. And you gotta build a team to build around them. You Got to build your team to win a championship within the next decade. I'll give you that much time. But you got to build around that player that you choose. Who are you choosing?
[00:23:23] Speaker B: So today, based on everything we know.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Today, based on every. Everything that we know last year, this year, everything that you know about the today.
[00:23:31] Speaker B: Great question. Bedard or Mac?
[00:23:32] Speaker A: It's good to have pause. It's good to make you think I'm gonna go Celebrini.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: That was, that was my gut.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Why do you have a reason why.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: I think I'm gonna go with Celebrini? Because it's just, it's a gut pick. But the way he has carried himself in, in a, in a tough situation, a basement dweller team with a supporting cast, that is pretty bad. And Bedard in his. And that's Mac in his first season. Bedard in the second season with the skitty hockey team. I'm like, what do you got for me, brother?
And it's just, it's not exactly like, you know, smashing the highlight reel. And I don't really like his attitude in the media. I think Max a little bit more joyful and he's having fun. Bedard seems a little uptight at points. So today I would say Mack, love that answer.
[00:24:20] Speaker A: To play the other side of it, I would choose Bedard. I think San Jose has got a brighter future than Chicago does right now. That's my only reason. I like the pieces that they're bringing in. I like the goaltender they brought in. Chicago started to bring in Knights. I think they're starting to try to look in the right direction. But I'm liking what San Jose is doing right now. But I would still have faith in Bedard. But seen him getting a 10 minute misconduct. Bedard, there's some frustration there. In Connor Bedard's mind, there's frustration and if I was Chicago, I would be treating him very good because if he left and went somewhere, you guys would regret it. But either way, I don't think there's a wrong answer.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: I like that. I like that question, Dave.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: Awesome. Awesome. So, Brandon, I appreciate you taking the time, my friend. This has been top shelf, little extra. But we had to get into talking about the format. I had that on the docket and I wasn't ignoring it this week. Sorry, par, you missed out on it. But guess what? We dove into it and it's. That's going to be a good little interactive piece for listeners to give their thoughts about and it's not something new. We've talked about that on this pod a couple times, but we're going to do our yearly reminder and vent about it. But thank you for taking the time as always, my friend. It's been great.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Thanks man. Appreciate you as always.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Awesome. This has been top shelf with the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McCaig going to take a quick breather. When we come back, we got segment two, just a little brief with me, a little solo segment for about a handful of minutes before we bring in Trudeau for our Chuck A Puck segment to wrap everything up. So lots more here to come here on the game. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back to the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McKay continuing to host you this evening. This is segment two of the game. Before we get into segment three where we're going to be having our Choc A Puck segment, I'm doing a solo brief segment here that I wanted to share my reaction about to you about yes, the wwe. Now WWE has been a big part of content that we've shared here on the Game Sports podcast. And obviously when it comes to sports content on here we talk all sports. There are a certain set of sports that we talk about the most and that is hockey from a national and local right. The NFL national, local, right as well. Baseball local and national as well. Those are the three that we would dive into. Definitely the most there has been love for when it comes to the basketball side and obviously we're giving a lot of extra love for the past year to the wwe. And in the segment I'm going to start with the wwe but then I'm going to go into a little bit of the March Madness that is about to get underway. And by a little bit I mean it's a very much a little bit. As I'm going to give you the prediction that I feel that's going to be the winner of the March Madness. And it might be a little bit of a bias pick but but we'll get to that in a moment. Sticking with the wwe the reason why I want to stick with the WWE first is because there's a lot to get to in just a short period of time on this segment and it's going to be about John Cena. And if you are a wrestling fan or not, I'm sure you saw clips online. His turn heel quote unquote, he claims that it isn't a turn heel was one of the most stream reactions to an event in sports in a very long time. Obviously in the WWE it broke records with that just overall with Search and feedback within a short Period of time. It broke records, multiple records. John Cena has been the nice guy in the WWE for well over 15, 20 years, since he first started in the WWE and