Shaun Newman Podcast - #257 - Ron MacLean

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

The host of Hockey Night in Canada hops on to discuss censorship, Ottawa and some stories from the past.  Ron has also appeared on episodes 100 & 173 Let me know what you think Text me 587-217-8500 Support here:⁠ https://www.patreon.com/ShaunNewmanPodcast

This is Zubi. This is Brett Wilson. This is Brian Pectford. This is Keith Morrison. This is Tim McAlloff of Sportsnet. This is Dr. Peter McCullough. This is Daryl Sutter and welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks.

Happy Monday. Hope everybody had a great weekend. The sun was shining on Sunday. Holy Dina. That was a nice feeling. Hopefully those days are here to stay for the foreseeable future. We got a great lineup here this week for you. But before we get to that, of course,

Let's get to today's episode sponsors. Now, normally I talk about Borgolt-Tillagin tools or Canadians for Truth, but this week, Wednesday, April 27th, Joseph Borgo, and Theo Flurry are going to be at the Vic Juba Community Theater here in Lloyd Minster. Of course, Joseph Borgo has put his name in for a conservative leadership, so he has a talk going on that night. Theo Flurry is in town with him. It's $20 at the door.

That's Wednesday, April 27th at the Vic Juba here in Lloydminster. so that might be an interesting little night. Once again, at the Vic Juba Theater. Well, Joseph and the Canadians for Truth, and of course his team over Borgo, Tillage, and Tools have been the Monday sponsor here for 2022. And I don't know if either or any of us saw this quite coming together. So it'll be interesting to hear what he has to say.

He's going to hop in the podcast studio this week as well. So I'll be sitting with Joseph Borgo, but if you want to see him and Theo Flurry together, at the Vic Juba. Once again, that is this Wednesday, April 27th, $20 at the door. Carly Clairley Clause and the team over at Windsor Plywood, of course they are the builders of the podcast Studio Table for everything wood.

This is where you go. They've got just different cool pieces and chunks of wood that you can really make and some different, you know, fixtures in your house or for me, the studio. But today this week I want to talk about plate forward border city. next charity hockey game, Carly and myself are both suiting up for it. It's going to see 44 players from the community, suiting up from 7.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. a 12-hour game. It's going to be live online, or you can go down to the Civic Center,

and it's an initiative to try and raise $65,000 to replace Lloyd Minster's wheelchair accessible van. So I thought that was pretty cool. Carly's stepping up, and the Windsor team, I'm sure, helping them along the way. You know, whether we're talking mantles, decks, windows, doors, or sheds, these are the guys. And if you want to see what Carly's made up on the ice, I can't remember if we're on the same team, Charles, or not. But either way,

I appreciate the fact I got a guy who supports the podcast, and he's suiting up to help support his community. So I think that's pretty cool. Clay Smiley, the team over at Prophet River, they have their grand opening happening May 7th. It includes representation

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They're going to have tons of people in store to help answer questions, that type of thing. They've got some prizes being given away. They got free food. I mean, what more do you need? If you're wanting to do a deep dive on them, just go to Profitriver.com. They are the major retailer of firearms, optics, and accessories, and they serve all of Canada. Tyson and Tracy Mitchell with Michko Environmental. Geez, Sean, you know, it's almost been a month back in the old seat,

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right? Now on that, Ram Truck Rundown, brought to you by auto clearing Jeep and Ram, the Prairie's trusted source for Chrysler, Dodge Jeep, Ram, Fiat, and all things automotive for over 110 years. Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, he inherited Dave Hodges' position in 1987 as the host of Hockey Night in Canada. He worked alongside Don Cherry for 37 years with the coach's corner segment, has won eight Gemini Awards while working for the CBC, has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, has hosted multiple Olympic games, and now you can find him as host of Rogers'

hometown hockey and hockey night in Canada. Of course, I'm talking about Ron McLean. So buckle up. Here we go. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast today. I'm joined by Ron McLean. So first off, sir, thanks for hopping back on for the third time. Yeah, you and I are going to sort this world out if it's the end of us, Sean. It's a joy to see you. Great to do. Yeah, well, I always love a willing combatant in some of the things that come out of my brain and things I'm chewing on. So I appreciate you coming on and lending your voice and your thoughts wrong because it's always a joy. I look forward to these chats. And you were asking before we started here how the full-time podcasting world,

well, you can see the beard is coming in nicely when you work the oil field. Clean shaven is the way it is. So one of the things I'm enjoying first and foremost is a little facial hair. I forgot how fun it is to have a little facial hair growing. That's something on the old TV world. I'm not sure, Ron, if you ever wanted to grow a beard or not. No, but you know in hockey, it's a sign you're in the playoffs. So it's a bonus to have a beard if you're a hockey person,

which you are and looks good on you. I've never, I've never wanted, for whatever reason, Sean, I would be at it with my hands, right? Moustache or a beard, I'd be scratching away. And I think all those affectations on television, bad idea. yeah. Well, Elliot Friedman got away with it. Yeah, well, Elliot didn't seem to go at his. Mind you, it was, I don't think anybody would put their hand into what he came up with.

