Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Preseason Finale + Dan Near Joins The Show | FN Barn Burner - October 4th, 2024

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

FlamesNation Barn Burner with Boomer, Pinder & Warrener- Flames Gameday (3:00)- Sam Honzek (7:00)- Waivers Yesterday (10:00)- Tyson Barrie (15:00)- Mantha (23:00)- Pelts (24:00)- Moment Of The Week (31:00)- Pinder Report (33:00)- Bet365 (57:00)- Dan Near (01:09:00)BARN BURNER BLONDEhttps://originbrewing.myshopify.com/products/barn-burner-473mlFLAMESNATION MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/flamesnationBARN BURNER CLIPShttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Powered by @bet365. Whatever the moment, it’s Never Ordinary at bet365.Download the App today and use promo code: FNBONUS. http://www.bet365.ca/👍🏼 McLEOD LAW https://www.mcleod-law.com👍🏼 VILLAGE HONDA https://www.villagehonda.com👍🏼 OUTDOOR DENTAL https://www.outdoor.dental👍🏼 ORIGIN BREWING https://originbrewing.ca👍🏼 BeAroused https://www.bearoused.ca/👍🏼 Vena Nova https://venanova.com/👍🏼Alberta Blue Cross: https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/travel👍🏼 Crystal Waters Plumbing Company https://www.crystalwatersplumbingcompany.com/👍🏼 Great Clips https://www.greatclips.com/👍🏼Hearing Loss Clinic: https://hearingloss.ca/💻 Website: https://flamesnation.ca🐦 Follow on twitter: @FlamesNation @BarnburnerFN @960boomer @PinderReport @warrener44📺 Subscribe on Youtube: @Flames_Nation💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.comFollow us on Instagram @flamesnationdotcaFollow us on Twitter @flamesnation @barnburnerfnFollow us on Facebook @FlamesNationReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May as well do a show over here. You're here. I'm excited to do a show. Are you really? In the May as well mode. I'm like, let's do this. Wow, I didn't. Look at my face. That's the look of a cold, stone cold intensity.

Yeah, is that? Because I was wondering about 10 minutes ago, you reached for the smelling salts. Yeah, that's what. So is that's how dialed in I am. Jack, have you ever done them? no i haven't today's the day jack's uh he's shivering he says it's cold in here it's crisp we don't i mean we rent the place but we don't want to pay for heat no no because we're hey it's our environmental footprint that's right i'm going to have a little zipparoo here get it up there

get it in you this is an older one so it's not quite oh my arm jacket that We're going to break something. Oh, that was close to break us on. Nice grab. Jack's going for it. He's going for a... Really need a camera for Jack. A pull.

We do. We do, we need Jack, yeah. Jack. So I don't I do this? I just take this whole thing off. Here, mine's already... Just take the lid off. Yeah, just open the lid and put your beak in there.

Oh! Just like that, yeah. Gently now. That does it actually give you the... They say it's really good for weightlifters. Some of those... power lifters right before we go. Yeah?

And then they start bleeding up their eyes. Right. Yeah. Are we sure? It has nothing to do with the bleeding out of the eyes? No, it's fine. Yeah. Well, welcome to the Friday edition of Barnburner.

It's boom and Rhett, and Jack is over there, and we're steering clear of Jack for the most part today. It's a Calgary Flames game day, and I don't know if we put on helmets in the preseason. but you know what I'm going to do it get your helmet on really flames game day wow jets are in town the jets played their full whoopty-do line up the other night it's a preseason settle down Winnipeg

and now they're here and I think the flames are going to do the same so let's go it's going to feel very much I would think like a regular season game today the give a crap meter will be up a little bit you hope it will be if it's not then we're going to have issues Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do it. You're trying to get helmets on. Let's do it.

Tailgate. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Are you allowed to tailgate? No. No. No, there's laws and.

I thought you could drink in public. Is that an open container? I thought it was allowed now. I don't know. Pinder knows, of course. He would know exactly where you can be drunk and high and stupid. I looked at a doctor yesterday that knew Pinder. Yeah.

Yeah, Pender. Yeah. Oh, so is he, oh, it's that the human, Jay. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. Everybody knows Pinder. Coming in hot here on the old,

the blast on us? On the fan feedback line. Oh, baby. That's Man Deep, our boy. I know you want to talk about it. Oh, baby, that woke me up in Jasper. He's talking about the smelling salts. Pump to be tuning in live, Jack.

Keep that shit up, buddy. We're all here for you, my man. You damn, right. We are. Appreciate it, man, deep. That's right. Deeper. Great guy. B.K. Beaufort liquor.

A proud stalker. Not stalker. Supplier. Yes. Of origin brewing and barn burner blonde. B.K. Beaufort liquor out by COP.

So, Mandeep, you're going to say something. You owe him an apology. I do. And I could lump myself. This is a crock right here. This is a joke. What do you mean, a crock?

You started it, put the foot to the pedal, and I was, yeah. Oh, you're just, like, yeah, I'll, I'll do it. You're excluding yourself from any and all this. Explain what you did. Well, I talked about some traditional food, and Mandeep sent out a text. It's going to be a month or more, probably August. Yeah. Because you were talking about food, food, and Mandeep said,

hey, you know what, sometime, if you ever come back to Calgary, my mom is well she'll put on a huge spread she's going to do it up right how spicy do you like it oh i like it's spicy yeah man deep damn right we're going to do this and then you did come back to calgary so this has been going on for this is months and months now this whole thing has been on the go quietly but on the go you come back man deep sends out a text to the group it's like retro you're back baby want to have you guys all over we're going to feed you we're ready it's going to be good and we ignored. There was no response to the text.

There was no response. You guys are ignorant. I'm stupid. Yeah, see? Not cool. Here it is. Let me know when you guys are. I want to come over for a family dinner.

My mom's going to cook some homemade East Indian. Let me know when you fellas can make it. Crickets. I still want to do it. First, I'm apologizing. There it is. It was not cool. Not cool.

It was not. cool, I'm going to look up the date on it. Yeah, when did he invite you to his family? September 5th. Oh, geez. Just a month. It's only a month ago. And not only have you not gone for the dinner, you haven't even responded.

Well, I didn't want to respond until I had my calendar sets because I'm very organized. So busy. Just waiting. Yeah. Because you do plan things so far out in advance. Man deep, we're sorry. And yes, we want to come out. Feel bad about it.

So here we are on a game. game day and I think we I'm going to throw it out there it looks like to me Sam Hansick has made the hockey club I think he is I think he's going to make and I think everybody is going to start here yeah he's going to start I don't know if he's an extra skater opening night or but he is going to be play him you know what he'll be doing drawing a full NHL wage next Wednesday yes that's right good for him I'm from the conversation we had after your Penn Tickton trip to now, it's quite a change.

It has, and I don't think it was three idiots seeing something that wasn't true. You know what I mean? We were not making up a bunch of BS. He wasn't noticeable enough, and now you've noticed them every game. Somebody from downtown's hood.

It's been one of our best players. Is that right? Because you had said yesterday, is he one of the best players, or is he on the score sheet? Because there can be a difference something. times. He's been playing with the high end players.

If you play in the NHL, you play with NHL talents. And what have you said? Sometimes that's easier. It is easier. It's way easier. You put a pass in their feet. Guess what they're doing.

You see some guys, I remember, and it's not like he had terrible points, but the first time I remember seeing it was Ryan Smith, went from Moose Jaw to the Oilers. And it was, this guy looks right at home.

What's the story? Well, he's playing with a high caliber of player. The passes are on the tape. The guys know where to be. So it would maybe this is the, he kind of talked about that too. Part of it was hadn't played for three months,

went to Pintyct and started playing games, had to play himself into shape a little bit. So you get into the NHL, or at least with NHL rosters, even though it's preseason. So it's higher in caliber guys and this and that. It's a bit of a shot against his old teammates in Pintyct in there, I guess, because they were,

but even there, he was starting to pick it up a little bit. So it's a great, it's awesome for him. And I know that obviously everyone over on Saddle Dome Way or whatever it is, they're very happy. Very happy. They are very happy. Well, because, and they should be. I don't know that if he was an off-the-board pick,

but it wasn't a consensus pick, I don't believe. And regardless, you had a mid-first-round pick. They need to turn out. If your approach to getting better is we're going to maximize our assets and make good draft picks and build from within, like you miss on first rounders. That's really extending the horizon event, whatever the hell you want to call it.

