Wild Deals | The Game Sports Podcast

[00:00:06] Speaker A: Booyah. And it's time for the game sports podcast is your host, David McCaig Jr. And I am joined right off the hop doing our Chuck A Puck segment, joined by Jordan Trudeau. Trudes, my friend. Another week, another week where we're going to talk about greyhounds even. But before we get to that, we have a little surprise topic. But not going to spoil that just yet. Yet. You may have heard it in the opener, but hey, no spoilers. Trudeau, my friend, how are you? [00:00:32] Speaker B: Good. How are you, dude? [00:00:33] Speaker A: Man, Trudes. I'm good. Last week was a great opening week for Chuck A Puck. It was, it was great to see the interactions that we had, especially on the Facebook forum in the Su Marie community. And you know, there were comments about having somebody join us on a future episode and I'm currently ironing that out right now. The people have spoken and we're going to listen, but I'm not gonna, not gonna say who that is or what that is. You're gonna have to tune into the clip that's been uploaded and comment to see who that is. But you know, we, we had a great first week last week and we're here to talk about Sue St. Mary Greyhounds. It's been a busy week and they last week. But they have another this week, man. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Yes, they do. Another full week. They, they went. So they were in Sagin on Wednesday, then they were in kitchen on Friday and then Owens out on Saturday which actually we kind of. I messed up there. I thought they were in Owens Sound on Sunday but they were actually there Saturday night. And so they went one in three. They got two nothing win in Saginaw and they dropped three nothing lost to Kishner and a three nothing loss to Owens Town. Or three one. Sorry. Three one lost to Owens Sound. So and the upcoming weeks after a 1 and 2 weekend, not too bad. Close games without your Cleveland score. Brady Martin, he was suspended for three games. So not too bad. I would say that's a tough road trip. And they're back at home all week. Wednesday to Sudbury, Friday against Niagara, their only trip to the gfl. And Sunday against Sarnia. So it's the last home games before the Christmas break. So we're season's going fast. It's not slowing down. [00:02:21] Speaker A: It's already Christmas. Yeah, right. And before we go into it deeper, I'll pause this there with Chuck a puck. Hold that puck in your hand and wait a second. I'm going to bring out another sport for a second. Baseball. Just for one second. We're going to pause. Chuck a puck. These balls bring up baseball for one second. The reason why I want to do this is because co host of the Strike Zone segment, Connor Henderson, has not able to join us this evening. And he threw you under the bus, saying that he wants the feedback about. Drum roll. Juan Soto. Going to the Mets. Going to the New York Mets, and absolutely track being an absolute Whoa. The money is insane. Going to Juan Soto. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Yep. He's all. He's always up to some, isn't he, that Connor Henderson. [00:03:11] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Yes. Yes. [00:03:14] Speaker B: Grew up with him. He's. He's an awesome guy to have around and awesome guys talk sports with, too. So I always. I always enjoy listening to you guys on that. On that platform, too. Juan Soto, my reaction, I just think it's too much money. Like. Like what? Like he. He's getting how much? Like, okay, let's go spend that somewhere else. Really. I mean, that's my opinion. Like, he's a great player, but, like, I don't. I don't know. I don't know. The j. The Jays. I think the Jays have a lot of work to do other than just landing Juan Soto, you know what I mean? So as a Jays fan. As a baseball fan. As a baseball fan, I'm getting a little, like, upset, annoyed with all these, like, deals just going up and up. Like the money just like that they're handing these players is getting a little too much for me. So it's kind of taking away my experience as a fan. And in terms of. As a Blue Jay fan, I think. Yeah, just they got lots of work to do. So I mean, Soto would have been great, a great fish to catch. But let's just work on signing, Blowing Blow and Vladi, I guess. [00:04:27] Speaker A: And they just acquired Andres Jimenez from the Guardians as we were talking. [00:04:32] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:04:33] Speaker A: It's a little breaking news that they're finally with the Guardians for Andres Jimenez from the Guardians. [00:04:40] Speaker B: Oh, it's a good pickup. Nice. [00:04:42] Speaker A: They just resigned and brought back Jimmy Garcia today, too. There was another. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Oh, good. [00:04:46] Speaker A: Because. [00:04:47] Speaker B: Well, that's good because Romano, I saw Romano just went right to the fifth. [00:04:53] Speaker A: Has signed with the New York Yankees as we're talking as well. An eight year, $218 million to the Yankees. You know what? I. Conor wanted me to throw you under the bus to talk baseball and a little bit of strike. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Wonderful. [00:05:07] Speaker A: And why not? Because why not start the show with a little te. Little chat about thousands there for a second, but then throw a loop. [00:05:14] Speaker B: Throw me under the butt under the. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Bus for Juan Soto. That was an absolute 15 year 700. What planet are we on? Cannot believe it. Reaction below on that signing. Please feel free to do that. And when we actually have Connor on, maybe we'll get up to the updates. But I want to make sure we talked about it as it's still fresh news because it is fresh. But now if you're a Blue Jay fan or a Tiger, any fan that we're thinking about spending money on Soto or somebody else, especially the J's, if you're going to spend $750 million, go spend that on bringing back Teascar Hernandez. You go get two starting pitchers, you go get relievers and you resign, Bo. And you resign Vlad. And you say, wow, we saved money. Piece of advice from me who's not a baseball manager, but take it from a fan who doesn't want to see a contract like that. That will not age well. Calling it now. Calling it now. Truth. We all were throwing the puck back. [00:06:10] Speaker B: Okay, we're throwing up. We had it paused and now we're, we're getting ready to release again. Okay, great. This week. [00:06:19] Speaker A: Yeah, Niagara and Sarnia, that's where we left off every week. And then you got Christmas. They got. They have one more or two more games after this week before Christmas and they have eight days off. So obviously there'll be some news that we can chat about next week. But of course, you know, there's. It's still busy. It's the Christmas year. But if you're around in Siemerie community, get out and support the Hounds. And I want to mention this for. [00:06:41] Speaker B: One last chance before Christmas. So yeah, get out and support. [00:06:45] Speaker A: I've been looking. Saginaw 2300, Kitchener 6500. That's good attendance in the OHL game. Love, love that sound. 2800. The, the GFL can get 4000 plus in there. Okay, get our butts in seats. People that are home from school, people are off school. This is. Despite where the Hounds are in the standings, this is still a team that could be very much enjoyed to watch have good talent on that ice. Gibson, obviously with Martin coming back from suspension, there are players to watch and enjoy and we are an original hockey town. And yes, I took that quote from Sault Ste. Michigan, which is on at the Polar Stadium. But I'm taking it for our own. Okay. Sault Ste. Marie is a hockey passionate community and we care about this team and we love this team. And truly when I look at the attendance, we have fair numbers. 3,000 against. We have 3,800 on the 15th of November. There's 4,200 back on the 17th of November. Just to pop up a couple dates. We had 4,042 on the London game that we lost 5:1 with back in November 6th. So I'd love to see that when I see these other ranks and other teams that could be higher, same or lower in the hounds. Doesn't matter. Get these numbers. I love to see that we are in the upper above average. I would say that is what we are as a community. Get out and support these guys. And why not do it than to take somebody who's home for Christmas or maybe who's a student who's been working hard all year, or if you have the holidays on a Wednesday or Friday or even a Sunday afternoon to put your rear end in a seat at the gfl. Truth, I won't go any further with that. But you've got some takeaways from this weekend I want you to lead the charge on. [00:08:25] Speaker B: I do, yeah. Some takeaways. But yeah, to everyone. It's your last chance to get to watch them before the Christmas break. So, you know, come out and watch because the team could look. You never know. It could look a lot different the next time they come to town. So, yeah, takeaways from this past weekend. Miller time. Let's talk about Landon Miller in a week's time. In just a week's time. Last week I came on the podcast and I had said how much he struggled over the course of the year. Like he's had some struggles. Well, he stopped 83 out of 85 shots in his two games. That was Saginaw on Wednesday and Kitchener on Friday. He saw a lot of rubber in those two games. And he. And he saved. And he saved. Sorry, 83 saves on 86 shots. Right. Because he lost three. Nothing to kitchen. Oh, no, one was an empty net. [00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:18] Speaker B: No, my math is good. Yeah. So, like, huge confidence boost for him. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Right? [00:09:23] Speaker B: Huge confidence boost. Fantastic play by him. If that continues more and more. I think it's more and more likely that Charlie gets traded if he continues that play. [00:09:34] Speaker A: 100%. [00:09:35] Speaker B: So that was my. That was one big takeaway that I had. Was. Was his play. It was huge. They missed Martin on offense. Obviously they only scored three goals in three games, so his suspension affected them that way. We saw how important he is to the offense. Right. And two of the goals were actually scored by the same player, Justin Clutcher. So, you know, that was a huge loss. And moving forward, it just goes to show you how important he is going to be to this team in the next few years. And my last takeaway was the defensive zone. And I've actually had a lot of good discussions about this with a lot of Hounds fans since September. They struggle in their defensive zone. The Greyhounds, they gave up 120 shots in three games. So that works out to 40 per game. That's not, you know, that's not sustainable. That's, that's definitely an area of improvement for. I'm like, I'm assuming John Dean and the coaching staff, so I'm even with the new players that they might bring in. Like we might see a name like Andrew. Well, we're going to see a name like Andrew Gibson go. Same with Owen Alard, maybe Newell Nord like we talked about before, maybe Kaden Carlisle. Even with the changes in the roster and the Greyhounds getting younger, you know, that's still a place that you'd probably like to see improvement in. [00:11:06] Speaker A: Yeah, to have that many shots. And I could take you from a player perspective and a coach's perspective despite whatever level you play or coach at, right. Try to limit the limit in a game and this may be an old school mentality, especially in the new style hockey that we see because of all the speed and talents that we see go down the ice. But you want to try to limit to 10 shots a period. That should be your goal as a, as a team you want to try every team that either have coach or play on, you always have tried to set the goal where you are playing and allowing less if not more, no more than 10 shots a game. If you can have 30 shots a game or less, then the recipe that you allow, if your goalie has an over 900 save percentage, you should allow less than three goals a game. Okay. And as a team to win, if you're losing the game because the other team scored two, then you obviously your offense to struggle. You got to try to score three goals a game, but obviously let three less than three a game. So people say, well that works out to 3 and 3. Not necessarily. It depends. If your goalie has a 91 save percentage and you get really down to statistics. But with offense and driving the net, if you as a team can allow 10 or less a period, but also generate 13 to 15 a period to try to hit that 40 plus part as your team, that is where you're going to have success. And those are good quality shots. If you can have 40 plus shots a game and have them in a 70%, 60% ratio or area that is a high quality scoring chance, going to score four or five goals a game, especially if you're a high octane offense from a defensive team. If you look at New Jersey back in the early thousands, they had a lot, a decent amount of shots against, but they played the trap. Broder was able to stop the puck a lot. That's. Now I'm talking, I'm really dating myself in this conversation. It's a new style. [00:12:51] Speaker B: No, that's, that's a good point. Like, as good as Broder was, you know, I think in the new age of hockey, right, you would, you would look at them and you probably criticize them against and say, like, okay, you gotta, you gotta improve those numbers a bit because like goaltending, good goaltending. When you get good goaltending, your statistics wise, you're generally lucky. Like, good goaltending means you're lucky, right? [00:13:16] Speaker A: Very. [00:13:18] Speaker B: When you look at the Greyhounds goalie stats over the past couple games and Charlie stats all year, like, yeah, they've been, they've been lucky. They've had their fair share of luck. So, yeah, it's, you know, like we're saying it's, it's definitely, definitely needs to improve. And that wasn't just this weekend too. Like, that's been, you know, they, you watch video on the goals they give up and you're seeing a lot of, you know, a lot of sweaters roaming around that. No, not, not many red sweaters are taking a check on. Like, I think, you know, moving forward as they, you know, get older. Like, they got a very, very young team and a young defensive core. So that core is only going to grow, get more, like they're going to get more confident, get more physical. So I think that'll just naturally improve. But it's also great to see Miller's numbers, like, of this past weekend. I like, that's the biggest takeaway from me. Like, he was outstanding and that's what the Greyhounds need from him. [00:14:22] Speaker A: You saw the ceiling? You saw that? [00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:14:27] Speaker A: What worked? Why did this work? What? What? In the game, what pre game, did you have pasta before the game? What did you do? You, you do whatever works to get you in that mindset is him knowing that maybe we are rising to the occasion because Charlie might get traded to prove that he could be the. There's, there's. But you have to keep that mindset. You can't say, okay, now that if Charlie does, you know, get dealt that you're number one, that, oh, I got this now. I'm good. No, you got it. You got to know, especially as a hockey player, what works, what make, what works for you and what's going to bring success. And he did prove this weekend that he has the capabilities of being the number one guy and Charlie can go to a team that is going to be a championship contending team perhaps and get this, get the city and get this organization some value back for a very good goaltender to help us grow into the future years with Landon Miller at the forefront of the crease. Because he did show a lot of impressive capabilities. They're not saying that he never had that potential. We obviously saw it as fans, but he really showcased it this past weekend. [00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, he did. And he's. He's a, he's a tall goaltender too, which is if he can like really, really zone in and figure it out, like, that's always a plus. Yeah, I was excited for him. [00:15:46] Speaker A: Yes. Now between. Between the last two points just because given time and we're gonna. I'm gonna get you to choose because then we can tease the next for next week. NCW ruling an impact on the OHL or Ryder Cali. Who do you got? Where do you want to go? The listeners are pretending they want to hear. Hearing something you can't hear them. So you get to choose on the spot again, eh? [00:16:08] Speaker B: No, I love being on the spot. Well, the ncaa. I don't have a lot to say on that, so maybe we'll just keep it. We'll keep that for today. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:19] Speaker B: And then we'll. We'll talk about our friend name Ryder Cali next week. [00:16:24] Speaker A: Deal. [00:16:24] Speaker B: That'll be good when Pete's on too, because he might have some, some like good views on that as well that I. [00:16:32] Speaker A: He's had a lot of posts about that. [00:16:34] Speaker B: He might have some good knowledge about that. So yeah, the ncaa. So if you're not really familiar with the way NCAA versus CHL works is, I guess before this year, if a player could committed to an NCAA Division 1 program to go play hockey and go to school in America, they could make that commitment. But just one exhibition game for a CHL team would completely like nullify that commitment. Like, they. They would not be eligible at all anymore. They could not get that eligibility back just by playing one simple exhibition game for a CHL team. Like, it was like the second you put on a CHL sweater, you cannot play ncaa. Which was, I guess, fair. [00:17:29] Speaker A: Right. [00:17:29] Speaker B: Because they're competing. Competing leagues. [00:17:32] Speaker A: Right. [00:17:32] Speaker B: They both want the best players. They both want the best talent to showcase to the NHL. But on November, set back on November 7th, they, the NCAA Council voted that there was a lawsuit, right, where a player took the NCAA to court. And I think they were, you know, they were gonna win. So they voted to make the Canadian Hockey League play. All Canadian Hockey League players eligible for NCAA Division 1 hockey. They were done playing in the CHL, so now you can play in the CHL and play NCAA Division 1 hockey. So what was happening the past few years were a lot of really talented players from Ontario were just going to the US and committing to these universities, playing elsewhere because, you know, they didn't want to risk it. They, like, they wanted to go to school and play hockey. So you didn't see them in the ohl. And I think that had a huge effect on last year. And just the way, like, just the way the draft went, like, I think a lot of players were taken much higher than they were ranked. And because of certain players, you know, committing to universities. But now we're. Or we're going backwards. We've seen the role change. So I hope I explained that kind of well, basically. So when you graduate high school, you go to college. So most of the players in the CHL are late high school, early college level. But now you can actually, with the rule change, you can actually go and play NCAA hockey. So we've already seen it around the league, like, effectively, big time. Like, I think over half the league now has gotten a player committed to a university, like, to commit to the program for this year. So it's. It's already. It's already affecting the league in a good way. Like, it's. The league's gonna get more competitive, I think. London, Guelph, Kitchener, the Hounds, they got Jordan Sharon, who's relatively new. He reported in November 15th he's an NCAA commit. North Bay, Erie, Oshawa. Like, there's. There's quite a few teams that have already signed NCAA commitments that. That segues into our sneak peek for next week. Ryder Cali is an interesting case, right, because the Greyhounds drafted him first round. He committed to Harvard University, but now he can come and play in this league. So we'll talk about what that looks. That whole situation. If he reports to his property of North Bay now. So we'll talk about that. [00:20:18] Speaker A: See, that's. I'll save, like, from this. I think it's been long overdue to have a sort of agreement where there could be something with ncaa. Like, I can remember from when I played and even before my era how there was so much you know, strictness with that where even if you went to a camp, you played that exhibition game, you couldn't play NCAA hockey. Right. And you know there needs to be that middle of where it doesn't like I guess if you're ncaa, you, you don't care about any other league and in the OHL doesn't care about aaa. Right. You're caring about making sure that your leagues are competitive. But you want to try to ensure that balance and obviously import rules. If you're Canadian going over, there's a lot of things you have to follow too. Right. So you come. When it comes into the NCAA ranks. I think the best effect is obviously unless you are known like going the NCAA route is being the norm is being that big step now. Right. Where I'll even bring up a different example, different levels. But high school hockey and Sault Ste. Marie is way better than what you see. And I know people in SMHA might not, I'm sorry to say it SMHA listeners but high school hockey has taken that step above where when I was playing Double A, the Double A, the single. Whatever league you're in, they, they, they were players that were cut from AAA and Double A was stacked. Right. And now high school. [00:21:38] Speaker B: That started. Yeah, that started when I graduate like when I was in grade 11 and 12. You started to see a real like surge in the skill of high school hockey and it was like a real competition with smh. Yeah, I know. [00:21:51] Speaker A: That's a good, that's a good example. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Well, yeah. [00:21:55] Speaker A: Exposure, right. NCAA and college sports in the states. [00:21:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:00] Speaker A: Bonkers. Our university competitiveness and exposure is not at that point. So like I know I'm transitioning between high school sports and local and all over. But my point is the, the long awaited kind of that gap in that bridge where you can go over and play. Commit, but play. I like seeing the transition, but I still think league. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Yes, 100 they are. And as an approach from some. From someone. If it was my opinion my preference would be to want to play for my hometown or play in the Ontario Hockey League. And then after that if things aren't going the right way, look at the next steps. Okay. Opposed to just. Yeah, right. But I wasn't like from a scholastic perspective. You know, I may not have the same focus as Ryder Cali has or something or the main same goal. So it depends on what you're this. But I'd like to see this transition because that shows growth in the game and I think it's long overdue despite if you like it or not because they take one of your players or not. Those are risks that you have to take now in an organization. And when you're junior hockey, when you're college hockey, heck, even the NHL when they. When they draft players, that doesn't mean that you're keeping them. Nine times out of ten, maybe your first round, all that same. But look at guys like Jimmy V. Those are guys that left. And that's coming to mind with different players that have moved on and didn't stay. Right. We go back in time and say how Lindros refused coming to the Hounds, and then he refused going to the Quebec Nordiques. Right. And then he gets traded to Philly, but then guess what? Quebec switches to Colorado and they win the Stanley cup because of that trade. There's a lot of. There's a lot of things in sports that make it an interesting storyline, but I think NCAA and OHL and the Canadian Hockey League, there's an opportunity there to make it something even more special. Time allows. I think this is actually an okay feat and a good. And a good thing to have, in my opinion. [00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. A lot of NHL teams prefer, like, the CHL and the NCAA are, like, huge, like, huge development leagues for the NHL. So I think, like, the NHL is going to be happy, which is going to make everybody else happy. [00:24:00] Speaker A: Right. And truly, look at what Auston Matthews did. Instead of staying in the United States, he went over to play with men. He had that approach, the players approach. Right. So it's interesting way to see if. I think this is a good segue. [00:24:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:12] Speaker A: It's kind of a good opening for. To see how this grows. Now, Trude's last question. I'm gonna put you on the spot because this is a comment in the super Facebook page. [00:24:21] Speaker B: Okay. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Zane Parek or Andrew Gibson, who you play. Okay. Is that by. Is that. Is that a bias? Like, for real. Okay. Bias. Are you. But for real, are you taking off if you take out the bias? I still would. I like the size. I like the way he plays. I think it's. I like defenseman. Right? That. [00:24:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:47] Speaker B: I wouldn't take P. At all. Not with his track record. Unless, you know, he improves, I will say his demeanor, his tactics. Right. Like, I just think that that's, like, no amount of skill is gonna be, like, good enough if you carry yourself a certain way. Right. So I would take Andrew Gibson. Yeah. Is that. Was that like, a trade? Mocked like. Like who? [00:25:16] Speaker A: Because there was a. [00:25:17] Speaker B: It was just like a. [00:25:20] Speaker A: On the Facebook page, And maybe we'll have to get Pete to talk about it a little bit because now I'll say who the name is. People are gonna wonder who the heck is Peter. Pete. There's your teaser. [00:25:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Oh yeah, Peter. Peter. You know like it's. Pete's gonna have a maybe a funny take on because it was on his post about Perek. Okay, over to the world juniors. And then a friend of mine who's a previous host on the show, his name is Dustin. He put Gibby 10 out of 10 times and it made me trigger to want to ask you that question because I agree and it's not because of a bias. I know true says hound jerseys behind them. As you see, I got heartbreak jerseys behind me. Steelers. But again I. I like tall. I like tall defensemen that have that two way game that have that if you will, if you like Chow 25. The. The quick pick ability. That quick pick where they got the long stick, they got the good smarts. I love that. I like that two way defenseman, defensive defenseman. Look, if I had a team I would have a Sandino Chara, I would have Owen Power, Tyler Myers, Jamie Oleksiak, all on the same blue line if I could because I love that. I just love the physicality when you're defense. I would have one offensive defenseman, I'd have three two way defensemen and two defensive defensemen because not one guy with its offensive would run the power play. The other guys I want defense, I want guys are going to keep the puck out of the net. My offense will get me my goals, my off, my defense contribute to get the puck out. But two way guys can move the puck. They know how to move the puck. Oliver, Ekman, Larson, these guys know how to move the puck. You have one offensive guy who can put the puck in that Quinn Hughes does it all as a prime example. But someone like Gibson is a prototypical Dave McCaig top 4D man that I'm putting in my lineup. It is nice to see it. Now I know he's not thin like Myers and those guys, but he's pretty big though. [00:27:23] Speaker B: Six, three, six, two. Yeah, he's. And another thing about Gibson like you look at when he was injured for those that one road trip that the Hounds had when they went to Erie Niagara, the Greyhounds gave up like I think it was something like six or seven goals a game that road trip. So three games they gave up, I think like 21 or 22 goals. Fast forward to the last. This last weekend they didn't give up. Like, they were a lot tighter of games. So, like, I really realized, didn't really notice how essential Gibson was to those defensive games until he was not there. And it was like, oh, my goodness, like, this is eight and it's the third. It's just starting the third period like they scored eight goals already. Branched and scored eight goals already. So he is exactly what you're talking about. Like, he can play. He's not as offensive, like, as Perek. Well, obviously correct. You know, leads very offensive. Gibson won't like, I don't think he'll. He'll necessarily put up points, but he will play those important minutes for you. [00:28:32] Speaker A: He will walk shots. He'll kill penalties. That last game if the goal he's pulled P or Gibson, who he put out there in that final minute when there's an empty net, I'm not putting P. The guy's gonna try to do the empty net. He's gonna block the shot. He's gonna kick the puck out. P10 or Gibson 10 out of 10 times. Just saying. No bias, though, trudes my friend. Another segment of Chuck a Puck. It's been fun, my friend. I'll have to make sure I get some signage. All the segments that we do about in the pocket. Chuck a puck. Top shelf strike zone. All these different segments that we do. I'll have to figure out something. [00:29:07] Speaker B: I'll get you a puck, a Chuck puck from the game. I'll just say this is the Chuck a puck for the Chuck segment. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Yes. Love that, love that. But I want to say thank you to my, to you, my friend, for coming on and we'll be back next week and we should have a guest next week. [00:29:23] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:29:24] Speaker B: Thanks, Ryan. [00:29:25] Speaker A: Of course, truths again. This has been the Chuck puck segment where we talk everything greyhounds. But today, this week we threw a little bit of baseball love for you. Just a little tease, you know, just because I knew that this guy would have some reaction about baseball as per our Strike zone host, Connor Henderson. Hi, Connor. But that asides, we're going to be taking a quick break. When we come back, we have top shelf. Now that is where we talk the national hockey perspective with Alex and Bre Brennan. So don't go anywhere. We'll be right back here on the game. Welcome back to game sports podcast. I am joined by Brendan McCarthy and Alex Parr Brennan. Going to you first, my friend. All the way in the GTA area. Welcome back. Another episode where we're talking top shelf here. Hockey. You know it. How's Life been, my friend. [00:30:07] Speaker C: Great boys. I guess some will be listening, some will be watching. But I am repping a little St. John's token hat here. Nook and cannery, so. So shout out to St. John's Newfoundland. Love visiting there. I want to go back again. [00:30:20] Speaker A: You've went to Newfoundland. I'm jealous. I want to take that trip to the. To these unreal, unreal dream trips. [00:30:28] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a great time. It's a great time. And it won't. Won't hurt the wallet either. [00:30:33] Speaker A: Not at all. How's the seafood? [00:30:35] Speaker C: Delicious, man. [00:30:37] Speaker A: Like fresh. [00:30:38] Speaker C: Three thumbs up. [00:30:39] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Wild. Now, without further ado, going to the other side. Wearing some nice vibrant colors today. Loving it. Okay, supporting McLaren. He's got the. To God, it must be snowing in his house. Everybody but the one, the only, Alex Par, my friend. Brother. How's it going? [00:30:56] Speaker D: Constructors champions, baby. Number one. Die hard McLaren fans. Starting this year, I'm one for one. Let's go, McLaren. I'm fired up. [00:31:07] Speaker A: I think you need to start a racing series. I think you need to start. I don't. [00:31:12] Speaker D: I do not know enough yet. I'm working on it. All I know is that McLaren's the best. And Max Verstappen. I got choice words for that clown. Screw that guy. [00:31:21] Speaker A: If you know about, comment below because I'm not gonna lie, I'm not involved in it. Watching. I used to watch Jeff Gord. That's the only thing I ever really watched, nascar. So I'll stop there because I've already stopped the age myself a little bit there, but nonetheless, fellas, we got hockey to talk about. It's a short time. There's so much to talk about, and I do. We are going to talk four nations in a big thing here. Okay? We are going to go there, but we're going to start off first with securing the bag. Because that was the title of our last episode where we said cash or cups, Right? Would you rather have money or would you rather have cups? [00:31:55] Speaker E: Okay. [00:31:55] Speaker A: And we talked about Tyler Bertuzzi in that topic, and Mitch Marner kind of got brought into it a little bit, but Igor Sturkin signs an absolute monster of a contract. 