It was a beehive on a face. Very impressive Joe Thornton-esque, for those who don't know, Joe Thornton in the NHL, probably the preeminent beard grower. But yeah, Elliot, when he wants to look, I don't know, Da Vinci, Aristotle, I'm not sure who he is channeling, but he grows a nice beard. I don't well I tell you what me and you might have a definition of a nice beard I'm not a Joe Thornton You'll never see me you won't come on here and see me looking like Moses or somebody you know like I just I I don't have it in me I'm a little more clean trim look I don't know if that's what this looks like but that's what that's what I'm going for anyways

I'll tell you a story about beards is harnerion sing is our seat broadcaster from Vancouver and calgary lives at taro lake calgary So he has a beard by faith, and it's a massively long beard that he has for years had to roll up and tuck into his shirt so as not to be off-putting. People who see a beard that's, you know, O'ZC. Top-length might judge. And so there's a little story about him having to quarrel with among many things, you know, as he broke through a barrier. That was one of the things. a beard by faith that's a hmm that's an interesting thought I um I'd like to trim it that that'd be that I don't know if I could do that

you know but then again I've never I've never put faith in a beard together other than in hockey season and when you get into hockey season you you know uh I don't think you can argue with any hockey player uh in growing a beard for the months of the playoff run I think when you yeah that's you know a lot of the players I'm sure loathe having the facial hair, probably find it hot or itchy or irksome. But that's the thing about faith. You do it in the name of the other, whatever your faith. You know, if it's the pursuit of the Stanley Cup or pursuit of higher ground,

you're quite willing to make sacrifices. Yeah, that's it. That's an interesting start to the third go-around. You know, you're asking how full-time, you know, has changed. I said it's busier than I thought it would be. And you asked about prep. And I actually, it's a multitude of things, Ron. Obviously, one of the things is I find myself with free time, which I didn't have.

I'm not on the road driving to work and everything else. And so today is back-to-back days of dual podcast back-to-back. So I've been doing, I find I'm researching more guests. And when you have time to put in asking people, it's kind of funny how many people will turn around and say yes. Now, that could be the work of three years. years of doing this and it's starting to culminate and more people saying yes or it could be because I find myself a little bit more time to put a little more effort into tracking down different people and so what I've found is uh you know this week and when I first started it was one episode a week

then it was two episodes a week then it was three and when you were in Lloyd here me and you got talking about different podcasts and how many times a week you should put it out well not that I put out eight this week, but I'm doing eight podcasts this week. And I never would have thought I would get there and enjoy it at the end of that. Like it's been a, it's been a ton of fun. Well, when I did in conversation, which was a version of a podcast at the beginning of the pandemic, we did three a week. And I was told, as you know, five is, is healthier for the frequency. All branding is based on frequency, consistency. And the third element, which is the most important or vital is the anchoring, The feeling you have when you hear the hockey net in Canada music or when you see a Rockwell painting, that's the anchoring.

That feeling has to be the first and foremost. And I think it's a tribute to the relationships you've forged with friends and enemies alike who, you know, when you're having thought arguments, those are great. You know, you and I both respect that greatly. And I cheer for you in this endeavor because, you know, one of the things, Sean, never mind politics and some of the things that are divisive. I think what has really happened with the advent of social media is there's a lot of citizen journaling. There is a lot of people who have taken the opportunity. Those who never got to maybe go the academic route and go through university now find themselves hooked on the joy of education, the joy of researching, the joy of learning and presenting. And it's opened the door for so many.

But the risk of that is some might be prone to conspiracy theories or hoaxes or. or going down rabbit holes of like-minded online silos that's dangerous. And that's where I think you and I are both kind of on the same page of trying to find that healthy mix between enabling thought and conversation and inquiry, but being aware that there's two sides of everything. And the quest for information, the quest for truth

has never been more readily available online, But the quest for self-identity, group-think or group identity, just fitting in with somebody who's sort of in your situation, I think that's more than politics. The root of why we've kind of become so divided is what we're all feeling a little bit non-represented. We feel like we aren't being heard. And when we gather with those who are in the same boat, we might not even be alike, but we are by connection.

the oppressed or the misunderstood. That's what I think is creating these walls. And I hope with your efforts and the efforts of those who are responsible in their approach, you know, we won't have these harmful, like I say, citizen journalists who are causing, I think, a little bit of the grief we're experiencing as a world. It's interesting because, you know, you mentioned conspiracy theories in there. and I find that term so funny these days because if the one side doesn't like what the other side's doing, it automatically becomes a conspiracy theory.