I'm not sure what you're saying. What it does, then it will advance the conversation. Okay, you're here. Now what are you? Your first round pick, are you a second line, or are your first line, or what are you going to be? But it does feel,

and it's the level of concern that there was for sure, but this is awfully quick for things to look like they've maybe gone south for a prospect. So good on him for shutting up all the critics to this point. And it's not confirmed, but players have been put on waivers and all of that. And it looks like they're going to get down to it. The waiver story, where are we here?

Walker Dewar Dryden Hunt. Jared Tenorty put on waivers. Not a real surprise. Now at the end of the last season, Hunt came in and played fairly regularly for the last month or so of the season. but they had traded some guys away. There was a lot of things going on. A lot of things going on there.

So there are three goaltenders. It would seem like Cooley's the guy there. On the back end, there's still a cut with Tenority going down. Feels like it'll be Hanley. Jake Bean, Braden Pahall in a mix for one or two spots there. And then up front, Colchwint, Coronado, Clapka, Hansick, those are the guys. guys that are left there. So they'll trim a little bit and be ready for Wednesday.

I don't think they keep three goaltenders. There was some thought about that. I can't imagine. Why would you do it? I don't know. You, it's cool you have to do waivers and? Yep. Sorry, kid.

Love your interviews. Sorry about that. The, uh, some flames news that we can get into as we walk through opening statement. It'll take a bit away from the Pinder report because we do talk about. it there, but we're not going to talk about it. We're talking about it. I guess we're talking about it. We're not going to talk about it, Jack. McLeod Law, our good

buddies, our great partners. McLeod Law, LLP. Any idea what that stands for? Libby-Lubba Long lost pal. Like old flames. Peter Klein

over there. He's doing great work. So busy. Griding away, Shane King, partner in the litigation and dispute resolution group. Austin over there, this big wrestling guy. We'll text him, what did you see? I can't believe the Miz turned on.

I can't believe that happened. Shane King, partner, litigation dispute resolution group, specializing in areas like employee rights. If you've been laid off or terminated, that can be tough, it can be hard. Then on top of that, was it done correctly? Did you get the treatment you deserve?

We'll figure it out. Maybe not. We're not looking to be upset the apple cart, but maybe just maybe. you deserve a little bit better treatment, as the law requires, you could say. MacLeod-Dashlaw.com is the website. Whatever your challenge is, business or personal,

they're in it with you. Calgary people helping Calgary people. Good folks over McLeod Law. I'm pretty sure the Longshoreman called. He got to get involved in that big. Oh, is that right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Long distance. Well, they know where to turn for it. Speaking of long, long distance is like Casey Kaysam with the long distance dedications. High from Belize City, go flames go. Hello, Tim. Belize City.

Where do you think of that is? No, you're just making that up, Tim. Tim. Are you really there? Can you send a photo? Can we put the photo on? Feels kind of. Belize?

Raggy? No, it feels kind of specific. It does. You're like, hi from Paris. Oh, okay. Paris sure you are Belize City is it a real thing you googling I'm Googling

it's definitely a real thing it's just are you actually in Belize city there it is it is police city it's nice it's on the water it's not a dry heat you can't go there I'll just stay inside

so it's by Guatemala Honduras I was in Honduras I was it Honduras you were not Honduras where was I you wouldn't have made it out it's no i was i kind of uh what on our cruise we went to uh where is roatan yeah go go go go go up up there uh jack fine but where's rotan there can you see it it's somewhere in there i was in rotan where you yeah yeah i don't really see it right now though

that's that's a chair it's like a wicker no no no rat Yes, it is. That's Ratan, I believe. The flames signing. What? Yep. Well, this is the flames we're going to talk. Okay.

You ready for it? Tell me. There's the contract. This is the contract. They faxed it over. No, it's the real one. Connie just said, you can have it. I don't care.

Flame signed Tyson-Berry, defenseman, one-year deal, $1.25 million. I'll take it to. Sign me up. Connie. Same deal. Are you going to be, I'll run the power.

I'll run the penalty. Yeah. I'll do the penalty. Oh, okay. You'll be elite on the PK like Huska said. He's elite on the power. He's 33 years old, set to enter his 14th season. Good for him.

505 points in 809 games. Let's go back. So we'll talk about last season in a moment. Go back to 22, 23, was in Edmonton, then was traded to Nashville in the Mattias Ekholm. Matias Ekholm? Trade. And that year between.

the two, the numbers went down because he was power play guy, 55 points that season between the Preds and the Oilers. Then last year hits, didn't play as much. 41 games, 15 points. That's when, because Pinder brought his name up kind of over and over again. Bruno didn't want him. I guess. I guess.

So just 15 points in 41 games. So games played and points per game. He is here. Why is he here? I think that's the number one question. I think a lot of people are fine with it. They get it. Some are saying, why bother when it's the year that it is?

It's a development year. And you now sign a 33-year-old to play. You've got space. If he turns out, you can move him. You don't have, he is a good power play asset. And I'll just say this. Who are the three guys that you said we're going to be in the fight for two spots? Jake Bean, I think the hall's there.

Jake Bean, but Joel Hanley. My point being, do you need to see these three? Yeah. Play that. If you had the kid, the first rounder, and you were considering keeping him around and having him take a stab at running your power play, okay, sorry, Barry, you, we can't keep you around. You're taking up that, his space.

And I guess who's, whose space out of those three is, whose ice time is Barry chewing in on? And you're, I didn't realize this until I think it was West Gilbertson had put in a, in a tweet yesterday. Joel Hanley's 33 years old. So even if if it's Hanley over Barry, that's kind of the same thing. It's an older guy taking up. That's where I thought about it because I said that myself.

I said, why do we need Barry? Well, they're not letting any kids play in that position. Yeah. There's no one what's being 26ish. Paul is 25. Jake Bean would be about the same. And the same, but the point being 26.

They aren't a bunch of infants that are trying to. find their way and need to be nice time like if they play well they'll get in and there's a gap from 25 26 to brisdevich at 19 there's there's there's a gap there and if just take it all away

age regardless who's going to be the power play guy Anderson has tried it from time to time it's not really a secondary a natural fit yeah power play guy the guy would be maybe McKenzie weger and I don't see him as I know he had a ton

points and goals last year. I don't see him as a pure power play guy. No. And maybe it's to his credit because he does so much more. Well, I was going to say, I think his minutes played are going to be significant. So if you could save a minute or two here and there from power

play where you're not out there, maybe So that's why they've got them. All right. It's not hard. All right. Question here from Mr. Public Payne. Tenor d'ority on waivers after being signed, lull. I think that he was he was signed kind of the whole time to be in the American

hockey league. I don't think there was any elute because it was a two-way deal. I think it was to have a guy in the system available to you that plays big, that's physical. He's not a heavyweight, but he'll he'll scrap. He'll be physical. He's he's not a tremendous defender from what we've seen in the preseason. He's going to be a wrangler. And that's what they signed them for. Yeah. If he came in and wowed them, we got to keep this guy.

I'm sure they've been all right with it, but I, again, I feel like that was probably part of the plan. And I feel like, because another question, isn't he kind of old? You're not,

the American hockey league can't all be 18, right? 19, 20, 21 year old that you've just drafted that are all pure prospects. You have to fill out the roster. It's a professional league. It's,

and how many defensemen? do you have? Do you have just boodles of them? It's you build out a team and and part of it there too is protect some of those younger guys too. No, that's just it. If they're around.

And it's okay for those teams to be good. Sure. I don't know the Torni makes them good. Yeah. But playing on a good team, whether it's in the NHL, WHL's a lot more fun and enjoy.

enjoyable. You learn. I mean, you can learn from losing team too, but if you're getting curb stomped and December comes right, well, get me out here. Right. Like, and it's going to sound like a shot. Brett Sutter played for the Wranglers. His days as a prospect, we're over. It's just having veteran guys, kind of like a old Crash Davis with Nuke Lulooosh. Yes. That's right. The Rose goes to the front. You know who nuke is? you know nuke no he's new oh man great show for this we'll sit yes we'll sit down we'll you know why we could do it here is it get together we could do it here yeah get some corn we're gonna be here tomorrow red are you coming what are we doing tomorrow we're doing some working here no oh i got a full day what if it was i got a full day we got food coming in and we're going to watch baseball then maybe yeah pop bye shit see that's what approach it should have been. We got a bunch of wheel coming in.

