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have the right one.
wacky waving arm for the inflatable tube
man.
Wacky wild inflatable arm flailing tube
man.
So, sorry for the extended break since our
last episode.
All of us have jobs, as I mentioned last
time, basically same excuse, different
date.
I don't know what to tell you guys.
Like, we do this when we can.
There's some months when we can do
episodes literally every game and more,
and other times where we are all just...
too busy to keep up with this.
And I apologize.
I know you guys like hearing from us and
we'd like hearing from you and doing this.
And it's just one of those times.
It's, you know, luckily it's lining up
with what most people would call garbage
time in hockey.
But unfortunately around garbage time is
also the trade deadline.
So we missed kind of doing a lead up to
that.
But I think we did enough of that in the
weeks leading up.
It's almost like we had a inkling that we
weren't going to be available on the
deadline day.
Like, with what you were saying, did Brad
realize that this is his full -time job?
He doesn't have to work another job so he
has time to do trades?
Or...
I okay look we're gonna because it's been
so long we're gonna go a little broad with
this I'm not gonna hone in too much on
games.
There were a couple cool things that
happened that we can talk about I mean
Bertuzzi's fight I'm kind of blanking
there were some other things that happened
that I want to touch on I'm sure they'll
come to me later, but what I really want
to touch on is that the
We talked about this over the last couple
of weeks.
The Leafs don't have a ton to trade and
there wasn't a ton available that really
made sense for them to add.
There was obviously the opportunity for
Brad to go way off the board, which I mean
he kind of did, but not in a big way.
There were whispers of Bucznaiewicz and
Pareko happening, but I mean the amount
they'd have to spend on that.
And like I was saying with Pareko at six
and a half until 2030, I just I don't know
how you really make that fit.
It just seems like you're handcuffing
yourself again.
But we saw what we kind of expected, which
was not a ton out and not a ton in, which
I'm happy about because if you're going to
spend now wasn't the time to and the Leafs
have so little to, I'm glad you didn't
waste it on bringing something in right
now.
But that's my take.
What did you think about the Leafs
performance on Deadline Day?
Um, initially, like most people, I think,
like you want the shiny new toy.
And with Vegas coming into the league the
way they have, they literally get
everything all the time.
So I think that makes all 31 other fan
bases a little envious.
Um, you know, there's the theory and the
thought process that we can't keep
wasting, air quotes, wasting.
the prime seasons of Matthews and Marner
and Nylander, but if you don't see a slam
dunk, like, yes, I was advocating for
possibly Pareco, but that's a hell of a
contract to fit in like you brought up,
and not only are you having to fit in that
contract going forward, but you're also
having to sell the farm.
And if I'm selling the farm, like,
Not that we would have been in the
running, but I'd rather sell the farm for
a buyroom than a per -eco.
Yeah, it just seemed like with everybody
else loading up and the Leafs not being,
you know, first place in the Atlantic,
like we were talking in the offseason with
the potential that the Bruins could be
taking a step back, which yeah, that
didn't pan out.
And, you know, Tampa, Tampa.
Yeah, I know.
And Tampa being, you know, starting to age
out of their prime.
We thought that this was the Leafs chance
to potentially, you know, have a.
decent run in the regular season and you
know, maybe they would be buyers at this
point, but the way everything shook out,
we lost a couple guys to injury.
It's not been, it's been an above average
regular season, but not what we maybe
expected.
Maybe not expected.
We knew it was going to be a step back,
but the last couple of years have been
more.
What?
Go ahead.
kind of call that to start the season?
That we were going to be meddling all
season and then ramp up for the playoffs,
whereas everyone was calling for the Leafs
to win the President's Trophy?
I mean, yeah, I think you did.
I wish I'd seen a little more meddling
throughout the season, especially after
Klingberg went down.
I think there was a lot of talk then
about, you know, this Tanovin -Zadorov
trade that never panned out.
And then there was no backup to that.
There was no, OK, well, here's plan B.
We kind of just heard whispers of trades
that could have been impactful.
And then at the end of the day, we get
Dewar and Edmondson, which are decent
depth pickups.
But I mean, they're not shiny new toys
like
you mentioned that you come to expect to
to want to see on deadline day when you're
going for a playoff run.
But at the same time, like I said
initially, I was upset.
Well, not upset, but a little disappointed
that we didn't get to show a new toy.
But then you look at where they did at.
They focused in on specific needs.
Like our penalty kill has been atrocious.
And Dewar's a good penalty killer.
Edmondson's a good penalty killer.
He's a big body with a long reach.
Right?
Those are two...
They're not all -stars.
but they're two legitimate ads that fill a
specific void on the team.
We're not looking to do a six player, six
incoming player shakeup like last year
where everybody said, you know,
potentially wreck the chemistry of the
team.
We're not trying to change the entire
roster mid -season.
Or like the biggest downside I see to it
is now Benoit looks like the odd man out.
And that could just be me being me,
because I love the guy.
But I'm more happy with it after the fact,
because you look at all these teams, like
Colorado just couldn't help themselves
this year.
They were in on everything.
The Canes, the first year in forever, that
they were actually in on a whole whack of
stuff.
Right?
Like, I'm not saying it's not going to
work for those teams.
Like,
It's not set in stone that it's not going
to, but sometimes the minor deals here and
there are more beneficial and more
impactful to the team.
Yeah, look, when you've got Matthews,
Nylander, Marner, Taveras, the idea that
you need to spend a ton to bring somebody
in to help them is, it just seems a little
crazy.
Like you shouldn't have to add that much.
So I think I like what you're saying
about, you know, fixing the holes that are
on the team that have presented
themselves.
A big shakeup wouldn't be good because
look how long it took Domi and Bertuzzi to
slot into this lineup.
Like we're in March and everyone's finally
like, hey, these guys are scoring.
I like them now.
You know, it was not an easy fit for them.
And to what you said earlier about not, I
guess, being being particular about the
year that you sell the farm on, like, it's
really got to be like, yes, Matthews is
scoring at an insane pace this year, and
will probably break the or could break the
salary cap era record.
But I mean, for him to do that and the
team to be just, you know,
above average means that there's not a ton
of other scoring going on.
Like that doesn't mean sell everything.
We got to go for it because Matthews is
having his best year.
