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Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson stops by to discuss the views from the Maple Leafs' press conference, the vision from the management moving forward and where Toronto plans to fix the roster. Canucks Reporter for NHL.com and Writer for InGoal Magazine Kevin Woodley joins to go in-depth in Artus Silovs' performance with the Canucks, the team moving without Thatcher Demko, Vancouver's opportunity against Edmonton in the second round and the Best Bets powered by FanDuel SportsBook.
Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson stops by to discuss the views from the Maple Leafs' press conference, the vision from the management moving forward and where Toronto plans to fix the roster. Canucks Reporter for NHL.com and Writer for InGoal Magazine Kevin Woodley joins to go in-depth in Artus Silovs' performance with the Canucks, the team moving without Thatcher Demko, Vancouver's opportunity against Edmonton in the second round and the Best Bets powered by FanDuel SportsBook.
Canucks Reporter for NHL.com and Writer for InGoal Magazine Kevin Woodley joined OverDrive to discuss Arturs Silovs' performance and opportunity throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canucks playing without Thatcher Demko, Vancouver looking for a series victory against Edmonton, an in-depth look at the goaltending across the league and more.
The Green Zone with Jamie & Drew The Green Zone
Patrick Johnston joins the show to discuss if what the Canucks are doing this season is sustainable, and how the Canucks were able to exit their retool so fast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Canucks Reporter for The Athletic Harman Dayal joins Game Play to discuss this weekend's Hockey Hall of Fame festivities and Vancouver's early season struggles. Dayal shares his thoughts on the pressure facing head coach Bruce Boudreau, Thatcher Demko's early-season struggles, the excitement in the city with the Sedin brothers and Roberto Luongo set to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, and more.
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk joined Matt and Blake after an incredible Sunday of football. Thinks it was the greatest weekend in history. All games decided on the last play. The problem is it is all downhill from here. The Championship games will have a tough time living up to that. Talked about the OT rule in football after the Bills didn't get a chance to drive down the field after a KC TD. Charean told a story of when in 2018 PM didn't get a chance to get the ball in the playoffs and the Bills shot a rule change down. That game just left you wanting more. Maybe the Bills should have tried on onside kick. It was their best chance at a surprise. The game was over after they kicked off and PM got the ball. We all knew the Chiefs were going to go down the field and win. Talked about where QB's will want to go with all the young guns in the AFC. Thinks Josh Allen will get his chance to win a SB. It should have been on Sunday. He is good enough and so is the team. Feels that game was for the SB. Talked about Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Charean talked about the future of the two hall of famers. Something has changed to make Brady change his mind, having previously said he will for sure play. Many of his favourite players are FA's. Charean doesn't think he will go out the way he did. Doesn't think he will finish his career the way he did. The question is can they put enough good players around him to go out with another chance. Thinks that both will play with their respective teams next year. The Bengals truly believe that it's their time. It won't be a walk for the Chiefs. KC needs to get down to business. The biggest advantage for CIN is that KC is taxed after the Bills game. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined us fresh off the Émilie Castonguay presser. He was really impressed with her, always impressed with those that can handle their business in multiple languages. A very impressive person. Referenced how emotional she got when talking about her players. Talked about what EC laid out for her vision. It will be about bringing out the best in human performance. They have gotten away from that the last few years. Talked about what she will be doing in the front office. Could take the lead on contract negotiations. Talked about where the team is at with their GM search. Expecting there will be an announcement by the end of the week. Feels like it is Allvin’s job to lose. Talked about the situation on the ice and how they have navigated all the players going on Covid protocol. Giving the Canucks an A for effort. Coming out of the weekend with a single point is pretty much all they could do. Talked about the penalty kill not getting it done. They are the worst PK unit in the NHL. Talked about the goaltending situation and if they might have to go back to UBC for a backup. Talked about Doug Jarvis and his ironman streak being eclipsed. Yandle will equal the mark tonight. Kessel will also get there in 6 weeks. Incredible to think that Covid hasn’t gotten to him. John Shannon joined Matt and Blake for his regular Monday appearance. Started off talking about the hiring of Émilie Castonguay. John loved what she had to say when she said, “ if you do the work, you get the job.” She is just saying that she is the AGM and not just a woman. This goes back to the hiring of Jim Rutherford being a progressive thinker. He sees the game changing. Jim is a survivor and has a good sense on what is going on. He has always been thinking on the cutting edge. The moment he walked out of the PIT office he said to himself he will get back and he will be progressive. This is caterpillar to butterfly the last three months. Hiring the AGM before the GM makes you think that the Canucks were going to hire already and ran it by all the prospective candidates. Talked about hiring agents. It was telling to see her become emotional when talking about her clients. It says that she becomes fully entrenched in the job. We are seeing the growth and evolution of a front office.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Patrick Johnston of the The Province joined Matt and Blake for his regular Tuesday spot. PJ ran down what he thinks the breakdown of the make up games will be, best he can tell. It will be a tough job to juggle around. Talked about it being 50% capacity. There was alwasy going to be questions this winter. Not neccessarily expecting Omicron but here we are. Talked about new covid protocols. Talked about getting back to the country when you have tested positive for Covid, depending on which passport you hold. PJ answered the poll question. He thinks that QH43 is the bigger all-star snub. They are completely hooped if they don’t have him. Talked about postponement of Rugby 7’s. Former Canuck player and coach, Nolan Baumgartner joined Matt and Blake. Nolan talked about coaching the Canucks and the upcoming Olympic Tournament. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Darren Dreger, host of Ray and Dregs and Podcast joined Matt and Blake for his regular Wednesday hit. Started with the Canucks front office. Talked about why Allvin isn’t such a slam dunk. Was reminded that he is very likely going to make the short list of five or six candidates. We do know there are a couple that have been made public. Talked about Sean Burke and will echo the comments of Sekeres. Don’t make the mistake of making Allvin the front runner. Doens’t mean he won’t get the job. Talked about Ryan Johnson. There is a chance he rises in the Rutherford era. The fact he was kept on board is credit to the Aquilini’s. Thinks that Jim had a handle of what he was about and wanted to get to know more. Even if he isn’t GM, that doesn’t mean he isn’t an importance peice moving forward. Talked about if there could be a parallel between the Kent Hughes hiring in MTL. Talked about the roles a diversity candidate could fulfill. Talked about the timeline for new management. Says that Jimmy is hungry and doesn’t want to sit around for a rebuild to happen as he gets up there in age. Whatever he does is going to strengthen the team. Says Motte is his type of player. There would be a conversation with the agent before making a move on Motte. There is a market for him, depends on supply and demand. Thinks a draft pick for sure. How high, is the question. Dregs said he will ask Ray why he is so “pissy”. Talked about that situation. Dregs didn’t like it from either account. The assembled media who lead the pack, weren’t there. Feels like Jim would have phrased it differently. Leon didn’t like the approach he took at Koskinen. The belief internally is that is why Leon went about it the way he did. Dregs thinks that we will have some news on the GM front by the time we speak again, next Wednesday. Our Canucks reporter and one half of the Rink Wide Podcast, Jeff Paterson joined Matt and Blake in his normal slot. Talked about performances of the season. Thinks that WAS game was a very good performance. Talked about EP40 and the kid line he is on with Höglander and Podkolzin. Talked about Canucks players in Covid protocol. Talked about how they will utilize Demko as they need more wins to keep the playoff push alive. Talked about Lammikko and how he and his line could be utilized. Talked about Tyler Motte and how much longer he will be a Canuck. Not sure anyone should be putting penalty killer on their business card if they are a Vancouver Canuck. It’s a red flag. You like everything about the guy on and off the ice. He is an open book. Honest as the day is long. JPat does view him as a trade-chip. Talked about this trip being what Jim needed to see. Now he can go about shaking it up the way he wants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk joined Matt and Blake after the Super Wild Card Weekend. Talked about the officiating in Dallas. Says that any criticism is unfair. Have to put it on the Cowboys. Talked about Jerry Jones. Talked about the process in finding a new coach, should they want to replace Mike McCarthy. Talked about the QB carousel in the NFL. Talked about the RW3 saga and if he will or won’t explore his options oustide of Seattle. Wouldn’t be suprised if he moved on. Charean asks who would be the QB for the Hawks if he does move on. Starting QB’s don’t grow on trees. Talked about the AFC matchups. Thinks the Bengals and the Bills are playing the best. Would be totally unbelievable to see either of those teams in the SB, going up against the Packers. Our Canucks reporter and one half of the Rink Wide Podcast, Jeff Paterson joined Matt and Blake for his daily regular appearance. Talked about the skilled players making skilled plays in the win against WAS. Talked about the game EP40 had. There was no better story but others had a great game as well. Talked about who they might see this week, in goal. Will be three straight opponents coming off a game the day before. Talked about EP40 post game comments. Says he has to own his performance this season. If he was prominent on a few more nights, they would be sitting in a better spot in the standings. Talked about EP40 on the wing. Can’t declare that this is the start of something incredible. Talked about the Botchford Project fellows and when we might see them at Rogers Arena. John Shannon, NHL insider, joined Matt and Blake for his regular Moday appearance on the show. Talked about all the snow at his home. Started off chatting about Scott Mellanby and Sean Burke. Scott has paid his dues. He used to work for Mike Gillis as a consultant with the Canucks. It was Scott that convinced Gillis to put an offer sheet on David Backes. He has worked very hard at the craft. Was a very good hockey player. John says he would be a great choice. Very quiet and discrete guy who would do a very good job for the Canucks. Talked about Sean Burke. He has worked hard at the craft of being in the business. Worked hard in MTL as a consultant and goalie coach. Was on the short list in EDM that Holland got. Solid person in the game. Talked about why Mellanby quite MTL. Talked about the past legal troubles in the past. John says that he is more of a complete person now than when the assault occured. Thinks that Mellanby can do the job without the tutelage of Rutherford. Talked about the plans outside of Allvin. There needs to someone who can be a capologist. Talked about the schedule moving forward. Says that fifty percent capactiy is better than zero. Thinks we will hear about the Olympic team a week from Monday, likely the 24th of January. Talked about Eric Staal. He isn’t on the list right now but the key word is “yet”. Likes the American team. Not sure about their goaltending but they can skate and shoot the puck. Told a story about being in charge at the Nagano games. He had better access the Gary and Brian Burke. Say former Blackhawks owner, Bill Wirtz standing in line to watch a hockey game. Doesn’t think we’ll hear about a new GM this week but he could be wrong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Vancouver Canucks head coach, Bruce Boudreau joined Matt and Blake for the first time. Says that any coach when they lose is not happy. No matter how well you play, you want to win as often as you can. Thought they were only ok in FLA despite the layoff. It’s pretty good to keep them to 21 shots but you still want to win. Talked about his apporach and how his mood affects the team. When they are winning, you have to push the team harder or they get complaicent. When you are losing you have to have more of a parental approach. Today was an all positive day because they are doing a lot of things right. Talked about going into Carolina, against a top team, they are in for their best game after CAR got spanked by CBJ. Talked about players that have suprised him. Mentioned Demko. Knew he was a good goalie but he was so good when he first got here. QH43 is a better player than he was from a distance. JT Miller is a really competetive, good hockey player. A lot of them came as advertised. Talked about wanting Tyler Myers to shoot more. Wants OEL to be the OEL of 4 years ago in ARI. Talked about some of his high-scoring d-men that he has had before that allows for a high tempo game. So far as not sacrificing the defensive game. Talked about moving Petey to the wing. Had some good passes, one to Horvat and another to Garland. Was in on 8 offensive chances