We talked about Matt Rose is going to send in some pizza and some wonton soups and stuff. It's going to be great. We're going to watch baseball. You in? Oh, yeah. He gets here and there's just paint cans and brushes. You lion's So that's, yeah, I mean, that's it.

They'll play tonight. Barries in. I never, it seemed like that's where it was going anyway. Yep. Because as you said, you're kind of buying a draft pick potentially. If it doesn't work out. That would be perfect. Like, again, it's the Cozmanco.

Cusmanco. Yes. It's the Cozmanco thing where it's like, go dominate, give her. 50 points, absolutely. And that's kind of the same for Anthony Mantha. There was some kind of grumbling at the time. You got, all these kids,

what do you bring it in for? Oh, he's a veteran guy. Can I ask. Who are all these kids? Because we're happy that Hansik is knocking on the door. Coronado is slowed down. Peltje's name is not being mentioned. Who are the rest of these kids that?

Well, I think even that would be, you'd rather, a lot of fans would rather see, especially in this type of a year. Why, Matt, put Coronado in, regardless of how his three season has been, let him play. Yeah, okay, okay. Because we are talking about how it's easier.

at the NHL level to play with NHL players. Maybe that's what. Yeah. But I don't think it's a huge blow to his development if he starts in the American hockey. If he plays half the games up here, that's plenty. Yeah. He's not 26. He's a young lad.

Yeah. He's, uh, there's a chance. I'll raise shots coming in. Here we go. Manta has a very low gas meter. It is. The only, they give a crap meter. He's even.

and showing it in preseason. He's that big body guy that you want more from all the time. And because he's big, you notice when he's not involved. Exactly. I was going to say he's what. It's a detriment for him. Yeah. His biggest,

one of his best assets is also one of the things that make you notice how. Anyway. Yeah. It looks especially like there's a low effort level when you're that big and you take up that kind of space. Yeah. And in the event that you ever do floor it, It's like, oh, look at this guy.

Where's this? And then you settle back in. Well, where is, go on. I know you can do it. Ah, we'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. And you mentioned Peltze. He is somewhere in this mix.

The smart money somewhere in there would think he's going to be a winger on the fourth line. Maybe he sits one night. Klopka doesn't need waivers. Maybe he goes down, but comes back up, Hansick. Regardless, you don't want to lose Pell-Cay. We may laugh five years down the road and be what were you ever worried about. Kind of what we did with Yoni-R-Tor.

But I just, there's no need for it. The worry is that he's a first, again, a first-round kid that you're hoping, now I could punch up his numbers, doesn't matter. He had good numbers in the American way. Did he not? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

But it's just an asset that if he doesn't, turn out, you've wasted a pick. And I mean, you hate saying it sounds terrible, but it's true. It's a first round pick. You can't expedite success if you don't hit on those picks. And, you know, Valamaki, what is he? I don't know. But he certainly shouldn't have been dumped on the waiver heap.

Well, at risk. Yeah. And I was thinking about this the other day. And I hadn't really thought about it because of the Valamacki. in the Peltche thing when we were talking to Matt Sakeris out of Vancouver. And he was talking about Raspus Anderson. Well, remember how they got Rasmus Anderson with that second round pick that the Canucks gave him for Sven Berci. If it doesn't work out, you can trade him potentially.

You can try and boost his value, put him on the power play at some points and then trade him out. If you're not convinced he's not going to be a piece of your future, that's fine. But, man, to build a hell. Yeah. Listen, kid, I'm going to play the piss out of you for a month. You're on the power play. You're playing 20 minutes. And we're, you don't want to tell them.

You're a gala. That's an extreme. It worked out very well for Calgary. But it's a similar thing. You had a first round pick in Berci who wasn't quite what you thought he was going to be. You got something for him as opposed to just dumping him on waiting. Exactly. And that's asset management.

And Conroy has talked about that. It's as much that as it is while he's a first rounder, He has to be a point producer. It's, it's asset management. Don't lose them for nothing. Because you'd be damn pissed off. He turned out to be even a Paul Byron.

Sure. Yeah. Are you going to be a checker and a very good penalty killer? Around and be a third line guy. And we've got nothing for you. Yeah. It's bad asset management. We're really going.

It's like we're taking calls today. The delusion that Barry is worth a pick is hilarious long. Maybe. Yeah, it might be. but I'll say this. It's not my money. It's not costing me any money. And if the

downside is Hanley or Tenority or Jake Bean. And you can't play out every scenario and every, like, right now, you're right. What happens in Toronto if two defensemen get hurt? I don't know why I'm using it. What happens? Like,

guys get hurt on teams that want to win. Yeah. If he's playing decent, if he's not in your lineup and not playing at all, you can't turn him into anything. So I'm just, so there, not everybody is in the same,

they're not sharing necessarily our way of thinking when it comes to Barry. There's all kinds out there. And they might be right. Doubtful. But I don't think, where's your downside? There's very little risk.

Zero. Yeah. Someone's going to pay him a salary. And that's it. and if it's a if it's a gong show you can get them out of here we're going to pay you but you're going to have to not play and I think fans either way

will be okay with that so yeah I think that about it. Hey Jack feel good about it? How do you feel about it? Very good. All right. Yeah. All right. Why? What squish us down right on the P? Well, you're going to give me a new one? I'm going to. I'm not criticizing Jack at all today.

It's a Friday. Great weekend coming up. Hawaiian shirt day. It is Hawaiian shirt day. You look very professional. Look like a Yankees skipper. I kind of forgot to take my jacket off because it is a little chilly in here. And you walked in with no jacket today. What are you doing?

I'm all in, I'm into the cold, the thermogenes. Yeah. That's the nice thing about living here. I don't have a cold tub. Well, for half the year you don't need it, really? You could just stand out on your back porch if you'd like. I'd enjoy the wind. That's right.

So yeah, Pinder Report. Coming up, we'll do that. Got our bets coming in. Oh, yes. Got our bets. Had a big win last night. I was, I felt good about it because I had the box of plus two and a half and they were leading pretty much the entire way. And then they weren't leading.

Oh. Then it was tied and then it was over. They were a little shell shocked, I think. That shot at Baker, Mayfield just sitting there. What happened? You played a hell of a kid. We scored a lot of points here. I don't know what else we needed to do, fellas.

What are we doing here? It was nice to see Pete Alonzo. Big man. I like that the heavy, slightly balding white guy still has a place in the world, you know? There's still a use for the... What is he a potts? I don't know.

Is he a putz, Jack? What do we know about the polar bear? Pete Alonzo? Yeah. He's got a baseball. I don't know if he's a potts. Yeah. Who told you he's a pot?

I just, those home run derbies, he looks like a real dufus. Even his running down the first baseline. It's okay, it's not pretty good. Swings a bat, pretty good for a guy who doesn't necessarily appear to be all that athletic. Swing in a bat. Swing in the bat. Why is he called the polar bear? Because he's a beat along.

He's a big white guy. I don't know. Any other questions, John? no okay good no baseball today what the age it's the playoffs get cracking i guess they have to think about their i guess i think about those wild card teams if they played yesterday at least have them give them a day to travel to get to where they need to go disagree no no all right don't go to the wild card yeah be better get home field did you watch that game last night i didn't i went i turned the football game on and as i was watching football i said to billy bob we should be

Maybe watch the baseball and I flipped over and it was over. Too bad. Because if you had a caught at the right time, very excited. It was everything that was good about baseball. Except for the home team fans. That stunk for them. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Bit of a. Yeah. There again, it was going really well. Real well. Lots of fun. Yep.

So no fun at all. Party zone. Yeah. We're going to do a little something here for Alberta Blue Cross. Our partners at Alberta. Blue Cross, they're taking care of you. They're good people. And it's the Alberta Blue Cross meaningful moment of the week. If you're planning a trip, make sure you remember to pack travel insurance from Alberta Blue Cross. When you've got Canada's most trusted travel insurance in your

back pocket, you can focus on making the right kind of memories while you're away. Visit ab. dot blue cross.ca slash travel for more information. Now, this was, it's just a screenshot. I couldn't find video necessarily, and it doesn't really matter because it's not about that. Preseason game in Columbus last night. And it's just a shot of the opening face off. And that is Kevin Hayes of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sean Monaghan of the Blue

Jackets. And as we know, both were very close with Johnny Goddrow. Kevin Hayes, he lost his brother a few years ago, so there's been tragedy around him. But specifically those two guys would have been connected here for quite a long time. And I think it's kind of neat because I don't think that's by accident. Maybe it is. But I almost wonder if there is a bit of a collaboration there between the two teams

to let those guys go out and take that opening face off for whatever it is. But it's been a few weeks, but man, it's still. It still feels so heavy and so hard to wrap your head around. And we're seeing little things. I know that their goaltender has the number 13 on his mask. Johnny would always eat the plain pasta. He's got a little bowl of pasta kind of painted onto the side of the mask. So it's pretty cool.