It's just like it's a way to like just label something and be like, well, that's wrong. And that's an interesting tactic because I think over the course of the last two years and with the ability of the internet, a lot of conspiracy theories have a, come to fruition have, like, actually proven out that they're not really that far off the mark. It doesn't mean there isn't two sides to every argument. There certainly is. Right. Right. Right now, right now with censorship, with censorship, they, uh, they really are, uh, trying to silence one side of the coin. And that gives rise to more of these rabbit holes, Ron, because they're not allowed to debate, discourse, have their way, have their moment to talk and allow,

people to decide what they like or do not like. Right. And in the case of let's call the socials, be the first example of maybe Twitter or whoever might take down a message that they deem to be irresponsible or misinformation, the way you usually get at them is either copyright of material. If the person putting out the material has used some photos or videos without consent, or the biggest way you get at them is public shaming. And that's all big business, right? That's all, you know, once again, these vehicles, these supposed ramparts of freedom, socials,

aren't necessarily that because they're businesses. You know, when I started Sean in the business in broadcasting, we had music and we had the Red Deer Russell Jr. A hockey broadcasts, whatever we thought might attract an audience that we could seduce an advertiser to sponsor. And that worked, but it only worked so well. Come Sunday morning, we had to put on all the evangelists. and the ministries and their programming, which paid handsomely for the right to be on the air. And that sustained the broadcast entity.

Now, what you're seeing is it's gone from all these pursuits of heaven. And that's, I don't want to be loose with that or cavalier with that idea. Well, you taught me something very early on, Ron, if I go back to our first chat, when I was almost shaking in my boots at the opportunity to sit with it. It's funny how time and just meeting someone has changed the dynamic because I certainly enjoy. You know, we finally got to meet each other here in Lloyd and have a coffee that nobody, you know, it's funny. We didn't record anything that time. We sat in the, in the hotel and had a pretty lovely chat, I thought. But you said, don't treat. This was, this is a while back. This is almost

two years ago now. Don't treat. Don't try to be someone you're not. That's the greatest lesson of all. And I've really, it's something with the podcast. I've really tried to take heart. Like, don't try and be something or not. I'm, this is who I am. And I can't run from it. I mean, as soon as I try and do that, that's, that's, well, that's lying to myself, lying everybody else. I don't know if anyone want to listen to that. This is, this is some of the things that are on my brain. And, you know, it's funny. I love it. You must have been, you know, for the, for the people who have just had Ron, a figure Ron, is just coming on. He's been on twice. He was my 100th episode. He was 176th, I believe, as well. And so,

What happened the first episode, Ron, is we didn't talk hockey. And I chuckled about it because you coined something that's really stuck with me as well, the campfire chat. And I thought that was great. And the funny thing was, is preparing for this one, I was like, you know what? I'm actually going to start Ron out with some hockey. And I laugh because you, sir, I bet we're, I'm laughing because Ron probably dreamt all night. He's like, okay, here we go.

This is what he's going to talk about. I'm ready. I'm stepping in the ring and I'm laughing. I'm chuckling at it because I'm like, oh, I got all these things that I actually wanted to get to, which we will. But I do enjoy the fact that you've approached this with, let's roll. Right. Well, I just assumed that's what we would be talking about because it's sort of on our brain, right, is the state of the world. And I think, so to finish, just to finish the other thought, so we had programming that was sort of parceled into our broadcast entity to

pay for the entity. Now, what you're seeing is almost all of us in sports television are becoming a sports book. So that was my point, is that we used to have ministry. and evangelists and preachers. Now we have gambling experts teaching us how to go about playing the odds and investing in and that's kind of the lucrative new gold mine of sustaining these airwaves, which is no different than Twitter or Facebook being owned and operated. So no matter how enabling the platform seems to be or appears to be, there's always the fault of the money aspect to it, which again, you know, with respect

doing podcasts or doing broadcasting on mainstream television as I do. Thank God there are checks and balances. And the only thing back to the conspiracy theory thing, Sean, is that, look, of course there are, you know, again, it's, you know, there's going to be group think, there's going to be science or wisdom from academia that, you know, 500 years from now will be proved wrong. But there are many, many conspiracy theories. There's a new book out by Williamson, Elizabeth Williamson. New York Times on Sandy Hook, you know, which was a horrible Connecticut mass shooting.

Mass shooting. Yeah, that was perceived to be a ploy by the left to push gun laws. You know, I mean, there are some things you just have to investigate and look at and say, really? Can there be this many people actually believe such a thing? I will totally agree that in today's world, there is about, I don't know, a million and one conspiracy theories. I don't know. Everything is a conspiracy theory, right? Was Ron McLean actually on a Sean Newman podcast?

Somewhere was going, no it was a bot or a lizard or whatever. It doesn't matter. Somehow I've offended somebody at this point. But anyways, you get the point. And the thing is, is like, I think you got to put that onus back on people to figure that stuff out for themselves. But in all of that, somehow, you know, and I always bring up Ottawa, it's the most clear evident thing I saw where mainstream said one thing, I saw something completely different. And that in itself, you know, they called an extreme movement, you know, a fringe minority,

all these different things. And that's not what I saw. And that's not what I felt. That's not, that's not what I experienced. And I look at that and I go, so the conspiracy theory then is that it, You know, it was a peaceful movement. Meanwhile, that's what it was. That's exactly what I saw there. No, I think the conspiracy theory would be that it was not a peaceful movement, that it was truckers, you know, interfering with public routes, making noise well past reasonable hours, you know, so causing discomfort for the citizens of the vicinity.

