Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Booyah. And it's time for the Game Sports Podcast. David McCaig, your host this evening. The Game Sports Podcast is powered by 91Network and featured on Spaces. That's Too Soon Today and Village Media 91 Network is a YouTube channel. Head on over to that to enjoy the video versions of the Game Sports Podcast. Now, that wasn't as enthusiastic as an intro as I usually would do. And I'm sure people can pick up what I'm putting down by saying that. But nonetheless, let's introduce who's joining yours truly here on this episode here tonight. And it is going to be one segment, all nice, probably short and sweet for a lot of reasons. I am joined by Brennan McCarthy. Brennan, my friend, how's it going? How we doing, Davey?
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Davey, Davey, Davey. Doing well, my friend. Just getting off the links. How's the golf game? How's the golf game going for you?
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Haven't started yet, man. I usually don't golf too much. I've never been really a golfer, but I've been going more the last couple years and I usually go out under 10 times a year and I haven't went once yet, but I'd like to go out this weekend. But how's the game for you? Is it looking, looking good or drive for show?
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Putt for do, my friend. Crushing bombs. But short game needs a tune up. We'll say definitely a tune up, but.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: The drivers are the drives.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I think he was the, the group behind me actually. But yeah, he needs a lot of work. But yeah, no, the drives are always nice to take videos of. And then you don't, you don't post any of the iron shots or putters.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Or putting the drive or the good times. That's just the drive.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: You don't need to see the rest.
Don't need to know that you bogeyed.
[00:01:34] Speaker A: If I get to your area of the province this summer or if it's not this year, next year if I come up there, maybe we can hit the links there together. I'm not no pro, but I'm out there to have fun.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: So that's, let's do it. We'll do it, Milton.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: And speaking of fun, as everyone knows, I'm assuming that a good amount of our listeners who have been following the show since 2016 and you know, there's been a lot of pickup with the audio and video, which is awesome. And I know a great amount of our listeners have always been obviously Sault St. Mary's Michigan, Detroit, but you know, really grown the past year in the Toronto area. So I know that a lot of you, I'm sure, got to this show if you're not normally on the show, but even if you are, I'm sure you're tuning in because you're waiting to hear a about something from Brennan and myself about a specific hockey team. And we will get there. Okay. This is one segment of pure top shelf. Okay. We have a little dash of a chuck a puck point in here, but it doesn't feel right doing chuckle puck without trudes. We're just gonna do a little prediction for the Memorial cup just to keep something fresh. And we're gonna start off with. Yes, the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals preview. Yes, we're ready to talk about that, I guess nice and early. And then we'll give you a mem cup prediction before we dive into that team that we have not yet mentioned. Thou shall not be named. If you want some Harry Potter references, let's go to you first. Kart. Let's go to the Western Conference final. You got the Dallas Stars. You got the Edmonton Oilers. Okay, I will say earlier this year you predicted Oilers, Panthers, Stanley cup final. You predicted a rerun. You predicted that that would happen. A non biased leaf choice on that pick is what you picked. But you have one of the teams that you predicted on both sides, obviously, and the Oilers and Stars, they get started this week, which will be on Wednesday. We're recording May 20th, which is game one of the Eastern Conference finals, which we'll get to in a moment. But you got Dallas and you got Edmonton. What do you. What is your preview about the West? I think this is an absolute beaut of a series coming up.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Interesting too, Dave, how the final four teams seem to always elevate their play at the most opportune time. Very interesting. Very, very interesting.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Did you think that the Oilers could that the end of the season, given how they played this year, would have been where they were right now, despite. It's like they wake up one that matters most and players step up.