And I thought that was just little things can sometimes mean a lot. And that's our meaningful moment of the week for Alberta Blue Cross. Again, if you're on a trip, you're heading out. Make sure you pack travel insurance from Alberta Blue Cross. It's Canada's most trusted travel insurance, and you can focus on just having a good time, making memories while you're away. Website again, ab.

bluecross.cross.ca slash travel for more information. We'll do the Pinder Report. We'll get into, we talked about baseball, we talked about football and all that. Now we'll really talk about it. Now we'll crush it. Oh, yeah. Because if you're like right,

if you miss the baseball, then who are you in luck? Are you in luck? Village Honda presents the Pinder Report. They're your dealership for life. Used vehicles. Galore. They've got a bunch of them on the lot and they've got a bunch more inside their dealership group. 500 or so vehicles inside the dealership group. It's why village Honda is truly your one-stop automotive destination in Calgary.

Located in the Northwest Auto Mall. It's the Pinder Report. Ryan Pinder, Ryan Pindo. Ryan Pindo. How's it on it today? How's it feels? Feel good? Yeah. Still a little quiet, but. It sounds quiet. Is it quiet on the stream? You might have to go in and I got to adjust it on that. You got to jimmium. Give him the old.

Boost. You got to boast it up. That's right. We've kind of just gotten into all of the flame stuff. So again, Tyson Barry signs, one year deal, Flames game date, Winnipeg Jets. This is the final preseason game. Season starts next Wednesday in Vancouver. The home opener is next Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The season actually starts today, right? I don't know if you knew that. Today? Prague. Oh. Your alma mater? Not really right. The Buffalo Sabres taking on the New Jersey Devils.

There it is. The global series presented by Fastenol. Free plug, I guess. So they'll play today, and they play tomorrow. I'm not a fan of that jersey. Jersey. The jersey, yeah. Because then they had the hat,

just says hat on it, kind of a tongue-in-cheek because a lot of people looked at and said, well, what are you doing with these, with these things? So, yeah, Jacob Markstrom, his first, he'll get his career as a devil underway. Prague's a great town from what I've been told. Have you been?

I've been, but. It feels like a move on kind of a thing. Okay, today is a big day for fans of the National Hockey League. face off inside the NHL, the behind the scenes. Oh, we're following teams. They're wearing microphones exclusive. Unparalleled access to these players. And it launches today on Prime Video.

All six episodes will be available. They put the teaser out. A couple weeks ago, we played the teaser. A few more little snippets starting to trickle out. Here's a look, a little bit more. This is after game two of the Cup. final, Oilers having just lost to the Panthers, and Captain Connor McDavid is spicy. Right now! Right now! Right now! Now!

Not fucking out we know, but it's happened so many times! That's not fucking good enough! But that's final! Thing the fucking in! Right now! Whatever the fuck you have! That's not fucking good enough! Let's go get one. a fucking win at home. One win and we'll see what happened.

But dig the fucking in. And they would go and get a win. No, they didn't. Oh, they would get a win at home. Oh, they did get one. Yeah. And then force the game seven. So that's,

I mean, that's, you know, fans love that stuff. When you get that kind of access, good, the curtain guy came over. Yes, there's a great job. Hey, hey, um, I'd like that if then you see just this arm from the camera guy come out, open the curtain again.

Actually, it's all access. I'm with Bezos. Excuse me, sir. So there you go. That is, that's coming out. Face off inside the NHL. Will you watch? No.

Not because I don't like it. It's too emotional. Is it? No. Okay. I don't have time to sit around and watch TV. Busy. busy not coming here.

Yeah, I got practices. I'm giving back to the community. Saturday afternoon, I'll be down at the dome, doing something. I don't know what it is. Right. Or what time. People want to, is it PTSD?

Oh, there's some of that for sure. Tough to watch. Locker room stuff. Used to be. There are some. Some people in the media that have seen it, they had the exclusive early access. And just everybody seems to think this is really great. How do you follow it up?

Or do you? I think you just keep doing more. It's kind of like hard knocks. I didn't like the Bears one this year. I didn't think it was very good. The last one was what, Dan Campbell with the and the lions. And the lions. That was entertaining.

I went back. I watched the John Gruden, Antonio Brown, Raiders one. There's a lot going on there. You're at the mercy of it's kind of reality TV and you can edit it for effect, but you're still kind of left with, are you guys entertaining at all? Is there anything there? Or is it just blank screens around the room? There's some blank screens. There are some blank screens. Not a lot of guys challenging McDavid there. No.

Hey, we are good enough. We were playing hard. Why don't you try harder? The good and the bad. Conner's the bad cop. I'll be, I want to be the good cop. Well, maybe if you scored three goals today. Did you score? Hey? You're the captain. That's right. Okay, let's do some football. Atlanta, including last night, the Falcons, they've played five times. All five games have come down to the final few plays of the game. late fourth quarter. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They've been leading pretty much

in control. In control this football game. You can see it right there. They are up by a field goal. There's just under two minutes left. This is post two minute warning. Kirk Cousin's going to dial it up. Get it.

Don't do. Avanti David. Vante David gets the pick. But then they get the ball and they turn it back over. And then Atlanta goes all the way down. They get a quick spike of the ball. Zero's on the clock. Field goal.

Tied it. They win the coin toss, midfield Kirk Cousins. To Cadarral Hodge, Jets. Goodbye. Gone. And it was Drake London, who was injured on the previous play, took a helmet right in the Haribs. Hodge comes in for him.

He's fresh as a daisy. Mike, I feel great. I could go in, coach. And it looked like it. It's a 45-yard strike. as the Falcons come from behind and win it. So for everybody that had, what was it, plus two and a half for the bucks,

felt pretty good. Although the Mike Evans Anytime touchdown cashed twice in the first half. I forget what the other one was. Yeah, it doesn't matter. So how about it? Falcons are three and two. All five of their games have been decided by eight points or less.

Kirk, five hundred and nine passing yards. of yards most ever in falcons history he uh i think it was 503 was the recent marker the most uh overtime though cheater it's true yeah matt ryan who they put in the ring of honor or something at half time it was his record he'd been oh yeah sure show you do it in regulation big boy mlb wildcard three of the four wildcard series were sweeps there was one left and it was the met's and the brewers and it was a banger in Milwaukee one game winner take all to advance to the n lDS scoreless through six and a heart to the bottom seven pinch hitter jake bars gone part a day one nothing solo shot

sam fraylick is the next batter and in honor of derin detition back to back jacks And they are losing their bleep in Milwaukee to zip. However, to the ninth, a base hit, a walk, and a swing from Pete Alonzo. And it is gone. The ball is gone. The lead is gone. Three, two, Mets, they add another in that inning as Jesse Winker, the former Brewer would come in to score as well.

Chef's kiss. So there it is. A nice double play here. Pretty good play. Get them. And if you were watching it, because it all happened so in real time, so quickly, you feel for those fans. You are having one of the best nights in the ballpark.

You're texting, you're taking videos. You can't believe I'm here. This is the best ever. And then right in the took us there. Pete Alonzo is the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead home run while trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner take-all playoff game. And what did you say he is? Pete Alonzo, he's a what? A polar bear.

No, it's not what you said. A putts. Yes, that's what you said. It's not very nice. So how about it? They move on. And I'll fall ball. I don't think we have a stinker in the group here.

No, you don't. No baseball today, as we've kind of talked about already. But tomorrow, all four. Because we're going to order food and sit here and watch the games. Love to have you. The Royals, they will take on the New York Yankees. That game goes at 4. Is that 438?

Is that right? I'll check it again. Yeah, it might be right. Why not? Well, it's just I wrote it down first. Yeah, 438 Mountain Time. So Tigers Guardians, Detroit and the Cleave will go at 1108, Mets, Phillies, 208, Royals, Yankees, 438, Padres, Dodgers, 638.

Beauty. Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets. Guardians are real good. Tigers are red hot. the Yankees and the Royals. Pretty good. Pretty good. And no more of this, best the three.

Yeah, we're playing real ball. We're going to play. We're going to let them play. Seven or five? Yep. Also, before we move on, I want to tell you about Cavalry FC.