I think that's become the, I think now. That's the conspiracy theory. The popular notion now. everybody knows it was peaceful because that's what it was. But in the very early stages of it, all of mainstream talk that it wasn't and tried putting out feelers and didn't come down and didn't see the convoy on the road. And I don't know,

maybe that's a policy that CBC has or no television or something. But it's news. Literally, you know, uh, I've never seen, you know, I don't know how to put it into words wrong. But I would say,

you know, like when Crosby scores of the goal and the world of Canadian hockey just blows up and I mean, Canadian Olympic hockey is just bigger than even NHL, right? Like that's a nation. The outpouring of

that, that's right. The outpouring of that or the outpouring of Kauai Leonard hitting the buzzer beater is like, wow, you can feel that. To me, that's what the convoy was on steroids. Like you went out to the highway, you saw it. I mean, literally there was thousands of bought thousands of people.

lining the highway in this giant convoy for like a week slow rolls across Canada and there was no reporters out there that's odd and then when it gets there they talk about it as well our fearless leader a fringe minority so let me ask you Sean uh you obviously have that sense of it and I'll tell you in Toronto my experience when I watched support movements take place I would see caravans as long as the Queen Elizabeth way as far as the I could see uh you know with their and with their honking and their signs and their children, you know, it looked like a Fourth of July or a Canada Day celebration. It really did.

It did not look like a violent protest like the insurrection on January 6th in the U.S. But it still made me think of that. It made me think of a group experience. You know, when we watch Hockey Night in Canada, it's nice to know that someone in St. John's Newfoundland is doing the same thing someone in Whitehorse Yukon is doing on a Saturday night. We're all in it together. That's a very nice feeling.

And it doesn't take long for that sense of tribe or group to sort of overtake and create herd mentality. So, I mean, when you were there, did every person there have a well-thought-through sort of a list of why the mandate needs to be abolished? Were they articulating their point well? or were they just happy to share a hot dog and a beer and a coffee and be together? I would say a little bit of both, Ron. There were certain people there that had traveled a long way. And they were very well thought and how they were looking at the situation. And then there was others that were just there because they wanted to experience what was going on.

And certainly on the weekends, that was on steroids. you know like on a weekend more and more people came. Not like a fun thing to be. That was the that was a and I'm not, look, except for the noise, which I found, you know, was unfair. You know, that Oliver Wendell Holmes is a great lawmaker and philosopher who said, your right to throw that punch ends at the end of your fist and where my nose begins. and it was the rights of the individual, the rights of the groups in Ottawa,

outside of the trucker convoy doing their protest. That was that, for me, that was sort of the thing to observe. And I mean, in all fairness, Ottawa police chose to allow it to be a peaceful, what they perceived to be at first, a peaceful protest. So they enabled it. There were a lot of different aspects to it.

And in the end, it dismantled or broke, you know, whatever you think of, you know, I drive around my little town of Oakville, Ontario, to the Trudeau as a tyrant signs. And I really do you think, you know, this is a dictator at work here? I mean, whatever you think of Trudeau. And I know the thoughts aren't too great over in your office there. I have my thoughts on that.

I would first say the F. Trudeau signs and signs of hatred along the road there, I got to be honest, I thought, oh, that's kind of a cool sign. And that was F. Trudeau, right? That was my sentiment. I was just a tyrant is a guy who stops listening to his people and just goes along. And to me, that is exactly what Trudeau is out in the west. Was he not looking to the other side of it? Now, fairness, let me finish here for a second.

By the time I get to Ottawa, I go, you can't rally an entire population around hatred. And I think that's Gandhi might even have said that. Who knows, maybe guys before him said that. And the more I looked around, I'm like, yeah like that flag needs to go because the flag is the Canadian flag in my opinion right like that one brings people together the F. Trudeau divides people because if you're sitting on the other side and all you're hearing is in the noise and everything else and that's what you see I can see how it gets labeled exactly what it did for a while for a time absolutely the thing was is half the people

with those flags you talk to them they're just absolutely frustrated because you're just absolutely frustrated for two years, none of their concerns were talked about, heard, they were all shut down. And that's, that's a huge chunk of it. That's it. Sean, I think that's it in a nutshell. You know, there will always be when Stephen Harper rose to power, he was kind of the third in command of the conservatives. But he, you know, when Preston Manning was kind of leading the charge at one point and there was, anyway, he became the rest of Canada. That's what Stephen Harper became. He was a punded on newscasts and he did a great job of positioning himself. as the voice of all who aren't heard.

And when you get that group behind you, you know, the world is your oyster. So, you know, we're easily heard it into a group mentality. And I think, you know, again, the point of it, I don't disagree that, you know, a leader, I didn't find that either after the election when Rebel News was so summarily dismissed, it actually vilified, you know,

whatever you think of Rebel News, they're just there trying to get, answers and as long as they're not doing it at gunpoint, I'm all for freedom of the press. And I don't think that the government should ever. And that's in the United States. What the Fifth Amendment is about is no government intervention in the reporting or the spoken word. It's all about government. It isn't about human rights and individual freedoms. Your wife can divorce you if she doesn't like what you said. Your boss can fire you if you didn't like what you said. There is no freedom of speech. There's freedom of government intervention

in speech. And that's the thing you're kind of talking about here. And I felt, again, with the truckers, the one thing is that, you know, I just don't know why it happens this way. When Idle Amor happened, they had to go to the governor general to try and get an audience. It's a frustration of ours. But when we all get frustrated, you know, we're kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. That's the one thing I would say when you lose an election, you just can't say, well, the election was either a lie, a hoax, fixed, illegit. You know, we got a process. and if we start to continually disrespect the process, where are we?