8 years, 11.5 with the new York Rangers. Vasilevsky just put in perspective. Vasilevsky, bobrovsky make 10. Okay? And those guys are Stanley cup champions. Vasilevsky has won the cup multiple times. Okay, so. And yes, he signed his contract at a different time, but Igor signs the biggest contract in goaltender history. He locks down in New York. The New York Rangers trade Truba to the Ducks. Okay. What's cool to be in California, that's all fun and all fun and games, but they're not close to winning a cup anytime soon. But I guess it's better than me put on waivers. Okay. Nonetheless, Igor secures the bag. Brandon, tell me about this. Okay, give me your reaction. Is this not an overpayment? Am I crazy to say that this is a stupid amount of money to yet give the best one of maybe the best goalies in the league? So maybe I sound crazy, but so much money to give your number one tendy. [00:32:55] Speaker C: So when the news broke, Dave and Parr, I just had the longest and biggest eye roll because this guy just seems. And Dave knows because I tore a strip off him on one of my first podcasts, co hosting. And this guy just seems like he's just simply chasing the bag. I mean, he doesn't have that killer mentality to win and, you know, take a haircut for the sake, for the sacrifice of simply winning as a team and having your name etched on the cup. This guy is like, I am going to be, you know, the guy wearing all this Gucci stuff strutting down Broadway. I will say on this podcast, Igor Sturkin will never win a Stanley Cup. [00:33:44] Speaker A: Amen. Ever. [00:33:45] Speaker E: I agree. [00:33:45] Speaker A: I agree. I'm. I'm ag And I know New York is very good this year. I love their roster. I really do. I do like the makeup of their roster. I like, I like those type of players. I like the, the Fox. I like Kreider. I like Sabana, Jad Lafreniere. I like their team. I kind of just like their team. But they're not a Stanley cup team. I like their team, but I don't see them as a Cup team, in my opinion. But when you have Igor in that, that's a pretty big win. But that's a lot of money to give a guy. Par. Par. You went. You were. You seem shocked by that comment. [00:34:14] Speaker D: You're. The Rangers have just been dog crap for a while now and they're in full on panic mode. They are trying to fix what they can. But I'm going to look at this Shusturkin contract from another angle. It's a lot of money, the most money that a goalie has had. But I saw a tweet today from Alan Walsh. He's a agent for a lot of the players in the NHL who tweeted out the top salaries from players back before the 2004 lockout. And we are only finally getting back to those same numbers on those same deals. How long ago has that been? The players are the reason why people go and the league makes money. I want the players to be the people making the money. I don't want to go into the owners, I don't want to go in anywhere else. I want it to go to the guys. I got to catch that rubber going 120 miles an hour at their head. And more than anything, I want this league to grow. It's fallen way back in the dust in comparison to all the other sports. So I think yes it is a lot in comparison to what we have. But this league should be leaps and bounds more revenue than it is right now. So it took us 20ish years to get back here. I'm just happy that we're trending in the right direction. [00:35:27] Speaker A: Let me give you this as a statement to not go too much on it. Igor Shosturkin will be the second best goalie in New York Ranger history. Hot take on this point. He will be the third in legacy in New York and there's a difference. Hank is one. Always would be. Hank is one. I know he didn't win a cup, but there's something about Hank. He was the wins, the character and he was a good looking lad. Let's get real, okay? That's gonna say very handsome, very probably one of the best looking guys to ever come out of the National Hockey League. And I say that confidently. Number two because I'm talking legacy here folks. Lundqvist 1. Mike Richter 2. What did Mike Richter win A Stanley Cup? That adds to legacy more than anything. Number three, Igor Shosturkin would be next on that list because maybe he will come close to the wins in Lundqvist, maybe pass him because he's going to be there for the next eight years. Maybe he will win a. Maybe he'll win a couple veznas. You know, maybe that will happen. He'll have those awards and those accolades but they're going to be self. There won't be team. I agree with Brennan. No cup from New York. This, this does constrain you. And this comes from a Toronto Maple Leaf fan who understands tying up players with money. But I have, I think Igor because he, I think that is just an astronomical amount of money. But hey, he got offered it and they paid him. So I'm not sitting here questioning the player or question the personality of the player. I'm just saying what's going to happen in the future because of this and how it's going to constrain New York. Unless the cap like I mean in the next five years just inflates in a way that people do kind of project. [00:36:58] Speaker D: But yeah, they're talking about it going up more than 5% now. [00:37:03] Speaker A: So we'll see if that causes another lockout. I have a feeling they shouldn't go too high. That will not always work. You got to be go up, go up, go up, stop for a couple years, go up, stop, go up, you gotta. In the NHL it's a lot different than the NFL, a lot different than Major League Baseball. Obviously as you're gonna as Juan Soto literally makes more money than anybody in this universe. It sounds like so like there's money getting tossed around in sports because they have that ability. NHL needs to get to that point. You brought a good point about 20 years ago, but remember what I said. Legacy and I, I, we've talked about this on this podcast. I think legacy outweighs anything. I would rather win cups than win self awards and have the money. And I would love if I was in the National Hockey League. Yeah, I'd love to win it with my favorite hockey team. But I would sign somewhere purposely and take a discount. I do say that now in par rolls his eyes every time I say that. But I would take a discount to win Stanley Cups because to play a total of eight, nine months out of the year and to be a third second line guy maybe or a 20 goal guy, whatever I may be on that and winning Cups is a lot better than being a 30, 40 goal guy making three or four million dollars more because no one's going to remember, everyone's going to remember that Stanley cup winning team. Those guys that were impactful on those Stanley cup winning teams. That's what I guys, guys. [00:38:17] Speaker C: The amount of money that gets tossed around. Like if you go and chat with like the likes of Scott Stevens or Ty Domies or Ron Francis, they are probably like these damn spoiled brats. Like I had a conversation with my girlfriend about the Leafs and she was asking like well, how much cap is tied up to the core? [00:38:36] Speaker A: 4. [00:38:36] Speaker C: And when I told her like she almost fell down. And I said look, if I was in the NHL, I'd be more than happy to be making Bobby McMahon money. And she's like how much does Bobby McMahon make? And I was like what? Like 1.5 million, 2 million? And she said that right there is life changing money. So with these guys who are just asking for the bag like Igor, it's like brother, you flirt with 900k like that's life changing money and obviously he's not worth that. But 11 five sheets per year is insane. And the contracts that are just being shoveled to players these days is atrocious. And I know you're paying for what you're expecting them to become, but man, like, it just, it just turns my stomach sometimes seeing some of these contracts get rolled out. Like Igor, man, like phenomenal goaltender. But I do not see him lifting Lord Stanley. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Nope. And I don't mind being wrong, but we'll eat our words on that. But okay, fellas, we'll transition to the Four nations just for sake of time. I think we'll have time for some four nation discussion. Then we get into our redraft where we end the segment. Time flies when you're having fun. As we hit the 10 minute mark already four nations. Look, if I may, if I'm okay, I won't take up time here, but I gotta. I will say the first thing that's on my mind about Four Nations. Two points. One. This team was built in a specific way. Obviously there's a little bit of Tampa Bay Lightning favoritism on John Cooper's side. I'm not chirping, but the haggle Sorelli. Right. These guys that are point point deserves to be there. Though I do question the other guys, but I see why these guys are there that connect me these guys because they are role players that are in the. That can hit, can grind, kill penalties. There's approaches to this, but I do not agree about Connor Bedard being off the team. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care how his season has been. This is a kid that plays with. That's. Can I, can we be transparent with shrubs? I'm not in the NHL. These guys would walk all over me and I played hockey my whole life. But this is a team in Chicago that's not good. They're not a good hockey team. You put Bedard with Crosby on Pittsburgh, even this guy, this kid would be sensational. Crosby had Lemieux. Imagine if Bedard had Crosby when he started. It would be a complete different career in my opinion. [00:40:54] Speaker D: Crosby didn't make the 2006 roster when he was a rookie, when he had Lemieux. This is a very normal way for team Canada to build their team. [00:41:02] Speaker A: But I don't agree. I think Bedard, because this is literally a different era. It's faster. Bedard is smart. I think he would jive really well in the top nine forwards for this team. I think the opportunity, especially over Seth Jarvis, even if he didn't play. I know Seth Jarvis is having a pretty good year, of course, but how Seth Jarvis. I feel like if there's a 13 forward that should have been Bedard or he should have been in the realm of conversation blows my mind. [00:41:28] Speaker C: Crosby was on the team in 06 in Torino, but Pat Quinn benched him. I don't think he saw any ice time. But he was part of the team, was he not? We talking Olympics? I believe he was on the team, but Pac Quinn was like, no, he's. He's not playing. [00:41:41] Speaker A: And in 2010, Crosby's the freaking captain. [00:41:45] Speaker C: He had a chip on his shoulder, right, and got the golden goal. [00:41:49] Speaker A: What happens exactly? And he's asking Jonathan Toews if he should wear the scene to like, are you back at. [00:41:56] Speaker C: But. But here's the thing with Bedard, boys, and we touched on the previous episode. When there's so much attention on you as the number one overall pick, your impact should be immediate. Par, you alluded to on the previous episode. McDavid, Matthews, Crosby, like, if you're scouts and coaching staff and you're looking through, you know, possible candidates, if you, if, if they're in the boardroom and they're like, yeah, but Dard is going to be a great player. But we want him to be basically controlling a line. So if we were to take him and be a part of Team Canada, he would be a complimentary piece. But Dard, given what, you know, the expectation was of this guy, he should be carrying lines. Right. And I'm sorry, but this is Team Canada. You're not going to make the cup, brother. And yes, I agree. Probably a little bit too much Tampa Bay Lightning favoritism. Would like to see Suzuki down the middle. Maybe throw Shifely there as well. [00:42:55] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:57] Speaker C: I don't think it's not his time and he hasn't proven that he is meant to be on that team yet. [00:43:06] Speaker A: Par, I know you probably. I know you got the mind flowing, dude. I see you searching on your screen about some points hit us. It's not about. [00:43:12] Speaker D: It's not about Connor Bedard and I don't know if you want to talk about Sam Montambo yet. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Sure. Sure. And I, I will say before we go. I, I will say before we go to that then that when it comes to. That's a great point about Bedard, but Suzuki not being there and, and Scheifely, other guys and others. Don't forget other players are off other teams. We don't have enough time to talk about every team. Maybe next week we'll try to dive into the other teams a little bit more. Even though it's a little bit older news, it still isn't. At the same time. Yeah, other players were left off. Caufield blew by. Mind the most out of everybody in the world that Caufield wasn't on there. But nonetheless, again, par. You want to talk about Monbo, don't forget before you talk about Monbo, this guy was predicted by myself and Dane. When we predicted this, it was Hill, Bennington and Monson Bow where me and Dane because of what we saw last year. This year almost it seemed like it didn't matter. But when I saw Badar get left on the off the team, I changed my thought on that. But you have Montenbo go. [00:44:09] Speaker D: His stats don't suggest that he should be there. And I will stand by that. There's a lot better goalies that you could have going. But as much as I thought bringing the third goalie a flurry in as a vibes guy, I think Canada has a problem with goalies, which is very apparent. So what would be a better way than throwing this young Canadian goalie into the mix to learn about what it takes to get there and what these pros do and all of these things to nurture this guy? Because clearly that's not what we've been doing as a country in bringing these goalies up. And I had to sit there and tell myself because I was really, really taken aback when you guys said Montembo should be on the team. I was like, dave, you're only saying that because he shut the Leafs out game one of the season. Like, you're just saying that over recent. [00:44:54] Speaker A: He's been wanted. It's been a rumor that he's been wanted since last year on this team. It's not. [00:44:59] Speaker D: I just looked. He's 28. What am I even saying? No, I don't. I just don't know what to do with these Canadian goalies. Is it something that's wrong in the. In the chl, as in its entirety, of just letting these goalies get shelled and we don't care. But if it's to try to nurture this guy, then it makes sense. If it's enough stats and you actually expect this third goalie to perform, you're not. You're absolutely insane. [00:45:25] Speaker A: We've never had to worry about goaltending. Look at the history. Price Broder, Eddie Balfour, Curtis Joseph. We've never had to worry. [00:45:34] Speaker C: Like the States it's been an embarrassment of riches. Yeah, completely. [00:45:38] Speaker A: The States are the best goal. The Europeans. If I'm a scout, I'm looking European goaltending because they're with older people early. They get shelled in every game. Like, took a rascal. The World Juniors. When Toronto traded Rask instead of Pogi, I even said at that point that was crazy because Rask was sick at the World Juniors. He was getting peppered 55 shots a game and stopping 52 on a finish team that was not. That actually weren't that bad, but they were. He was stopping pucks. Okay, so the I. The scouting in the States, the development for goalies in the States, especially in Europe, I still say is the best for development of goaltenders right now. But I might get argued on that now because the State's got a stacked goaltending crew and the States are going. [00:46:18] Speaker C: To walk through everyone. Guys. Like, it's unfair. They are unbelievable, man. Like Matthews. They're going to have fun, like, creating those line combinations. Like, it's going to be Auston, Matthews and the Kachuk brothers. Like, that's just unfair. And then you go down the list. The depth is insane. They got studs on the back end. And then Ottinger, Hellbuck, Swamin. Like, come on, what planet are we? It's like. It's like a World Series and you gotta face like the Dodgers deadly rotation all on the road. And it's like, great. They're at least going eight innings. Probably gonna give up just one hit. Like, it's just a joke. [00:46:55] Speaker A: Like, good luck next year, next week. Sorry. We'll choose our rankings. I think it's going to be very similar. Our rankings. I. I think we're almost in agreement with a lot with the four nations. I don't want to go too much more because I don't. Time is right now, guys, but. And we'll dive into it a little bit more. But I feel like the names on the roster, there's a lot of key players that were left out. I think we can all agree on that. So I'll quickly ask one player each that you think was off the roster that should have been there. I guess I got to stick to mine. I agree with it. Still. Connor Bernard, I feel like should have been on it. Brandon, how about you for Canada? [00:47:28] Speaker C: I would say next. I would say Sick. I was gonna say sick. Suzuki. Nick Suzuki for sure. [00:47:35] Speaker A: Nice. [00:47:35] Speaker D: And just based on how hot he's been. Macklin Celebrini. [00:47:39] Speaker A: Sure. Over. [00:47:41] Speaker C: Okay, I like that one. [00:47:43] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. I Agree. There's a lot of options. You unbelievable. All right, so we're gonna get to our top five, our redraft and then we're gonna complete the segment. Then we got some in the pocket time and yes, we're gonna talk a little bit of love about my Oregon Ducks on that. But nonetheless, we got the redraft, fellas. And we're at 1997. This all started the 70. Like we've been doing this since last year. It's very exciting. Now we're at 1997. I believe this is Par's birth year, if I have it correctly. Yes, I got that guess right. So we're going to go from just to remind everybody because it's been a few weeks, the NHL redraft for Par, myself, Brandon, and draft the top five of the NHL from the year that we're talking about based on what we know today. If we were went back in the DeLorean, got into 88 and wanted to redraft this team for them. And we're going to go first. Brandon, you're going to take it from the top. You can start one to five or five to one, whatever way you want to go par second than me to close out. [00:48:39] Speaker C: All right. From five to one. Got to give love because he's got the same first name as me. Brendan Morrow, fifth overall, originally 25th overall. Number four, we'll go Patty Marlow, originally second overall. Three. I'll go Jumbo Joe, originally first overall. Number two, Marion Hosta, originally 12th overall. And number one, Bobby Lou, originally fourth overall. [00:49:05] Speaker A: That's unexpected. Where you put a few of those guys. Good picks like that. [00:49:08] Speaker D: Par for me, a little bit different. I didn't deviate too, too much from what it actually broke down. I have five as Ola Yokonen. I got four as Marion Hosa. Number three is Patty Marlo. Number two is Roberto L. God, I wanted to make him one, but a guy with 1500 points has to go number one, Joe Thornton. They got it right. [00:49:26] Speaker A: Par. [00:49:26] Speaker C: I like those picks. [00:49:28] Speaker A: Par. You and I are exactly the same. [00:49:31] Speaker D: No way. [00:49:32] Speaker A: Wow. [00:49:32] Speaker E: Wow. [00:49:33] Speaker A: Five to one. I won't even do my usual way that Par knows that I love to do it. I got Only Oakland at 5. Mars of 4, Marlo 3 Roberto Longo, 2 Joel Thon. [00:49:43] Speaker D: Great picks, Dave. I love them. [00:49:45] Speaker A: That is the first. [00:49:46] Speaker C: There you go. [00:49:46] Speaker A: Had the same picks since we've started this little portion of the segment. That is wild. [00:49:52] Speaker C: It's also the first time you guys are in line with each other. [00:49:55] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:49:57] Speaker A: It's so true. All right, fellas, we're at the cap, we're at the red. Our time limit for today, lots of talk, a lot of extra talk. For Igor today, he got probably a bit more love than he deserved, especially because he doesn't need any love because he's got this big suitcase of money now that he's hauling down the Big Apple a New York. But next week we'll dive into some World juniors, we'll dive into more four nations recap and also update around the league itself. But fellas, I want to say thank you for taking the time. Par. You have a good night, my friend. [00:50:23] Speaker D: You too, man. [00:50:25] Speaker A: We'll try to play some. Chelsea, I don't believe you. You have a good night too. And we'll talk next week. And we got our Christmas holidays soon, fellas, so, you know, there's going to be a little vacation, but at least the world Juniors are on. So, Brandon, you have a good night. [00:50:37] Speaker C: See you guys. [00:50:38] Speaker D: See you. [00:50:39] Speaker A: This is the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McCaig, Brendan McCarthy, Alex. Par. When we were back, we have in the Pocket. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back to the Game Sports Podcast. Dave McKay continuing to host you this evening. It's now time for in the Pocket and I am joined by Justin Heichel. Heike, my friend, how's it going? [00:50:56] Speaker E: Oh, you know, just digging out over here. After another three feet of snow this week. Tucker's. [00:51:01] Speaker A: I'm over it. Yeah, I went home for dinner tonight. Like a quick area. I did some errands and we picked up dinner. But before I had to go out, when I was finished, spoiler alert. We pre recorded the first two segments and in between that, I had a space to go get food, so I had to go outside because I was going to drive to get food instead of cook this evening. You know, the wife's pregnant, so we had to do a little, of course, you know, some craving hunting, we call it. But I had to shovel because the plow went by and this, I mean, like, like, you know, I. My driveway was fresh. Okay, nice fresh. But I go out in the end of the driveway, just ice, plow of snow. And the plow people probably just go by and laugh at us as they go by. My whole street when I went out there was out with trying to get the snowblower out. Bad idea. Don't do your snowblower. And then that's pure ice. Not good for the whole garbage. The Augers, it's, yeah, you gotta shovel. So I'm shoveling. Okay, I'm shoveling. And then I see down the street, there's an older woman that lives down the street. She's pulling out the shovel. Okay, but someone beat me to the punch to go help her. But like, come on. Like, come on. I'm over the snow already, but geez. And I'm not, I'm not, I am not pointing fingers at the city with Paul. I'm not saying that. But it's annoying that it has to be done and it just sucks that it has to be done and I'm already over the Snow and it's December 10th that they have this recording. Justin. [00:52:17] Speaker E: I mean, I'll say I haven't been critical, but I've been pretty critical. I mean, like, you know, and like, I don't know, the Trailer Park Boys fans will get it. Like, I'm literally the guy on my street that. It's just dead quiet at 6:30 in the morning. I go outside and you just hear because there's a mountain of snow at the end of the driveway. Again, like, I'm never on time for work in the morning. Absolutely never on time. Like, I just got my coffee, I got a muffin, I got a protein shake. And now I gotta go shovel the driveway. I got a big belly full of milk. I'm trying to shovel the driveway. Get to work. You're all sweaty. Just pissed off for the day. Why are you so sweaty getting to work? Because I'm fat and I'm trying to. [00:52:58] Speaker A: Shovel the driveway at 6:00amat 6:00am yeah. And that Friday, November 29th, there's a couple Fridays ago now that almost a couple Fridays ago was an absolute bonker fest. Okay? The place where I work, okay, there was cars in the middle of the parking lot and people just got out and left their cars because their cars got stuck. Okay? And like, you know, like, come on, like dead. [00:53:24] Speaker E: You. When you see the cars just abandoned on the highway. [00:53:26] Speaker A: And I get it. Nothing's done if no one's ready. It's like then last year we were so g gifted here in Sault Ste. Marie with no Snow Basically till January 1st. Okay. Till after New Year's is when we started really getting. [00:53:38] Speaker E: Yeah, like six weeks of snow. I don't even think I used a snowblower last year. [00:53:42] Speaker A: Last year I've used my snowball this year, sorry, I've used my snowblower at least a dozen times. Like my snowblower has got its workout and it's brand new and I almost. It needs to be put away because snow's got to stop. But you know what? It's not going to. No, we're getting everything we missed last year. [00:53:56] Speaker E: We're in it for the long haul here. I mean, that's, that's a good rant we got out there. I'm glad we both got that off our chest. [00:54:02] Speaker A: Yeah, we needed that. We needed that. Now, Justin, you and I in the pocket, which has been and always is sponsored by SportsCenter Bar and Grill. Su Marie, Ontario's best sports bar over a handful years in a row. Best wings multiple years. Look, if you want to go enjoy a good sports atmosphere, to watch the game in particular football game, college or NFL, check out Sports center in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. And if you're outside of Sue Sa Marie, we. We'd love obviously, the interaction support for anyone outside. But if you're ever into St. Maria, if you want to give SportsCenter a search, you know, just to check them out, they love that. But our recommendation, realistically, if you're ever into Saint Marie, go check them out for a good little sports atmosphere. It's. It's awesome in there. And it's the original home to the Game Sports podcast. And if you're on video, you're getting a treat right now. If you know, you know. Okay. And if you're on audio, well, you got to check into YouTube to see what I just did. Now hike. [00:54:51] Speaker E: Two guys, one cup. [00:54:53] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Justin is on one tonight. He is feeling it tonight. Now, we got a couple things on the agenda here tonight. We. And it is just you and I, okay? And we've talked so much NCAA football this year, and I'm very proud of ourselves to actually make sure that we incorporate that more in our agenda. But this year of college football has been like no other, in my opinion. It's been very exciting to watch. Obviously, as a fan of Oregon, it's been even more exciting to watch. And, and of course, Oregon Ducks winning the Big Ten championship last week. Watching that was really cool. Obviously, in their first year in the Big Ten, they did extremely well. Winning the perfect season. And winning the Big Ten obviously tells you that. Obviously there was a lot of, there was games last week that caused a lot of surprise. In the Oregon game wasn't that. But the playoff picture is what we're going to be looking at today. We're not going to talk about last week too much. Given time, we're going to dive into the 2024, 2025 College Football Playoff picture. And I do have it up on my screen here to the Right. So everyone knows if you see me looking over there, it's not that I'm looking away from the camera. If you're on video, just make sure that I get everything right for you here, because I didn't memorize everyone who's playing everybody. Okay. [00:56:02] Speaker E: I want to make sure I'm cheating, too. So it's fine. [00:56:05] Speaker A: Totally fine. The first playoff round, you obviously got Clemson and Texas, and the winner of that game is going to go over to play Arizona State in the. Obviously the Peach Bowl. So. So that's the quarterfinals in the playoffs. We got obviously the Peach bowl, the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl. You got that before you hit the cotton ball and the Orange Bowl. Then you hit the national championship. Okay, so Clemson, not to go off. [00:56:25] Speaker E: Topic here, but I really like, like the B and C grade bowls. [00:56:29] Speaker A: Like the Chick. [00:56:30] Speaker E: The Chick Fil A Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl. You know those ones. [00:56:36] Speaker A: Trust. The Midas Touch Bowl. No, that's not. [00:56:38] Speaker E: Yeah, like all those. [00:56:40] Speaker A: All those fun ones. Maybe we need to have one. The Game Sports Podcast bowl needs to. [00:56:44] Speaker E: I think Barstool had one last year. [00:56:47] Speaker A: Did they? [00:56:48] Speaker E: Yeah, I think so. [00:56:49] Speaker A: That's worth a little quick little fact check. [00:56:52] Speaker E: That one. [00:56:53] Speaker A: You get a little fact check. But you know what? It wouldn't surprise me because Dave Portnoy definitely has his hands in college football. And I'm not getting into that topic right now for two reasons. I don't want him to be tagged and I don't want Dave to try to cancel me. Okay, I may. No, not tripping, if you know what I mean. You know what I mean? Michigan. Okay, never mind. Going back to the college football. Back college. The football picture. Clemson versus Texas. The winner of this game plays Arizona State. You got Clemson at 12. You got Texas at 5. The ratings. Don't. Don't let that deceive you, okay? I think that game is going to be very exciting. Still to watch, but Texas obviously is the favorite in this game and rightfully so. We're going to go through the playoff picture who we think is going to win. But I'm just talking about the games that are upcoming. So with all the 12 teams, you got Tennessee, Ohio State. The winner of that place, Oregon. That's a solid game in the first round. That's something that I'm very excited to watch. Is that Ohio State, Tennessee. Ohio State, I think should be a higher seed, but there's been some tough competition. Some. You and Penn State will go against Boise State, obviously. Ashton Gentee is an absolute juggernaut. Okay, absolute stud at running back there for Boise. But Penn State and smu, it's still gonna be a good game, but it's not my favorite highlighted game out of the playoff first rounds, but still too good. [00:58:14] Speaker E: That one will probably end up being the one that like everyone's talking about afterwards. [00:58:18] Speaker A: 42, 38 or 50 something high score, something stupid, something nuts. Now Indiana, Notre Dame, that's a spicy game. That's Justin. [00:58:28] Speaker E: Indiana bowl right there. [00:58:30] Speaker A: Literally Notre Dame and Indiana, that's going to be some sort of spicy, that game. I'm excited for that game and the opponent that they played next to the Sugar bowl and that Georgia, that's going to be whoever goes on. And Indiana being a 10, they've been a, they've been a good surprise this year. I know people did project them to be have a stronger season, but truthfully on my end, I thought given the talent that was going on throughout the NCAA college football ranks, that I didn't see them really as a 10th, that maybe they would be that 12, 13th, maybe 14th seed. But this is a team that has definitely come out and performed and shown why. But 10th could also be deceiving. They could be higher because of the way this team has actually shown. But there's a lot of talent in NCAA football this year that I feel is really impressive. But Notre Dame, Indiana, we'll have our predictions for everything in the first round, but there's four teams waiting. Arizona State, Oregon born Boise and Georgia for the Peach Rose, Fiesta and Sugar Bowls before meeting on to the next steps. These, these games. When you, when you think, Justin, you have Oregon who's 13 0, Georgia is 11 and 2, Boise State was 12 and 1 and Arizona State was 11 and 2. All right, now you have Tech, Clemson, whose rank was 10 and 3, SMU 11 and 2, Indiana 11 and 1, Tennessee 10 and 2. Along with Ohio State, the Notre Dame pen and Texas were 11 and 2 respectively. Now the first round is, it begins on the 20th of December, which is 10 days away from this recording. And obviously South Bend, Indiana is where that game is played. That's in Notre Dame and Indiana. [01:00:01] Speaker E: They were saying cheapest resale ticket right now is like $1,800 for that game. [01:00:05] Speaker A: Wild for college football. That's going to be something. And then obviously State College, Pennsylvania, December 21st at noon Eastern Time. SMU in Penn State. Yeah. Clemson in Texas. Guess where in Austin, Texas. That is on the 21st. And then the night game for December 21st, you got the big one. Yeah. Tennessee and Ohio State. Guess where? Columbus, Ohio. Been there. That's exciting. If you want and you're in Sault Ste. Marie or you're in Detroit, you can well Detroit a little bit of a different ways but you could still