I think you've got to, you know,
accumulate, like rebuild what you lost
over the years of Dubas.
Like Trey has to let these, you know,
catch up on the years that you've lost
these draft picks from, see how some of
these guys pan out and, you know, take a
inventory of the the cupboard in the
offseason, because right now I just don't
think it's worth.
giving away the few pieces like what every
trade mentioned the same few guys because
it's the only thing that leaves habits
like Minton Cowan, Nyes Robertson, maybe
Lillagran in the first like that's your
whole future.
That's like everything that you've
drafted.
So I don't know.
It's got to be everything's going so well
that it's worth moving that there's
somebody out there that's worth it.
I just I didn't see it this year.
So, yeah.
Well, and if you look at the team, like
you brought up Burt and Domi, how it's
taken them this long, like the last month
and a half, Domi's been playing awesome.
Bertuzzi's finally been starting to bury,
and I loved seeing the little snarl from
him in the Boston game, like talking
witherspoon into fighting them and then
just feeding them.
Well, and especially after the first time
they played Boston earlier in the year and
Bertuzzi took all the heat for not getting
involved in laughing because he still saw
these guys essentially as his teammates
from, you know, a couple months ago.
And he was like, I don't know, I'm not
going to get in the middle of this because
I feel like I'm on both sides.
I haven't.
And now that we're into March, it's a
completely different attitude from him.
Like you can tell he's really bought in.
He's here.
He knows he's sticking around.
He wants to win.
He's starting to find it.
So like like that fight wouldn't have
happened in October against the Bruins.
No, it wouldn't have.
And so you have those two that are picking
it up and they're giving us what we
expected of them.
You have Sammy, who's been on a tear.
Like, despite...
there's a few little moments where he
seems uncomfortable and we see him start
to forget where the posts are, but overall
the numbers and being able to hold it down
when it matters, gotta give it to him.
he was playing in October, if you went
back to me in October and told me that by
the beginning of March his record would be
what it is, especially in his last, what
was it, 13, 14 games, I would have been
blown away.
I think he's 12 and 2 in his last 14.
Yeah.
And another fact about the minor ads too,
it was brought up on the broadcast that I
didn't even think of.
Guess who Connor Dewar played over 400
minutes with last season.
Oh, who?
Oh, I mean, that's pretty helpful for
like, like, I mean, if you're playing,
yeah, those penalty killing and kind of
grinding bottom six minutes, like, yeah,
it's, it's at least nice to have some
chemistry there, because we haven't seen a
ton of offense from them.
And, you know, with Reeves kind of
starting to pick it up.
Sure.
Give him somebody that he knows how to
play with.
Right, a little bit of familiarity on both
sides for a new guy coming in and for
Reeves who's had a very up and down year
so far.
Yeah, I mean, it's I feel like it's been
down the last few months in the last two
weeks.
He's starting or two, three weeks.
He's been starting to pick it up again.
So maybe this will be good for him.
Edmondson, it's like you don't even have
to ask.
Oh, I wonder what number he's playing
with.
Oh, never mind.
It's that guy who's a foot taller than
every single other person in a Leafs
jersey.
He sticks out like a sore thumb because we
have not had someone this large on the
team.
Like, holy shit.
seeing a defenseman on the Leafs that tall
since Hal Gill.
Yep, that's probably gotta be it.
Like, holy.
crazy.
And it's nice to see somebody that's in
front of the net and just shoving people
away, even though, again, it's his ex
team.
But like seeing him not directly in front
of the net, but, you know, 10 feet out and
stopping people from even getting close to
Sammy's just constantly has the stick on
their back.
Like, no, my stick is is like three times
as wide as you.
So no matter which way you turn, you are
still going to be in my stick.
So good luck.
I am.
It's not like a huge drop in the bucket,
but I'm happy with the ad of Edmondson.
I think it'll be useful.
Like you said, the penalty kill has been
fucking atrocious this year.
Camp has not been what he used to be.
I do like Nylander on the penalty kill in
the role of like if they make a mistake,
he can jump on it and probably score.
But like, I don't know.
Other than that, it's been a.
Yeah.
of Mitch, yeah.
But in a perfect world, everybody's
healthy, nobody's sick.
Mitch is there instead of Willie.
Yeah, it is interesting that he's been
able to find some usefulness there and
just being the guy that jumps on the loose
box.
But yeah, definitely missing, missing
Mitch.
And I don't know, it's just been strange.
This flu bug has been affecting people in
different ways.
Like Matthews has definitely been off the
last two or three nights.
Like you can see there's a shift here and
there.
We're like, oh, yeah, he's still he's
still playing.
But like, oh, it's the second period.
And it's kind of the first time I've
noticed him like.
They panned to Willie on the bench at one
point tonight and I don't know if he's
being affected by this right now.
I swear to God, trying to read his lips,
he said, I am fucking shit right now.
Like, I don't know what else he could have
said.
Maybe he was saying something in Swedish,
but I swear that's what he said.
I mean, lip reading, when it's four letter
words, it's pretty easy to find out what
they're saying.
Yeah, it's tough because the last, I would
say, month or so, it's like every night
somebody else is down with it.
So you know that it's only the guys that
are not completely knocked out with it.
Like, it's got to be going through
everyone.
Yeah.
And, um, another thing bringing in, like,
both Lubuskin and Edmondson, but
especially when you, especially when you
bring in someone like Edmondson with his
experience, like the number of playoff
series wins he's been a part of, his size,
everything like that, it can take some
weight off some of the other guys that
we've been leaning heavily on for far too
long.
Like, I messaged in our...
Yeah.
You and I talked about him the other day.
But I messaged you in our group just
before we came on, like, this is the best
I think I've seen Brody play in a long
time.
Like, he's still gonna give it away, but
like, confidence -wise and making the
right defensive play, getting in there,
breaking it up, like, this is almost the
old Brody.
And is it because, you know, you can cut
back on his minutes a bit with someone
like Edmondson there, or that he knows,
okay,
I'm not going to have to do every single
hard defensive.
Well, since we lost Muzzin and then Hall,
there wasn't really a replacement.
Like we can put 20 minutes of defensive
defense time on somebody other than TJ
Brody.
So yeah, you're right.
Like he's been eating a lot of that when
we've got, you know, puck moving
defensemen.