Yeah, there's parts of what you're saying, Ron, that I, I don't know, the last election is the last election. Was I disappointed? Yeah. Like, I want a leader, I don't care if he's a liberal. You're talking to US or Canadian? Canadian. Canadian. Yeah.

To me, to focus on the states, although there are, I mean, obviously, they're our biggest neighbor. they're the most powerful nation, arguably in the world still. Like, there's lots of things there. But when we come back to the Canadian election, I look at it, I spend zero time in, or I would think beyond zero time in like going down too many conspiracy holes. I looked at it. I watched the entire election. I'm like, man, I don't get it, but the, the East sure likes Trudeau, right?

I'm saying, I don't care if it's a liberal leader, a green leader, NDP, conservative, PPC, whatever they want to call themselves. I want somebody to lead Canada that I feel comfortable standing behind. And I feel like that is something I'm not saying 100% of Canadians can all agree on. And maybe in politics, that's impossible. But I feel like there's a way to get more than a minority government teaming up with another government so that they can stay in power until 2025. I go like, I don't know, is that democracy? Maybe that is what the system is. And I'm just starting to learn it is yeah i go like where where is the guy that or woman for that matter i'm like i'm open to anything at this point like give me someone who can stand up there talk respectively deal with some

of the issues going on deal with some of the people that i don't know still can't travel across the country like i mean can't leave the country and i know that extends beyond our borders that isn't just a canadian thing but like some of that's like at some point we got to have a leader that can least and address it, not go to Rebel News. No, I'm not asking your questions. Like, that isn't a leader, Ron, and we both know it. That isn't the person you put the sea on the jersey and what? He walks out. The captain of the Oilers gets to walk out to the media after a dismal game in the playoffs and go, yeah, I'm not talking. And leave, no, that that guy gets crucified. The person that you want is a guy wears the sea on his shoulder, walks out, takes it from the media,

doesn't blame everybody else, takes it on upon himself, and then goes and wins the next one. That's what we want. That's what Canada's built on. That's hockey. That's what we want in our leader. And we don't have a single one right now. Maybe Pierre Poulyev is the way the conservatives are leaning. He's getting a rock star presence right now.

I don't know what that means long term. I'm not going to sit here and say it because I'm, I've been, I'm so new to this. I'm just sitting here drinking it in trying to figure out what's going on. Well, the thing with Pollyev is can he win the east? You know, can he win the province of Quebec? I don't know enough about it either. But that will be the challenge for the conservatives is always, they find themselves because it seems like the NDP and the liberals kind of hold the middle and the left.

If you go too far right, you can't gain seats from those two areas that are vital to getting a majority for the conservatives. So that's his whole challenge. And I mean, again, he's going to have to consider what Trump and the Republicans are clearly considering in the United States. says, okay, Trump has all this baggage. He's, you know, they're terrified of them in New York. They're terrified of them in California. But it just might be- Every Democratic state is terrified of Trump.

Yeah, but it just might be that they can win the election with him. You know, the Republicans, right? So they're trying to hedge their bets on that whole conversation. And it's a fascinating, everything I think, Sean, that's going on in our world, whether it's Putin's invasion. These are like, you know, these are empire-esque questions that are that you and I are sort of sitting back and hoping to shed light on and to talk about. But yeah, that's for Canada's future because Canada's future involves protecting the

North. Canada's future involves unification. Canada's future involves, you know, just economic concerns that you can see what's going on. So it's a fascinating time. And I think as long as, you know, I mean, you're not going to get it until 2025, but as long as the conservatives can create a little bit of belief within the institutions or the status quo of the middle and the left, that they are willing to, you know, invest in that opportunity.

That's where we're at. I don't know if it's so complex. I feel like it's simple. And maybe I am just a moron. No, no. Well, I just look at it and I go, do the people out east? want more mandates, more this is what you got to do, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sure.

There's a ton. Hold it. Hold it. Yes, hold it. Hold it. I think the mandate question is very different in your eyes than it is in mind. Okay. You know, I for sure, you know, like you mentioned hockey captain.

I would put them as a great example, whether they're a stroke seat in a rowing boat, but I would put medicine, doctors. And maybe it's because I have a personal experience of emergency units saving my wife's life. But, you know, to see medicine suddenly in the cross-hears, doctors saved my youngest kid's life. I got nothing but respect for doctors. Yeah. And then you put doctors at risk every time you suggest lifting. Like right now, COVID's having its way again because we've backed off, you know, and that's all well and good. I've got it right now. But that makes zero sense, Ron, as we're double vaccinating. We're boosted. We're going to be boosted again. Something is off there.

if COVID's having its way again. And what we're doing, and then if what we're doing is following that same track record of the past two years, maybe it's time to start thinking outside the box and changing the way we've been doing things. Oh, but and they are.