then grew to be the nice guy very quickly. He had that image, that Persona, the poster boy for the wwe. And what we saw just a few weeks ago in the elimination chamber was him turn heel, as I use quotations with that, because he claims he didn't for the first time, which caused a worldwide. I'm going to say that a worldwide effect about John Z. Because look where the WWE has been this past few weeks in Europe and the effect that it went over just outside North America, all over the world and this past Monday. If you haven't seen it, if you're a wrestling fan, obviously you have seen it. If you're not a wrestling fan, then I suggest that you do it. John Cena goes out to this, to the ring and to the rhythm of his song, to the beat of his song. The fans in the arena are chanting, Cena sucks. And just absolutely getting booed. And he didn't get just booed for 30 seconds. The man got booed the entire time he was up there, but with pure loudness and chance for minutes before he even spoke on the mic. He even dropped the mic to threaten to walk out a couple times and then was just continuously getting booed. People saying, let's go, Cena. Cena sucks. There was those chants going on, very much a mixed reaction. And for those who are wrestling fans, know that this has been the turn heel that everyone has been waiting for. But John Cena says to the, to the viewers and to everyone in the arena that he did not turn heel. Okay? He just, this is who he is and he's basically fed up with catering to the fans and how he felt that they, that he's done so much for them. But what if they done for him? And he kept referencing his shirt, for example, why people wear his shirts and how he had all the pressure and he just what have they done for him? But they always wanted what they expected from him, but he was never expected anything back. He really targeted the fans and he's been, he is really pushing this heel despite he said that he's not a heel. This is a heel approach and he's doing a very good job of it. And I must add, WWE is an entertainment, an entertainment and media piece. It is actors, it is cinema, but it is also athletes. If you're a light heavyweight to a heavyweight doesn't matter. Your size doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter, anything like that. You try to get into the ring and do what these athletes do, it is impressive. You need to be in shape, you need to be very much athletic. And it's very impressive what they do. And yes, guess what? We all know that the WWE is fake. But you try to do what they do, you can't. But what we're seeing with the wwe, this is entertainment and it has been pure cinema for the past 365 days. It has been pure cinema that we've been treated to here in the wwe. So Triple H's team thumbs up from me. But going to Cena on this past week on Raw, getting booed out, calling out the fans, of course we had to know Cody was coming out. When Cody comes out, he looks at Jon and after, after a little bit back and forth stopped Jon from being able to say something. He said he wants to fight the guy at WrestleMania that's on the shirt, not the guy that's here now. And if he does fight the guy that's here now, he's gonna wipe the floor with him. Basically. Very much threatening. And when Cody Rhodes comes out, the guy is just getting a novation. The fans are engaged. Very much impressive of a fan reaction that the new poster boy that John Cena very much referred to. Not exact quotes, but saying that the how they're referring to their new toy is what John Cena used with Cody Rhodes. Very much building this up, this rivalry. And I'm very curious about where it goes and really I don't know where it's going to go. I wonder if Triple H is going to tell Cody Rhodes, look, you're going to lose your championship at WrestleMania but you'll eventually maybe get it back later in the year in a different match. Or is John Cena going to actually get the win at WrestleMania? Are we going to see that? Is the Rock going to interfere? What's going to happen? It is good. I can't truly predict. Something tells me that Cody Rhods might lose at WrestleMania but the investment that they've put into him and the buy in for the fans has just been tremendous. But what makes it more impressive of a potential storyline is why not have Cody Rhodes lose the championship to John Cena but then Cody Rhodes turn heel and then you're just, just a complete twist in the WWE would be absolutely unbelievable to see. But I don't know if that's going to be the case. I'm kind of slipping off topic there a little bit. This is about John Cena and what happened on Raw, he turned his back to the fans. He's blaming the fans for the pressure and for the change and the expectations. And this is going to put us in for a hell of a ride for the last year for John Cena. Buckle up. You're gonna see see what I did there. John Cena in a different light. And it's going to be very much impressive and it's going to be a storyline that I'm going to be intrigued to be following. So if you're not a wrestling fan, I think you should give it a chance. Especially if you're looking for some good storylines, I would advise you to catch up a little bit. If you're a previous wrestling fan from especially the Attitude era, get back in it. We're there. If you're a current wrestling fan, like, I like to enjoy it along with friends. Heck, I even have the video game WWE 2K25. What a great job they did on that game, by the way