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: What a tease. It's surely people know what we're talking about now, but let's start. Let's start with the West. Yeah, Dallas, Edmonton. I mean, rematch of last year's conference final that was a doozy. That went six I believe too. I think this is going to be a dogfight, but I'll take Oilers in seven. The Stars are as good and as loaded top to bottom as they've ever been. But McDavid and dry saddle man, they are just two beasts and they are just continuing to will their team. And I think Oilers have shown that they are really, really loaded as well, especially up front. Their decor is probably the weakest. And obviously Skinner and Pickard have kind of done a bit of a tandem, but Skinner's been okay and they've been happy to, you know, give the reins to Pickard if necessary. I think Dallas obviously has the edge on D and annette, but Conor McDavid and dry style leading your squad, you should feel pretty confident playing every night. And those guys are just salivating to get back to the cup final. And yeah, I guess the first episode we did record, I did say September 1 episode together. I said September. I said Edmonton, Florida. And I believe I said Florida goes back to back.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: You did.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: So I'll say Edmonton, seven of the stars and then Florida, Florida and five over the Hurricanes rematch of the 2023 Conference Final where Florida. Well, to everyone it's a sweep. But Rob Brindamore, remember, remember he was like, I watched the game, I chopped through all the tape. That wasn't, that wasn't a sweep at all. And I'm like, I mean you lost Fortnite.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: I know a lot of those, Yeah.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: A lot of those games went to like quadruple OT double oot. Like, you know, Carolina didn't mail in like the Leafs. They had a few games in their most recent loss to Florida, but I mean the Carolina Hurricanes got swept and I think they'll be out for a little bit of revenge. But gotta think Florida is, is at this point. Like I thought they were gonna kind of, you know, take a step back, back to back cup final appearances, but they're not slowing down, man. So I'll say Florida and Edmonton once.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Again, you know, and I'll say for Florida or sorry for Dallas, Edmonton quickly to that. I think this, obviously Dallas is a team that everyone's like, okay, this is.
But I want you to really, I want people that think that really look into and see a non Canadian bias here at all. Just really dive into what the Oilers have had to accomplish and what they did against Vegas. The sound game, possession, goaltending, stepping up, playing when it matters most. Look, when you have 9, 7 and 2, 9 on the other sides, okay, that is, that is a recipe to create to make everyone better because they elevate their game to make everyone better around them and are true leaders. And look at their stats throughout a seven game series. But never mind a seven game series in games when it matters most. Those are the games of elimination games. All right, The Edmonton Oilers. The Dallas Stars though, they can't be taken lightly. They got a stud and Harley in the back end. Hiskin is back. You got, you got a, you got a decor, decor. You got a forward core that is featured with Robertson. You got Jamie Ben up there. You got the right fit of guys. Very impressive team. Well coached by Pete DeBoer. I think this is a series that is going to go 7. I agree with with Brennan. It's going to be a hard, hard grind. It's going to be quite a series. One of the more exciting series that we've been able to watch this playoffs. But the Oilers on 7, I could not agree more. But you're really looking into players that are going to step up. That's what's going to matter. And if the Oilers can continue to play the way that they do despite that, Dallas seems more like a powerhouse or more of a tough team. Really sit back and if you have time to watch clips of previous games the Oilers of what they do best, really ask yourself if the Dallas Stars can match that possession type game that the Oilers are going to play. Aside from the hard nose hockey about the Eastern Conference look, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers Conference final I predicted this year was Oilers. That's on the other side. Ifs and pan or Leafs and Hurricanes was what my prediction was. And when it went to earlier this year I said it'd be Oilers Leafs final. During this playoff prediction I said Jets Leafs final. All right, so the Oilers being in the final four is not a surprise to me. The Carolina Hurricanes, sorry, being in the final four is not a surprise to me. Especially coming out of the metro. They made quick work of Washington, really exposed them for the frauds that I felt that they were. Sorry if you don't like that opinion. They're not, they're not that first place team that I presumed that they were going to be. I knew going into the playoffs the way the Carolina is built, heavy, fast, fast, heavy playing, intense game that is featured by very intense coach and goaltending that has stepped up. That's what's going to be pivotal for the Carolina Hurricanes. And the Carolina Hurricanes in this series go against a Florida Panthers team that look like they're the team of last year, year and the year before the defending cup champions. And they're playing like that