Otherwise, it's it's tough.
Like Geo is kind of like the hybrid one,
but otherwise it's a lot of offensive
defensemen and he kind of gets stuck with
all those shifts.
So yeah, it's nice to that now Benoit
McCabe.
are there.
McCabe's kind of, again, like a bit of a
hybrid, but he's, I'd say, more on the
defensive side.
Benoit has obviously stepped up, but yeah,
Edmondson to be able to take on like
actual like time against top line players,
that's something that, you know, I think
we desperately need because fucking Riley
and Brody are taking too many minutes.
Yeah, and I almost think they kind of
rushed Riley back in after a suspension to
too much minutes.
Like I know he wasn't hurt, but with how
the team was playing and how those pairs
were playing, you almost needed to just
leave them alone and let Riley get his
feet back into the game on the third
pairing.
Yeah, it's almost like everything if it's
broke, don't fix it.
Like everything was going well and they
just went, OK, throw that all out the
window.
We got to put it back to how it was
before.
It's like, well, OK, how about we figure
out how this works with Riley back in a
lineup instead of just throwing this all
out the window?
I don't know.
That was kind of a silly time.
And I'm I'm trying not to be negative
about Riley, but it is strange seeing how
bad the team has been playing since he
came back.
But again, they've all been sick, too.
So.
Mm -hmm.
hard to tell what's been going on lately.
Yeah, there's been the sickness, like this
is the dog days of the year, right?
Right around the trade deadline just
before and just after.
When, you know, most teams know if they're
going to make it or not.
It's not the playoffs yet, so everybody's
kind of just going through the motions.
Yeah, I'd say the breakout star of garbage
time, though, has to still be Bobby
McMahon, who scores another goal tonight.
Like this guy, obviously they mentioned he
has he had a scoring record in junior, but
like this is something that's out of
nowhere.
Like the guy had what three goals in in 30
or 40 games coming into this year.
And now you're talking 10 or what do we
say, 12 goals and 50 some career games
like that's that's something to.
put an asterisk on now, like not an
asterisk of like, this doesn't count, but
like, oh, we should watch this guy.
Like this might be someone that, that
blossoms into a, like, you know, middle
six forward, like all the time.
Yeah, he's getting like, he's almost good
for a goal.
Like every other game or something like
that, like get the dollar McPix menu and
get him a goal.
Like...
Well, it's nice when you're not getting I
mean, sure, Bertuzzi's had a couple in the
last week or two, but it's not been
consistent and he has not again scored in
the last five or six games.
So it is nice that there has been a
consistent score finally and outside of
the top four guys, which is Bobby McMahon
and now Yarncroak's back too.
So I'm hoping that the combination of Domi
and Bertuzzi finding it, Yarncroak's back
and he's looking good and McMahon's
good, you know, you bring Dewar in with
Reeves, like the bottom six has been so
bad that this needs to fix it.
This has to fix it.
I'm not necessarily worried about the
scoring from the bottom six.
Like, I know that's been a problem in the
past, but with how bad the bottom six was
to start the year defensively, like every
time the fourth line was on the ice, it
felt like in October it was a goal against
every single shift.
Well, yeah, I mean, if you're spending the
time taking shots on net instead of
defending, it's a lot easier to make sure
that doesn't happen.
Yeah, and the fact that they can have the
luxury of putting someone like Holmberg
down there.
Like, Holmberg...
He's kind of like a yarn croak.
Like, you can kind of play him anywhere in
the lineup.
He's got the skill, he's got the hockey
sense, and the motor to kind of do a
little bit of everything.
is the new kerfut.
Yeah.
Yeah, kinda.
I like the speed from Domi tonight, he was
shot out of a friggin' cannon for that
breakaway.
Holy like that guy is He's such a weird
player to watch because like he's kind of
like Martyr where you think you have a
wide open net you're gonna shoot this Oh,
never mind.
He's gonna make a pass.
Oh you you're gonna burst out and grab
this puck Oh, no, he's gonna go the other
way like he never really does the thing
you're expecting him to do and then
tonight It was just like boom.
Oh, he's gonna actually go for this like
holy shit attaboy
I would never like nine out of 10 times
expect Omi to take that opportunity to go
for the breakaway.
Like normally he would just maybe like
poke it in or try to, you know, grab it
and do what Martyr does and stop up and
look for somebody else.
But no, good for him.
only to go for it, but to actually, like,
to get the puck and actually get a good
chance on that too.
Let alone it going in.
I just had a flashback to Marner not
shooting on that open net in the Bruins
last night, two nights ago.
That was absolutely bonkers.
He does that sometimes, but I've never
seen one that wide open with a goalie that
far from the net.
And then he tries for the wrap around and
falls over and almost hurts himself.
And now he actually did.
He was out.
So.
Great.
Nice job.
That's one they didn't really want to put
out in the press release.
Like injured because of the way he tried
to fix his mistake.
He's had a lot of those this season.
Like the amount of breakaways, penalty
shots, little like times where you see him
do that extra move and he loses the puck
and then he gets it back and scores.
Like did you see in the shootout the other
night where I forgot what goalie they were
against, but.
They called him on it because they're
like, no, he lost control of the puck for
like a half a second, but he still got it
again.
That's not the first time he's done that
this year.
but thankfully he kept the stick moving
fast enough that you really couldn't even
argue against the fact that he was just
stick handling it, right?
Yeah, but he keeps going a little faster
than he should and losing it.
He's a funny guy to watch, man.
Great season, but man, he keeps tripping
over himself and stickhandling over his
own fucking hands.
So I guess really the gist of this is what
does this team look like against Boston
the first round?
Because that's seeming like who we're
going to play.
And it's been a couple of years, but
they're the big bad boogie man, right?
I mean, everyone seemed like they like
last year was the time they could go for
it against them.
But it seems like this year is going to be
it.
So what does this team look like against
Boston with all these new additions?
To be completely honest, I'm not thrilled
about going into playoffs against anybody,
but, you know, I put my leaf -colored
glasses on, like, I'm not.
Like, I'm not afraid.
Like, there's a little bit of concern
there.
You look at the season series, I know the
regular season doesn't really mean
anything.
But you could argue that in some of the
games against Boston this year, the Leafs
did it to themselves.
Like, we also have just recently got our
goaltending back.