as well. But this has been cinema, as I've mentioned, and it is a story that I am invested in John Cena turning heel. Leave your reaction below if you feel like you want to and what your thoughts are going to be going forward as the WWE brings the story mode. A story of John Cena forward is what I mean to say. Final thing before I go to a quick break and bring in Jordan for our Chuck A Puck segment. March Madness underway. We this year and now last year we actually promised to do a game sports podcast bracket. Guess what? I dropped the ball. I dropped the ball. I didn't do it. It was planned to do. And then with everything just going on outside of doing this podcast, when it comes to work, moving, expecting a boy very much soon, there's been a lot going on. So there will not be one this year. We will plan to for sure have one next year, but I will give my prediction for the March Madness. The March Madness. I think I honestly enjoy watching March Madness more than I do NBA Finals or anything else in relation to basketball. Okay. And there's a lot of players and a lot of teams that you can look at watching. Okay. Like you, you have have a lot going on in that first round. Auburn's looking very much impressive. Okay. And I'm a Duke fan, so obviously you got to be able to take Duke in that. You know, I think there's some teams that are going to really be very much powerful, even going to later rounds such as Oregon and Alabama, Wisconsin. And then when you get to the final there's been predictions about Alabama even beating Duke to kind of to kind of to go on. But I'm going to say to you right now, I'm not going to get to the full bracket and give you that decision because I'd rather do that with co hosts on the show. When it comes to this March Madness, I am going to be biased. I'm a Duke Blue Devil fan. I like what they have, the players that they have obviously with. I know there's some injuries potentially with Duke when it comes to Cooper super flag. But nonetheless, it's the March Madness. I think he plays. We're on the eve of the tournament. Duke wins the March Madness. That's my prediction. What do you think? I think it's going to be one hell of a tournament. As I said, I look forward to watching this tournament more than even look at watching the NBA Finals or anything else related to basketball because this is one heck of a tournament to enjoy. You know, everyone is invested. Share your bracket with us below and will also touch base with what we predicted. But our winner for I feel that we are going to see in the March Madness is Duke. Duke back on top. Love it. Now here on the Game Sports Podcast, we're gonna take a quick break. As I mentioned, Jordan Trudeau's waiting in the in the waiting room for me to allow him in to discuss and start Chuck a Puck. So we've got a lot more here coming on the Game Sports podcast on Chuck A Puck, it's Ohl and Sue Greyhounds. Don't want to miss it. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back to the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McKay continuing to host you this evening on this episode of the Game and I am joined our Chukka Puck segment. The puck is right there just above me. If you are on video, you get to see it. If you're on audio, you get to just visualize it. The Chukka puck just near me. I'm not throwing it on the floor though. Chudes knows why I've stopped doing that for now. Next year we'll start throwing it again. But speaking of throwing, I'm gonna say someone who's gonna come in and throw some facts, give us throw us some great content. Co host with yours truly on chuckapuck here on the Game Sports Podcast, Jordan Trudeau truts another week of Chuck a Puck man. Another good week of talking some Sue Greyhounds and OHL hockey. How you doing?
[00:35:48] Speaker C: Pretty good. How are you?
[00:35:49] Speaker A: Good, man. You know what? Honestly, time's flying by. I know it's kind of a lame thing to say on a podcast perhaps, but I feel like I just blanked and it's March and I don't know if anyone else agrees to this, but I feel like as you get older and I'm not old by any means, I don't got a lot of life left. But I felt ever since I turned over the 30 needle, I feel like time has went a lot faster. It felt like time was slower in my tens and in my 20s to be to be honest with you. Lame topic to bring up on the podcast, but it's amazing how just last week we had Dustin on and a long one hour segment of Chuck A Puck, an extended cut version. But this isn't. We've been doing Chuck a Puck for well over a month into two months now and it's since January is when we started to do it Right. So it's already been a couple months of Chuck A Puck and we appreciate all the interaction that we get on the Facebook page and just in the community. You know, I know not a lot of people even interact on the social media side of Facebook with our clips, but people are loving the chocolate segment here in the Sioux. So we if you're from Susei Marie, thank you. If you're from Outside the Suit. Well, first time listening to Choc A Puck or the game or doesn't matter if you're in the zoo or not. This is still content that you want to hear, just an FYI but truth time is flying by, my friends.
[00:36:56] Speaker C: Biggest week of the season coming up here and it's biggest that we're here already. But you know what? This, this team has really painted themselves a good into a good spot in this next in the for these next three games.