for a reason and not because of what they did to Toronto, but I'm even referencing what they did to Tampa Bay. Quick work of Tampa Bay. I thought that was a seven game series. That was five. And some of the games. It's like Tampa wasn't even in it. Florida hard pressure. D pinches. They pressure hard. They play even harder in a tougher game. They drive the net. They get under your skin. They have a third line that is one of the better third lines that I've watched since Jordan Stahl, Tyler Candy and Matt Cook of the 09 Pittsburgh Penguins run little sue love for for people in Sault Ste. Marie. Florida Carolina. A lot of comparables. Carolina is going to come out hot but something about the Florida Panthers right now they're on a different level to the playoff Panthers. Right now they're playing Maurice type hockey in a game that they could play and they're playing this level without Chuck playing as good as he can play which is even scarier. Florida Panthers will win this series and I could not agree more but in five with Brandon for an Oilers Panthers cup final rematch that we're going to see now.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Wow. So we're on the same page with how the series are going to go.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: And the two teams love it now we'll have more as the series is closed. We're going to have a couple episodes probably before the cup finals or perhaps one. We appreciate everyone's patience with our schedule as we hit the summer months here now. Okay. And even if the Leafs were in a week there'd be a lot of around our schedule but we want to keep it to one day a week up until obviously the draft and then as July hits we start into more of a bi weekly basis. Everybody knows Brandon before we we've talked about that. We have. We have to try to cram time here to talk about the Leafs. Right. That's a chunk of this. Why people there I spoiled it. Why people tuned in what we're going to talk about but we have one prediction that we want to put out there for everybody while we're speaking about predictions. Memorial Cup London Knights won the OHL championship from Ontario. Okay. They're in the Memorial Cup. Obviously there's some good competition in the morale cup always is. Who do you think wins the Memorial Cup? I'm going to say the London Knights are going to have a clean sweep of the Memorial cup and bring the Memorial cup back again to Ontario.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: How you I'll say Medicine hat in the Dub. Gavin McKenna is just a human highlight. Really such a stud. Every time I am scrolling or on my computer I just see oh another highlight. Real goal or assist. He. He is really truly incredible to watch and draft eligible 2026 rejected first overall pick. So I'll take Medicine Hat 100%.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: And quick thing. The Islanders get the first overall pick. I talked about this last week. Do they go Hagens or they go. They go with Schaefer. I'm saying Schaefer gotta take the best available player or someone else. Do you have someone else in mind?
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that, that, that is it. Porter Martone.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: He's projected top five, isn't he?
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Yep. Yep.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe. I could see him probably going top four maybe. But I like Schaefer. I like Schaefer, too, as number one for the Islanders.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Best number is hard to come up and pass on a top two defenseman. Got to take the best available. You may need some scoring, but there's some free agents available, New York that you might want to dive into that you think might.
Might help you with that. Stick to drafting the best player in the draft. All right, Brandon, we're here. We're at this point of the show now where people, or 98% of people tune into the segment is for this. And I, you know, I thought we'd have a bit more time for this, but I'm sure we can sum up everything of how we're feeling in this short period of time. And I'm going to go to you first. I'll cap it all off after and we'll go back forth where we can. The Toronto Maple Leafs lose in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers. It almost seems like they should just lost in game six for the way that they played in game seven against the Panthers. They lost 6 1. In a mirror score to game five and almost a mirror image of play to game five. The Florida Panthers took care of the Toronto Maple Leafs fairly easily, despite the quotes from Paul Maurice, which was absolutely classy, respectful, friend of the show. Paul Maurice as well.
Had him on here when he was a coach, Winnipeg jets, very nice guy. Know his brother. He's definitely done well and represented the Sioux very well, obviously in the National Hockey League. But he had a lot of classy comments to say. But the one thing that isn't being too classy, the Toronto Maple Leafs is us. And I mean us as fans and media. But what do you got to say about the situation? What are key points you want to touch on with the Maple Leaf?