Like, not that it's an excuse, but...
those factors are there.
We played like dog shit for the first
three months of the season.
Yeah, but I think I mean, not to diminish
the Bruins, they've got some of the best
goaltending we've seen in a while in a
tandem, like both those guys are over like
a 920 save percentage.
It's insane.
Swimmin' and Allmark just, you know, it
shouldn't make sense that they found both
these guys and they're on the contracts
they are, but here we are.
So I think that's going to be tough to get
through regardless of what team you are
and whether you're Austin Matthews or
Connor too, or it's hard to score on this
guy.
So.
or either guy.
So that's, I think, going to be one of the
hardest things.
And the fact that Marshawn gets away with
murder.
I mean, he almost took Lillagran's head
off the other night and there's no call.
This is what the guy's famous for.
He's going to injure somebody.
And now he's the captain.
It's his job.
We also just did just pick up the
crossjack king in Edmondson so that'll
help us there.
so that's I guess what I mean is, is how
much does the fact that we now have
Bertuzzi and Domi and Reeves and Edmondson
and Benoit and like we haven't played the
Bruins in a playoff situation with this
team.
Like this is quite a different team than
last time.
So what like is that going to be the
difference maker?
like the Leafs are quite a different team,
but also the Bruins are quite a different
team.
Because yes, he didn't use it all the
time, but having a presence like Charo on
the back end was massive for how long he
was there and what he was able to bring.
yeah, the Leafs always struggled against
him no matter what team Chara played for,
he was a Leaf Killer.
they had arguably the best defensive
center that the league has seen in the
past 20 years in Bergeron.
Like as much as I dislike the Bruins,
Bergeron was an amazing player.
So yes, they're able to still do well and
have a great regular season, but what did
everybody always tell us?
Every single year, regular season doesn't
mean shit.
Yeah, I mean, look, the Bruins had one of
the best regular seasons ever last year
and they got swept, so who knows?
Then guess what?
Didn't they?
No, they had a chance to put the Panthers
away and then Marchand missed a breakaway
and the Panthers came back and won it in
7.
Oh well my memory is shit.
Anyway between
when they got swept by Columbus.
Right, right.
That's what it is.
I think that the center depth is is the
thing that the Bruins obviously are
lacking this time.
But you know, these guys have stepped up
to the plate coil and what's his name?
McEvoy?
Not McEvoy.
What's his name?
I know.
Zaka, right.
And it's all these A's I swear on that
team.
So.
I think that's where you get to take a bit
of an advantage against them.
Like the play, the faceoff dots going to
be where the Leafs got to really, you
know, hammer them in tonight.
Matthews was garbage.
That's why I think he's got to be sick.
It was like four for 15 on the dot.
The dude's usually way better than that.
I mean, Nick Suzuki's not fucking that
great.
Come on.
So there's that.
And then keeping pasta out from in front
of the net, because my God, that dude is
so dangerous.
You see that play between his legs?
He almost scored on.
Like they.
So I guess that's what Edmondson helps
with is, you know, keeping people out from
in front of the fucking net.
Yeah, like it, the game is such a tight,
like really every NHL game is such a tight
game with the might, like the tiniest of
mistake being a big issue on the score
sheet, right?
And, okay, the Leafs haven't played the
greatest, but a lot of times, you know,
that even the games that we're losing,
we're battling, we're battling, we're
battling, oh, we can't beat the goalie, or
we had
one bad bounce and that went in and that
was why we lost.
It's a game of inches, it really is, it
always has been.
And like I said, just focusing on some
minor things that can be huge improvements
for the team might have been the best way
to go about it.
Yeah.
a little bit better penalty killing, well
that might solve the pasta problem, right?
Because you're going to get penalties no
matter what you're going to get penalties.
So if your penalty killing percentage can
go up even by a couple percent, well that
can be the difference of a win or a loss
in a playoff game.
Well, yeah, because what we've seen Keith
do a lot lately is playing the top four
guys on the penalty kill, like throwing
Matthews or Marner or Nylander out there.
And it's like, I get it to have somebody
jump on that puck that comes loose.
But if you can not have them play like 26
minutes a night and keep them in optimal
positions and rested for those shifts when
they're going to be impactful instead of
having them always out there all night,
like it's just not.
beneficial.
So when you have now Connor Dewar and you
have a and you can run him and David Camp
both back and forth on penalty kill, like
you alleviate those extra minutes from
guys that really shouldn't be playing that
time.
Like, yeah, great.
Marshawn can do it.
A couple other guys are stars on the
penalty kill.
Keep Marner there.
But like, I don't want to see Matthews
killing penalties.
Lemieux killed a lot of penalties in his
day.
that's cool.
I just it's not necessary.
Like it's not not now, you know, keep the
guy healthy.
He's got enough issues going on with his
wrists and whatnot.
Like I say, put them out in the times when
it matters and don't overplay these guys
because sure, they're young, but like the
minutes these guys are playing is getting
out of hand.
And that's just I'm not going to get too
much into Keith, but holy fuck.
It's been a, you can see it on Willy, like
the guy's gassed by the third period with
how much they're playing him in all these
different positions and he makes stupid
ass mistakes and everyone starts calling
for, oh, he's got to be benched over
overpaying him.
It's like, no, they're playing him in
dumb, like roles.
I don't, so over this.
Lillagren too, they keep putting him out
there like he's the only person who could
play on the right side.
And you know, now he has horrible games
again, like.
take shit penalties because he's gassed
and starts hooking people.
Ugh, Keith.
Sheldon!
Brad!
Sheldon!
So annoyed.
Are you done?
Yeah, I'm done.
I wanted to see if we have any questions,
but I don't think we have any tonight.
Somebody just said, fuck the Habs.
That's all.
Oh, do I still have my, um, I had a video
for that at one point.
Let me see if I still have that one.
I don't think I do.
I think I deleted all those.
We used to have one where there was a guy
screaming, fuck the Habs.
So I hope that was in reference to that.
And I'm not just like scrolling through
these desperately to find it.
There's so many old videos in here I need
to go through.
They're not labeled.
They're just like random file names.
Ugh, nothing's playing anyway.
So without getting too much into other
teams, because everybody can look up what
everyone did on the trade deadline boards
and stuff, who do you think won Deadline
Day?