Last game. There's a bit of a chill in the air. Crisp. But that's all right. That's perfect. You just put on a little, a little kind of a cardigan or something. This little hoodie.

You could wear those, you know, the scarfs that they, you can wear that scarf and enjoy yourself. Three games remain in the CPL regular season for Calvary. Calvary. They have a road game tomorrow, Pacific FC. So far this year, a win and a pair O'Draws against Pacific. There are one point back of Atletico Auto Off for second spot in the sand in the standings. Pretty amazing.

They had that run of draws early in the season. A lot of draws. Oh, the thing about drawn is you're not. losing. Not losing. They've played 25 games. They have four losses. Not many. Nine, 12, and four. In soccer, they kind of spin that. So four losses.

The fewest in the entire league. And then next weekend, the 12th, it's the final home game. It's fan appreciation night at Atko as the Halifax how wanderers come to town. And I didn't realize this until I got kind of sniffing around. Cavalry has their season ticket. it's on sale for next year. It's also the 50th anniversary

of Spruce Meadows. Oh, I wouldn't realize. I, yeah. So it's like, it's been long, around a lot longer. It does. 50 years and because of that, Spruce Meadows, it's going to be a celebration.

There's going to be special stuff going on all season long. And just being a season ticket, you're part of what's, you're part of the movement. You're part of what's going on. We've talked about it. Being at a Cavalry game, it's a unique sporting experience. 15 home matches up to 20%

in savings versus single match pricing. Discount on merchandise. You get an exclusive season ticket holder scarf. So, I mean, you feel, you feel, you're talking like you're a part of it. You feel like you're part of it for sure. Get yours or find out more

info at Cavalry's website. If you just go Cavalry, F, C, Cavalry, you just Google it. you're going to find it. Because there is a dot CP, that sort of thing. If you just go, I can't figure it.

You'll find it. You'll figure it all in that home. Did I, what else did I have in the old, uh, the driver Rooney there, Jack, did I have anything else?

Because I know I had some, again, the lines. I know I had my, uh, that, that's all I, but I got it.

computer. All right. Well, screw. Cause I did grab something else. I guess I didn't put it in. Didn't forgot again. I guess so.

It happens. Because you got to get it. Then you got to get it. then you got to do it, then you got to transfer. Do it and then you transfer it. And it's transferred on my computer. Then I got to put it in the drive. It wasn't so great anyway.

It wasn't a snake or a gator or anything. Pelican? Nope. So that's the Pinder report for today. Quick and dirty, quick and easy for Village Honda. New Instock inventory. They got the pilots. I'm just trying to think.

Everybody knows how. You love the. It's Philich Honda. The pilot's amazing. They redesigned. You were there, we remember we did the, when they pulled the unveiled. Drapes off. Yeah, the big black bed sheet.

Bed sheet? Is that what it is? I don't. Anyway, it was fancy. And we were there to kind of make it not as fancy. Make it more fancy. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So you can check that out for sure. We'll do our picks coming up. At the end of the. program, Ryan Pinder before he left for his extended vacation, had a sit down with Western Hockey League Commissioner Dan Nier. The extension of the extended summer vacation. Yeah, I mean, July, August, and September, not quite enough time off.

It's only three months. Grab another couple weeks or so in October. Really kind of take care of yourself. When's he back? He'll be back. He's back Monday. so I hope I think so bad without him

I don't know yeah it's it's probably right not in my world less of him means more of me and more of you and that's I don't know what he's doing have you heard from him I worked with him yesterday

did you yeah he found Wi-Fi yeah barely he looked like shit he did or they feed the stream both yeah yeah lots of energy was there no no because it's middle of the night there or something he even he knows he shouldn't be

doing it yeah oh i agreed to this yeah i'm i'm totally in can i not be there for the first two of them yeah that'd be how long how long can i take off yeah and like the kids just started school too right that would be believe so yeah advanced those kids are advanced private tutors just tell the the tutor we're going to be away yeah and they probably traveled with the tutor

yeah probably uh so well yeah the conversation with Dan Neer coming up at the end of the program which uh did you say who Dan Neer is Commissioner of the Western Hockey League

he took over for Ron Robeson and well Ron Robeson was there for 24 years and then There was a switch. And then Dan Neer took over in February of this year. And there are some things going on. There's a push.

A push for change. There's a, well, you can't, if you're making money, which you do in the Western hockey league, although it's not a lot of money. It's,

what would guys get paid a couple hundred bucks a month? If you were a 20 year old kind of thing. Yeah. So you're a pro. So now you can't play college hockey or anything. And it's like, really? Are we?

Wow, and then they change the rules down there. Anyway. Yeah, there's a real push for change. And Pinder and Dan, we'll get into that in a matter of moments. The, our buddy, Justin with Vina Nova. I wondered how he's doing. Well, I. Is he fully moved or is this still ongoing?

No, it's November 1st. Okay, so we got a while. Yeah, November 1st, Market Mall, the new location of Vena Nova. They've been in the Stephen Avenue place. Time for a move for a lot of people. I think it's going to be easier access. I don't know if it's bad. It's not less construction.

Yeah. Easier for many to access. Significantly increased hours in the mall and just better. And he says here, he wants to thank the Barnburner community for the continued support. So good on you Barnburner, fellas and ladies for taking our advice and running with it. It's lab grown diamonds. maybe when we started talking about Lab Grown, I don't even know what this is,

but I think if you start looking around, yeah, this is really kind of a thing now. Yeah, it is. The savings on Labgrown over mine diamonds is significant. I don't know why you'd do it any other way.

I wouldn't. I'd go see Justin, have him walk me through it. That's right. November 1st. Maybe we should go over and see the new place. In November? Or before to help?

No, no. You're doing all this work. I thought maybe you'd go help. No, no. He would hire professionals. to do it so we'd be getting in their way. But I'm thinking we could probably go in and just say hi. Christmas will be coming.

Yes. So congrats to Justin Ofer at Fiener Nova. It's awesome. We'll take some, and again, that will be starting next week. I'll throw this out again. I have not really touched base with anybody. But I have reason to believe that all of our insiders are back for the upcoming hockey season. despite me not reaching out in any way shape or more.

There's a saying about assuming. I don't know what it means. I don't know. I'm sure it's fine. Why wouldn't they want to come back and talk to us every week? More pender if not. It's all good. And the insider and guest hotline on the program,

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I don't know how you'd prove it. It's like, hi, Crystal Waters. This is Bill 2 Willinger. Barn burner. I don't know if you just kind of throw it out there. I heard on the barn burner with Tom Selleck and the fat guy. They were talking about getting my furnace looked at. Do it now.

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you've got when something goes wrong you got a guy you got the right choice with crystal waters your crystal clear choice 403 21940100 and crystal clear gallery dot com let's do our let's do our picks uh i was going to abandon all hope oh and and go with a completely new kind of a system for our picks but it was a decent week last week didn't go you know i had the box last night but We're going to just continue to, we're continuing with the method. The approach. Yeah. It's Bet365.

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whatever the sport, whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet, 365. So we get into it for week number five, which officially kicked off last night. Who's first? Do we have the standings or do we don't have the standings? It's not, I mean, no. I'm in first, Ryan's and last. Weird other guy keeping the counts. Right.

So you get just get rid of all this stuff, hey? You said you see your OCD? Yeah, like RJ will put stuff in my folder and, then yeah, I got to clear it out. It just drives me nuts. Even the stuff that you know will come up again, like the jack-onometer. Yeah. I wish there was a place where I could just go find it, but I don't.

Just throw it in my folder. Yeah, maybe I'll do that. Just throw it in my- because I can handle clutter. Yeah. Or we could make a folder. Yeah. It's just like a keeper folder. Oh.

So it can be out of your day-to-day, but stuff like flame schedules, jack-o-o-meter. They just exist there forever. They just exist there. And then when they're updated. they're already in there. I don't know what the hell you people are talking about. Idea guy. That is a good idea.

Right. You're first. All right. Let's do it. Well, let's go. Oddly enough, I'm going with the bills.

Oh, my goodness, really. I don't know how or why. They got stomped the last game, but for some reason I'm going to go with the bills. Everybody loves a heartbreak. Can we talk about this game? Sure. This feels,

I get the Texans. are they're a good football team. Supposed to be. Right? But I don't, I think that Mixon is out again this week. It's a pretty good running back. I think Tank Dell is coming back.