[00:12:51] Speaker B: I would just say, you know, I. First of all, I'm exhausted of just talking about it and listening to bullshit responses from the players. But all I will say is the last nine years since 2016, in the Matthews Marner era, it will officially be cemented as the Chilkers Era, like remember the Kessel and Funnel era. Like, that was the dog days. This is. This is truly a complete and utter disappointment and disaster. Like Marner and Matthews when they came into the league. Davey, they were said to potentially become the Taves and Kane. Right. And they have just completely soiled their pants every year when the lights get brighter. So I don't want to hear anything about media putting on pressure. The fans are too intense. Too much pressure from the fans. Shut the blank up. You guys. Do not raise your level when it matters most. And it's another failed season. So I don't think he goes scorched earth completely. I would say the only untouchables are probably Matthews, Nylander, Nice Stallers and Taniv. Other than that, I think you have to really shake things up. Like Marner and Tavares are gone. Like they gotta be. And I think you can easily replace the depth wingers and, you know, retool a bit. The decoration. I think Riley probably is on his way out. I could see them trading him. So it's extremely disappointing. And what irks me the most, Dave, is just how they don't take any ownership or accountability still. And I think that's what pisses off fans the most. If they had like a. A 2:1 loss effort or an overtime loss effort in Game 7, probably would have got a standing. Oh, hey, great guys. It's the deepest run you've had in a playoff run since 02. Right? Game seven, second round. Right. I think 04 was game six. They lost, right?
[00:14:45] Speaker A: To Philly. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: It's been their longest run since 02. But it's. It's more just the effort. I like the boos are warranted. I think the jerseys on the ice aren't like. What's that famous line that play mid play too? Yeah, the logo or the logo on the jerseys a hell of a lot more important than the name on the back Miracle. So, I mean, five and seven were just complete. Like I was just saying the whole time, this is a preseason game. Like they got worked. It's just like you have a phenomenal game six and then you can't follow up. Their consistency throughout a series is horrible.
Like they just. They can't. They can't get it together. They can't get it done. So I think immense change is coming.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: You know, and I'll keep. We're going to have a couple points where we disagree on. That's what makes us good. I'm going to spin off to a couple points that I can Mention today I listened to the clip with Matthew Tkachuk on spit and Chiclets. Okay, okay. When he went on there and surprised as a guest after winning and he brought up a point saying that if these players and this team was in a different city, how he feels the results might be different because they have an unbelievable team. You can take that quote and put it in any, spin it in which way you want. But I will say one thing as a fan base. Yes, the pressure is high. It's not that pressure is high. It's because of pain. It's because of just the want to see greatness because of not being able to be and achieve greatness since 67. Look at the past 20 years. Look at the past past over eight years with the core core four or five, whatever way you want to look at it. Look at the success that hasn't been. Look at the losses and how painful that they have been. 2013 Montreal series. That's good. Let's go to this one. Okay. Let's just stick with three. Let's go with. Never mind. You know you lost to a. You did lose to a very good team in the Florida Panthers.