So this past weekend I caught the game in Windsor. I was there personally with Strikeout co host Connor Henderson. Had a pretty fun weekend there. And you know what, if you're just looking at the score of that game, you see a 63 Windsor final. I was there in person and I can tell you the turning point of the game was the, the third. It would have been the third Windsor goal. Yeah, because it was. They fought back to tied at two and this is a potential, this is who they want in the playoffs. This is a potential playoff opponent. Yeah, they tied it at two middle of the second period. The Greyhounds, I thought they controlled the first half of the game really, really well. I thought they really pushed the play. They were really aggressive and physical and even some the Windsor fans noted that as well. Like they're really, they're really like hitting, bringing their A game tonight in the physicality. But the really, the TSN turning point was after about four or five minutes of constant possession pressure in the offensive zone, Windsor came down and scored like a little tap in rebound goal. And that I felt like it just kind of like defl. Like you just see it kind of deflate the team. But they stuck with it. They. They stuck. Like, they stuck hungry. They hounded pucks and hounded pucks.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: Pun intended. There it is.
[00:38:33] Speaker C: That's what they do. Like, that's what this team does really well. Especially Brady Martin. You watch him. And one thing I've noticed about him lately is his puck retrieval skills are really, really impressive. I'm sure that's something that scouts are going to be looking at because he retrieves pucks. Like the way he puts pressure on opposing defensemen, on opposing players. Like, you can see them kind of like they're like, what? Like, how did he pick the puck up? Like, they're not expecting that at all. And he just. He's just relentless.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: He had a strong game against Windsor. Yeah.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: And you know what? Like, when you see your top player performing like that, giving, like really intense, that just ripples through the rest of the team. Right? So I think that's a big part of what's happening right now. But no, they. They played. I could talk about that game for a while, but I would have been happy with it. I was certainly happy with it. Even though they lost. And then two, obviously huge wins in Sarnia and Flint.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: Big, big dubs.
[00:39:32] Speaker C: Huge wins and adversity in both games. You know, having to hold a lead, the other team pressing. When you're up by two, three goals and having to hold that lead and come through with the victory, it's finally happening. Right? Like a couple weeks ago, a couple months ago, you would see this team go into the third period with a 3, 4, 1 lead and lose 6, 5 or 5, 4. But now they know how to win. They know how to hold that lead. So that's definitely a step in the positive direction. Biggest weekend of the year coming up. They're in Sudbury tomorrow night. Saginaw's here on Friday, and a big matchup with Sarnia on Sunday. So they're only one point ahead of both Owen Sound and Sarnia. So they're. They need more wins.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: And honestly, looking at this week in Sudbury, obviously a little hop and a skip from here in Sault Ste. Marie. So Sudbury, for those outside of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, tuning into The Sault Ste. Marie's located at the heart of the Great Lakes to give you a simple location of it. But obviously border town was Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Sudbury is just under four hours of a drive here depending on traffic. So on three and a half, four hours drive to Sudbury, very close it is the closest you could think of from the Canadian direction for us to play is Sudbury. And so you're not doing too far of a travel which you know the in the middle of the week is I think pretty convenient and very good for the squad overall. But even after coming from a weekend where you did travel, you went to Windsor, you had Sarnay at Flint. A lot of, a lot of travel. So to go to another road game and travel the bus, it's not different. It's a lot different, sorry than like the NHL where they get to fly to these distances or fly or be a bit more luxurious of a travel. This is hard to do. I could tell you just from playing junior A level hockey that playing on the bus and getting long drives is not as easy as people may think that it is. All right, It's a different tempo going into the rink and they're going to be traveling day of is what I would anticipate for this game. So that is why it's going to be, you know, they hope to get in there early, get the warm ups in. These games are very pivotal and the players know that, fan base knows that, Coach Dean knows that. And this is the type of scenario where the Hounds get to see where they're further made or what they're further made