Nico Collins has been great. But if not for what happened to the bills last week, what would this line be? Yes, they're on the road. Yes, Houston is, but it was Josh Allen MVP, Bills, unbeat.

This team's a juggernaut. They're scoring 40 points a week. I just wonder what the story would be if they didn't weigh in a game. different and that's because they would have gone into Baltimore and had a big win so they would have answered a lot of questions but they didn't and

hence questions arise and I don't know what the Texans are. Are they like they're supposed to be good? Yeah I think they are good. Yeah. Yeah. Well we'll find out. Are they good enough to beat the bills? No. All right.

No, they're not. I'm glad we talked about it. Yeah. The commanders. Somebody said yesterday I think that the commanders are really good. Well, hence I'm taking... You asked about it and they're a wagon. Yeah. And the Browns, are they a wagon?

No, they're not. Oh, they're not. No. Hence, my choice with Washington. And the Colts, they beat the Steelers. They can certainly beat Jacksonville. So I'm going Colts. Is it going to be Flacco?

Do we know that yet? I'm praying. I'm not sure. And is Jonathan Taylor playing? he is out Taylor is out didn't know that but I'm trusting in Jacksonville's

so Flacco and Trey Sermon will pick up where Richardson and Taylor left off of you have to trust in Jacksonville's shittery right that's what you need to do got it not a real word and that's what I'm doing you know I look because that commander's line

I'm with you the commanders have been putting up points galore and I don't think the browns are very good so trying to suck. What are you trying to do to me? What I see in here? What I don't know. I don't know.

But I feel like those are all. I love my picks. Good. Who's next, Jack? Who do you want to go next? You're at the controls. You can just throw it up there. You know what I'm doing?

I'm taking a little bit out of the Jack playbook from a week ago. Ugly board. That is ugly. Ugly board. Plug your nose and do it. The Jets and the Vikings, they're playing over in wherever. London or something.

Where are they playing? Zurich. London, yeah. Yeah. Swedes love. They really, Zurich, Sweden. It's the Vikings and the Jets.

The Vikings are the best thing in the world. They're the best. Best. Their quarterback's the best. The receiver's the best. It's the best. And the Jets, they lost last week. Terrible.

It's a Jets. Gives. Give me the Jets. Plus two and a half. It's not enough. It's not enough for that. You need a field goal. No, it's all right.

Tarnels over in Europe, just putting around eating croissants. Yep, cross-ons. The Baltimore Ravens are in Sincide. Do you see what the Ravens did to the bills last week? No, I just not bubbled. They're the greatest. You can't stop them.

They're running backs. Henry's running over guys. Lamar's looking better than he ever has. They got, you're not, try and shut down one receiver. You can't do it. They got a bunch of them. and the Bengals, they finally got a win,

but their season might be lost already. Give me the Bengals. Really? Plus two and a half. Two and a half. That's ugly. It's ugly. And the Denver Broncos at home.

I would feel better at two and a half. But what, you know what the Broncos have done? Last week they beat the jets, 10 to 9 in the rain, torrential downpour on the road. Week before that, they beat the box.

they beat the brakes off the bucks 26 to 7 they're rolling bo necks and the the broncos so courtlin sutton and giovante these guys are they're gross minus three give me the broncos the raiders are disarray with adams being upset the coach they're all infighting yeah they're not focused on the broncos they beat the browns last week but it was not super impressive so that's my ugly board that is my homage my homage my homage to Jack this week. This week, I'm on your bills, Red. Thank you.

Very ugly loss. So the Ravens got killed. They need to bounce back. One point isn't enough. Then I'm going to take the Packers in L.A. L.A., so many injuries, they are beat up. The Packers got love back last week. He looked pretty good.

Three points doesn't seem like enough there. The Packers on the road. And then this Ravens-Bangles game, the Bengals haven't impressed me at all. They beat the Panthers last week. The Panthers are dog shit. Ravens dominated Retsbills. Let's take care of the bangles,

put them at the bottom with the Browns, Ravens minus two and a half. So, you know, this board, this is what I would have chosen if I was just going to go, yes, because I agree. The Packers,

they were getting blown out, but then they came back. Love got into a rhythm there. Found a groove. Yeah, I have reason. And the Rams give up a lot. Minus three feels about right. And the Ravens,

yeah, sure, bangles aren't very good. So yeah, this is this feels like the right kind of card. But I went away from it because if it's got it's got a, I'm confused because you said you weren't going to go away from it. Then you had an ugly board. You kind of did go away. Well, I do kind of try and implement that. You don't know what the hell you're doing.

Clearly. I absolutely do. You got to have a plan. We'll talk about this on Monday after I run the table. All right. Well, we'll see. And here's Ryan's picks. He's also on the Packers at minus three.

Colts with the retro and then the Ravens. With you? With me? Might be a tough week for some separation unless you're me. Yeah, you can. I'm either getting left behind or I'm totally redeeming myself. Hey, listen, it's, it's fun. It's what it's all about. Now, the other thing is too, there's a few games this week.

We do the point spread. You can go in, it's called money line, which just means straight up. Take away the line altogether. Care about it. And the payout is going to be a little bit different. But there are some money lines that look pretty, pretty sweet this week. Enticing?

Yeah, pretty sweet this week. So you can go and again, the props, all of that. There's nothing better than game day and having Bet365 on your phone or your tablet and playing along as the day goes along. Bet 365, the world's largest sports betting platform. Download the app today. FN bonus when you sign up, whatever the sport, whatever the moment, it's the name. or ordinary at bed 365. We can pivot.

We can pivot here. That was done. That was done. This is another howdy. Hey, from Ang Tong, Thailand. I'm not buying it. No? Nope.

But their name is Canadian refugee in Thailand. What time is it in Thailand? Because if it's the middle of the night, then I'm with you. I'm saying, poppy con. Isn't poppycock like a treat? It was, yeah. It's kind of like the caramel popcorn with nuts. Kind of like.

Christmasy thing. Yeah. You like that, Jack? Do you like poppycock? You know what I like right now? My kid, my middle guy, big popcorn fan, makes it himself. And then I get to enjoyable. So gets off the couch last night.

Mm-hmm. Here they air. Popper turn on. He's making corn. Really? Hey, kid. Big pop a pump here. Gonna need a bowl.

Awesome. And he ain't shy with the butter. I was going to say, then they could. He ain't shy with the butter. Mmm. Yeah, my kid is, it's still the least resistance. This is the path he goes.

So it's a microwave. And then if there's no microwave popcorn, he'll get the hot air popcorn. And they're the same thing. It's about two cents of popcorn and $9 of butter. Just a son. And then as I come down in the morning, of course, none of it's been put away. And there's the measuring cup with dried butter.

There's about $2 worth of butter sitting in there. You don't need to, could you figure it out? God. And we'll end with a long distance dedication here. Hey, Joe Jay. who is this person he's uh he's a father of uh my oldest kids well i coached his kid last year you go back in buffalo hey ret i miss you hopefully you come back to visit soon are there plans to go back to lots of plans always plans not the problem plans are no problem i it's like 1130 p m in thailand so could be

it's possible it's possible it is absolutely possible send picks i don't believe it so there you go Lee's California dude looking for I'm already looking forward to next week because it's we're kind of back into it we're gonna have Monday Tuesday a little slower or whatever but you know we're going to have matters it's going to be time for our predictions

oh bold well there's bold predictions we're talking about you know doing the the barn bird of the time capsule we'll take some takes and dig a hole and throw them in there and then we'll pull them up after 82 games and just see how smart we are might be some entertainment there but yeah it's and then the games start we'll be right back into it our insiders are back

pender's back games are back football's in full swing baseballs rolling baseball's gone it is the you could argue it's kind of the best time of year it is good you got everything going games matter in the NFL they certainly matter in baseball and everyone's got hope in the NHL their team's going to be great this year awesome be so good this year what could possibly go wrong I can't wait for some predictions. It's going to be fun. Are you going to write any down or kind of think about them ahead of time or just roll in. That's not predicting.

Okay. It's not predicting? That's analyzing. Okay. See, you and Pinder got it all backwards. You do a bunch of homework on this stuff. That's not predicting. That's analyzed.

I think it's just preparation. It's not a lot of homework. It's just kind of, okay, I'm going to do this and this and this. No, you're wrong. Jack, are you going to take part in the, uh, I will, yeah. Am I allowed in? Shit, yeah. I got some good predictions.

Do you? Yeah. I believe it. It's got a pee on his hat. It says prediction. That's what that's pee for prediction. There you go. There you go.