Um, well, realistically, you would
probably have to look and say a Carolina
or Colorado.
Like, it is so out of the norm for
Carolina to do what they did that I kind
of want to say they won.
Because adding a player like Gensel to
that team, and if you just look at Gensel,
what's the big thing, the one big
complaint about Carolina throughout the
years that they've made all these
different runs to the conference finals
and stuff like that, is that when it gets
tight, they don't have, like they've got
stars, they've got great players, I'm not
trying to take.
of those guys, they don't have that
sniper.
They don't have that guy who they can turn
to for goal.
And yet they went out and they got
Gensoul.
And then...
Is he injured right now?
I think he was injured a couple a week or
so before the deadline.
I don't think it's anything serious, but.
And then another thing is you see a lot of
these teams that they'll take chances on
players and it might even be a player that
you kind of give your head a little shake.
Like, why are you, you know, there's a lot
of rumors about that guy.
Why are you taking a chance on him?
And then it works like beautifully.
And Carolina is one of those teams.
They don't.
tend to make bad personnel decisions.
So the fact that they went out and they
got Kuznetsov off as well, to me that's
like that's massive.
Either they know something that everybody
else doesn't or you know, they really
really think they can help him turn his
career around.
And if he is even...
a shell of what he was for Washington in
the cup run, then they are going to be
really deadly.
Come play off time.
Yeah, and they got him at 3 .9 million.
So the fact that they can fit him in with
that, man, I'm looking at their team here.
So Aho, special, a car, a car, a car, a
car, a car, a a a a a
My god.
Oh, thanks for claiming $685 ,000 of Ilya
Lubushkin too, guys.
Appreciate it.
I forgot they were in there.
was really weird this year, is the teams
that you did not expect being the banker
teams.
Yeah, like Tampa.
Yeah, it absolutely I guess they have the
IR space now with Sergei Cheb going down,
but it just it's not the teams that you
would expect to be making those moves.
Well, I think I mean, just a theory.
Maybe it's because teams like Tampa have
spent so many draft picks over the last
couple of years that they're like, great,
if we can get like a fourth back here just
for taking on a couple hundred grand, like
basically just buy a draft pick.
Sure, we can turn that into a player
sometime in a package that we need next
year, maybe.
Tampa basically traded an entire draft
year for Tanner Janell last year, so...
next year for Brandon Hagel.
Yeah, it's, uh, they need all the pics
they can get rid of.
Yeah, so I think that might be why, but
otherwise, I don't know.
The Canes, did they take on a draft pick
in that whole thing that they ended up
moving for somebody there?
Let me check.
think they might have.
Keynes acquired a sixth round pick.
Okay.
So let's see what happened Keynes.
Cap friendly.
Thanks cap friendly.
Trades did that sixth round pick go
somewhere.
Oh my god, they sent so many fucking
things around.
Cade.
Oh yeah, we got that prospect from them as
well.
yeah, Cade Weber for another sixth round
pick from the Leafs.
Yeah, he's like 6 '7", like a 6 '7' shop
locker.
So we were talking about seeing Edmondson
back there.
That's basically, hopefully what he turns
into being.
So from Toronto, 2024 sixth round pick,
where did that thing go?
Is it still theirs?
2024 sixth round pick.
Yeah, weird.
So they have our 2024 sixth and our 2026
sixth.
I thought, I mean, if they were gonna take
it on there, they could have moved it.
So yeah, Jake Gensel goes for Michael
Bunting.
So that's the other fun part of this is
Dubas loves his guys and nobody in
Pittsburgh is happy about this.
No, that's the most upset I think I've
ever seen Crosby.
Yeah, he was like basically at trade me
I'm done if this is what we're doing.
which is just mind -boggling to think.
Yeah, like Michael Bunting, Vasily
Ponimarev, Cruz Lucius, Vili Koyvonen, a
second conditional, fifth conditional.
Be a first if Carolina makes it to the cup
finals.
Pittsburgh will receive this pick if
Carolina wins the 2024 Stanley Cup.
OK, so they're not getting that one.
Well, I mean, they might, but that's
crazy.
It's an insane condition.
realize we included Dmitriy Ovchinnikov in
the Connor Doerr deal.
Yeah.
There was so much going on and I was
driving, I was trying to listen to
SiriusXM on delay and ignore messages from
you guys on my phone all day.
just looking at the way this trade breaks
down, this is like the most fucking Kyle
Dubas trade ever.
Like, I want Michael Bunting because he's
a guy that I found and a bunch of like,
Ponemara, Luscious and Koyvanen.
Like, those are such Dubas names to grab.
Just like you don't know who these guys
are, but their numbers in whatever league
they play in are dope.
They're going to be great.
Just you wait.
Like.
Oh my god.
other team, like I said, I think it's kind
of a toss -up between Colorado and
Carolina.
Although Colorado might have done a little
too much.
Colorado basically changed a quarter of
the roster.
I didn't know Yakov Trenin was available,
but he's a big guy.
I will never forget him fighting Shara.
So you bring in Trenin, Graham Swartz.
I think he is going to be an AHL guy right
now.
Brandon Duhaime, he can be a good bottom
six guy for them.
They brought in Casey Middlestadt, so they
gave up on Byrom.
But realistically, when you have Makar and
Gerard already there, you got to kind of
pick and choose your battles, and they're
paying Gerard more right now, so they kind
of had to move Byrom.
Middlestadt's had a great year.
lot of upside with him he just hasn't been
able to put it all together in Buffalo
although we've seen that before.
Oh, and we love a one -for -one player
hockey trade like that.
Just you need this and we need that.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, like, Weber for Subban or JVR for
Shen, like...
Ugh, those are just the best f -
And then they grabbed Sean Walker as well,
which they were doing that enabled them to
be able to move by room.
So Colorado was busy.
But yet again, did they do too much?
Just to bring it back to the Leafs for a
sec, I was surprised that Brad didn't make
a decision on the goaltending.
Like, moving Martin Jones even just to get
a pick back for the offseason to spend.
Like, you've got too many guys at this
point.
Like, with Wal Sampsonov, with maybe Matt
Murray coming back, like, you're gonna
have to wave Martin Jones and lose him, I
think.
don't
three goalies and scratching one of them
to not get something back for him like
there had to be even if it's a sixth like
my god like I don't think we need that is
it
The percentage chance of a fourth, a
fifth, or a sixth round draft pick making
the NHL for the added security of having
someone, Wallace had a little bit of an
injury history.