up. Because this weekend we saw a good piece of a team that could be hound on pucks. Love that pun. But this is going to be a great weekend for tests and I think these are winnable games this weekend. But ultimately the team that I, you know, from a, from a winnable perspective, Bagen is middle of the pack in the Western Conference. Looking at the standings that you touched on eight, ninth you got Sarnia, no one sounds. Ninth is Sarnia, eighth is Owen Sound. The Sarnia game, winnable game, Sudbury game. Another middle of the pack from the Eastern Conference. Right. So a couple middle of the pack teams, but winnable games. It's not like you're playing the London Knights. The London Knights, Tough, tough match. If you had to play that team to get into the playoffs, you're not looking at the most, most favorable matchup. Okay. These are games that I can see the Hounds winning three straight. Especially in a game where it means a lot to them. Sudbury has clinched the playoff spot but they still have a couple games left. So it's not like they're going to arrest guys or anything like that. They're going to have a roster on that ice. You're going to have a team when they play Saginaw, another team that maybe they do have a couple guys sit out that game. Don't know. Depending on where it goes. Sarnia definitely not right. So you're going to have tough matchups these three games going to be interesting to see how it goes. But you're going to see a own team. I think that's going to really show the hunger going into the playoffs. And these three games, if you're going to play at a high level, you shouldn't just play at that high level. You got to find those extra gears each game because you have to prep for the playoffs. These are now playoff territory games where you just not only got to get to a certain place where you want to in the standings and if you're from the Sioux, you don't want to be an eighth, you don't want to be an eighth because I'm just going to say it. I'm sorry if this is blunted. I know players have tuned into this podcast and I mean this with everything but the. The unlike the likelihood of winning that series is very low given the team that they have, that London Knights that is. And this is a young team that's experienced. Give the Hounds a couple years against this London team. If I saw this team in the future against this current London nights team, I'd be giving you a different opinion. But that's just the hockey world, that's just how it is when you have a younger team. So this is a team that has to think playoff mentality, do what it needs to do and even in the event of travel. But having the last two games at home is a very good opportunity to win those winnable games. And I think the Hounds should be given even some favorable matchups because of that. Against Sudbury and Saginaw because of the need to win, because of the want to win and because they have. They just came off a very great weekend and a weekend that was some tough hockey. Very, very important games. That Sarnia game though, I have a feeling that's going to be a doozy and I think that little afternoon matinee is going to be the Hounds fans here in Sault Samaria are going to.
[00:44:16] Speaker C: Be treated to something truths and yeah depending on how it goes. Like there's a lot of different ways that that it could turn out. But depending on how it goes, there could be a like a playoff game. Like a one game playoff. If there's a tie, I've read to enter into the the playoffs.
[00:44:34] Speaker A: Yep, good point.
[00:44:35] Speaker C: That will be played in the sue because they hold the tiebreaker on both Owen Sound and Sarnia. So that would be on the following Tuesday. So you, you kind of really want to avoid that. You just want to control your own destiny and, and win because you're ahead now. Like you're one point in this, you're one point ahead in the standings. If you could come out with victories, three victories, you're in Sarnia. Like they're in Windsor on Thursday. Flint is there on Friday. So they have a tough game against Windsor on Thursday. Hounds looking for some help there and Owen Sound let's check their their schedule.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: But so Owen Sounds got Barry on Thursday, they got Kitchener on Friday and Guelph on Saturday.
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Well they got two tough games so hopefully the Hounds can get some help from those teams as well. So that just just to give them a better chance. But Saginaw will be a tough one. They're technically not locked in at four yet so they were probably going to see their A team. Although Andrew Oak, their goalie, their Memorial cup winning goalie from last year, I've heard him and Zayn Parekh are hurt so that might give the Greyhounds a bit of an edge. But like they're still a strong team. They're still a very strong team with Mike, Kayla Mango and Nasu product. That Epperson's really like a really good first year player. Like they're still, they still have some remnants from the Memorial cup team last year. So they also know how to win.