So we'll wrap up the show today. A conversation. It's from the Crystal Waters. Guest hotline. Our Ryan Pinder visiting with the commissioner of the Western Hockey League, Dan Neer. Well, Dan, it was November 30th, 2023, not even a year. Wow. Has it felt like a year plus?

How's the commissioner of the WHL adjusting? tell you what some days it feels like it's been about 30 days and other days like 30 years um you know there's a lot to learn there's a lot to figure out but wow what a league what a great group of people and uh and i'm thrilled to be here yeah and man a lot of exciting things happening with the league lots to get to we appreciate you taking some time from uh father david bower down at the league's office to join us on barn burner today i want to get to the news of what feels like uh the month of the week the developmental pathways in hockey are very well established and there's major junior and there's college

and there's all kinds of other leagues players can come up through but it seems like we're about to see a seismic shift in the way that players can develop and the roots that they can take Braxton Whitehead, a player for the Regina Pats, is committed to ASU for the 2025 season and you've got Lucas Sauchick who is going to move from the USHL to the oil kings but wants to remain committed to Denver University.

How many phone calls have you got over the last month and how big of a change is this for the developmental pathways for the NHL? Well, it's a great question. And it's certainly an exciting time. It's a time of uncertainty. But I think it's a time of optimism when you think about the development path

that's available for players these days. And I think that I should be clear that nothing has changed actually right now. everything that you've talked about, everything that you're seeing, is rooted in speculation and anticipation of what different people and different ends of the hockey industry think are going to happen. Here at the Western Hockey League, I think what's important for us is that we cement ourselves as the best possible place for a Western Canadian or someone in the Western part of the United States to develop between 16 and 20 years old. And so you talk about Whitehead, who has played a great career with the Regina Pats from Alaska, is graduating probably isn't prepared to play pro or move on to the professional level. It has an aspiration to go play in the NCAA.

Well, I got great news for you, Braxton. You have earned by virtue of completing your tenure here in the WHL, a scholarship that can be used at any institution in Canada and the U.S. And by the way, you've now got an opportunity potentially to go play hockey there. contingent on the eligibility rules changing. I see this is a good thing for athletes. And I think if you look at it and say, well, at 16 or at 15 or even at 14, we're currently asking athletes to make a really tough decision based on this ecosystem.

I think that the potential evolution or the potential change that would allow every kid in that age group, who's of the top caliber who wants to potentially pursue the dream of playing in the National Hockey League, at the U-Sports level or potentially in the future at the NCAA level, yeah, come on up to the Western Hockey League because, boy, we do it right for the players. We create an incredible environment. We create an incredible education ecosystem. And that's really important to us.

It really is about the players. So it's fascinating. And you noted this is all speculation. But, I mean, we're seeing things we've never seen in terms of players that have accrued committing to U.S. programs. And the sense is that people believe that likely the representatives of these players believe there's strong enough legal ground where if they have to go to court to fight for their right to play NCAA hockey after playing in the CHL, they believe they'll win. I think it's a huge one for players. I agree with you.

Does the Western League or the NCAA have a feel like, yes, we want this, no, we want this, we don't want this, or is it more just like? like these are players' rights and the representatives are going to pursue what they want? It's a fair question. I don't know that it matters what we want, right? If you think about the changing landscape of kind of the post-secondary thing in the United States, whether it's name image likeness rules that have come up, the transfer portal. And I don't think if you were to go down to the U.S. and ask a bunch of schools, you know, was the transfer portal an ultra-strategic move?

No, it was an outcome of legal proceedings at the end of the day. And so it's changed the landscape. Everyone is an unrestricted free agent every year in U.S. college sports. And you can imagine how that impacts commitments and how coaches think their lineup is going to look. And, you know, we're blessed to have a degree of stability up here. We're blessed that the top players from all of the regions want to play in our league. We're blessed that we've got fantastic coaches, fantastic infrastructure, and we're the primary development model for the National Hockey League for Western Canada and the U.S.

And so that's the spirit of how we're looking at this. We're going to keep doing our job, hopefully attracting great kids and creating a great experience, whether they go on to play pro hockey or whether they want to go to university in any country in the world and become a dad, a husband, a citizen in the community. like our responsibility is developing young men and we take that seriously. Yeah, and you know what? I think it's a good point that it's not just about the percentage of players that move on to make millions. Those are the ones that the education plan means the least for. They're going to be millionaires in the NHL is the ones we're talking about.

So is there a concern now that you might have fewer years from these star players on their way to the NHL? Like, do you believe that your league now has to compete with an NCAA program for the right, to an 18-year-old who might not be NHL ready or a 19-year-old where traditionally, if drafted out of the CHL, they can't go to the American League. I mean, all of a sudden, there's a lot of, I guess, boundaries that have been firmly established that now are, there's question marks around. No, it's fair. I think that we view our job as to create an environment that it's the best place

where you would want a developing player or you as a developing player would want to be through the tenure. So 16 to 20 or 16 through 19 at minimum, right? We have speculated on all the different risks and all the different possibilities. I don't know the exact statistic, but as you probably know, I think the average starting age

of an NCAA player is over 20. Like I had heard 20.7 or something like that, whether that's accurate or not. But it doesn't overlap with us at all. We're at different stages of the development chain. Is there a small population, of players that would see the need to leave our league at an earlier date to go there. I don't think that that would be the best trajectory for an athlete,

given they have an opportunity to develop in our environment through 19 or 20 and then move on to a university career on other side of the border. But we'll be challenged with that, and we'll have to address it as it comes. I have to also imagine that there'll be some American kids that are curious about coming up here, who maybe have made college commitments and their coaches saying, the best place for you to be is in the Western Hockey League. And I think that would be unusual for us, right? That doesn't exist in today's ecosystem.

And we're trying to speculate, imagine, be creative, and frankly, collaborate. Because the thing that's happening, as you can imagine right now, is everybody wondering what's going to happen? Is it going to hurt us? What are the bad things that can happen? But I think if you have conversation, you understand where the tension points are for the different folks across the hockey ecosystem, you can have constructive conversations that hopefully lead to, hey, what's best for the player at this part of his journey and try and figure out what might or might not happen. But it's a little bit futile until some sort of eligibility rules change, and there are actual decisions to be made. Totally. Yeah. And it is totally speculative,

but it's also just so fascinating. I mean, it's the rule of unintended consequences. We set something on, we think this is going to work this. And it's like, oh, shoot, I never thought about this happening. What about that? So everyone's trying to forecast what's the unexpected thing that's going to happen. I do love the idea that what's best for the player can be done, whether that's changing past, staying with a program they really like.

One of the rules that's irked me the most in my time covering junior hockey in the pro ranks is that when you have a player that isn't ready for the NHL, but has proven to be dominant in Major Junior, they're ineligible to play in the American Hockey League at 19 years of age. I don't know how that would last if this changes. It seems, do you see that role staying? I'm asking you to speculate. I know that's not fun,

but that's one of the first things I think about because I do believe your league is phenomenal at developing players. I also do wish you could send a 19-year-old, who's a point-and-half per game in the Western League, to the American League is a 19-year-old. Yeah, I think our position on it would be that we pretty for a kid that is not ready to play in the national hockey league we create a pretty darn good development environment and we're very proud of that we would tell you know any nchl

GM that we accept the responsibility of how they would need to develop that this year so you and i might see it a little bit differently as far as where that player is going to best develop but we're of course you know it's an important part of our league to have some of these more mature leaders and players and skilled players in our league. And, you know, and when you come to our league, you generally make that commitment to see it through unless you're going to go on and play in the National Hockey League. And so, you know, fair to say that we would hope that it continues on that framework, but we'll be prepared for all of the things that could change in the hockey landscape as we move forward. Yeah, fair enough. Really interesting stuff. I appreciate your thoughts on that.

I know it's, you know, in your position, speculating is probably not the most comfortable thing to do. So thank you for that. Let's talk about some league notes. You guys are due to host the Memorial Cup, not this year where it's in the Quebec League, but next year, it's been since 2018, if I'm correct, pre-COVID. What's that process like for finding the cities, the right fit for a Memorial Cup that I imagine people have been clamoring for pretty strongly given how long it's been. So no, we had it in Camloops in 23, I guess it would have been, because this year was 24 was in Saginaw. We did have it in Camloops. By the way, this is a big event to host.