yesterday so it sort of helped him. Gotta go through the bad to get to the good. When he starts scoring, hopefully from that LW position, he will start scoring that pace Canucks fans are accustomed to. Drives him crazy that people would start to write off this season with so many games left. You don’t need a 20 game win streak but if they get through this road trip with a couple wins they will be right there with everyone else. Talked about Jaro Halak and his utilization. Says he doesn’t care about his contract situation and that Jim hasn’t managed any of that. Talked about Ovi and how to defend him. Says that you have to take him for dinner and leave him there. Our Canucks reporter and one half of the Rink Wide show, Jeff Paterson, joined Matt and Blake for his daily hit. Talked about the Florida road trip. Thinks that FLA is one of the best stops for the Canucks with the hotel right across from the arena. Talked about the best players not being good enough for the first 2 games of this road trip. Wonders how you can have 8 minutes of PP time and only log one shot on net. Nobody will argue with how they beat Tampa. You won’t beat them with only your 4th line producing. Says that the Canucks need 10 chances to get a goal when Tampa can have Stamkos go with one chance and it’s in the back of the net. Talked about the poll question and who the most charismatic coach in Canucks history is. Lots of good options, JPat says. Talked about dealing with Pat Quinn as a young broadcaster. Told a story about Pat Quinn telling Jeff to start over as Pat could tell he was a bit out of his element, not being able to get the first few questions out. Talked about Bruce Boudreau interview and how Bruce came to the decision to put EP40 on the wing. Talked about the red flags from EP40. Not writing him off but we haven’t seen what makes him such a great player at this level. Hasn’t been an even strenght point in the 5 games since Christmas. They can afford to put him there because they are completely healthy, as far as the top 9 forwards. RIck Dhaliwal of The Team joined Matt and Blake. Started off with what he knows about Sean Burke as a potential GM. He impressed and has a chance at a 2nd interview. Allvin is still a guy that everyone thinks that it’s his job to lose. Says that you can reference teams calling Evander Kane that they don’t care about past transgretions, as is the case with Burke. Talked about the timeline for Kane. They still have teams to talk to but than news broke about him crossing the border with Covid. Rick says he understands the hesitation from the public but it’s about winning. He is going to come cheap. Yes there are issues and baggage but he is still a top 6 winger that could put a team over the top. Talked about bringing a woman into the front office. Thinks they would like to add a diversity hire. Had heard Kevin Weekes but that was shut down. Jen Botterill was a name that was out there but it’s probably not going to happen. Talked about QH43 needing more help for offensive production. Wondering if Hamonic is a guy that could possibly move. Motte is another guy that could move as Will Lockwood is a guy that could step in and fill that role. Talked about Halak and him being on the move. Rick doesn’t think he will waive. Talked about Sutter. He is a guy that you feel for, right now. Rob Williams, of the Daily Hive, joined Matt and Blake for the first of his new weekly hit. Talked about what he will be joining us for, down the road. Started off talking about Kodak Black. Had to admit he had never heard of him, for being the young and hip guy. What a story for Canucks Twitter. Had to go back to 1974 to the time the Penthouse hired 3 streakers to run onto the ice. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
NHL Insider and host of Ray and Dregs, Darren Dreger joined Matt and Blake for his regular Wednesday appearance. Talked about the difficulty in chasing around rescheduling. Teams are eagerly waiting the release of the full schedule. As nice as it would be for all teams to have a 5-7 day break, the NHL needs that calendar real estate. PA hasn’t had that conversation with the league yet, where the season would be extended. They are going to have to use every day available to them. The concern is how many back to back games there will be, how the travel looks. Talked about Evander Kane and where he might go. Doesn’t understand why it’s the NHL looking into the cross-border transgretions. Thinks that Kane’s team was blindsided by this. The NHL doens’t know what the outcome will be. Talked about the potential of him going to the Oilers. Connor McDavid would involved in those conversations. Dregs understands that Connor isn’t shy about letting managment know what he thinks should be done. Talked about the Canucks GM chair that is still open. His sources are reluctant to say who is coming in for in-person interviews. Talked about the potential of Pat Verbeek. Dregs can’t distance that name. Talked about Verbeek as a player and the sandpaper that is there. Talked about Bobby Clarke throwing Ron Hextall under the bus. Says that Hextall wasn’t that great at sharing his vision around the rest of the organization. Just seems wierd taht Clarke would throw it out there. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks reporter and one half of Rink Wide, joined Matt and Blake. Talked about all he has learned in the last 24 hours with the “Kodak moment” last night. Talked about how good the Panthers are as a team. They are a deep team that can spread their goals around. Goals from defense has become a topic in this town because the Canucks just aren’t getting enough production from the backend. Talked about getting Rathbone in to boost those numbers. JPat has all the time for the conversation but how much longer are they going to get nothing from the right side. Talked about how this team needs to score more goals. Five of the games Bruce has coached, they have scored 1 or 2. You would take contributions from other parts of the lineup. Talked about EP40. Says he couldn’t even figure out how to get shots on. This simplest of tasks are difficult for this guy. One point in four games since Christmas break. Jeff is worried about Pettersson. Talked about Tanner Pearson. He must have gotten a membership to Fight Club for Christmas. Thinks that he has held his own in the last couple fights. Says that he has played to his strengths under Boudreau. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk joined Matt and Blake to wrap up Week 18 and the season. Talked about the day that was yesterday. Says that when the league announced they were going to 17 games that the last week would be awful. That was not the case. The most exciting week she has seen in a long, long time. Hoping that the playoffs carry the momentum of the final Sunday. Talked about some of these teams that had nothing to play for go out and make it interesting for teams that were still in contention. Talked about the Seahawks. Thinks that the team won’t make any signifigant changes. Would be over 50 million dollars to Pete if they let him go. That’s an awful lot of money to pay someone not to coach. Talked about coaching changes around the league. Talked about Flores getting the boot in Miami. He wasn’t on Charean’s list. This is a team that should be in Super Bowl contention. Wonders if Tua is the QB of the future. Talked about the New York area teams. Wonders if Joe Judge wants to be there with the Giants. Talked about the Vikings and the future of Kirk Cousins. Charean has real questions about Cousins and if he can take advantage of what is around him. Thinks he’ll be there one more year. Talked about what she is looking forward to next weekend. So many things that are intriguing about the weekend. NHL Insider, John Shannon, joined Matt and Blake for the first time this year. John took issue with Happy New Year wishes so late into the month. Talked about postponments and adding to the 102 already that need to be made up. Suspects that teams won’t get many breaks from now until the end of the season. John thinks that will go into May. Talked about the all-star game and if it will go forward. Wonders if we will hear from players who don’t want to go. Thinks that players won’t care about one game, because of how many games have already been missed. Talked about why the Canucks vs Senators got postponed. John hears that there was a challenge from the public health authorities. Says he thinks that this was the Canucks doing a favour to Dr. Henry. Talked about the remaining road trip games OTT will have out west. Talked about hockey generated revenue. So much of the money comes from the 7 Canadian teams. Thinks the flexibility factor is something that will stick around. Perhaps they will do the first half and leave the last half to a later date. Talked about the Olympic team and who we might see on. Talked about who would even be eligible. Talked about if we might see a World Cup of Hockey. John would do 8 teams. Knows it will upset somebody but that will happen regardless. Talked about Evander Kane. Would be suprised if we see him this season but thinks that by the offseason Kane’s agent will have got him a tryout somewhere in the league. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined us. Started off by answering the poll question, saying he is excited about the upcoming road trip. Thinks the players should come out like being fired out of a cannon. Talked about the trend of winning one-goal games. Thinks they will have a trouble with a stacked Florida team. JPat talked about Canucks players in Covid protocol. Amazing that EP40 didn’t miss a game and Boeser missed minimal games with all his time. Curious to see where Boeser will be with everything. He was playing so well and scoring at a terrific rate. Talked about Travis Hamonic. He is not on the road trip. Was injured in 2nd game Boudreau coached. Jeff isn’t sure that this team needs Hamonic right now. Talked about Jason Dickinson. Talked about line deployment. Any line with JT Miller on it, has to be the top line with the way he is producing. Talked about the potential of Rutherford going out and getting a lefthanded defenseman. Talked about Evander Kane. Doens’t think it’s worth the hastle. Trouble will show up on your doorstep with this player. It could be a low-cost option but to Jeff it doens’t feel like Boudreau would want to take on this sort of thing in this part of the process. Talked about his letter grades for Canucks players at the midway point of the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ben Boudreau, Bruce’s kid and head coach of the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets. Says he bought some ‘Bruce there it is’ shirts that he will be wearing next time he is in town. Talked about what his dad thinks about it. Says that Bruce doesn’t hate it, he just wants the attention to go where it should. Says he doesn’t worry about his dad too much. Hockey is a way of life. Talked about how many different cities the family has been through. Talked about all the opportunities he has chased and how his hockey career went from player to coach. Talked about what Bruce is like as a dad. Told a great story of how Bruce interupted his presentation. Can’t say if he shares the same coaching approach. Ben has never been in the same room. Says they have a lot of similarites in their “use” of the english language. Talked about family life through all the travels. Talked about the dream of coaching on the same bench as Bruce. Says he doens’t have the American experience and he is still cutting his teeth. Talked about some of the guys he has coached in the east coast league that have played in the NHL. Talked about what a Stanley Cup would mean to the Boudreau family. It’s the one elusive thing that Bruce hasn’t won yet. Says that he thinks it’s motivation to keep going. Patrick Johnston of the Province joined Matt and Blake. Talked about the adventure his family has been on the last 9 months with his wife actiing as a surrogate for their friends. Talked about Benning getting the Juolevi pick wrong. Thinks it was such a misfire. If they had hit homers on the Juolevi and Virtanen picks, the state of this team would be different. They missed on both of them. Thinks Benning would still be employed if they went in another direction. Talked about who they would have gone with instead of Juolevi. Talked about the upcoming road trip. This is the test to see what the team has and lacks. Finally they get to play a bunch of games because they are going to areas that don’t care too much about restrictions. The result today isn’t as important as the result in Tampa. Need to look back after the trip is done. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Scott Rintoul joined in his regular Thursday slot. After noting the snow he talked about why the Canucks are feeling so much better about themselves. Noted the final result of the ANA game. Says that a couple months ago, John Gibson comes out and plays that puck on JT Miller goal. Talked about what has changed since Boudreau took over. Says you can credit upstairs. Nothing as changed with on-ice personal. Talked about what to expect without EP40. Doens’t think they will lose momentum but will miss him in the lineup. Talked about the importance of Saturday’s game vs OTT. Doesn’t think it’s a must-win. Everything sets up well for them to win but because it is hockey, it probably gets away from them… Talked about Jaro Halak and his future with the team. Talked about his new company, Toul Kit Content. We crown our Take 5 Champion, you'll want to hear the outcome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Rick Dhaliwal, host of Donnie and Dhali, joined Matt and Blake for the first time this new year. Started off with the frustration of being covid fatigued. Say’s it’s a frustrating time for fans. The people Rick talks to just want to watch the game. It’s not so much about going to the game. Talked about what drove the postponement. Was told it was due to capacity. Noted that the Warriors and Abby Canucks are going to play. It’s just this team that can’t. Talked about the possibility that teams might not get all 82 games in. Thinks that Boudreau is probably losing it after going on such a hot streak to start his time in Vancouver. Talked about potential GM’s. Talked about the possibility of Scott Young coming to Vancouver. Says that Rutherford is going after a lot of friends. Talked about Aidan McDonough. If you’re the Canucks, you want to sign this kid. Vancouver needs to wait a little bit closer to the NCAA season coming to an end. Canucks need some draft picks from lower rounds to step up. Talked about Jaro Halak and if he will play 10 games. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined us and referred to today as “Frustration Friday”. We heard from Bill Daly yesterday that he expected the game vs OTT to go forth. Says the players are hockey players, not hockey practicers. Hopes for the players sake that the road trip goes on without a hitch. Talked about the schedule getting hot and heavy. It won’t let up. It will be a difficult stretch, for a team trying to make up ground. This is the organizations putting profits over points. Jeff doesn’t fully grasp it as we are seeing the Leafs playing in front of empty seats. You’d think this game could be a good tune-up, leading into the extended road trip. Gregg Bell joined ahead of the last Seahawks of the season. Talked about if the band is getting back together. Doens’t see Jody Allen in a regime change mode. What’s at play is how much drama RW3 wants following a 6-10 season. After 13-3, he was unbroachable. Talked about if they will want to go with Bobby Wagner. He is still plenty good enough. There is also nobody coming in behind him. Same with RW3. Talked about if this game means anything. Might matter for Rashad Penny and how much he makes next year. He has done it against the weaker teams but not the better teams.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