And certainly Teresa Tam and, you know, Fauci, lots of different, you know, Dr. Bogotch, you listen to all the experts and they're dancing. There's no question. And they're trying to sort through, you know, a beast we've never experienced. And I, you know, but the point I'm making is that the vilification, the, you know, the actual, the way we discourage people who have taken up that vocation with these protests outside hospitals or protests in front of clinics or, you know, just to talk about, you know, distrust for science and medicine, I find, you know, and I think, you know, from my experience traveling the country, The buy-in for, you know, doing our part is what I consider it to be, even when we don't know.

Like, you know, I don't know smoking causes lung cancer. Do I actually know how that works? But I've kind of done my part to wear the seatbelt, to do that, to not drink and drive. I've followed the medical, you know, recommendations on so many areas of my life. And this is just one of them. But, but there is a group. of doctors who have been vilified since the beginning. You want to talk about some guys that have had their life thrown upside down. If you question, question what is going on. You're thrown

under the bus hard. And it's funny because I literally get to talk to a guy from Saskatoon later today. And it was a year ago that all he was asking for was informed consent. And he got removed. That's Dr. Francis Christian. And there's men like that who are stand up, like fantastic. human beings. And they have been the first of the, but this is the problem with the last two years. And this is a big issue I see coming and continuing to grow. Take COVID, throw it out the window. Okay. Let's just talk about anything. It doesn't matter what the, what the big thing is. Maybe not the war in Ukraine. When people are dying, I'm, I just, I, people suffer when governments go to war. Okay, like it's, it's pretty simple.

The governments make all these things and who suffers. All the people will have to go fight it. What I will say about any argument right now is we don't get to talk about it openly. It's very censored. And when you start to censor and oversensor, like if I was. You have to. Ron, if I was, if I was, if I was, I like, I like Adolf Hitler. He shoots from the hip.

I like this. And if you did, everyone. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. But let me finish. If you came on here and said, I love Adolf Hitler, and hopefully people will not cut that and put that out because that would really hurt. But let's say that's what you did. Do you think, yeah, you would get, you would grow a couple of extremist friends. You probably would. But the rest of us would go, Ron McLean said that, that's, that's messed up. Like, I feel like, and maybe I'm wrong. And maybe there is a little tiny of extreme, but the more extreme you get, most people are like, well, that sounds. It sounds. weird. I'm like that. I listen to things and I don't all sudden just go, wow, that's right, that's right, that's right. I go, huh, that was interesting. It doesn't matter if it's Barack Obama,

a guy I really, really enjoyed when I was in school in the States, listen to him debate. I was like, wow, but I didn't come out going, while Barack Obama's right about everything. I just enjoyed how his brain worked. I'm a big Jordan Peterson fan. I really like how he breaks things down. Does that mean I love everything he says? No. And I think by trying to censor everything, that gives rise to the extreme side because now people go and search it out. It's the most complicated legal question, censorship, because what is a hate crime? What is hateful speech? Those are where the litigators, and you could get Beverly McLaughlin, who wrote Truth Be Told,

and former Supreme Court justice, and a lot of them who have been, you know, along with their eight fellow judges, trying to navigate that particular ethical field, which is a really complicated one. But I think in the end, Sean, back to, you know, it's extremely important to know there ultimately will be, you know, rights come from wrongs. Hitler is a wrong. Listen, I'm not trying. Putin is a wrong. But you have sort of people who are supporting that, like elements of the Republican Party in the United States. You know, it's like, good God, you have to, you have to vilify that person.

You have to come out swinging and say, no, sorry. I'm all for conversation. I'm all for, you know, individual journalism and, you know, your own advocacy of your opinion. But you have to know when you're wrong. And furthermore, you have to know when you're harmful. So that's kind of, it's not for me, you know, that's going to have to go all the way to the Supreme Court in most cases to ultimately determine. I can remember Beverly McLaughlin wrote in support of James Keekstra, who was a, you know, Holocaust denier in central Alberta. where I grew up.

And three of the judges of the nine on the Supreme Court allowed for his right to be able to teach and say what he was saying. Six condemned it and ultimately, you know, he was put away. And now she regrets that. She regrets deeply the mistake she made and thinking it was okay because she said, I grew up in Pinscher Creek. I grew up where, you know, robust conversation was. You have a couple of shots.