You think about the national implications of it. We talk about it being the hardest trophy to win in sports. You do all these studies and you try and figure out, you know, what does it mean for a community to host it? The number said that it was $16 million of economic impact to Kamloops, $20 million of economic impact to British Columbia, $23 million of economic impact to Canada as a whole. And so this is not an insignificant event.

when you think about major sporting events that would come through Canada, and we've got five communities, four of them in Canada, one in the U.S., who are bidding on this. So if you go kind of west to east, and I think I'll get this right, or maybe I'll mix up the Alberta ones as I'm still getting acclimated here. But we've got Colonna bidding on the event. We've got Spokane. We have Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Brandon. And so we've got a pretty good sampling from across the league of different types of communities.

communities, bigger, smaller, Canada, US. Only Saskatchewan is not represented, which, you know, is almost surprising when you think about it. But I think the idea of having five communities vying to have this event speaks to the magnitude of what it is, speaks to the health and the bounce back of the Western Hockey League coming out of COVID, where you can imagine how tough it was to operate a hockey league in the midst of a global pandemic. And so it's a very exciting event.

the bids are due later this month. There'll be a site selection committee that works on this. And I think by the end of November is roughly the timeline when we'll announce where the Memorial Cup will be hosted in a Western Hockey League community in 2026. And how did I forget Colonna? I think Patrick

was club won. I must have been celebrating with Patty or something. Okay. You've had some incredibly high profile players. I mean, Connor Bedard, what an incredible rookie campaign for him with the Chicago Blackhawks. Everyone's excited and waiting to see McKenna in Medicine Hat become the next great WHL superstar in the NHL. You've got Landon DuPont making his 15-year-old exceptional status debut.

What is it like in the league when you've got the stars? I know you haven't been there for 10, 12, 15 years, but you're working with people that must be telling you. Dan, you're here at the right time, man. Things are going well here for star players. Yeah, it was pretty exciting. I was at the NHL draft in Las Vegas. and we rang out four of the top 10 picks for the National Hockey League coming out of the dub.

And, you know, maybe I am taking it for granted. But I think we've always and always do have a pretty high caliber of player, a pretty high profile of player, the guys you listed, and there's many, many more, of course. But I think that part of what I want to do and part of the mindset, I think, needs to be, we've got to do a better job at, you know, at constantly. distributing our product, letting people see these special players in action. I think we're such a locally driven league at times.

People are honed in on what's happening with their own team and their diehard fans. And the NHL has had this same kind of challenge over the years. And when the Crosby and Ovechkin era came along, that kind of opened things up. I think this is our Crosby and Ovechkin area in an interesting way. And what I mean by that is when you're not watching McKenna play, the cana play. You're not watching Teja Gindler play. You're not watching Land and Dupon play. Then you're watching this other group of players. And across the league, we've got a lot of star power right now. We've got a lot of personality. And we've got to show that. And we've got to take

credit for the fact that holy smokes. Like you imagine Bedard being in our league, you know, a year and a half ago. And he's making a meaningful impact, the National Hockey League right now. Well, we've got a handful of guys that are prepared to do that. You know, Stancove, it's another guy that a lot of of people are like yo um you know coming out of the texas stars or wherever he was playing in the american league came from the camloops blazers born and brad played four or five years in our league uh and that's where he developed to prepare himself ready to play in dallas and so uh that's a big thing for us and we're very very proud of the players and we want to put them on a bigger pedestal than we ever have my kids are uh going first year you 11 and they'll be very excited to see the medicine hat tigers

come to town you got mckenna you've got linscher of the high pick that went to the blue jackets the Flames Draft Bash, René Corbe's sons on the team. I know there's always those little pockets of intrigue. So I know personally I've already got the schedule out for when the Tigers pass through the Saddle Dome here in Calgary. So it's exciting times indeed, certainly in these two markets that I just noted. How's it going to Winachi? Winachi first year in the Western League last year, year number two coming up.

They were a few years in the BC League and then assumed that franchise that was in Winnipeg. How's it been? Yeah, you know, one of the things we celebrated, doing some kind of seasonal planning and getting the different groups together. As we celebrated that we survived the first year in Winatchie because this happened in like a 60-day period. And it all sounds easy, but our schedules are done months before that. Our uniforms are ordered months before that. You know, you've got billet families and players that you've got to reaccommodate. You think about education, and these are high school students that have to fit into the community.

And I got to give Winatchie a ton of credit. Bliss Letler, David White, the all. owner. They made the necessary investments. They put the work in. They got the community involved. They had a really good first campaign. They were in a really interesting point in time in their cycle, right, where they were pretty stacked. And they had to decide if they were going to make a run or bet on the future. And I think that they made some thoughtful moves around roster management. You know, they moved, you know, a couple of players toward the end of the season to put themselves in a position where they can win some games and they can they can rebuild the team in a little bit quicker order and so we're excited about that market we're thrilled with the u.s division it

creates a ton of excitement there's a ton of rivalry and it's become a great place for our players to to live and spend their high school careers too the kids that play down there love it uh top 10 teams in the CHL for the preseason or i guess before the regular season got going to announce medicine hat number one in the country prince george returning some very talented players at number seven and the Rockets and some kid named a Ginla that must be related to some guy we know here in Calgary are ranked number 10. That's a pretty good start to the year. What are you excited for for this season personally?

I know there's a lot of uncertainty that we alluded to off the top, but what gets you excited about the 24-25 campaign in the Western League? Well, you know, we talked a lot about the players and I think it's rooted there. Some of these storylines and the excitement that goes behind these guys is incredible. Number two is probably the rivalries. And this is a heated game, a game with a ton of intensity. As I've gotten greater proximity to the league and I've learned the caliber of people that are in the locker rooms, it gets me jacked up.

And I think about kind of the families that build over the course of the season. And, you know, the fans see them as a team. I see them more as a family. And these guys really do band together from day one. I see how rookies are brought in in training camp. I see the role that they play. I think about the long bus rides and the tough travel that they'll sometimes have to do. And that gets me pretty excited.

And so, you know, I think that we're getting under shot there, having three out of the top 10. But I get having some balance and equity. We're going to have a lot of competitive teams this year. And, you know, and I'm excited to see what happens on the ice because at the moment, everybody's zero and zero, right? Everybody's got a chance. And that enthusiasm resonates through fans, through general managers and coaches and through the staff in the office. but it won't be long before we see who emerges as the top talent. Dan, want to ask you about a new series.

We all love the Russians coming and playing in the Q, the O and the Western League. Obviously, politically, things have changed. And I'm really excited about what you guys in the CHL are doing this year, as you're going to see some of the top American talent outside the league suiting up against the leagues. Tell us about it. Well, as you know, we've hosted the Prospects game, usually in January each year, which featured the top draft eligible.

class from the Canadian Hockey League in a showcase game, kind of an all-star event. It's one that's attended by all the NHL Scouts, does on ice off ice. It's been a great event for a number of years. But I think one of the things that we thought would be really, really interesting is creating a little bit of more jam, tension, friction in an environment like this to see these guys play. And so we had the opportunity to get together with USA hockey and say, hey, you want to play. And so we've got a two games. series scheduled in November that'll be hosted in the Ontario region this year between the

Canadian Hockey League All-Stars who are draft eligible versus the U.S. National Training Development Program team that plays together throughout the year. And so it's a little bit of a change of format, but it'll be played in London and Oshawa this year. It'll be an annual event that we do with these guys. And I think it's going to bring a lot of interest and attention as you think about kind of the rivalry anytime you see the red, white, and blue playing against Canada and the Maple belief. And so I know our players are pretty excited about it. I know the scouts are excited to

see these guys play in an environment like that. And it should be an event that brings a lot of attention to the sport to the league. Yeah, more best on best please at every level. That's great. And it'll be, I love the dynamic. One group of guys trained together all the other the others. You got to get together quick. Get familiar. We got to be at her best real soon here. Yeah, I think it's like a little risky for both sides, right? Because these guys don't play each other throughout the course of the year. The National Training Development Program plays against kind of in the USHL league and the idea of facing off against these guys that you don't see over the course of the year. No one really knows how we're going to do. But I'll tell you what,

we want to win. That's important to us. But we think the idea of showing up and playing in that competitive landscape, competitive environment will be good for the guys. And it hasn't been a year yet. Congrats to a near year on the job, Dan. Keep drinking from the fire hose. Thanks for spending some time with us today. We do appreciate a ton and we all will wait with bated breath to see what the uh the hockey landscape uh turns into over the next few months and years thanks for your time today you got it