NHL Insider and Host of Ray and Dregs Podcast, Darren Dreger joined Matt and Blake in his regular Wednesday spot. Started off by talking about his outdoor rink twitter exercise. Dregs talked about what struck him from his conversation with Bruce Boudreau. He is a very cadid, good type of guy. Will be brutally honest with his players and the media. Says BB was worried that he wouldn’t get another opportunity. Usually he gets a job right away but he had to wait this time. Says he is well built to handle the waves of trouble that come with coaching in a Canadian market. Talked about who the next GM of the Canucks could be. Says the Canucks aren’t in a rush to find one because they have Jimmy. Talked about when there might be some concern there isn’t a move made. Talked about Jaro Halak. Says that JR will like the tandem he has between Demko and Halak. Talked about the goaltending needs around the league. Talked about the troubles in EDM. Talked about the GM search in Anaheim. Would be surprised if they didn’t keep it in-house. Dregs talked about who could potentially represent Canada at the Olympics. Talked about who came out on the long list that isn’t even eligible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It was a special edition of Sekeres and Price today as we head to the holiday season. Patrick Johnston of the Province joined Matt and Blake and started off with a Covid update. Talked about how the NHL will get through this compared to the other pro leagues. We heard a clip from Bruce Boudreau on the little 2 day mini camp and got PJ’s thoughts on it. Talked about how the NHL could play out the rest of the schedule. A lot of the news from today. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks Reporter, joined after the Canucks practiced today. Says it was funny to hear a coach who has just won six in a row, drill down on the team. Thinks that in a perfect world the team would want to continue to play but Covid has the final say here. Talked about what practice looked like today. Thinks the pause to the season will hurt a little bit, in the end. Talked about the players and their take on the pause. JT Miller is over it. Talked about Canucks and who would make the US team. Doens’t think we would have seen 5 but they all made their own case. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nathalie Rees joined us for a giveaway segment, thanks to our frineds at Park Royal. If you are looking for a gift for that special lady, you will want to listen. Scott Rintoul joined for his regular spot in hour 2 on Thursday. Started off by talking about the poll question. Says it’s Jared McCann or you are just wrong. Also threw out the name, Tyler Madden. Takled about Dahlén. Hopes he goes on to have a promising career. Says he wouldn’t vote for him because of what McCann has become. Talked about the Boudreau story. Not unique to the Canucks. Says people were losing interest and now that they are winning, interest is coming back. If they can continue to win the week, as BB said, the value of the players will go up. Talked about Derek Clancey. Talked about brining in a diverse hire. Talked about Covid protocols. Talked about the difference between the NHL and NFL and why NFL’s can be different. Talked about who the Canucks best player is. Said you have to consider Garland. Though the answer is Demko. Talked about the CFL and proposed rule changes. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson, joined in his regular spot. Talked about the logistics of any news regarding restrictions around the Canucks and the arena. It does feel difficult to imagine that we will be at Rogers arena to watch a hockey game vs the Leafs. Ran through the schedule of the week and how much ice time the players are getting. Talked about Brisebois coming up. Talked about no travelling media and how hard information was to come by. Talked about Stan Smyl and his promotion. Had to go back and look at his last title. Talked about which Canucks prospect got away. Would cast his vote for Forsling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jonathan Dahlen of the San Jose Sharks joined Matt and Blake. Talked about his rookie year. Says he just came into camp to make the team. He has been given a great opportunity and lots of ice time. Wasn’t really that confident that he would make the team. Just took it day by day and worked hard everyday. Fortunately it worked and he is trying to do the same things. Doesn’t see his success in Europe as a comparable to EP40 because they are different players. Talked about how well he knows Elias. Goes back to Timra and playing on a line there with each other. Played a lot together and it was a lot of fun. Says they FaceTime here and there. Met a couple times in the summer. Says they are good friends. Didn’t talk a lot about playing together with the Canucks when he was in Utica. He wasn’t playing well enough there. Will be awesome to be on the same ice sheet tomorrow. Had some low confidence in Utica. Talked about his dad, who played 1000 games in the league. Says it is awesome to have that influence and to be playing in the same organization as he did for 3.5 years. Talked about playing with Couture. He is such a good player and a great Captain. Talked about his hometown in Sweden where Edler is from too. His dad is also a big deal there. Darren Dreger joined Matt and Blake. Doesn’t know much about the Canucks that have tested positive. Doesn’t want to dive in. Charters that don’t take off peaks his interest, though. Talked about any overarching rules by the NHL as a maximum amount of players testing positive before they postpone games. Thinks that conference vs conference are very hard to make up, especially with three week olympic break. Says that it is dependent on the spread within the room and what can be managed. The NHL pays closer attention when teams spread to other teams. Talked about what he knows about Derek Clancey. Says that Jim Rutherford is a guy that gets ahead of problems. Recognizes things then acts. He needs guys that can hit the ground running and Clancey is that guy. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. Started off by talking about the surge in Covid cases amongst the Canucks. Wonders about the status of the next game, in San Jose. Talked about the game vs the Blue Jackets. Thinks the team has gotten the bounces with who has tested positive. As this goes deeper, it will affect more important players. Talked about the Canucks hiring an AGM before a GM. Talked about the potential of Boudreau winning the Jack Adams. Thinks the voters would take into account that he had three quarters of a season to work with.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pierre LeBrun joined Matt and Blake and talked about how he got connected with Francesco Aquilini at the Board of Governors meeting. Talked about how the 3 TSN Insiders sat down and chatted with him for a pretty long time. He was really still on a high about the hiring of Jim Rutherford and walked them how it happened. They didn’t get into the blame game. Said that FA reached out to JR to bounce some names off of. Likened it to the Brian Burke situation in PIT. Says it’s fascinating how it all played out and why Boudreau came in before JR. Talked about FA hearing from other GM’s that his team is in good shape. Talked about the two-person approach. It’s so much different now than in the 70’s. Talked about potential AGM’s around the league. Doesn’t think JR has shortened his list. Pierre thinks JR is looking for someone he can mould and be apart of the Canucks family for a long time. Patrick Johnston of Province Sports joined Matt and Blake in his regular Tuesday slot. After talking about his Covid immunity, he talked about the goal song. Not surprisingly people are feeling very nervous at the rink. Once players started realizing what was going on around the league, there were some that were eager to get out of the building. Having gone through it, he knows exactly how it feels. Talked about the recent run of form by the Canucks. Thinks this will all come back to earth. Can understand why fans are thinking “why now” with Covid running rampant through the league. Talked about Petey and him using a different stick and how it happened. Talked about Rutherford and what he makes of him. Came across as advertised. Open to ideas, no matter where they come from. Put the terminations of Gear and Wall, because of leaking to the media, to bed. Aquilini was blatantly honest. Talked about Stan Smyl. Says that JR clearly wants him involved. Talked about potential AGM candidates. Jeff Paterson joined, fresh off the Bruce Boudreau pregame availability. Talked about how having a team day off on Monday may have saved them an outbreak. Talked about how they learned from last year when they went through an outbreak. JPat went through the morning that was for the Canucks. Said there were some odd things going on that you don’t register in the moment. Talked about how the rest of the calendar year could go with the Canucks and why the league might like to get them past the Leafs on Saturday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The ‘Welcome Matt’ addressed the presser with Aquilini and Rutherford and the culture of the Vancouver Canucks. John Shannon joined Matt and Blake in his regular Monday spot. Talked about the kind of guy Rutherford is. Says he is a man of few mistakes. He understands the media business. Talked about how well suited he is to deal with Aquilini after his experience in Carolina. Says he is playing with house money. If it’s not going the way he wants, he will just leave. John laughs at the thought JR had that he wouldn’t get back in the game. He hired one of the best agents to get him a job. Even when Jimmy is angry, it is a controlled anger. Very dependable and predictable on how he deals with issues. When the world is chaotic, he will take a step back. Thinks most people came away from the presser will say to give him a chance now. He has a great CV and is a people person. Jim and Bruce are on a honeymoon right now. Means we could get a real answer, more than an abrupt answer. Says Travis went to the yups and no’s. The ‘Price is Right’ talks about how we in the media want a winning team. Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot to break down the Aquilini and Rutherford presser. The guys talked about the state of the team, especially the d-core. Talked more about the game vs Carolina. Talked about Bruce Boudreau comments after the win that JPat says would have been picked apart if it came from the media. Liked the candidness. Says this week has been the perfect storm because of how their opponents have rolled out. Backups and 2nd half of back to back games. Mike Russo joined Matt and Blake to talk about the Bruce Boudreau he covered in Minny. Would rather hang out and chat with beat writers than go back to the locker room after that. Talked about what he is like when things aren’t going well. Sure he does, when tension ratchets up. He has had some playoff disappointment. He has a good sense when to turn strict on them. There will be times where he raises his voice. Not always the cartoon character. Talked about the difference with Evason in MIN then they were with Bruce. Can only imagine the way he is salivating with the offensive firepower in Vancouver. Talked about “Bruce there it is”. Never heard of it in MIN but wishes he thought of it. Talked about the different size of media markets between VAN and MIN. Mike said Bruce loves the media. His favourite guys are the insiders. Says he is addicted to NHL Network and TSN. Won’t like being hand tied by the Canucks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nathalie Rees, from Park Royal dropped by to talk about some holiday shopping for the guys. Rich Dhaliwal joined and started off with a Pratt story, as per our show video. Talked about Pratt and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Onto the Canucks, Rick talked about the hire of Rutherford. Believes they contacted Dale Tallon very early in the process. Dhali says the NHL blocked it. Rolled through the JR timeline. Talked about the search for the GM. Everything he has been told is that they are going out on a search. Says that it’s a good thing that JR didn’t come in and just clean house and that it came from the Canucks organization before Rutherford speaks for the first time. Talked about Chris Gear. Some agents really like dealing with him, some really don’t. Doesn’t think there will be any scout changes with them already working on the draft. They are just looking at everything, top to bottom. It’s been 8 bad years. JR will be in town this weekend and Rick thinks he will have a really good sit down with the Sedin twins and Smyl. They would be on quite the little heater if they can get the win vs WPG. Talked bout Boeser. Alex Edler of the LA Kings joined Matt and Blake. Talked about new adapting to life in LA. Not sure where he will end up. He is from Sweden and his wife grew up in Vancouver. Talked about 100 goals. The number doesn’t really mean that much but it’s cool to have that number. Took forever from 99 to 100. Talked about what means more, a goal or a stop, as a defender. Anything that helps the team win is a rush. Talked about how the year has gone and contending for a playoff spot. Talked about the rivalry with the Kings as a Canuck. Said the core welcomed him in. Talked about coming back to Vancouver in a Kings uniform. Said it was a bit weird being on the other side. Was exciting to come back to the building with mixed feelings. It was a really nice moment to see the video and hear the fans. That’s what made him emotional at the time. Talked about how proud he is of his time in Vancouver. The fact that he is leading in all categories is because of how long he was here. If Quinn plays here for a few more years, he will break all the records. Talked about his overall health. Taking it one year at a time but this year his body is feeling great. Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. Talked about the terminations of Chris Gear and Jon Wall. Talked about how that flew in the face of what he said on Monday morning. Doesn’t like the looks of Stan Smyl having his name, with no title, on the press release. Talked about the job that those guys did for the team. Gregg Bell joined the show to preview Seahawks in Houston. Started off, though, by chatting about the big Army v Navy game. Upset he will be in Houston instead of where the game actually is. Hoping the game gets back to the Rose Bowl. Talked about Adams being out. Carroll will tell you that the leadership is worth it along. Forget about the 2 first rounders he cost and the millions he is being paid. The kicker from all of this is that his big contract hasn’t kicked in yet. They are hoping he will be back for the first game next year. He has played through this before but they were playoff bound last year. At 4-8, it’s a pull the plug and get it done situation now. Talked about what a loss to HOU means to the franchise. They should handle this team with a 3rd string QB. Combine this with other games coming up, if they lose those than they will have problems. Wonders what kind of noise RW3 will be making in the offseason if they come off a worse season. Talked about Adrian Peterson. Says he really is a Hawks RB now that he is injured. Talked about West Point slang. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Seth Rorabough, of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review joined Matt and Blake joined to talk about Jim Rutherford. He is very talkative. He will talk to everyone, just not on game days as he still has that old goaltender in him. He came into PIT with a win now mentality. He identified the centre of the franchise and built around them. He struck while the iron was hot. Things fizzled out at the end as they depleted their minor league organization to win 2 cups, back to back. Doesn’t think he will be here for the long run at his age. Once Jim gets people installed at GM and AGM, we will see things get going pretty quickly. He had something like 50 trades in his time in PIT. Equates to one every month and a half. Not all of them were great but he wasn’t afraid to move on some players when they weren’t a fit. Talked about how he did signing contracts. Didn’t really strike any big FA’s. His mark was on the trade market. He made some hard decisions on guys to retain. Talked about Brandon Sutter. Says they were pretty close and JR saw an opportunity to improve the team. Talked about how Jim doesn’t let sentimentality get in the way of making a move. Scott Rintoul, Vancouver Sportscaster and our Thursday regular joined Matt and Blake. Started off with his first thoughts on Jim Rutherford. Says that this is ownership admitting a few different things. They went out and got someone who won’t be a yes-man. We are talking about a hall-of-famer here. You can’t poke holes in the credibility. People will call back on him trading for Gudbranson after this franchise got rid of him. JR doesn’t need this job, he wants to be in this. Talked about Bruce Boudreau. You don’t hire them for PR reasons, but they come with a bump. Boudreau got the bump. Talked about the game vs the Bruins. Could say that they played better when they lost in BOS compared to winning in Vancouver. The bounces would have gone the other way a couple weeks ago. Thinks that JR is the kind of President that would go down to the dressing room and talk to the players. Change is afoot in this organization. The players know that more is coming. Talked about how long the plan could last for the team. Talked about the role Henrik and Daniel have now and will have down the road. Scotty referenced the Islanders when they brought in Lou and Trotz and how quickly that turned around. Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. Started off with a quick synopsis of the Bruins games. Wasn’t as fun as the LAK game but Quinn Hughes was doing it at both ends of the ice. Talked about Tyler Myers and his 28 minutes. Talked about Demko, who has been great. One goal in the last 2 games and that was a five on three. Talked about the game-day entertainment presentation and how it’s taken a bit of a dive. JPat talked about Rutherford and if it was the right choice. Liked the hire on a lot of different levels. Talked about all the trades he pulls off. Noted that JR has traded Pearson before. Talked about the size of the new front office. Talked about potential trade chips. Says that JT Miller would be the most likely candidate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The show started off with Matt and Blake talking about the debut of Bruce Boudreau and the immediate affect he has had on the team and the city. The Welcome Matt talks about Stan Smyl. Charean Williams joined us a day later with all the Canucks news in the previous show. She liked the game plan from Bill Bellichick, that was very run heavy. Doesn’t remember the last time she saw him the giddy after the win. Talked about Baltimore and the direction they are heading. Not ruling them out because they have Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh. Sometimes it feels like it’s not your year and this is that year for the Ravens. Talked about Lions win. Talked about MVP. If she were to vote today. Patrick Johnston joined Matt and Blake in his normal slot. Talked about what he made of the Francesco’s press conference yesterday. Was so big that it had him working on a day that he normally has off. Talked about his question to FA about brining in somebody that has worked here in the past. Thinks that Gillis is an extreme remote chance. It’s not clear where they are going to go with this. He picked a couple people that were big flashy choices and then soured on them. Talked about Smyl’s relationship with ownership. Has done so many jobs within the organization. Ran through all the jobs he has done. He is the loyal soldier but since TL departed, Stan had become a diminished voice. Talked about the win over the Kings. Talked about how leading early hasn’t been a calling card for the team. Was refreshing to see. Talked about EP40. As this season wound along, we could see it in the metrics that there was a choice to not be as fast and aggressive. This is not a team that is designed to play safe. PJ answered the poll question. Talked about the team playing to the fans a little bit more. The Canucks changing a goal song, doesn’t have to be permanent. Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot with plenty to talk about! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Legendary Broadcaster, Brian Williams joined Matt and Blake as he announces his retirement after a 50 year career. Talked about the start of his career and a few of the early Grey Cups he has worked. He recited, incredibly, where he was sitting in some of these games, the score, the story of the game. Talked about what he enjoyed the most of what he has seen. Says one of the earliest lessons he learned is that he is a story teller. Talked about his early days in Invermere, BC. It’s where he learned country music and dancing. Talked about they Olympics in Vancouver. Says that in his conversations with Olympic officials, that Vancouver was the city that bought in the most. Vancouver changed the way Canadian athletes approached the Olympics. Heading into the games, Canada was the only country to host the games twice and never win a gold medal. Talked about his best moments in his career. They are all exciting and all good. Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali joined the guys in his regular Friday spot. Talked about why he keeps his phone on set while doing his show live. Talked about Scott Mellanby and that he is hearing his name more. Says Bergevin isn’t coming here until there is full autonomy. Talked about the Aquilini family structure. Hasn’t heard much but keeps hearing “patience”. Says this franchise is 2 to 3 smart decisions away from being a contender. TG has be feeling better after a couple of wins. Do what Jeff Gorton did today. He laid out a mission statement. Seattle expansion has 9 more goals than the Canucks. Rick doesn’t understand why Dowling is on his left side if they are trying to bump his slump. This team would be in a totally different spot of Boeser had 10 goals and EP had 13. Talked about Abby. Everything is fine with Klimovich. Not many people know how tough that league is. He is only 18 and the youngest guy in the league. Rick’s gut says he won’t go to junior. He has hit a wall and getting a reset. Don’t read too much into it. Believes Evander Kane’s agent has talked to the Canucks. Though, he doesn’t see it happening. Talked about Hamonic and all the coincidences. Talked about De Brusk. A 7th round won’t cut it. Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. Talked about how excited he is to see Sidney Crosby tomorrow. Talked about why. Says that for the profile that he has, he knows almost nothing about him. He is just one part of this machine that is winning. At this stage of his career and this season, he is just one of the guys. Not the headliner in the here and now, but still has that status to him. Talked about the to and fro of Hamonic. Talked about goaltending. Things move quickly in the NHL. Canucks thought they were set for years with Luongo and Schneider. Same thing in PIT that has Jarry as their starter now. Captain Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune joined Matt and Blake to talk about the division rivalry match for the Seahawks vs 49ers this weekend. Talked about the Hawks picking up Adrian Peterson. Talked about how AP was tailgating at a college game last weekend. Talked about why they have a need for him in the first place. The average career span for a RB is 2.6 years. AP has played 15… even if there has been limited participation in the last few seasons. That’s why he signed a practice roster spot for a 3-8 team. Talked about the milestones AP is on the verge of breaking. The Seahawks have to make RB decisions well outside of temporarily brining in this player. This is more like a hobby for Pete Carroll. Talked about young players who have something to gain the rest of the way in meaningless games. Gregg is looking at DK Metcalf. Wondering if he really wants to stick around this team with RW3 potentially leaving. He is playing for himself and getting into a position to get a big contract.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The show kicked off with the Welcome Matt on the retirement of legendary Canadian broadcaster, Brian Williams and what he meant to the career of so many. Be sure to check out our next episode where we talk to the legend, himself. Delta’s Tristan Jarry, of the Pittsburgh Penguins joined Matt and Blake. Said it was a slow start to the season but everyone has played their part. Says it’s exciting to play in front of fans and have everyone back in the arena. Says this will be the first time he has played in front of his home town. Talked about the complimentary players that round out the lineup. They do a lot of the thankless jobs, pucks in deep, crash the net and that’s what makes them special. Talked about what it’s like to play with Malkin and Crosby. They are the best at what they do. Talked about his journey to be the number 1 goalie for the Penguins. Started with WBS and playing with Matt Murray then seeing MAF leave and get a chance to get in. Talked about waiting his turn to win a cup after being there for MAF and Murray. Talked about his relationship with Carter Hart. Talked about his little bet with him. Hart got the better of him last year. Hoping he can do better this year. Talked about Olympics. Wouldn’t have any problems going if he got the call. Scott Rintoul joined Matt and Blake in his regular spot. Started talking about the back to back wins coming into today. Nice to see fans there now. There was a bit of a novelty with Montreal after the changes they made. Schenn should turn that goal into an NFT. The two wins allowed them a little bit of breathing room before they ultimately make the right decision. Talked about if there are any external pressures for the Canucks to make those decisions. He doesn’t think Whitecaps will play any part. Maybe MTL will. You can’t evaluate the direction of the club after two win. The first 24 should have done that. Talked about Bergevin and Mellanby. Worries that MB may be burned out a bit, like Torts was here. Would want to talk to SM. That puts him into a wide category within the NHL. Talked about the four assist night for Quinn Hughes. He has been erratic. Started pretty good, then a time being in the ditch. Now back to Quinn Hughes we know. Talked about the Schenn goal. Talked about Hamonic and his ordeal with the team right now. Talked about the upcoming home-stand. Thinks they need for 4 of 6 and talked about what that would do for the team. Talked about the inner workings of the GM search. Talked about Evander Kane and if Scotty would have him on the Canucks. It’s a pressure packed scenario. Talked about players who have come to Vancouver and made it their home. Doesn’t think it’s a good fit for Kane to come back here. Doesn’t see a way back in SJ. Talked about the Seahawks. Talked about Hockey Helps the Homeless and emceeing that event. Jeff Paterson joined and started off with a laugh about Luke Schenn’s performance last night and the celebration of his incredible goal. Went on to talk about his partnership with Quinn Hughes. Jeff says that whoever is playing with him, be it Schenn or Hamonic, they are playing better because of how well QH43 is playing this season. He is racking up points at a near point per game pace. Talked about what the plan should be for Hamonic. JPat answered the poll question. Doesn’t think the Canucks should pick up Evander Kane. The drama always follows. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The show kicked off with the Welcome Matt and the potential of the Canucks bringing back Gillis and Gilman as the President and GM. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks Reporter joined ahead of the game vs Ottawa. Jeff reacted to the Kevin Epp interview, where he blamed the media for the poor on ice performance of the team. Talked about the potential of back to back wins for the 2nd time this season. Darren Dreger joined Matt and Blake and started off by summing up his moustache game, through November and where he stood in his company podium. Talked about the Canucks expressing interest in Jake De Brusk. The issue right now is the Marchand suspension and Covid outbreak in their American League franchise. St. Louis has always tried to get him. Maybe the market has softened on Boston’s demands but it’ll be a few pieces. Doesn’t know if Vancouver has been interested in him before. Would be surprised if they weren’t. His playoff stats stand out. There is some accountability that needs to be here from Jake De Brusk. He isn’t the player his prospect card had him out to be. Says the team should have refined his skillset a little bit more. Everybody should accept the blame. There is going to have to be a contract that goes the other way, as BOS is a cap team. Don Sweeny has an uphill battle for his client. Talked about the Habs house-cleaning. Hasn’t heard anything directly connecting those executives to the Canucks. Thinks Bergevin has earned a break. He will welcome the recharge. Talked about other potential GM candidates for MTL. Talked about what he is hearing on Jim Rutherford. Not a lot, which is sad. JR has earned the right to be selective and has turned down opportunities. Doesn’t know what they were but probably advisory roles. You’re not going to peer over someones shoulders with his resume. Would take a GM job is it was the right fit. The new Head Coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps joined Matt and Blake a day after signing on as the new permanent man for the job. Talked about how excited he is for Jan 15th to come. Talked about what he thought his chances were of of getting the full time show. Says after the win against MUFC he knew he had a solid chance. He knows what he is good at. Talked about his leadership style. Talked about how the team will improve next year. Talked about how he celebrated with his family.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The show kicked off with a Welcome Matt on how Trevor Linden might feel about all this. Kathryn Botchford, of the Botchford Project joined Matt and Blake to talk about the legacy Jason left in this market. The more we can focus on his legacy and how pay it forward, the better. Talked about how he was with younger reporters and those looking to get in the industry. Talked about how people have embraced this project. She gave a lot of credit to JPat who has been the voice of this project. Talked about what she looks for in a candidate. What is your voice. Are you going to challenge the status quo? She takes this seriously. It’s bitter sweet and she gets emotional and understands that she has the potential to change a career. Talked about how life is now. It’s been challenging since moving back east about a year ago. Talked about the hall of fame luncheon as a guest of Tony Gallagher. Talked about bringing Jason’s father with her. The Price is Right is on Vanni Sartini and his new deal with the Whitecaps. Patrick Johnston of Post Media joined Matt and Blake with plenty to discuss. Talked about which was more important, the EP40 goal or the win. They needed their star to show he still knows how to do it because for awhile, it didn’t look like he did. Talked about the new Covid variant and if it could throw a wrench into the hockey season. People are still allowed to go to Canucks games because we have done such a good job of preventative measures. The fourth wave is declining and hospitals are still in good shape. Talked about if December will save the jobs of Green and Benning. Talked about the Aquilini family and how this team could be passed through the grandkids. It’s a large part of the family wealth and PJ doesn’t see it going anywhere. Talked about potential replacements for Green and Benning. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks reporter was back in his regular spot. Talked about how nice it was to see a win in the last game. Talked about EP40 and that he finally dug in that forced opponents to react to him. He is one of the few guys that has the ability. Wonders if he is the third line centre the team has been looking for… Talked about Travis Hamonic and where he could possibly be as well as his deployment in both Vancouver and Utica. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Welcome Matt kicked off the show and Matt went over his weekend Twitter activity and why he has a problem with network coverage of the Vancouver Canucks. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks Reporter, joined us off the top to look into some of the storylines leading into the the game vs Montreal. The Price is Right on the state of Elias Pettersson. Charean Williams joined Matt and Blake and started talking about if Kingsbury would really leave the Cards for a college job. Does him no good to say he isn’t interested while he is looking for a raise. Don’t need to worry about the kids in the NFL, you have a GM for all that. Head Coach is the easiest life at any level of football. Talked about if we will see the Seahawks on primetime again. Says they could go on a run where week 18 might be important. Talked about who the best teams are. The Rams defence befuddles her. Thinks she’s had at least 5 or 6 teams as the top team throughout the season. Talked about the hoodie in New England. Doesn’t see them going to the SB because they have a rookie QB. DIdn’t see it coming. Talked about the Bengals and how long it’s been since they have done anything. Talked about the Chargers and who they are. They have a lot of talent. Go down the list and it’s so much talent. Thinks they have underachieved. NHL Insider, John Shannon joined Matt and Blake and talked about the week that was for the Vancouver Canucks in terms of front office moves. Talked about who will help the Canucks search for their new executives. Talked about the process of hiring when the NHL is lending a helping hand. Talked about the MTL situation and Jeff Gorton. Talked about Alain Vigneault. Talked about Petey and his decline. Referenced Jeff Skinner signing for 9 million and scoring 2 goals. The thing about EP40 is it’s so early in his career that puts you in a quandary. Wonders if his wrist ever gets back to 100%. It’s so important for his game. People can move him off the puck. The first year and a half players were scared of him. Talked about the possibility of Scott Mellanby joining the franchise in Vancouver. John hasn’t heard anything. It was the first thing that John thought have when he resigned from MTL. JS is not concerned about the future of Scott Mellanby. He will be back in hockey very soon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jeff Paterson, our Canucks Reporter, joined us off the top to look into some of the storylines leading into the the game vs Columbus. Rick Dhaliwal, host of Donnie and Dhali. Came on and started talking about what John Weisbrod does. Couldn’t believe Blake tweeted it out. Rick has had that conversation. Thinks that Travis Green is angry with Matt. He doesn’t believe there is that rift in the dressing room. There is no way they should be happy. They are a bottom 5 team. Rick talked about all the rumours that are circulating out there right now. There are people that are wanting to leak certain names in this market. Rick really thought something was going to happen Thursday morning. Heard Claude Julien’s name three to four weeks back. It’s a name that has popped up. Would not be surprised if they have touched base with him Doesn’t know if the team has permission to reach out. Doesn’t see a big name coming in right now. Talked about some of the players who left. Jarmo Kekalainen joined Matt and Blake to talk about his career and the CLB Blue Jackets. Talked about their late prospect and how the team rallied around that moment. Talked what it will take for more European’s coming to work in the NHL outside of being a player. Talked about Team Finland and being involved in that for the Olympics. Gregg Bell of the News Tribune in Tacoma joined Matt and Blake ahead of the Seahawks game this weekend. Says they need to win one game before they talk about going on a run, being 4 games below 500. It’s foreign to them to be out of it in November. They will rally if their QB plays better. All evidence is that he came back too soon. He has to play better. This is an issue they haven’t had in 10 years. Talked about the weeks he was out and the wobbly balls that have been thrown since he came back. You have to figure he will get better. If he gets better, they have a chance. Doesn’t get the sense the owner wants the operation starting over. Talked about if this could be the last time we see the Seahawks in primetime. Gregg thinks that this is where this is headed, we’ll see if they rally.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We kick off the show with a Welcome Matt that questions the health of Luigi Aquilini where Matt wonders if he is in good health, otherwise why is he letting his good name be dragged through the mud. Scott Rintoul joined Matt and Blake and started off with the state of the Canucks. Says that days like this does and doesn’t make him miss talking about it everyday for 4 hours. Says it’s an angry fan base right now, not apathetic. It’s pretty obvious something needs to change here and simply trading a player won’t fix anything. Thinks changes are coming. Talked about J.T. Miller. He can be a very polarizing figure. There is no doubting how much he wants to win and do everything he can do to win. Fans want to see the same fire in the belly from a lot of the other players. He is will to leave it out there despite a lot of people not liking it. Thinks it’s adding to the negativity but it’s never stopped him from saying what he wants to say. Scotty talks about Hockey Helps the Homeless and why he is hosting the event for them this year Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. In an effort to not talk about the Canucks, JPat talks about the cannon. Alas, back on track and Jeff tells us why he is concerned with EP40. Jeff answered the Bodog Poll Question, saying this isn’t rock bottom for the Canucks. Suggests there is more room to fall. Talked about the Blues, the year they won the cup and what ensued that year for them to get to the bottom. It was another very entertaining edition of Take 5 Thursday where Blake was looking to even the standings on a near impossible argument. You’ll want to hear it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ray Ferraro of the Ray and Dregs Podcast and the NHL on ESPN and TSN joined Matt and Blake. Ray is excited for the first ABC Game in BOS. Talked about the vast amount of networks he works at. Says it’s all the same house, just a different door. Whatever they slide on the mic, he is happy. Talked about the Vancouver Canucks and the drama that has ensued. There were all these issues that were waiting to arrear their head. If you ask him are they ready to compete? Compete for what? He asks. THey’ve put themselves in a box they can’t get out of. Talked about Podkolzin. He is a legit middle six player. Maybe he can get to top line. You have EP40 and Hughes. Petey is still a great player, hasn’t shown in lately, but he is there. Ray is curious about where the good young players are coming from. There is nobody that can escape scrutiny right now. There are flaws everywhere. Says the PK is like him out there as a player, he was a 60% PK player, if he played that. Travis has to wear the PK struggles. The PP that used to be able to hum along. Nowhere to be found. Related it to the Avalanche and all the bodies they are missing but still making it work. Their PP is like musical chairs. Whatever they think movement is, it’s the same 5 places. It’s not movement. Doesn’t know how the kill against Colorado can keep track of the guys, they are all over the place. Says that the team needs to care less and they will be able to do more. Liked to to Blakes putting game. Ray has had meetings where GM’s come into room and say “nothing is happening and the answer is in the room”. Might make a trade 3 days later but that’s not the point. Told a story about that happening in Tampa. They can’t trade Motte. Who would possibly play on the PK. Talked about what a presidential signing would look like. It’s a significant move that takes time and finesse. Is the season already lost? The answer is no. That means the team has to go on a run. They aren’t sitting very pretty here. They could get to 5th in the div. Maybe they could get to 4th, that still wouldn’t get them in. Is this heading for a rebuild? This question only lays with the answer. Thinks a Canadian market is a perfect place to rebuild. Everyone understands on a deep level what that means. Start hoarding picks instead of throwing them away, instead of letting players leave as FA’s. Pointed to Jannik Hansen as to why you need draft picks. The Canucks have vomited picks for years. Patrick Johnston of the Province joined for his regular Tuesday spot. Started off addressing the poll question and what the Canucks mean by maintenance day. There was a while they were trending in the right direction with their description of the term. Not the first time a regular player has had a day of practice off. Doesn’t recall any similar instances if they were holding him off for a trade. PJ thinks JT’s value will me more, closer to the deadline. They wouldn’t be trading from a position of strength at the moment. Says that making a trade now won’t do anything for you. Jeff Paterson, our Canucks reporter joined in his regular spot. Started off talking about J.T. Miller and why he might have a maintenance day. They are playing the “bejesus” out of this guy. 3rd in ice time behind Oilers dynamic duo. Talked about the Botchford Project. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk joined Matt and Blake. Started off with the dreadful NFC. Talked about the Seahawks and thinks that making the playoffs wouldn’t even be good enough for this team. Says that RW3 isn’t in it for the playoffs and that they need to go further than that. They are almost at the point of needing to look ahead. Do they do it with Russell and Pete. You do wonder whether they brought RW3 back too quickly. They scored more points in the 3 games Geno compared to the 2 that Wilson has played. Talked about what Wilson would fetch in a trade. A lot of that depends on how the rest of the season goes. Says they really miss Marshawn Lynch. They haven’t been the same team since he left. Talked about the Bills. The most disappointing in the NFL right now. Doesn’t know what’s going on with them. They need to figure something out, be it a trick play or something else. Charean thinks the brakes need to be tapped on the the Chiefs. Doesn’t think we have enough evidence that they are the top team in the AFC. Our NHL insider, John Shannon joined Matt and Blake to focus on the Canucks problems. Talked about the game last night. Thinks that the team has shown something the last 2 home games to keep it status quo. Thinks that there are constant conversations that are going on. In the summer they decided that because they pulled off the two trades, the front office was allowed to ride out this season. Talked about the hierarchy of the Vancouver Canucks. John has not heard that the team is looking for a President. He had also not heard anything about the Pens doing that in the Summer and then comes along Brian Burke. Talked about what the Canucks could fetch in a trade. John says there are 31 GM’s circling around. Talked about Carey Price and the Habs. Talked about the goaltending dynamic for the Olympics. Talked about the possibility of an Olympic boycott. John thinks they’re going till they aren’t going. It will be someone telling them, not them deciding. Our Canucks Reporter, Jeff Paterson joined in his regular spot. JPat came out firing about the fact that the Canucks nearly giving up in the third after 30 shots in the first 2 periods and only 2 shots through the first half of the third. Both shots coming from Hamonic, who doesn’t usually take shots. Talked about Travis Green and his testiness post game. Says he fears the questions and has no answers. Sees what is happening in CHI after their coach is fired and they win 5 of the next 6. Jeff responded, in a must-listen clip, to Travis Green accusing him of making up a storyline. Also, looking ahead to the upcoming road trip.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Matt and Blake run through clips of the Jim Benning press conference and talk about what stood out. It was a lot… Scott Rintoul joined Matt and Blake to take a look around the local sports landscape. Started talking about how much as changed since last week when we spoke. Talked about how last week he said EP40 had turned a corner. Turns out he hasn’t. Hoping the Sedin’s have sat down with him and talked to him about handling is lack of confidence. Talked about the terrible communication within this club. Talked about who could replace GMJB. Says that he would like to see Ryan Johnson over the Henrik and Daniel. Talked about PK. Comical is the wrong word for it. It is unbelievable how bad it is. Talked about Jim saying they are talking to agents about how their players are performing. It’s an indictment into how bad EP40 is playing that this became public. Talked about fan reaction in the stands. Talked about next steps for this team if it continues the way it is. Hopes that the meeting with GMJB isn’t the only meeting ownership they are having. Says they should be having that conversation with multiple people. Talked about the Whitecaps. Gives its a coin flip and that is a compliment for them know where they are going. Gives them a shot to go into KC and come out with a win. It would give them positive vibes going into the off-season. Really difficult to reconcile what it does to a fan stand point with all their off field troubles. Jeff Paterson joined in his regular slot to unpack the Benning presser from today. Says it’s pretty obvious he has no answers. Talked about why they should have made Jim available last week. As always, another entertaining version of Take 5 Thursday!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Andi Petrillo of One Soccer joined Matt and Blake to talk about the spectacle that was Edmonton last night. Talked about why she wasn’t as bundled up as her fellow panel members. Talked about this match being better than Costa Rica. As much about the field, the opponent played into that. Mexico was much more difficult, more tactical. That created the better game. Talked about the big takeaways from this game. The country coming together, the belief that something special is happening and people wanting to be a part of this. You are seeing the twinkle in peoples eyes that started with the first bronze medal for the women’s team. Talked about how good of a team this is now. What in the world is going on with this team when you have the top goal scorer in France to bring on as a substitute. The team is now bigger than some of the parts. A guy like David understands its bigger than him. Maybe deep down he has a problem but would never say. Talked about the weather. Would never give weather the credit for the win. They did that all on their own. Talked about where we might see the next match. Thinks we could know in the next 48 hours. Right now everything is on the table. Talked about how many more points Canada will need. Won’t even try to predict but KJ says 21/22 points. Panama is not going away, they are nipping at everyones heels. Nothing is safe right now, the team needs to get back to work. Four of the next six are tough road games. Talked about where Soccer falls into Canada’s sport hierarchies. This game is accessible to everyone. Darren Dreger, NHL on TSN Insider and host of Ray and Dregs Podcast joined Matt and Blake for the latest on the front office saga with the Canucks. Started off talking about the meeting between Aquilini and GMJB went. Doesn’t think that any promises were made. You have to take a look at the construction of the Canucks, and if that is the problem, there isn’t a whole lot that you can do with that.* Every game is going to be a must-watch. If they don’t respond favourably, then you will have to take a look at that. Changing a manager won’t often change the product on ice. An experienced GM would come in and want to observe the roster. We’ve been talking about the future of Jim Benning for awhile now. Not forecasting any sort of massive change here. There is a lot of accountability around to spread.* Ran down who needs to step up and do more. This is the reason Linden probably isn’t with the team anymore. He saw some of the flaws. The fix will take a long time. Dregs doesn’t get the sense that Travis has completely lost the room. Talked about Petey. Dregs sense is that he isn’t handling his situation as maturely as he should be. Darren doesn’t get the sense that anything would happen, even if it were a blowout. Talked about Francesco not speaking to the media. DD says it is normal. There are some owners that are more approachable than others. MTL media went hard after Habs owner. Talked about why Chipman talked recently. Sekeres and Price Canucks Reporter, Jeff Paterson joined Matt and Blake ahead of an early start due to Canucks vs Avs being a national broadcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
TSN’s Vancouver correspondent, Farhan Lalji joined Matt and Blake. Started off with a road report and the highway. Followed that up with what he is hearing from the Canucks lately. Says it’s interesting there was a meeting today. Thinks that a head coach change is a better way to make a bigger impact. Doesn’t think that Travis has lost the room but might have lost one or two players. Coaching is harder than it’s ever been before. EP40 is a shell of a player that he has been before. Seeing him getting knocked off the puck as easily as he does is an indictment. Also that opposing coaches aren’t hard matching up with him. Talked about the Lions. Talked about Michael Reilly. Farhan thinks Rourke will be a starter in this league. Need to get Reilly contract down to about half, but restructure it with incentives. Thinks that Rourke can be what Reilly was in this league. Patrick Johnston of the Province joined Matt and Blake. Says he knows what everyone else knows, the Canucks are in limbo. What happens tomorrow will have a lot of bearing on what happens with GMJB. Talked about the Aquilini tax case that will have to make them pay the entirety of their taxes. It’s a pretty big ruling against them. This is the way the global system is set up. Doesn’t think it’ll have an impact on the bottom line. Doesn’t think penny-pinching is affecting the bottom line, they hired a lot of people back. Talked about why they might not want to move on Travis. The Michael Forde angle is interesting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams joined Matt and Blake in her regular spot, to chat about week 10. Talked about some of the more interesting results. We’ve seen so many underdogs win and it just continued to bleed into this weekend. Hoping we don’t have many more of these blowouts. Thinks that you can explain, in some cases, as covid related. Some of it can not be explained. The Raiders had a chance at home and they laid an egg, to KC. The Raiders have had a really tough year emotionally. Some crazy scores and upsets over the last 2 weeks. Talked about the Seahawks. They are in tough to make it to the playoffs and in even tougher if there were to John Shannon, NHL Insider joined Matt and Blake from the Hockey Hall of Fame proceedings. Talked about Tony Gallagher and that he always told the truth. It’s what made him an original. Talked about what he has heard about the future of Canucks coach and GM. Says he has reached out and getting silence. That usually means things are in the works. It could very well depend on the success of this upcoming home-stand. Talked about the way the Canucks lost on the road that is part of the problem. Not the same thing as losing 4-3 in OT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Gregg Bell of the News Tribune in Tacoma joined Matt and Blake ahead of Week 10. Started off talking about the Kraken. Says he hasn’t heard much buzz since the opening weekend. Talked about what else is going on in Seattle and what is taking away from its attention. Says there is still a very enthusiastic group and a group that are waiting for the team to be better. Got on to Seahawks. Getting RW3 is a big deal. Carson will remain on injured reserve. Thinks we will see a different Seahawks. Talked about the importance of this game. History said they’re not going to the SB and that they can’t even win at home. Their belief is that if they can just get into the playoffs. Gregg believes that this week isn’t a must win but that they need to win 1 of the next 2. Talked about who is the bigger diva in the game coming up. Rodgers has that trophy retired. Wilson will play like nothing ever happened on Sunday. Talked about why they didn’t get OBJ. They didn’t move heaven and earth because they didn’t want to take the 7+ million for a receiver who would be 3rd on the depth charge. DK is happy, RW3 is not. Rick Dhaliwal, host of Donnie on Dhali joined Matt and Blake and didn’t take too kindly to being referred to as Travis’ boy. Talked about what he is hearing in regards to what the coach is thinking about his team. He won’t survive with EP40 as an average player. He has heard as much about the owner has to go as the coach and GM. Talked about who is easier to get rid of. Thinks that there isn’t a ready to step up AGM right now. Will be tougher to find a GM. There is a ton of coaches right now. The general feeling is that Travis can’t go on a losing streak. He needs to get on a heater. Talked about the potential of the Sedin’s taking over the GM role. Talked about Hamonic in Abby. He is out tonight with a LBI Ian Bagg, Comedian and all around nice guy joined Matt and Blake ahead of him hosting the Canucks Alumni Luncheon. Talked about how he ended up getting the gig. Friends with Corey Hirsch and Corey urged him to come up and do an event. Talked about watching the Canucks from afar. He lives in LA. Watches and listens games in his car on the way to shows. Talked about what it’s like to get back into shows in front of live audiences. Says that people need this. Talked about the kind of comedian he is. Says he pushes the line but people get upset. That’s how you find out exactly where the line is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Andi Petrillo, host of Canada Soccer on One Soccer joined Matt and Blake and started off with a weather update. Its cold!! This was sort of the idea. They have to make sure the players bodies are ready for the cold. They have to get the players ready for turf. A lot of guys don’t play on turf in Europe. These are top level players who are used to be treating as such. This is also providing FIFA the chance to check out Commonwealth stadium for the World Cup. Talked about Costa Rica playing at the stadium for the first time after practicing elsewhere. Whereas Canada is practicing at the stadium in all thirds of the field. That is the advantage. Nobody is pleased with this field. Talked about the level of concern that some European clubs might have with sending their prized players over here in these conditions. This shouldn’t surprise anyone with the money at stake in the game now. This is a team that relies on their goal scorers. They don’t get down on themselves after giving up the first goal because they have the players to counter that. Talked about the goaltending. Talked about the new guy and getting him cap-tied in. Herdman has made it perfectly clear that he wants to get him in. Our new Thursday regular, Scott Rintoul made the first of his many weekly appearances today. Says that the PK needs to get better or anything else that changes won’t matter. Thinks that Motte will be a great addition but that doesn’t mean they get to 90% on the kill. Talked about Travis Hamonic and how the Canucks handled that situation. Talked about Whitecaps. The atmosphere was fantastic. The best sporting event in Vancouver in forever. Was a lot of fun to be in that building and to see how much the players appreciated the fans. They have never been this good in the MLS, ever. Talked about the latest off-field scandal. Says they deserved better at the time and they deserve better now. Says Schuster deserves more time for judgement. It takes time for an executive at his level. People need to be proud to be a fan of a team. Talked about the BC Lions. The team is frustrated. Look no further than the QB. Talked about Seahawks and the return of Russell Wilson. Followed that up with NFL playoff talk. Jeff Paterson joined for a full hour of pre-game before Canucks faced off vs the Avalanche.