And the next day you smile and carry on with the heart. work. Yeah, but you're talking about teaching children, one. Okay. That's, that's different. Okay. Well, Ron, is there a way to tilt your screen just slightly up? Your head is a drop. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There we go. All right. I feel like I'm talking to the... I know. It's on a stable chair here in this hotel room. Sorry. I agree. Listen, this is where it gets complex. I'm not sitting here saying we walk into a grade seven room and you allow anything to be said. Like, listen, in school, uh, that's, hmm. That's interesting. Yes. But that's the same with movies. You know, there's going to be a parent that thinks it's okay to show a rated R film to a eight year old. And then there's going to be parents who think it's still not okay for an 18 year old to see rated R film. And you go, well, that's parenting. Right. Like, I don't know what to say about that. Are you going to rush into their house if they're showing a rated R film to an eight year old? No, we don't do that. Like that's, you know, so I get it. It gets a little complex. And the Hitler thing, I didn't. I didn't. mean to say I would bring somebody on that says that. I more meant that I trust the public as a

whole. If we allow them to hear open debate and argument, that they can come to things that make sense and right and wrong and that I put faith in my general human beings. That's what I do. And by trying to say, you can't be on after the lessons of the past. The lessons of the past are Hitler. The lessons of the past are Putin. You know, so you will have... Putin literally shut down like one leader. Anyone who tries to go against him, that. Hitler got rid of all the other parties.

And then played off people going through a rough time and there's more to it that. I'm making it simple. Justin Trudeau wouldn't meet with part of his population that is frustrated. All right. acts like they don't exist, creates divide amongst his population. To me, let's not look to the other countries. I mean, we certainly can. Big difference, big difference, obviously, is, you know, all elements of things do have seeds.

So the seed of, you know, discontent by, by, you know, stifling dissent is a, is the beginning of a, of a problem. But it's just a, you know, that you can only do so much. when you're in, as I said, I've pointed out the two things I thought Trudeau was guilty of doing, which was not to talk to Rebel News or at least to speak the way he did of them. And then, you know, you can argue how he should have handled getting with the truckers. I wish I would have liked to have said. How about that's a small minor compared to these other things we're talking about it. And the biggest thing I'm trying to kind of root at is back to your idea of, okay, what do you do with a grade two classroom?

well somebody's got to ultimately be charged with figuring out what is curriculum and we can't you can't but i'm not but i'm not talking curriculum for a grade two i'm talking you get out of you get out of high school the world's going to challenge you with thoughts wrong you want to go you want to go uh do drugs uh do bad things to people i mean those those things are going to be put on every individual. The idea that I can think for everyone else is a dangerous thought and that what I think is best for the world or for my area or for this group of human beings is not taking into account what every other human being is walked through. Now, that's the challenge of leadership, right? Is trying to take all these diverse groups and make something that is what we live in.

It's fantastic, except the last two years has been strange and it continues to get stranger. That's all. And I see censorship. This, like, what are we doing right now? Do you find this, um, awful, right? Are you sitting here going, I don't like Sean. Well, think about this, Sean Newman has been removed from YouTube. And I go, I had to think about that for a long time. I had really chew on that wrong because I went, geez, like, am I going too far?

Because believe me, I've, I've certainly thought that. I've certainly talked it through myself. And I'm like, well, if going too far is talking about things, then we're in a dangerous world. Now, that's what I'm saying. Now, the hit the thing is, why were you removed from YouTube? I interviewed Chris Barber, would be one. He was a leader of the West Convoy. But it was before the convoy ever left.

I didn't even know what it was at the time. I was like, well, what is this? And that got me removed from everything. I mean, it was talk of the convoy. And to me, I'm like, something now that all of Canadians, for the most part, majority would say it was a peaceful protest, got me removed from YouTube. We can't say protest. It was a, you know, the noise violation alone. Yeah, but the noise.

So the first, like, I can speak to the noise. First five days, absolutely. There was a lot of people that were upset. One of my favorite conversations came with the noise, one of the guys who was, from Ottawa. He was very upset about the noise. And I was like, oh, yeah, they're working on that, right? But you got a group of people, some that don't speak the same language because they came from Quebec. And you got all these truckers, thousands of them. And the message is going out. And by the end, the horns weren't going at night. I was walking around. It's quiet. Right? Right? But it took

time. Okay. Well, then you frame it as what ultimately became a peaceful protest. Because it wasn't But yeah, okay. So you're on that. And, well, so I'm, I don't know enough about barber to, just because I would say, again, public shaming, right? That's what I was saying to you earlier, YouTube or Facebook, all of them are little fortresses that are owned by business folk. Here's, you know, here's a, here's a, here's a thing I just learned, here's a thing I just learned, uh, sorry Ron, I didn't mean to cut you off, but here's, here's the thing I just learned about American politics. Like two podcasts go for my professor, uh, in college, that 2011, roughly, I think I'm remembering that year, the donation limit to a

public political party in the United States was basically taken away. So you can donate as much as you want, a corporation can. And I'm like, I don't know. What does Ron think of that? I hear that and I go, that can't be good. That it was taken away is good for me. I don't want, like, what's his name, Alex Jones? Is that Alex Jones? Yeah, you know,

a real kind of a advisor to the president who was then, you know, who's done lots of work in podcasting and broadcasting and has a big audience, but was kind of worried

that when he got Trump into the office, that suddenly that would break the sort of, you know, him against the world, trying to sort out the establishment, trying to be anti-government, would be broken, a spell of all that little connection.

I do think that, you know, the more money controls politics, the worse off we are. So you did, you misunderstood me then. In 2011, the limit that they could donate disappeared, meaning they can donate as much as they want. Oh, I hate that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's terrible.