Yes, Sammy played great last year and he's
playing great right now, but he was
playing in a different galaxy to start the
year.
So if...
If we can have Jones there as an extra
insurance, heaven forbid Wol gets hurt,
heaven forbid Sammy hops on the Millennium
Falcon and goes to another galaxy in the
playoffs.
Like, we have Jones.
He's already here.
We didn't have to give up anything for
him, right?
Yeah, I'm not saying to get the pick to
use it.
I'm saying get a pick to, you know, use
for trades later on because they've got
really nothing.
But yeah, I guess it's really not as deep
as I was remembering it is.
But if you're going to play.
What's his face, Hildeby, you're going to
bring him up like.
I don't know, I just think they have
enough options that they could have got
some back, but I guess there's no Russian.
If nobody's calling about him, there's no
point in just.
shipping them out for the sake of it.
Yeah, weird deadline day.
I mean, there were no no like massive
names on the board, but I think a lot of
teams did make a lot of moves to make them
better.
Like, I mean, we haven't really mentioned
Vegas, but holy shit, a lot of a lot of
bolstering of teams.
Well, yeah, and there was like, it's been
a trend the last couple of years to, to
get a lot, like most of the teams are
getting their work done two, three, four
days to a week before the deadline, right?
Like Tana, Hanifin all done well before
the deadline.
So I think that's going to be a continuing
trend going forward.
And it's not necessarily the worst idea
because then you do get to give those guys
the extra time to get, you know,
accustomed to how the team plays or what
guy likes to go where for which shift,
right?
if it's two or three games, you know when
it's the in the last 20 of the season it
makes all the difference So anything else
we we want to cover hockey wise before we
talk about something else I'm gonna talk
about
Just screw Montreal, both NHL and PWHL.
Toronto, I think it was 2 or 3 -0 win the
other night against Montreal and the PWHL.
I'm going to Ottawa Montreal game I think
in like a week or two I forgot Yeah, but
Emily bought tickets for it.
So I'm excited So what I brought up on the
end of last show that we didn't have time
to talk about was the enhanced games that
were announced and I just want to spend a
couple minutes talking about what that
means and what Your interest level and I
want to hear yours
the listeners interest level is in this
because it's something out of the blue.
And that's fair, like, look, my take on it
for anyone who was unaware, the enhanced
games are happening in December, and it is
basically the Olympics with no
restrictions on performance enhancing
drugs.
They will be monitored and.
closely watched by physicians to make sure
that people are not going to hopefully
overdose on these things.
That's kind of the the criticism of this
is that it's quite dangerous to have
people just, you know, not have
regulations on it.
It's one thing when they're they're
testing and people are trying to sneak
something through and do a certain amount
of something to not get caught.
It's another one.
You just say, you know, do whatever you
want, try whatever you want as much of it
and.
you're against other people that you know
are on it, so you have to outperform them.
Like, it just seems like it's gonna be
a...
That being said, there is a lot of doping
going on in the Olympics that doesn't get
caught and that does get caught.
And it's just until they're able to
confidently say that all the athletes out
there are clean.
Like it's tough to say with all these
individual sports, like who is really the
best.
So like this is a league of its own.
I think it'll be interesting to see how
far somebody on.
You know, PEDs can throw like a shot put
or a javelin or something or do, you know,
100 meter.
And I'm also interested to see how those
numbers compare to people that aren't like
how much farther is it?
How much faster are they?
And if it's close to what does that mean
about how much performance enhancing drugs
are already used in the Olympics?
Like, I think it's going to answer a lot
of fun questions.
I don't.
Everybody cheats, but to me it's still
just like...
I don't know, I don't like it.
Call me Abe Simpson yelling at a cloud,
but like...
don't like it, but I'm at the point of
like, it's happening whether I like it or
not.
So what does this mean for me?
What can I take from it?
What's going to be interesting to see?
Because like I said, it's happening.
There's a lot of ex Olympians and current
Olympians that were cut that have signed
up for it.
So it was hundreds of athletes,
apparently.
Obviously there wouldn't be like team
sports.
I don't know what the actual lineup of
sports is actually.
Maybe I can find it.
Enhanced games.
What would it be?
Lineup.
Okay, event plan.
Yeah, what do we got here?
It doesn't.
Athletics, Aquatics, Gymnastics, Combat,
and Strength.
I don't know what that means.
Like, guys, tell me what sports you're
doing.
See, I'm more interested in seeing what's
his name, that YouTuber guy fight Mike
Tyson.
Oh, yeah, we'll talk about that in a sec.
I don't want to close this out.
We do need to talk about that.
OK.
So as far as the enhanced games go, if
it's swimming, cycling, weightlifting,
running, like all those individual things,
sure, it'll be interesting to compare to
non -juiced athletes.
I don't think there's any point in doing
things like basketball and hockey and like
in order to get a full team of people to
do that also would be crazy.
Like.
Maybe something like rowing or bobsled
would make a difference, but a rowing team
that's juiced would be kind of, you know,
that would.
seen it with cycling.
Look at Lance Armstrong.
Right?
Like, it's been admitted.
Well, it's been admitted in every sport.
Like these runners get caught all the
time.
Like I just, I want to see, you know, when
we're not questioning it, how close it is
to, to these numbers that were already in
the Olympics.
Cause I think you're going to be shocked
at how, how close they are.
That's my prediction.
Like there's a few that'll be, be pretty
crazy.
I'm sure.
Like, like I said, if you can be obvious
about it and use as much of whatever you
want, like some of these throwing and.
and jumping and running events are going
to be a little stupid.
you
So yeah, over to the announced July 20th
Netflix boxing match of Logan or Jake.
I don't ever remember which one's which.
Is it Jake Paul?
don't remember.
Jake Paul?
It's definitely Jake.
Yeah, Jake Paul is fighting Mike Tyson.
And he's fought a bunch of people.
He's like 12 and 1, I think.
Jake Paul record.
He is 9 and 1.
OK.
He is 6 '1 and has a 76 inch reach.
He has six knockouts.
That's cute.