[00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah they know how to win those games and good teams find ways to win is the same. But that experience, I don't care what anybody says learn more in my career from that. I'm not saying playing, I mean from covering sports and doing the show that how many instances I've seen the experience trumps that. That is very big skill to have or a big piece sorry to have on a winning team and Saginaw has that. You got to think they want to stay in that fourth spot. They want to have that whole nice advantage in that first round. They want to make sure that they get it lock it in and either way I've never been a fan trudes of being honest with you. The, the health approach where you have load management. If you're referring to the NBA Mostly but the load management and rest and no, not a fan of that. I'm more of ensuring that they stay in the game. But evening out ice time. Okay. Like if you're playing in the house league game and you got to get fair ice time, never mind just fair ice type. I'm giving those third and fourth lines the opportunity to see a 20 minute night. Right. And on the power play, that's an opportunity for my guys that are my top guys to still go out there and work on the power play like a practice, still be and be in that shape. But when I'm doing it as a coach, I'm not looking at matching those guys against their fourth line guys. The guys are going to bash them against the boards. I'm still putting them in those tough matchups and in the event that they're on the ice against more of the bottom lines, I'm pulling them off. Right. It's, that's where you I think gotta watch people say what if they pour growing. What if they got this. I think the only thing you could do from a load management perspective is rest your goalie, set your goalie. Okay. Play your backup or your third goalie even if you want to play comfortable. But from a player's perspective, keeping them in that game. If you miss a week of games and you just do practices, that has an effect that people don't realize when it comes to playing games. And if it's more than a couple weeks for whatever which reason it's even worse. So I don't think resting guys you should see any teams do. But depends, right? Depends how the coach and management want to do it. But that's my opinion. If I was a coaching one of.
[00:47:50] Speaker C: These teams, yeah, I would imagine like London Will Windsor might like the teams at the very, very top like that are very safe. But like for a team like Saginaw, obviously. Yeah. You're not going to see Andrew Oak like you mentioned. Like if they're injured, that's another thing. But so you're not going to see them rush Oak or Perek back.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:11] Speaker C: Because they've made the playoffs. But like, yeah, I mean what's, like, what do you define as rest? Like where, where, where, where does rest Trump like staying locked in. Yeah. So I agree with you there. Like, like you, you don't have time in the playoffs to have injuries. You don't have. Well, you don't have time to, to find your game back. Right. Like, like you don't have time to after a rest period, you don't have time to come back and like feel a couple periods out or feel a game out or two because you find yourself down too. Oh, really quick. And now you've got a minute straight. So one other thing about Sagan, I forgot Igor Chernyshov as well. So he's come from they import, import pick, second rounders, San Jose. He has over two points a game this year playing on a line with Michael Misa. So he'll. He'll be in the. He'll be in the lineup for sure. So that line, I mean, you got to take care the Greyhounds, you got to take care of business in Sudbury and against Sarnia because that game against Saginaw is going to be tough. It's going to be a tough win. So you got to win the games that. You got to win the games that you can.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: And if, if you're supporting the Hounds and you're in Sioux St. Marie even from afar. But if you're in the suit, get your butt to the gfl. Let's load up the. Let's load up the. The. The rink. That's. Let's have that Sioux mentality that I remember used to be at the old Gardens. Okay though, let's get that atmosphere going. I want to see the loudness the way that we like to see. When they were in the finals just a few years ago, the rink was packed. Those third section standing room. Maybe it's a little dramatic, but you. There was two, definitely two roles. People were standing behind each other. Okay. That I know for sure. That's what we need to see. These are like playoff games. Let's support these young guys. Let's make them excited going into the playoffs and then you never know what can happen if you get into that seventh spot. Not saying they're gonna go make a run for it, but make a good series. Maybe they do have a Cinderella story in that first round and get one hell of a story to tell going into next year as they would have to play London in the second round. So that would be a little bit of a challenge. But you want to try to get as far as you can up for optimism to build for next year. But to maybe have a chance to have a more playoff game experience than maybe they would have against London. As might get an extra game or two or three when it comes to the Winter Spitfires or there is that Cinderella story. So this week is big for the Sioux Samy Greyhounds. Again, that's Wednesday and then they also play on Friday and Sunday, Wednesdays on The road Friday, Sunday are at home. 7:00 starts for the first two. 2:00 start for the final one. Trudes, I like one point you mentioned before we get to the final point before we wrap up chuck a puck today Lalonde, that game against Windsor, nothing against Miller. Does that make a difference? Does a lawn make a difference in that game?
[00:50:41] Speaker C: Maybe. Right. You never know. Like you, you would have liked to see Nolan Lalonde maybe play against Windsor as a nice tune up. But I like the move. Right. You save your smarter for. For Sarnia and Flint and they got the job done. Like that weekend I think went exactly how it was drawn out by John Dean, the coaching staff and the players. Right.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: Does Miller play at all this year? The last three games?
[00:51:04] Speaker C: We'll see. I guess time will tell. He.