But in game five and notably seven, the performance that you put out is what stands out. What doesn't stand out and what's so quickly Forgotten is a 2o series lead that you had at the beginning of this. You go back to Florida and I call the pivotal game being game three when Marshank got that overtime winner and there was goals that were getting off shins and skates and those it was one of. That's the game that was the turning point into that moment and the home mentum shift in that series. But to my point here, which I've said first the pressure and as could Chuck said he is bang on to a degree can't believe in agreeing with the Tkachuk. But the pressure is high. And yes, it is warranted. Where it's not warranted is the jerseys on the ice. Not a fan of that boy in them. Look, you're entitled to that as a fan. You pay thousands for those seats, hundreds. Whatever you pay. You've been through a lot as a fan. You haven't seen that, that, that step up that you were hoping to see that the disappointment is what shadows you, that dark cloud. As a leaf fan, you can tell as soon as someone scores one goal, never mind the playoff game and a regular season game, Scotiabank arena, there's your problem, that home ice is not an advantage because the fans are so upset so uptight and they've seen this story before. They've seen this movie before. Whatever way you want to look at it. Pressure and number two, disappointment by not meeting expectations when it talks about to the players they did not step up and this core is unable to get it done. They have. They have proved time and time again that they have not been able to get it done. I will say that I know that there's been times where Nylander has been fine in these games or Marner but talking about this series and overall in general, notably when it comes to Marner and Matthews, they have not shown up in these games where it's mattered most. And we've talked about this earlier in the show. Connor McDavid and dry side will look at their point differential in games that matter. Obviously depth was something that the least pride on this year with detending I with with defenseman sorry and then goaltending. I have no issues on that end except with four. Four after game three is where my challenges lie on defense. Morgan Riley really took a step back after game three. It felt went from playoff mo to regular season mo. And when it comes to the forward depth look they the core four was not there. Domi did show up Lawton as much as he didn't put up points, he tried. There was players that put out the effort but the players that were supposed to show up did not. And when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs there I think as a fan base we do and are too hard on them. But we have that right because of as sports fans and as professionals in sports, you need to be able to absorb that and take it. You need to be able to overcome that and understand the market that you're in and the expectations being so high that the fans are going to react in a way that they are because they are disgusted from what is going on. And ultimately there needs to be a shakeup which is my next point. There does need to be change. I've seen people take this in different direction. Look, can the Leafs win with Marner and Matthews? You could sit there and say on paper it'd be hard to disagree with that. But let's go with recent statistics in history they haven't. So the answer that we have is know that they can't win with this core and they need to invest their money in other places to fill out this team in a more appropriate fashion. Like the Florida Panthers have, like the Tampa Bay Lightning have, like the Oilers have, like the Dallas Stars have. They need to invest their money in other Places and leads me to my fifth point. Mitch Marner. Tavares. I'll miss. I've already think I'm already sad. I'm in a miss just remembering the time of having these guys together where it's like oh my God, we have these guys. It's exciting. I'll miss the idea. I'll miss what has been, you know, someone cheering on and we know when Marner leaves he's going to go to a team. Maybe not. When next year or the year after. Maybe we win. Who knows? I mean we as Leafs but Marner goes on to another team. He's going to get 100 points. He might win a Stanley Cup. Heck, he might win before the Toronto Maple Leafs. Do we know that that's the most leafiest thing that's going to probably happen. But I am ready to move on that Marner is going to leave this team. Tavares, I see him staying. Did I say I want him to stay? For the right price, yes. And that right price is less than 6 million per year and people are going to blow their mind thinking that he's not going to do that. Well then obviously the money needs to be invested in bringing in guys. I'm not saying they're going to bring in guys which is my next point. They're not going to bring in these guys. But I'm just saying like a Sam Bennett, like a Brad Marchand. Here I am naming two Panthers bringing in some guys that are going to be on the wings that can be sandpaper, that will go in the dirty areas and put points up for you and be a reasonable price. That is what the Leafs need to do is invest in their money and bringing in some other players to fill out. The guys that are there and the guys that are leaving are is how you're going to do it. You're not going to trade Matthews, you're probably not going to trade Nylander. You could bring back Tavares on a cheap deal. But guys that I'm looking at with moving on from base to free agencies, Marner and via trade, I'm looking at Morgan Riley. Those are the two players that I am looking at and I don't think it needs to be a massive shake up. This has proved my last point. This has proved that this is not Sheldon Keefe's fault, my business questionable. This is not. This is proved that it's not Kyle Dubas fault even despite some questionable moves. This is not. It's the