Mike Tyson.
has knocked out like 95 % of the people
he's ever fought.
He's also like 60.
It doesn't matter.
Like, here's the thing.
Floyd Mayweather is the kind of guy who
will show up to a fight and be like, I'm
here because this is entertainment.
This is basically wrestling like WWE to
me.
We are collecting a check and putting on a
show for the people.
I don't care who wins or loses.
Like I am money team.
Like that's my shit.
I am here for the check.
I'm going to buy some stuff tomorrow.
It's going to be fantastic.
Everyone's still going to love me and know
that it doesn't matter whether I won or
lost against Jake Paul.
Mike Tyson, on the other hand, is not
going to take another L on his record to
somebody like Jake Paul, who is a YouTuber
who's thought, I'm going to try to box.
He's going to fucking kill him.
He's going to knock this guy out.
And I am so excited.
I haven't watched a boxing match in a long
time.
This is one that I'm going to tune into
like.
definitely gonna watch this one and I
can't even tell you the last time I
watched a boxing match but Jake Paul
better watch it for his ears.
Yeah, man, I watched I watched the
Pacquiao Mayweather fight.
I think that was like the last pay -per
-view that I ever watched.
That was, you know, a decade ago at this
point.
So this will be this will be fun.
And I'm also interested to see how Netflix
handles what's going to be a pretty
heavily streamed event live.
Like they've been testing out tennis and
and some golf and stuff to see what
lighter traffic live events they can
handle.
But this will be a big one for them.
Oh yeah, it's gonna crash big time.
Well, it might.
If it doesn't, it means that they'll
probably take a swing at some sports
rights.
Like, it's not a secret.
Everything is coming up soon as far as the
NHL and and Diego for for broadcast
rights.
So I think these guys are all testing out
what their capabilities are beforehand.
So I'm interested to there's so many
things that come out of all this that are
indirectly related to hockey.
Like, I want to know what hockey at the
Olympics next is going to look like.
And I want to know, like, I don't know.
There's just so much from this.
It's great.
Also shout out to the PWHL for having the
confidence and the wherewithal to be
different.
Like, can we talk about their playoff
format for a minute?
Oh yeah, those rules are sick.
First place gets to pick who they play.
Right?
Like, there's so many different avenues or
different aspects of how you can look at
that.
Like, okay, yeah, this team is a team I
want to play.
So then the other team's like, well, hell,
they think they can beat us.
Like, it's so intriguing and it's such a
refreshing take from a hockey league.
Like, I love the NHL.
I love hockey.
Don't get me wrong, but I really like
seeing this.
You know, they started it with their point
system and then with the, what do they
call it?
The jailbreak if you score on a penalty
kill.
Like they've come up with some really good
ideas that kind of change the way you can
look at certain things in the game and I
love it.
Was the advantage of starting with no rule
book, right?
Instead of having to edit one that's
already, you know, 100 years old, you get
to have a clean slate and talk to all the
players.
What do you guys want to see in the game
that you're playing?
And we get to all put it in.
So the other cool one is that whoever is
eliminated from the were like once you're
eliminated from the playoffs, you start
accumulating points with your wins towards
getting the first overall pick.
So instead of tanking, it's whoever.
Poles will call it the Ottawa Senators,
which is once you're mathematically out of
the playoffs, being the first place team
in the league.
Mm -hmm.
Well, there's been a lot of people talking
about that in the NHL for a while that
they need to do something along those
lines to try to prevent the tanking.
Right?
It's not good for the league or the fan
base is to have these teams that are just
built to lose, right?
You just saw something on TV.
What happened?
Winnipeg Vancouver game?
I have the Vancouver Winnipeg game on.
Vancouver just went up 4 -0 not that long
ago and Dempco is now not in the crease.
It's Casey DeSmith.
So I missed something.
Interesting.
I'm kind of happy because I have Casey
DeSmith on one of my fantasy teams and I
was mad that I had him in tonight instead
of somebody else.
Yeah.
that's a little interesting.
I have to keep my eye on.
Yeah, I accidentally so Igor Shasterkin is
on my bench and got a four nothing shut
out.
So I'm glad the Smith got put in.
I have to Smith and Alex Lyon in for some
reason, because this game, this stupid
Yahoo thing doesn't.
I need to really check the goalies when I
hit auto set.
Anyway, the other thing about picking your
opponent, the rivalry that that creates
because it's like, oh, they wanted to play
us and we won.
Like that's something that will.
be like two years of animosity between
teams.
Oh, I absolutely love it.
Like I said, it's so refreshing seeing
something like this coming from our
league, or from our sport, that I really,
really like it.
And hats off to whoever decided that.
And no offense to Berkey, but I can almost
bet it wasn't Brian Burke, because when
was the last time we saw an old white man
come up with something that was good for
the game?
Oh, shit, where's my button?
Where's my button?
I scrolled too far.
There it is.
But yeah, the the whole point system for
getting the first overall pick I think is
really important because look what we've
seen with I mean, Chicago last year was a
joke.
And San Jose and Anaheim and Arizona and
like Montreal a couple years ago like
there's just been
And we did it and it's, you know, it's
become part of the game and it's kind of
become part of Western pro sports in
general.
And they really got to figure it out
because the longer like this is the
problem with with any game, any sport, any
video game, any any tabletop game,
anything, the longer it's out, people look
for ways to get creative with how they
exploit what's.
never been done before, right?
Like, and then eventually those things
just become commonplace because it's, you
know, everybody has to do it like this cap
circumvention, you know, put somebody on
IR and then you can make a couple moves
and you know, switch out who's on IR,
bring them back for the playoffs, like
it's now become commonplace.
So I don't know, it's just, they got to
come up with a way to
keep the game entertaining for every fan
base.
Like if you're going to have this parody
with a salary cap, you can't also have
teams just losing on purpose for 82 games
and having fan bases just say like, well,
I'm not going to pay for this.
Like Chicago's ticket sales were hit by
this.
And I mean, not that Winnipeg's tanking,
but like, you know, their sales aren't
doing well either.
So you got to you got to find a way to
make sure that everybody is trying to win.
Everyone's competitive and everyone's
contributing to the overall product.
because at the end of the day, it's like
the league lives or dies together.
And right now we've got one team on life
support that's literally bringing this
whole league down.