drive there within appropriate reason. I've went to see the Blue Jackets and leave down in the Nationwide and it was a great atmosphere there. Columbus here in the Cannon go off their football though they take that real seriously there. Ohio State, that is going to be quite an electric atmosphere and two teams, you got Tennessee and you got Ohio State. Hoof that's going to be something. Then you see the quarterfinals on the first and New Year's Day, New Year's Day after you've had a night of New Year's Eve and you're ready to relax on the couch on January 1st, guess what you get. You get some college football quarterfinal action before the semifinals hit on January 9th and the national championship is on January 20th. So still about a month or so away for that national championship that we're looking at. So that's the full scope of picture. [01:01:17] Speaker E: With seems like that goes on for a lot longer than it used to now. [01:01:21] Speaker A: It does. It does seem that way. Right. Like you I know there's the Christmas time, there's New Year but they're still definitely longer than anticipated but or that you would anticipate but this is going to be an interesting playoff picture. Justin, I want to give you know in light before we talk about the NFL and we don't chew up too much time of ncaa we have our predictions for the bracket. I want I would like to put that out be a good obviously clip to share with the listeners and viewers. I want you Justin to go first about what do you think for the full bracket, who's winning what, who's going what and who's winning the national championship this year. Early prediction, early bracket. Pick your wins from top to bottom putting you on the spot. [01:02:02] Speaker E: All right, well I'm taking Tennessee over Ohio State and then Oregon over Tennessee, Clemson over Texas in a spoiler and then Arizona over Clemson. So Oregon and Clemson or Oregon or Arizona State in the semifinal, Penn State over SMU and then Bo Boise over Penn State and then I'm taking Indiana over Notre Dame and then Georgia over Indiana. Boise State. Georgia game I think is going to be a real banger and I'm honestly just so good guessing guessing at this point but I'm gonna take Boise State and then I'm gonna take Oregon and then like Oregon seems like too good of a story to let go to the championship, but I know that's where Dave's going. So I'm gonna take Boise State to win it. [01:02:52] Speaker A: Well, spoiler alert. Yeah, I'm, I'm going. I'm cheery, I cheer for the best, but it's obviously I'm not. I'm going to eliminate the bias. But I think this team is so special. But now that I spoiled who I think is going to win, I still got to give you the bracket. So in the first round I'm going to have a few obvious picks. Here I am picking, picking Texas over Clemson to play Arizona. Then you. I have Ohio that will go on against Oregon. Then you have. I'm going to pick. I am actually going to pick Penn State over Boise State or sorry over SMU to play Boise State. And then I have Notre Dame over Georgia. So I kind of went the safe route with all the high seeds, all good football games. But the quarterfinals is where I got it being a little bit more juicy. In the quarterfinals I have Texas over Arizona State, Oregon over Ohio and then I actually have Penn State over Boise and then I have Georgia over Notre Dame. And now I know that's going to cause some change with why you think that for Boise to something about Penn State. When I watch them play Oregon, they have a team that has some good defense. They, I think they can really stop the run game from Boise. So Texas, Oregon and the Cotton Bowl. I am picking Oregon in a very, very, very exciting football game I have with Georgia playing Penn State. I got Georgia beating Penn State in the Orange bowl. So that would leave Oregon and Georgia 1 and 2. Very obvious way to go. And I got Oregon winning in a very high scoring game. Wouldn't be surprised to see overtime. But I'm going to predict a 37th win for Oregon in the national championship this year. That is the brackets for us. Let us know for your brackets below. That's in line of our pickups and we'll have analysis each week after the playoffs start for these brackets and see if we are right and if you are right. Justin, now let's jump into the NFL. I know we're already going a little bit overtime so we're gonna, we're gonna try to go through this a little bit more within our. Not to go too much over with the NFL last week. There was a lot, a lot going on last week, but the game of the week, to be honest was the Thursday nighter. That was the Lions and Packers game after that, don't get me wrong, there were some good storylines throughout the week. Like Josh Allen being an absolute stud. [01:05:03] Speaker E: All week, a bazillion points and losing. [01:05:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And then losing 44 to 42. That's a tough loss to swallow for the Bills, of course. But again, the best game of the week for me would have to be the Lions. Packers that lived up to the hype. I loved it. The Lions are just looking unstoppable, man. They are looking great. [01:05:21] Speaker E: They just, people just keep getting hurt and they keep winning. So I mean like Dan Campbell just doesn't give a. Honestly, like, hey, it's fourth and we should kick because smart thing to do it. We're going for it. All right, man. All right. And then they do it. They do it every time, so. [01:05:44] Speaker A: And there's success. [01:05:45] Speaker E: Kudos to Lions fans for getting to enjoy this because honestly, they've been just through garbage a lot of years. Just garbage. So like it's just, it's nice. It's. It's nice to have something nice. [01:05:57] Speaker A: And they're not seeing that garbage right now. [01:06:00] Speaker E: Okay. [01:06:00] Speaker A: They're seeing a team that is a football a Super bowl caliber juggernaut and why they are a favorite. The Vikings aren't like that division is real, is real tight, real, real good. I love that excitement that division. You're 12 and 1 and you still haven't clinched the division. Now obviously they've clinched the wild card. They're seeing playoff football this year. Are those Lions and the Eagles of the team from the NFC that are, that are. That are seeing some playoff football. But the clinch the teams have clinched the divisions have been the Bills and the Chiefs. Those are the only two teams that have clinched divisions. And the Lions doing what they are. They have a very tough schedule coming up too. And they're hurt. Right. And those are going to depend and you want to try to get that by. You don't want to play that first week. I know people like, well yeah, you want to play, you know, don't go into games, don't go have that momentum, don't have that rest. But you know what? The Lions need that rest. They're hurt, Justin. [01:06:51] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean like they're looking at potentially having Aiden Hutchinson back for the playoffs at some point, you know, so I mean like if that happens, like imagine the roster they're going to go into the playoffs with like it's full. [01:07:03] Speaker A: Team is kind of scary. [01:07:04] Speaker E: But I do believe they need a week off. Like they just need. They're beat up. They're beat up by week. [01:07:10] Speaker A: Yeah, was back. I'm sorry. [01:07:12] Speaker E: Remember the week four or five. Like it was early. [01:07:14] Speaker A: Or early. Right. So let me give you this then, Justin. You know, and I think people will respect because we do have a fair bit of lion fans that observed the show. A fair deal. Let's say you're in the final week. You've clinched a playoff spot. Okay. You've clinched a playoff. So I'm going to give you two examples. Yes or no answer. One, you haven't clinched a division yet. This is scenario one. Do you rest, guys, and you haven't clinched the division yet? No. Okay. So at least my second question. If you've clinched the division, you're done, you've won the division, you're all good. Do you rest in that final week? [01:07:48] Speaker E: I don't think so. Because you're gonna have a. Probably having a bye week the next week. [01:07:52] Speaker A: Okay. [01:07:53] Speaker E: You don't want guys with two weeks off. [01:07:55] Speaker A: Okay. [01:07:56] Speaker E: Like, you still have to have contact. Like, you can't. You can't go two weeks with no contact and then go right into playoff football. [01:08:03] Speaker A: You can split time on the field. Some secondary or some guys that are on the bench. [01:08:07] Speaker E: I think you let guys play. If the guys. Guys always want to play, let them play. [01:08:11] Speaker A: Yep. Good call. [01:08:13] Speaker E: Guys aren't gonna go out. Like, I mean, happens. But honestly, the guys aren't going to put themselves in a bad situation to get hurt the week before the playoffs. But they need to be out there. At least that's. That's how I feel about. I mean, Dan Campbell probably would go out there and play for them if. [01:08:28] Speaker A: He could, and he'd be effective and he would be effective out there. Very effective out there. [01:08:34] Speaker E: But no, the. The Lions, I think, are going to be the story of the week for the next. At least. Well, this week too, to be honest. [01:08:41] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. And I know when we have our pickups, we have some interesting picks. And I think this is a big challenge for the Lions this week, and they're going to face a little bit of a challenge, especially with the Vikings playing the Bears. You know, there's. Vikings have an easier game this week. Let's be transparent. An easier game. And this is a team that's beat up are the Lions. So be very, very interesting to see. So, Justin, that's the only game that I really want to touch on last week. Not just because we have a following from a Lions perspective, but there wasn't a whole bunch to dive into from a storyline. Except, of course, as I mentioned, I love the Josh Allen game. 342 yards, three touchdowns, he was an MVP type performance. Why? He's one of the top quarter quarterbacks in the league. Unbelievable. Sorry. And rushing. Like passing. Yeah, the passing story. Three touchdowns and he had the rushing touchdowns for three. Sorry. So like six total touchdowns in the day. That's absolutely absurd. Absurd, Justin. Absurd. [01:09:36] Speaker E: I mean it's. Bill's fans are loving it right now and I think he's kind of writing his ticket to be in the MVP this year. [01:09:43] Speaker A: Literally writing his ticket. And if this is a year that the Bills could have maybe been that run and made it, this could have been it. But then you gotta look up and you see the Lions and the Chiefs. You got teams up there that I still think are ahead of the Bills but can never count out, count out, count out Josh Allen in the game. [01:09:58] Speaker E: The chief's horseshoe has to fall out of their ass sooner. Right. [01:10:02] Speaker A: Like, and