He was. He made some great saves. He made some cross crease saves. But yeah, I think John Dean said in his article probably want some of those goals back. Right. And, and that's, that's, that's common. That's natural. So I think at this point in time you're going with the, the best goalie, the one that's performing right. So experience that is Nolan Lalonde like overage goalie beat the Greyhounds last year in the second round. He has that playoff experience. So I'm, I'm assuming he'll be raring to go for all three games. I'm assuming he started in all three games.
[00:51:41] Speaker A: I had, I had people talk to me saying that that support this podcast. It's which is awesome to see. You know people have always been engaged with this in this, in the community. But the how stuff. Right. That's where the passion is here in the Sue. And I've had some feedback about Miller where that seems like there's been some belief lost in Miller. I don't pump the brakes on that right now. That's what I'll say and that's what I have shared. Just there's, there's. They brought in the lawn for that experience and that part of the trade. It's all part of the business. But I think there's still. I know Miller maybe hasn't met what people believe, but let's not forget what this team is this year. Well, I mean what they are.
[00:52:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And, and I mean like is he wanting to perform better? Is. Are the people around him wanted to perform better? Probably Brady Martin probably wants to perform better. Realistically, when you look at his game right now, how could he perform any better when you're Looking at it from a soup fan perspective. But like I'm sure he himself thinks there's assets of his game that he wants to get better at or he needs to get better at. So like yeah. Is there always room for improvement? Sure, of course. Is he not meeting the expectations? Maybe.
[00:52:44] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:52:44] Speaker C: He was a former second round draft choice. I think they gave away some draft picks in order to get to that draft like that specific pick to choose him.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: So.
[00:52:55] Speaker C: But. But he's only like it's only his second season as an OHL netminder and like a backup as well. Right. Like he's.
[00:53:04] Speaker A: He's the backup goalie this year he has been the best.
[00:53:07] Speaker C: Yeah. And there. And there's this experience. So this year he's going to have under his belt. He'll have an offseason under his belt when he comes to training camp in August with two full seasons of. Of net mining and in the OHL and goalies generally. And you know this Dave, covering the NHL they generally their. Their development isn't as kind of quick as a player, as a skater.
[00:53:29] Speaker A: So different. It's. So Martin Broder is not there. You know, I mean those, those days of the Martin Broders. Carrie Price was an exception. These are generational talents and how Price went fifth overall. Still Montreal, kudos to you like Chef's kiss on that. Like okay. Generational goalies are child more challenging. I think you have a rarity of finding a generational goalie than a generational player. And that. That might. That might have to be the clip today or the point. But generational goalie or a generational player. You will see a generational player forward a defenseman before you will see a goalie. And let me give you an example. Connor McDavid. But guys that are recently coming up the ranks, Connor Bedard, Landon Dupont is being one of those guys that people are saying Gavin McKenna is another guy that people are report that there's just three that I named right now. What goalie do you do We. I know there's a lot of good goalies right now, but I mean generational that someone could say crap that is the next Martan Broder. That is that no one has said that. That is the. That is the Broder. Right. Once people saw McDavid when people saw Crosby, they preferred Crosby to Lemieux or the Gretzky level. But I always thought Lemieux was a good comparison. But he hasn't. He's. Yeah, he's done just as good. But McDavid Crosby effect all that effect. He just knew. We haven't seen that Nets. And I'm not saying Landon Miller is that guy. That's not what I meant when I went into this topic. But goalies, as Trude said, take a different approach to development. And nowadays, they've realized that development is different. And you have to be patient with goalies. If you rush a goalie and you even, like, I'm a fan of your Slav Askarov, that's one guy I'm a fan of with the National Hockey League that I saw as a step. Step. He's on San Jose. San Jose is not rushing him into games. You know why? Because they suck. Goalies, Goalies, if you put them in a situation where you suck, it's not like before, okay? It's a different development technique that you have to take and you have to be patient with goalies. And I think you start seeing that goalie trend in the OHL go up when they hit their third season. I'm curious to see what Miller does next year. That will be the year that will show that this is the guy that can take us. And I say us. If you're a Sue Greyhound fan, take you take us, whatever, to that next step, to the Memorial cup that you hope that you're hosting in 2027 to boot. But again, truth, maybe. Good clip. You have any point on that before we get to the final points and wrap up the generational goalie and player? I'm sure you agree on that, but maybe you don't.