Shanahan's problem. He's the only guy that hasn't went so is he going to step down? I have a feeling It's a 5050 there. This has proved and the stats have proved that the players did not show up ready to play. And it is the problem of within. And despite how good that this team could and should and would be because of how it is on paper, this is still not working. And there needs to be a shake up. Not one where you're trading Matthews, you know, train everybody, right? You're not trading these guys. You're making a shakeup within the appropriate direction to fill out and make this team more complete. Because your window to win is still there, but it's shrunk after this year a little bit. You got player teams coming up. Is it impossible that this change will be so quick and we'll have talking different next year? It is possible spending what tree living does this year, but as a fan base and in all in summary, prepare for Marner to leave. Prepare likely a 50, 50 for Tavares to leave. I still think he leans on the side of stain. Prepare for a little bit of tree. Williams is smart gm. Prepare for a Shanahan step down. If not, he might stay back, but unlikely. Prepare as a fan base to reset and try to take a new approach to this team next year. Lease organization. If you listen, bring down the ticket prices, somehow you make enough money. Get the right and true fans in there, change the culture of that arena, people that will truly back up this team. All right. And when it comes to expectations next year, maybe as a fan we'll have expectations coming off a division win and a second round playoff run. But let's be realistic and let's support this team through all in all, unless they don't meet our expectations and don't try like they didn't in game seven. They didn't try.
They didn't give us the point to give us the cheer, which I understand the booing, but refrain from the jersey tosses and look at the bright spots this year if you can. Division title, first place finish in their division. There were pluses to take away from the season and some growth. But the area of where they need to focus on it's filling out this team more. And from an organizational perspective as fans, where we can support is trying to be more supportive in a different light as an organization. Make it cheaper to go to these games.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Just how does that feel?
[00:24:16] Speaker A: A lot of points, a lot of things. Leafs aren't in the conference finals. It's off season time. There's things to look into. And I'm very curious to see what this offseason brings for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I'm sure you are for all your teams. And on this podcast, we'll talk about things a team should do as the season hits near an end.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: I want to ask you one last thing. I want to take you back to Leaf sends game five, where Toronto laid an egg and lost four nil. Game five against Florida and Game seven against Florida. Just say those three games in the Leafs playoff run this year were different in terms of their effort and the score. Would the narrative be? Well, we would have gone farther if Stallers was our man. Hey, let's look ahead to next year. It's the deepest playoff run we've had since two division winners. Let's run it back. Because effort is the biggest thing. Effort's the biggest thing. Every team that's in the final four, there's sacrifice, there's effort. There's blood, sweat and tears. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, which the Leafs do not have in their DNA. I. I think the narrative would be different because on the positive side, you can say they took the defending cup champs to game seven in the second round.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: There's positives, believe it or not. You'll look back, there's.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: But again, it's the effort in those, in those games, those home games, those three games I just alluded to were home games. And, and they. And they.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: So to answer your question, you want me to see if they run it back? If they ran it back, I'll give you two answers. They would. I wouldn't be surprised because that's a very leafy thing to do in the past, since 2016. But no, I wouldn't be mad. And I know people are probably shocked at that. If you get some deals on bringing back the two that are UFAs and you have a little bit of money to fill out the team with guys that are going to be leaders and compete, you know, guys who are going to lay it on the line. There's a chance. But it's very hard to do that in a salary cap era given the players that you have to bring back. So I would be fine with it. But do I think they should do it? No, I think it's an opportunity now to look at filling out this team in a different direction.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Good point.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: And building this team in a direction of having your stars filled out by Carter Verheaggies, Sam Bennett or Lister Rhinelands. I hear I am quoting Panthers all day because I love the way that they're built right? That is.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Well, we're getting there. We already have OEL installers and Lawrence.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: So everything else, goalie and defense, I have no problem with keeping it. You can improve the decor. If you want to trade Riley for another guy and you package a deal or something, fine. But up front is where some changes need to be and it has to be with filling out the depth side. Not just with deaf players but guys that are going to go balls to the wall for you 100% and not take a one nothing league and feel like the deflation in the building and all of Canada happened after Panthers got that one goal.