it's starting to show like they're winning games very marginally small. Small margins. [01:10:08] Speaker E: Ugly, ugly wins. But I mean they're still winning and that's what matters because we have to say that. But I mean everyone kind of hates it now. [01:10:16] Speaker A: There's got to be time where they fall off. Is it going to be that the Bills play the Chiefs again this year and it's going to be a different storyline? Maybe. Maybe this is the year that we see it because we're seeing this version of Josh Allen. He's also engaged to Haley Steinfield. Why does that matter? It does. The guy's got some good. [01:10:30] Speaker E: It's got momentum right now. [01:10:32] Speaker A: He has momentum. He has confidence off the field. He's happy. There's a whole. Hey, look, let me tell you this. Yes, you got to have that confidence in a game and that athletic athleticism and you gotta have the talent. But if you go to the field of that clear mind and you're like focused and you're like in the right spot, it's a different feel. Right. Travis Kelsey, Taylor Swift, we don't have to talk about that. But like the thing is the guys have. Having is happy off the field. And for a tight end, he performs. I know he hasn't caught a lot every game, but I feel that I see him out there. He still helps his team win. He's showing that confidence. [01:11:06] Speaker E: Still draws double coverage, so. [01:11:08] Speaker A: Exactly. Right. So this. That outside of the field. Off off the field is the right term is what I should say really matters. And Josh Allen is having in. Is in one is and is having the season that Bills fans have been waiting for. But we'll see what Happens what wall they run into now, Justin, this week, let's get into the. Pick them this week we had some shifts in a. In a specific way. It's been a pretty. You know, those three games that I didn't bid on the other week are really coming back to bite me in the rear end. Same with ej it's definitely been a shift in the standings. We're going to get to our pickups before we wrap up the segment tonight. [01:11:48] Speaker E: Yeah, let's. We'll go right into the standings here. I mean, not to brag, but I am now in first with 136 points and a tiebreak win, which we can't figure out what it is. [01:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah, we can't fight. Me and Justin don't know what it is. [01:12:02] Speaker E: Dave is in second with also 136 points and whatever that tie break is, he lost EJ in third with 133. So. Yeah, those three picks that everyone missed except for me or. [01:12:17] Speaker A: And if you think about it, if I want to sit here and say I would have guessed two out of three and EJ would have guessed two out of three, we're all still very tight. It doesn't matter. [01:12:24] Speaker E: We're uncomfortably close, just like we have. [01:12:26] Speaker A: Been in the last couple years. It's been one point separating. We don't plan this, people. [01:12:31] Speaker E: No, we could. We couldn't plan this if we tried. [01:12:33] Speaker A: No, no, seriously, trust me, if we tried, we couldn't. Even if it was written in stone and it gave us directions, I really fear that we would be able to accomplish it still. [01:12:42] Speaker E: We got. We got a couple. We got four weeks left here with. I mean, four full weeks of football. All 16 or 16 games going each week. No more bye weeks. So we'll see how it shakes out in the playoffs. Playoffs are also. [01:12:58] Speaker A: People forget that counts when the pool's this close. [01:13:02] Speaker E: You know, those extra games really can make a big shift. [01:13:06] Speaker B: Yep. [01:13:07] Speaker E: So I'm gonna. I'm gonna dive right into. Yeah, I'll go out of mine here. I'm the. I'm the champ now. So Thursday nighter, I got the Rams over San Fran. Sun. Going into Sunday, I got Casey over Cleveland, Cincinnati over Tennessee, Washington over New Orleans, Baltimore over the Giants, Carolina over Dallas, jets over Jacksonville, Houston over Miami, Indy over Denver, Detroit over Buffalo, Philly over Pittsburgh, Arizona over New England, Tampa over the Chargers, Green Bay over Seattle, Minnesota over Chicago, and Atlanta over. Over the Raiders. Tiebreakers, I got Atlanta 28, Raiders 17, Minnesota 39, Chicago 14. I don't know why I went with 39, but I got 39 most points this week. Minnesota, fewest points this week. Jacksonville. [01:13:59] Speaker A: Love that. We almost have same picks, but there's three that differentiate. So those three games market. Those are the three games that are either gonna or okay. So now if we have similar picks, that's why those three, if I'm wrong on all three and you're right, Hikes can have a three game lead. That's why it's very imperative I got the Rams over the Niners, Chiefs over the Browns, Bengals over the Titans, Commanders over the Saints, Ravens over the Giants, Panthers over the Cowboys, jets over the Jags. Texans over the Dolphins. Broncos over the Colts. Bills over the Lions. First time this year I picked kicked against the Lions. Josh Allen. Mojo, baby. And then of course Steelers over the Eagles. Trap game for the Eagles thinking that they're going to go hot in this game. Watch out. That defense is going to run after Hertz and it's going to hurt you. And they're going to find a way to stop Barkley. This week you watch Cardinals over the Patriots, Buccaneers over the Chargers, packers over the Seahawks. Vikings over the Bears. Falcons over the Raiders 21 14. Falcons over the Raiders. And then I got 32. 17 for the Vikings over the Bears. Yet another 30 in there, Justin. Another random number. I don't know why 32. It just came out to me. Most points this week. Someone's going to pull the horseshoe out of their ass and show why they've won the Super Bowl a couple years in a row. Kansas City Chiefs most points. And the lonely Giants are going to have the least this week. Tiebreakers matter too. People got to remember those are big. We take those picks seriously because if we don't, it messes our standings. Gotta love our pickup. And if we would like, like I wish more members. Only three people on our team that take care of that because we're in the pocket segment. But next year we're gonna have more involvement from the full team. We have 13 of us on this team with the game and I'd like to see where we fit after that. [01:15:46] Speaker E: I think we just got to put some cash on and get everyone all motivated. [01:15:50] Speaker A: Just $20 throw in for the year. [01:15:53] Speaker E: Yeah, nothing crazy. [01:15:55] Speaker A: 200. Yeah, I guess two zeros to that 2,000. Nope, not in the budget. That aside the NFL and NCAA, you got the full reaction from Justin and I. Justin, this has been in the pocket, my friend. 11 minutes over. Not bad. We do narrow time. [01:16:12] Speaker E: Our best, not our worst. [01:16:14] Speaker A: Nope, not our best, not our worst. But we had the NCAA talk really spicy. And then of course alliance spicy. Josh Allen spicy facts today by us spicy. Gotta enjoy it then. [01:16:24] Speaker E: I mean we bitched about the snow for five minutes too. [01:16:26] Speaker A: So yeah, we. So that gets deducted. That gets deducted. We actually only went. We only went seven minutes over that aside, as I hear people in my ear without really hearing people my ear. If you know, you know the NFL season is coming to a close, that means in the pocket we're already that went to hit in week 14. Right. So there it's. It's wild. But what we're seeing, the National Football League this year, Steelers leading the division, obviously. The Vikings I think are a great story this year. Of course, lots of football still remaining and see how everything goes. But the division that I'm surprised the most is the NFC West. I really thought those Niners are going to walk away with that this year. But nope, not happening. So let us know how your season and fantasy is going or if you're having pick them leagues and we'd love to interact with you. Justin, thank you very much for taking the time, my friend, as always. [01:17:15] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, no, it's a good time to be here. Get it out of our system. Tiana's priority. Sick of me talking about the Colts still being able to make the playoffs. So this is the only place I can get it out. [01:17:25] Speaker A: It's okay. When, when the Steelers are in, you can come on in. Come on in. The boat will let you in for. For a playoff run if you'd like to join. No. [01:17:32] Speaker E: Okay. [01:17:34] Speaker A: No, no. [01:17:35] Speaker E: We beat you this year, so we're better than you. [01:17:37] Speaker A: And I still owe you hot wings. Trust me, it's on my. My list right here on the sticky note. [01:17:42] Speaker E: They're only getting hotter. [01:17:43] Speaker A: A lot. Yeah. If I can go mega hot infernal. All right, so I want to say thank you to again, Justin, I want to say thank you to Jordan Trudeau for our Chapuck segment. I want to say thank you to Al Brandon McCarthy for our top shelf segment. Make sure you don't drop anything there. That's a very fragile background you have over there. It's the best in the business, that background. [01:18:00] Speaker E: I knocked over some batteries. Full disclosure. [01:18:03] Speaker A: There you go. And again, thank you to Justin for everyone here, part of the game sports podcast family and to the listeners and viewers, don't hesitate to hit like follow and subscribe and all the platforms. Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, we are all over the place. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube on 91 network we're there. And of course, Spaces. Su Marie, Ontario's own community through Village Media and Sue. Today, the Game Sports podcast on the sports and hockey page. [01:18:27] Speaker E: I checked, I checked out Spaces Last couple weeks at work going through a lot of good recipes popping up in there. Totally off topic. I was looking for our stuff and we're in Christmas cookie season and let me tell you, that overtook my interest over the game sports show, unfortunately. So that's a lot. Just shout out to Spaces for having something I did not expect to waltz into. [01:18:51] Speaker A: Oh, they have all the. All the things you need, Spaces. Especially in the holiday season. It is time. And you know what? Also it is for the season, Justin, Two things. Simmons and eggnog. If you don't know what a persimmon is, I will answer that next show. Nonetheless, thank you very much everyone joining. Wrapping up the show. Justin, thank you again. We're gonna be back next week, but one more week and then we're gonna hit our Christmas holidays where we only have clip and breaking news for the world juniors is what we'll have. But we're gonna have one more week before we hit our Christmas holiday vacation where we'll have two weeks off annual vacation for the Game sports podcast. So you don't want to miss that upcoming next week. And until then, 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.