[00:55:53] Speaker C: No, for sure. I can't. Like, you can't think of any off the top of your head. Like, you can. McDavid, Bedard, even, like, a Celebrini or.
[00:56:01] Speaker A: Yeah, Yep, yep, yep.
[00:56:02] Speaker C: Celebrating like, yeah, who's the best goalie out of, like, McDavid, Marner, Nichols, like, that whole draft class. Is it like Mackenzie Blackwood right now? So, like, right? No, like, it's.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: It's so true.
[00:56:14] Speaker C: Merge still, like, you never.
[00:56:16] Speaker A: And look at goalies, they go late. Look at these guys. Not Vasileski. He didn't go late. But you got some goalies that go later rounds. Some goalies that go first round, like, okay, they're gonna be. Gonna be pretty good. But you got some boys go later around, you know, the, like, Leafs drafting Hildeby is someone who's a lot of promise in Toronto. So someone. I'm taking the top of my head that goalies are different now than what it used to be. It's a whole different approach, which is great. To see. So some patience please with our goaltending and with the overall goaltending of the team that you cheer for. True. So I'm going to mention for the Ontario Hockey League because we talk about it all here mostly. It's obviously that that direction towards the Suse McGregors as we are devoted Sue Greyhound segment on this podcast. Gonna give some love to players though. Sam Dickinson. Big fan of Sam Dickinson. Oh, that's weird for people to hear in the sue because he's the London guy, but I'm a fan of how he plays. Wasn't really how he played in the world juniors this year, to be honest with you, but he has set the new franchise record for a single season in terms of points by a defenseman for the London Knights. You got to give give credit words due very strong team he's playing a part of and obviously he's been dedicated to that team and if you play there for a certain period of time and you're on a good team the whole time, you're likely going to be successful. But they've had a lot of good players go through there in London. Bouchard Lisbon goes down and for him to be in the in the threshold of the top defenseman in points, that's a very good honor for him. And in 2026 you're going to see Peterborough is hosting the Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects game. Fun fact. If you're want to go check out the top prospects game, you can go to Peterborough to check that out. Trude, those are the only points I'm bringing up from the Ontario Hockey League this year. Obviously there's some players of the week and some on but not diving into that given time. Do you have any final thoughts before you we wrap up the show tonight.
[00:57:58] Speaker C: Come out and support this weekend because it could be the final games of the year. I'm not saying that it's going to be. I don't think it will be. I think that's very, very unlikely. But you just never know with junior hockey. So if you are looking to come to a game, you don't want to miss it. And go Hounds, go. As always.
[00:58:20] Speaker A: Love it. Trudes, you're the man, you know that. You are the man and very excited that this the segment has taken off on this podcast and I'm excited to see how the rest of year goes and hopefully there's some playoff coverage when it comes to the sue side of things. But ultimately thank you my friend, as as always for joining tonight.
[00:58:37] Speaker C: Well, thank you. You're the man, you're the host. So I I just joined the host.
[00:58:41] Speaker A: I it wouldn't be what it is without the team we have. And I don't mean that in a corny way. I mean that as the truth because there's 12 of us that have been here since day one. And Otrudes, you're new, but we've kept the core and I appreciate all that everyone does for the show and taking time to come join in. Chat Sports Nothing better than coming to Chat Sports, especially when it comes to local sports, which we're excited to give you more of here on the Game as we get more and more into the future. This has been the Game Sports Podcast. You tuning in through likely audio or video platform. If you're on video, that's 91 Network, make sure you like follow and subscribe. If you're on the auto side, it can be anywhere. It can be on Spotify, it could be on Google, you could be on Amazon, you could be on Apple. Wherever you're tuning, tune in on give us a simple 5 stars alike. Give us that interaction goes a long way for us for the time that we put in here on the podcast. Social media clips maybe you tune into through TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or even the Sue Graham fan page on Facebook, which we know people love interacting on. Either way, wherever you you've tuned in for us, you can find us anywhere to search the Game Sports Podcast. It is there, very simply put, and we do it all because we enjoy doing it. But also we hope you enjoy the content that we're giving you. So please give us that support and don't be shy to reach out, interact with us. We love that. So on behalf of the Game Sports Podcast here tonight, all the content that we dove into get into our closing now. I'm here to remind you, keep your stick on the ice, swing your bats, catch your touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