I felt Canada there was over where it was done. And that is what cannot happen from a fan base perspective, but also a team perspective. And that's on the leadership, not just the coaching. People blame coaching. That is not just Perube. That is the guy that is wearing the C. Those are the guys wearing the A. And who wears those? Matthews, Riley, Marner, respectively. Tavares, former captain of the team. The accountability has to be on the guys that were the leaders that did not step up their game. And my last point to that, Marner's reaction to the bench says the up. The guy's hair was drier than mine during this recording right now. Are you kidding me? Mitch, I don't mean to look, I understand, I understand emotions pick up and I can see that heart. But that wasn't shown on the ice. Actions are louder than words.
[00:27:42] Speaker B: You're more sweaty after this rant. You put in a shift. He didn't.
[00:27:46] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. All right. And I know we have time. You've been patient with me as my rant was a little bit more longer than yours. So I appreciate that. But there's a lot of things that touched on a five point summary there. But it all comes down to filling out the team. I think the organization from a fan perspective, we can, we could. I.
I really think there's steps that we shouldn't have taken in that game, but steps that I agree on. But from an organization perspective, I really hope that they can look at a culture shift with that team from a fan's perspective with better ticket prices, different. A different approach to engage the fans to allow that slogan, which is bring the passion, actually adhere to that slogan and actually believe in the medicine that you're putting out there. That's what needs to be done. And the approach is offseason. I don't think you blow it up. That's stupid. You've been waiting forever. You have the One of the longest playoff streaks in the NHL. You keep that up in one of the best markets. You have Matthews, you have a top. You have top guys. Florida has Barkov and it. Right. Barkoff is love. Bark off. Okay, but they have guys that are well filled out. You have to find those guys and they are not impossible to find. You have to look. I'll leave that to you. Tree living. That's your job. That is. That is your job. Brennan, my friend, thank you. Been a pleasure. And I know we'll talk. We had a couple episodes left as we talked. Stanley cup finals. The draft is around the corner. Free agency day after free agency day. Obviously, we're going to be taking a little bit of a break and I expect my son to be born around that time.
I was hoping that Matthews would pick up the cup at the same time my son came out. Don't get any graphics people. I'm just trying to make people laugh in light of this episode. All right, Matthews, picture that.
[00:29:26] Speaker B: Pick up like Simba.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Same time, Matthews, me, same time. Okay, picture that. But that's not happening. Okay, my. Maybe Connor McDavid will be the one lifting the cup. And look, I am cheering for the Oilers. We'll give a cut, final prediction, we get there. But I am cheering for the Oilers. They are the only Canadian team left and they always seem to put Canada on their back. And I hope this is the year that they do it okay so that they can take aside next. Next year, maybe another Canadian team can eventually get there and win. And I'm not saying who you think I'm saying, but I can't believe I'm saying that. Brennan, I want to say thank you to you, my friend, for taking the time. We'll be back for another episode within the next week or so and we'll be talking other things. I'm sure if it's not leaf stuff, there'll be a lot of hockey stuff to talk about still.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Thanks, Dave. Always a pleasure.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: This has been the Game Sports Podcast. We're wrapping up the show with just top shelf here, the one segment we touched on the Eastern Conference, Western Conference Finals, Memorial cup and Toronto Maple Leafs, which is likely why you tuned in to hear and we hope the rants, especially with my 11 minute one, has met your craving and has fed your craving, is what I should say. And the Game Sports podcast is powered by 91 Network, featured on Spaces. That's through Student A and Village Media and also follow us on Tick Tock. Forgot to mention the beginning Instagram. Tick tock and Facebook at the game. Sports podcast is where you will have that content to enjoy. And until next time, I'm here to remind you, actually, before I do that, happy birthday to my father. It's tomorrow, May 21st. Dave Senior, happy birthday to you. I had to make sure I give that shout out there. Of course 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.