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ben Kuzma of Post Media joined Matt and Blake. Says the Canucks are trending in the right directions. They’re not giving up blowout losses, they’re not giving up 40 shots. Arguably the best effort vs the Ducks. Gibson is their kryptonite. They’re turning a corner and not headed for a wall. Good news in Denver for the team is that MacKinnon is out. It’s kind of funny, we have bubble Demko and Horvat looking like the guy in the bubble as well. When you start to get your key players going. Talked about Podkolzin going on the PK. Would like to think that we see Motte on this trip. Didn’t think the team would come back from being down 2-0. Wouldn’t it be nice for them to have a 2 goal lead going into the third?.. The Canucks are still finding their way, 13 games in they should not still be looking. Talked about when we might see Motte. If he is a betting man, he would say by the weekend. Talked about Sutter. The fact he hasn’t skated yet is a cautionary point. Doesn’t think we will see him anytime soon. Talked about about Rathbone. Darren Dreger, of the Ray and Dregs Podcast joined Matt and Blake for his weekly hit. He admired their work at the grand prize home. Started off by talking about Bob Murray and his trouble in Anaheim. There is a good Bob and a bad Bob. He gets into peoples face, texting and emails and all that kind of stuff. His sense is that has been out there for awhile. Believes that an internal NHL memo regarding the Blackhawks pushed Ducks employees to come forward. We would be nieve to think that there won’t be anyone else. Talked about why Nonis didn’t get the temp job while Murray investigation continues. Talked about Colliton getting fired. Talked about if he has heard any rumblings within Canucks ownership. Not getting the sense that there is anything twitchy going on. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lots of talk about hockey culture in both, the Welcome Matt and Price is Right. Patrick Johnston of Post Media joined Matt and Blake and start off by talking about Bob Murray and the latest NHL scandal. Hockey is a pretty good game but it’s not a great game. It’s things like this that keep it from being so. Referenced Blackhawks trying to bury their problems thinking it doesn’t matter, but it does. Murray has had a nice life in ANA the last decade but they haven’t been that great. It’s about how he has dealt with staff and how you talk to people. This seems to be the early indication of what this is about. Talked about what he has coming in the Province on the culture of hockey. Talked to Sheldon Kennedy. Wants to know how to create a culture of listening and understanding. Talked about what we will see from the Ducks, who PJ had at the bottom of the Pacific. They’ve found some decent players and have some good defensemen. There is an argument that they should have moved some of their guys. Talked about the Ducks rival status vs the Canucks. It was a Sekeres day to sizzle on Hot Take Tuesday, could he do it? A couple of different giveaways, listen for your chance to enter!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams joined Matt and Blake, as usual on a Monday to wrap up week 9 after a lot of upsets. Started off by talking about the Cowboys loss. Charean says it is just a one-off as opposed to saying something about the team. Says that Dak didn’t play well and his injured calf has nothing to do with it. Perhaps it could have been rust. The Defence is a concern. Talked about the Bills loss. Says this one is just a one-off as well. To score 6 points against Jax is a head-scratcher. Concerned that Bills would lay an egg abasing a team like that. Said that LAR losing to TEN is also a one-off as TEN is better than what people give them credit for. Stafford looked like the Stafford he was in DET. Talked about NEP and how to win with Mac Jones. If you can run the ball and play defence, you will win a lot of games. Tampa needs to run the ball better. Talked about the job Kyle Shanahan has done with the 9ers. This is an average to below-average team since Lynch and him have come in. At sometime they will have to make a decision if they are going to have to move on. Depending on how the season goes, they may need to go get a veteran QB. Talked about Rodgers and his availability this week and what the rest of the league thinks about his situation. Says they let him do whatever he wants. Packers will come out with 2 game plans depending on if AR is back in the lineup. Thinks it could have improved his MVP chances. John Shannon joined the show in his regular spot. Talked about why he stays up late to watch west coast games. Thank goodness the PP started going, he said. Says JT Miller is the battery that makes this thing happen. Demko is doing his job and the forwards are getting into the right gear. More positives than negatives at this time. We can’t measure the emotional aspect that they go through. When they get snake bit, it’s not a good thing. Nobody expected Flames to do what they are doing. They have been a real surprise. When you go on an eastern road swing for 5 games and come back with 10 points, you are doing something right. They’ve done some good things there, a lot of it has to do with Markstrom. Sutter creates accountability. Talked about the Eichel trade. Not sure that BUF could have gotten more. They did what they had to do and that was to get rid of 10 millions dollars and got some prospects. Adams was handcuffed in this deal. Peggula’s made it clear they had to move him to a team in the West and couldn’t take money back. Talked about the FLA coaching situation and if they let Brunette finish the season. Thinks that Colliton lost the room in CHI before the scandal happened. John thinks that he kept his job longer because Bowman stepped away. They played so poorly on Friday night that they had to do something. The CEO of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Axel Shuster joined Matt and Blake fresh on the news of the announcement of when their playoff game will be against Sporting KC. Started talking about the team not getting down on itself after giving one up. Says the game was a little more difficult but it was no problem. They want to be world class in handling suffering. The team reacted the right way and played a great 2nd half. To find out at the end that there was no security blanket. It was the perfect ending for them to do it all on their own. Talked about what it meant to have 25K fans in the stands. It was incredible. Never had anything like that after the last 2 years. They got it exactly when they needed it. The fans backed them up. They would not have gotten the point without the fans. Talked about Brian White coming in mid season and if he had any indication that he could have done what he did. Says they always try to stay conservative in their expectations of incoming players. It was something that you couldn’t predict with Brian. Says the staff played a big part in settling him. The coaching staff found the best way to use these players coming in. Almost the perfect package they go in-season. Talked about Florian Jungwirth and what they expected from him. Wanted leadership from him, starting 32 Bundesliga games. You need an emotional leader who pushes guys on the pitch. He also over performed. Signed him as an addition, turned out to be a guy who started most of the games since he game. He fit into the culture, along with White and Gauld. Talked about what is holding up the hiring of Sartini as a permanent head coach. Says that they need to be comfortable to sit down and speak about it. Every time they talk, it’s about the game in front of them. It won’t help them to win a game to sit and talk about the head coach. It doesn’t come only with a signature but with a strategy and the next steps to do. Talked about officiating and the noise SKC made against the officials. He trusts that every referee is doing their best and doesn’t want to make mistakes. Was happy there was no camera on him when the PK was called within the first 5 minutes. He can say that if he was the ref it would be way worse. Talked about when we may see Vite. He has to earn his spot but he has very special skills. He can think quicker than anyone else on the pitch. He is a real player, his coaches tell him. Talked about the suspended executives and who is picking up the added responsibilities. They have already hired a new new executives as he builds the club off the pitch. Talked about the teams interactions with the investigator. Will wait until the investigations has concluded and the recommendations that come before he makes decisions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ryan Johansen of the Nashville Predators joined Matt and Blake ahead of their Friday game vs the Canucks on Friday night. Talked about playing back in his hometown for the first time in a long while. Said how much he liked getting on a plane and flying out of EDM rather than having to stay for there for the bubble. Talked about the start to the season for the team. Everyone tries to get off to a good start to the season and feels that the team has played well enough to win. Talked about the identity of the team. They are embracing the identity of being a hard working, ugly team that others hate to play against them. Talked about “The Herd Line”. References back to the identity of the team and they set the pace and the mentality for the team. Talked about Colton Scissons and the kind of player he is. Ryan wasn’t surprised that Fabbro is bringing 100 people. Says he is Italian and that’s how they roll. A lot of great people in that family. Being back and seeing the rain makes it feel just like home after a year and a half. Talked about how much he is looking forward to Seattle. Rick Dhaliwal joined Matt and Blake and started off by being complimentary of the studio. Than he explained why he wasn’t at the launch for it. Compared our chairs with the chairs on their set. Talked about Podkolzin. Wonders if Brock Boeser is hurt. Referenced a video that he didn’t look to happy in. It’s his contract year. The Canucks could potentially have 5 guys on the US Olympic Team. Was told Boeser was almost a lock. Garland stock has gone way up. Was told the Americans are very impressed with him. If BB is going to make it, he needs to score goals. Has to be a top 6 goal-scoring winger for that team. Demko and Hughes are for sure. Talked about Hamonic and when he could be able to cross the border. Talked about GMJB telling the media to get lost on the Hamonic subject. Talked about Klimovich. He is going to be living with Silovs. Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada’s Mens National Team goalkeeper joined Matt and Blake to chat about the big matchup vs Seattle this weekend. Says these are the games that you want to play. Talked about his routine going into a big game. Says this is the biggest club game he will play in. Everyone needs to show up and be the best player they can be. This can be big for the city to reconnect with the fans. Talked about the streak they have been on. Talked about the Canadian Championships and what it would have been like to insert a lot of games at a crucial time for league play. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The General Manager of the World Series winning, Atlanta Braves, Alex Anthopoulos joined Matt and Blake. Started off by chatting about why making the rounds in Canadian Media was so important, including this very show. Talked about how he is feeling after contracting Covid 19. Everything is going well, he can take part in the parade tomorrow. Then it’s right back to work the following Monday. Says his wife was more crushed than he was missing the party after winning the Championship. The parade is what he has always sold his kids on. The bottom line is he just wanted to win. Says there is always next time. Talked about the feeling of winning. Everything coming through that touches him. Talked about the difference between this outpouring of support and that of leaving TO. Says he never got to enjoy his time working there because he was always working. Talked about experiencing the final out at home with his kids. Wanted to see them watch everyone they know on TV. Thinks tomorrow will be when they see the festivities tomorrow. Once they see that they will understand the impact of sport and the community rallying and coming together. Talked about the future of this team. Would love to think they could do this every year but knows how difficult it is. Legendary Canucks Writer and Hockey Hall of Fame Member, Tony Gallagher joined us today, in studio. Started off talking about the face-off woes on the PP for the Canucks. Talked about the EP40 struggles. Talked about life in retirement. Talked about the festivities surrounding the induction into the hall. Talked about his relationships with some of the guys who are going in with him. Talked about his relationship with Jason Botchford. Talked about how disappointing he is that not much is written about Canucks management. Talked about Gillis and if would want to take on the top job at the PA. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