So let's let's figure out the problems and
lift us all up together, please.
So you want to end on a non -hockey note?
So I think I've mentioned it before on one
of the other episodes, my family, we're
doing a big England trip later this year.
So in October, we're going over to
England, some of Sonya's family, her
cousin's getting married, so we're going
for the wedding and making a big vacation
of it.
And I've mentioned before, I'm a
Manchester United fan, so I have to go to
a game while I'm over there.
hell yes you do.
We're not gonna be far from Manchester.
I've even got family that are over there,
so like, I need to see a game at Old
Trafford.
Now, scalping is highly illegal in the UK.
Oh yes.
We can get into that another day.
One of the firefighters in one of the
departments I was working in actually told
me a story where he ended up in jail over
there from buying a ticket from a scalper.
Because he didn't know.
So in order to buy tickets,
to be transferred tickets from someone you
have to be a member of that team so you
can buy a annual membership and there's
different levels for the membership so
like For instance the the Manchester
United one.
I bought my membership.
I think it was 30 pounds Right 30 pounds
for the year and then now I can have
access to buy tickets and then if yeah
What else do you get with a membership
other than access to buying tickets?
Depending on the level of membership you
get, you can get like, they'll send you a
swag pack and then discounts on the store
and stuff like this.
So like, it's not like you get nothing for
it.
So for curiosity's sake, curiosity's sake,
I decided to take a look to see what the
cost was.
So they played this morning and I looked
up a couple days ago what the price of a
ticket to that game would be and take a
stab at what it would be.
Now keep in mind the salaries.
of players on some of these soccer clubs
compared to NHL players.
I guessing in pounds or in Canadian
dollars?
I haven't done the conversions so guess in
pounds.
Uhhhh
460.
49 pounds
What?
I quit.
So, no, it wasn't versus Liverpool or Man
City.
Like, it wasn't versus like a high -end
rival.
It was Everton.
Not that there's no rivalry there, but I
was flabbergasted.
And this wasn't like a nosebleed.
This was lower level, like decent seats.
That's $85 Canadian.
Like that is absolutely insane.
Yes, those stadiums seat more people,
but...
in sports like get the f - that's so
annoying
That's so annoying.
But the whole membership thing is
interesting because like for somewhere
like Europe where they're very anti
-capitalist as far as like, you know, tech
companies and like organizations forcing
fees on people, like they're very good
about striking down.
Mind you, they're not in the EU anymore.
But the EU is generally really good about,
you know, forcing companies not to do
things like this.
So it's strange that the soccer leagues
have this thing in place where you have to
have a membership in order to access
tickets.
This sounds like buying Taylor Swift
concert tickets.
You gotta be part of the fan club.
This might just be EPL, hell it might just
be Man U.
I didn't look at any of the other teams,
but it was an interesting ordeal just
setting it up.
I'm getting a head start on it.
Obviously we're not there until October,
so that's still the next season.
Because over there, soccer, football,
whatever you want to call it, it runs on
the same schedule as the hockey season.
So it's a winter sport.
guess.
Want to actually finish on a hockey
related fun note.
So because I go to Ottawa Senators Leaf
games here, they're technically Ottawa
Senators games.
So I get emails from them all the time.
And I like to play this fun game of what
crazy deal have they emailed me for
tickets because people don't buy tickets
to these games otherwise.
Holy shit.
Do you want to, since you had your little
thing about the May and You tickets, what
deal do you think they sent me here for,
when was this, February 8th they sent me
this one.
I don't think it would top the one I saw
for the Florida Panthers back in the day,
but let's see a Family pack so four pack
of tickets
Four hot dogs and four drinks for a
hundred bucks.
OK, so this is.
Bogo, OK, so it says there are only 14
cents homes games left for the 2024
regular season.
Don't worry, this Bogo is here to help you
catch as much center's action as possible.
Buy your tickets to one game and receive
tickets to a second game for free.
So if you buy the Golden Knights,
Penguins, Oilers, Devils, Blackhawks,
Blues or Coyotes game, you will get blue
jackets, ducks.
Stars, Canes, or Panthers game for free.
and the tickets are $35.
So for 35 bucks, you can see the sends
lose to the Oilers and the Panthers.
actually wouldn't be a bad thing to do
especially with someone like you get a
chance to see McDavid.
McDavid and Kachucks against each other.
Like how fun is that?
For 35 bucks a ticket, you can go to two
games?
That's crazy.
I might actually do that right now.
But can you believe that?
Four hours away, they can charge a tenth
of the price?
Like...
Oh here, sorry, Edmonton game is 60 bucks,
it's not 35.
The other ones are all 35.
Like I remember seeing on Leafs TV back in
the day, they were showing one of the in
-arena ads and it was for the Florida
Panthers.
And they were playing two home games that
weekend and you got a ticket to both home
games, a hot dog, a fountain drink and
like a shirt or a hat or something and it
was like $50.
Oh my god, I love those things.
Meanwhile, we made a whole stink about
like you can have Youpi come to your seat
for 200 bucks.
Did you catch the board ad on the boards
tonight?
We eat maple leaves for breakfast.
Oh my god, no, I missed that.
That's pretty good though.
except they lost.
Yeah, glad we broke that streak.
What was it?
12 in a row we lost at the Bell Center?
I think it was just the home team winning,
wasn't it?
Oh, OK, so they've won 12 in a row and I
think the Leafs have lost five in a row at
the Bell Center.
Like they're just not good there.
Well, that's all I got tonight when no
questions came in.
So unless you've got anything else, I'm
out.
No, I think we're good for tonight.
We'll, uh, we promise we'll do a better
job of, of getting more shows out, but
that's an easy promise to make when we
don't play again until Thursday.
Well, yeah, and like I said, the next four
weeks, I promise the next four weeks I am
on normal work people hours so I can watch
games.
And the problem has been just to, you
know, explain for a hot sack.
The problem has been that I've been
working at 7am a lot the last three weeks,
so I cannot stay up after the games to
edit and post these things and then go to
sleep and then wake up to work seven till
eight.
So sorry, but I'm back on normal.
work hours.
So we'll have some more episodes.
Thank you for tuning in.
Catch us everywhere.
I gotta go to bed.
Ba -dum -pow!
I think I'm done.
Noooo
Let's go Connor Dewar.