JJ Adams, Whitecaps FC Reporter for Post Media joined Matt and Blake after the team drew 1-1 at LAFC. Talked about the result. Since they currently sit in a playoff spot, everyone else they are in contention with could lose and they would make it. The last home game they played was vs SJ and they had Jungwirth as their CB. JJ says that the Caps scoring so early could have thrown them off. It was all LAFC after that. Reminded him of the last time they played each other back in August. They wouldn’t have come away with any points in either of the games if it weren’t for Crepeau. Brian White is unreal, says JJ. Talked about how the season turned around so dramatically. You can’t understate the impact of Ryan Gauld. He drives the play in the final third. They had the bones of a good team before him and it’s all coming together. What they’ve done under Vanni is far more entertaining. You can see the identity that they wanted before. They aren’t being hemmed into their own box under siege. They’ve turned the corner and full credit to Vanni and Gauld. Talked about Seattle. They are very daunting at full strength. It should be a really outstanding game between two teams who have a lot to play for. Talked about the team’s troubles off the pitch. October 19th is the first time Shuster was made aware of the allegations against Busby. Says you would have thought that the team would have made him aware of that. They did not… That would really upset him. **We are coming to a time of reckoning and change.** The league is not too impressed with this team. Talks about the other similar allegations that the club has clearly not learned from. Darren Dreger of the Ray and Dregs Podcast joined Matt and Blake and started off by chatting about the Eichel trade speculation. Dregs says to be careful about what you hear. The reaction he has received following up on it isn’t very positive. Sooner than later the Sabres need to find a deal. Talked about outside pressure. Knows that Daly has been actively involved in this but doesn’t think he is applying any pressure. Says that the NHLPA is thinking of filing a grievance. Nobody wants to go down that path. Wonders what the teams involved are thinking while the decision lingers after fair offers have been made. Thinks that it’s a collective pressure to get a deal done. Talked about Kevin Weekes report. Says it’s hard to comment on it. You don’t want to establish that that is the deal. Talked about his thoughts on the Bettman presser. Felt like it was cold. Very legally. You saw two decorated lawyers on full display. Was disappointing to see the way they skirted Westhead. Can appreciate the legal talk but it felt like there was a coldness about that that we didn’t get from WPG brass. Talked about Chipman and his sincerity. Talked about the PIT scandal. Says that this isn’t new for the NHL. Talked about the future of Gary and if he could be out of a job. Believes that he still has the vast majority of support from his owners. There is no question that they have questions about what has been going on. They just want to make sure they can ask the questions they can ask. Doesn’t think he is in a pile of heat here. Ownership sources are asking why the fine for the Blackhawks was so light.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Katie Strang of the Athletic joined Matt and Blake to talk about the latest in the NHL. After taking some time to dissect the Bettman presser from yesterday, there was a lack of empathy from the Commissioner and the NHL. The most gobsmacking part of the conference was when Westhead asked Gary if they will support the young Michigan player and he couldn’t come up with an answer. She doesn’t even think that he is calculating that ticket holders or sponsors will walk out by the thousands. There is a disconnect in the NHL in how Kyle Beach was let down. Gary is a shrewd legal mind and his first defence is to act like a lawyer. There is a cost of inaction and there is a cost in not acting with human empathy. This is something that we’ve come to expect from Gary Bettman in his tenure as Commissioner. Talked about Rick Westhead and the role he played in all of this. Says that none of this would have happened without him. This work is very difficult to do and Rick is exceptional at it. There is no conceivable way that he should have been called on so late in the press conference. Thinks that the general hockey community sees value in this type of reporting. It’s encouraging in the term of the work that we do. Talked about the pending lawsuit in PIT. Talked about the future of Gary Bettman. He works at the behest of the owners and unless they feel the bottom line is going to suffer, doesn’t see them making any sort of bold move to replace him with someone else. There has been public outcry but power is very centralized. Thinks that Kyle Beach taking this public will save lives. This alone won’t do it but there will need to be a push within the league. Patrick Johnston of Post Media joined the show for his regular Tuesday hit. Started off chatting about Travis Hamonic and how he came to play his first game. Guesses he got his shot, at the end of the day he got vaccinated. Though, they went against their word and the whole team is not 100% vaccinated. He won’t be able to go on the road next week. It is their right to dock him pay. In the end of the day, this is a player they want in the lineup, they paid him as such. Notes that the team didn’t hide him and gave him a chance to tell him his side of the story, or at least part of it. Media can only do their best to fill in the gaps. Fans want to know what the lineup will look like. Thinks that people were respectful of TH situation. The core of the story is the willingness to get vaccinated and that was what was reported. Talked about what he will bring to the lineup. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Charean Williams, Football Hall of Fame Writer joined for her weekly appearance. Talked about the Broncos. Says she doesn’t know what they are doing. A really strange couple of weeks and doesn’t know if they are buyers or sellers. Talked about the Von Miller trade. Doesn’t know if it vaults the Rams into favourites. It puts pressure on other teams to go out and make moves. Thinks that the best teams are in the NFC right now. Thinks that there were more teams in on Von Miller. Talked about Mike Holmgren and his hall of fame eligibility. The format changed a couple of years ago when coaches had to compete against players. Talked about the Monday Nighter. John Shannon, Co-Host of the Bob McCown Podcast joined the guys. Nothing to talk about today, though… started off by talked about where the Canucks fall into league standings. Talked about Travis Hamonic and his status. Someone who watches a game in Detroit without a mask and vaccine. There is a difference between a working environment and an entertainment environment, even though they walk through the same door. Talked about Pettersson and his struggles. Talked about Don Fehr and if he still keeps his job. Thinks he will make it through the day, at the very least. The Players are clear that they want answers and accountability. There is enough responsibility to go around. This just might speed up the inevitable. Didn’t think he’d be around to the summer. Talked bout who might replace Fehr. Gillis is the obvious one and would be a step up. Would not surprise John if Glen Healy was a candidate at some point. Says that he is a smart guy. They need leadership first. If you want a lawyer, you can always hire one. Talked about Gary Bettman. Says he is the ultimate politician. Thinks the fine to the Blackhawks should have been upwards of 10 million dollars. Talks about why draft picks weren’t taken away. Says that Gary don’ts want to punish a new management team, The head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks, Trent Cull joined Matt and Blake after a busy weekend for the club. Started off by talking about how Abbotsford has been. Says it has been fantastic with fans right from the anthem to the game. Talked abut Travis Hamonic. Says he is a good person and a great pro. It’s great for the team to be around a guy who has been in the NHL as long as he has. Had him going in all situations. He was a consummate pro in his short time there. Talked about getting Jack Rathbone. Doesn’t have any preconceived notions. You never know about a guy whether he is firing mad coming down. One thing for sure is that they will get him on the ice and working. Talked about the benefits of Abby from a players standpoint. Will be fantastic to get guys in the lineup on the day of transaction. Talked about the weekend. Didn’t like their start first game vs Ontario. Loved the 5 v 5 the second night, was a shame to give up two PP early in the game. Talked about Klimovich. Says it’s great first and foremost to get out of living in a hotel. They’ve worked on his wall-work and has already seen it in the game. Trying to get him up and running as much as they can at the pro-level. Talked about potentially sending him to the press box to take a breath, hit the reset button. That’s something that everyone goes through. They are pretty lean up front so everyone there will get a chance to play.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The interim-manager for the Vancouver Whitecaps, Vanni Sartini joined Matt and Blake after an emotional night at BC Place after a 2-2 W over MUFC. It was a fantastic 2nd half with a 2nd goal who deserved to win at the end of the match. It was beautiful to celebrate. It is the triumph of the will to win games like this. Talked about Brian White and what has made him so successful. Vanni says that the team will need to win one of the last 2 matches to clinch playoffs. Talked about what he does after the game. It’s a fantastic bit and you will want to hear it. Talked about what he thinks of himself on TV. Says he is clumsy and is lucky that doesn’t fall. Jay Janower joined the show from Global BC. Talked about working sports in news TV. They pride themselves in being local, to search out local stories and telling the amateur stories as well. It bugs him that it is a dying breed. Talked about what he makes of The Canucks this year. He is really perplexed because he likes the moves that GMJB has made. This home-stand is massive for the team. He isn’t seeing the same player he saw in the first season for EP40. If he can’t regain his form, the team is in trouble. He was so confident with the puck on his stick and Jay isn’t seeing any of that lately. He used to fight for pucks, not right now. Talked about the lotto line. Thinks it is hurting Petey right now. Talked about the job Tyler Myers is doing, not picking up penalties and staying on his feet. Talked about Demko and when he should be garnering some Vezina chatter. Talked about having fans back in the seats. Finished off by talking about the sense he is getting from the Abbotsford Canucks. Karin Larsen of the CBC joined Matt and Blake to talk about the Whitecaps and the recent and past problems with some of their coaching and the sexual assault cases. She talked about why Bob Birarda had his court date, that was supposed to be today, pushed back. It’s been ninth time it has been pushed back. She says that this is a very normal thing to happen as there is a lot going on. Including some of the charges being applied at different times and the various rules at that time. Talked about the new allegations against Hubert Busby Jr. Talked about the Whitecaps and how they deal with these matters. There seems to be a playbook with the club and how do deal with them. Says that what Mallory Enoch is alleging is criminal in nature. Karin talked about the way this should be dealt with. Thinks there needs to be more transparency. Tried to FOI Canada Soccer and it didn’t pull anything in. Knows that there are documents out there that say something. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Show started off today with Matt and Blake putting out their thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks investigation and Kyle Beach going public, who was know as John Doe. Harman Dayal of the Athletic joined Matt and Blake. Started off by talking about what has hindered the teams offence. Says they aren’t creating enough. Special teams has been average. Growing pains with the PK as well. You can see glimpses of the potential, especially if the top guys get going. Worried about the even strength play right now. There is enough talent on the special teams. Says that they will figure it out. The team has strengthened offensive rushes but it could have come at the cost of their even strength play. Lotto line hasn’t generated enough. Talked about if it is time to look at Travis Green and if he is doing a good enough job with this forward group. Harm says anytime you have a roster that isn’t playing to its ability, you have to look at the coaching. The PP is where the coaching has its biggest impact. Five on five is so scramble. PP needs to be a difference maker with even strength not pulling its weight. Would like to see PP a bit less predictable. It has to be Top 5 in the league if this team will make the playoffs. Talked about Podkolzin. Darren Dreger joined the fellas and was still quite shaken after watching Kyle Beach on SportsCentre. It’s a tough look for the NHL. Says that for Kyle Beach to have the courage to come out, it’s one thing to come out as John Doe, but to come out in front of a camera, takes a lot of courage. Talked about what stood out most to him. It’s a tough one with 20 plus minutes to go through. The emotion of still a young man, 10 or 11 years removed from his experiences and that he sought out help and didn’t get it. There are so many layers but what stood out is that the NHL and those involved, is being disappointed by the PA and the executive. Dregs talked about seeing Beach, with tears streaming, hoping that there is nobody else that goes through this when he was asked what his message to another player going through this situation. The part to DD that is hard to grasp is why didn’t anyone do more. Talked about where the NHL Insiders were when reporting this. He appreciates the questions and there has been a lot of soul searching in his house. Not making any excuses. Trying not to deflect but he is hired to break trades and signing. The fact that there is someone in-house like Rick, who is a bulldog, he goes after it. There is a working newsroom. Says he maybe should have done more to pump Rick. Says he feels like he has been supportive. Doesn’t feel like he needs to have a voice in every single issue but hasn’t avoided it. Apologized for not doing more. Says that the alleged offender has escaped a lot of the criticism. Lots has been heaped on other Hawks executives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.