That's so corrupt. I can't believe that got put through. Right. No. I don't know. What do you think of Elon must offer on Twitter? Yeah, I haven't followed it as well as I should, but there you go. that's that whole attempt to to take over Twitter and then them doing the poison pill.

I don't. It's been an interesting little because initially I'm like, oh, that could be really interesting, right? Like maybe because I know tons of people who've got removed from Twitter. Certainly one of the big ones was Donald Trump. And we all have our thoughts on it. I can certainly say like some of the things he said on there were like crazy. Like why would he ever say that, right? But then I got talking to a few different people.

And the initial thought, I was like, oh, it would be a good thing. right? Well, open it back up. You know, like I'm... And then I talk... The more people I talk with, a few of them said, yeah, I'm a little... I'm a little tentative on the idea. Oh, why's that?

Well, the thought of one man controlling what free speech is is dangerous. And I was like, hmm, that's an interesting thought. Because now he decides what goes and doesn't. And I don't know. I go back to the donation limits being taken off, for corporations, how much you can donate to politics. Well, behind all those big corporations,

there's a few people that have a lot of money. And I go, so now we've opened the door. And now I start to understand that argument. I'm like, hmm, that's not a bad thing on the old. Well, Sean, for time immemorial, wealthy barons ran the newspapers. So, you know, if Conrad Black wanted to push his conservative agenda, he would put a story first, maybe in Sherbrook newspaper.

and then move it over to one of the nationals. This is how it worked. You know, all newspapers were horribly corrupted by both money and power. So that's not new. And this is a manifestation of modern technology. That's all that is. But it's sifting through that, you know, through your only protection, your only layers of protection are the courts, a robust judiciary.

And that's, you know, you tell, advocates of Black Lives Matter, whether they trust the judiciary. Of course they don't. Policing. You ask a lot of people in Ottawa right now, do they trust the police after what happened with the convoy? The convoy probably does, but the people don't. It's a terrible thing. And people don't trust government. That's too bad. It is too bad. But it's not not salvageable or unsalvageable. This is where what you do has to be nuanced and reflective of both sides, go out of your way, to find what you think are people who truly got, you know, the credentials to advise on some of these topics. Because, yeah, that's where we're kind of at is an area of mistrust, you know, that we need to.

And that's not new. You know, we're all young under the sun. It's different because of social media, right? Going back on the. But, you know, when the telegraph was invented, they were terrified. When the newspaper was invented, they were terrified of it. photography came in, the artist thought he was done. Well, and if you can control the message, you can control the people.

I interviewed George Grossman, who was a man from his mother helped build Auschwitz, and then was obviously a Jew in Auschwitz, right? So, like, he had an interesting story, but he was in the Czech Republic back when Russia invaded years and years and years ago, and the first thing they did was take over the news. station, right, the broadcasting, so that they controlled the message. And so, yeah, this isn't, this isn't something new. Uh, you know, when we look to history, you can certainly look at certain things and go either or, right? There's a lot of history which can go either way for what we're currently going through. And the rule of law has always been the power of money. You know, that,

that, you know, when the controls the money, yes. Yes. So we're, but, but that's why in 2022, for the, I think the first time, you know, Canada, last country just about settled on earth, and I'm not big on nationalism, I've told you, you know, so you, when you see the co-opting of a flag in the name of, you know, it always implies I'm better than you, which is the worst, you know, way to go into an exchange. And I, it's just really sloppy what we've done with nationalism and flags. And anyway, the chance we have right now is, is extremely good one. And you're, you're right. Right in whether you realize it or not, you're in a moment in history. You're going to have to deal with the YouTube cancellations.

You're going to have to deal with it. It's par for the course of where I've been going. Don't sell your soul. When I refereed Sean Hockey, you said put me in my one and only, well, I shouldn't say. In a sense, in broadcasting, you have a bit of an ethical obligation to be accountable, to be accurate. But so I live a life where, you know, every word is kind of parsed and analyzed. And I've, you know, the world has changed so dramatically that choosing them is even more challenging than ever. But I welcome that.

Anyway, when I refereed, there were two pieces of advice. Number one, if they can have the job, you don't want the job anyway. So that meant, you know, if an influential coach or owner of a team could get the word of hockey Canada or the word of the Ontario Hockey Association and say, hey, we don't want McLean doing the, you know, the finals. If they could have the job, you don't want the job, was the first kind of rule of thinking. And the more important one, don't sell your soul. Do not sell your soul. But I know your soul.

And I'll say this right now. I know how kind and considerate you are. And you're taking on, you know, the, you're championing rights of people you feel are non-represented, which is a good thing. But it's, you know, and I guarantee you will do a good job as a, as a captain of a hockey team of seeing that, you know, that fourth liner needs to be heard too or that person that absolutely like Bossie and Trachi, you know, two soulmates probably very different in a lot of ways. But they became such a powerful, you know, group together, Messia and Gretzky, very different ways of going about things. But when they got together, magic. magic yeah so that's what that's what you can achieve here well i i appreciate that's very high compliment anytime you're putting me in the likes of grexky massier bossy trotche i'm like okay well um yeah pump

the tires a little more rod that that that feels awfully nice you know speaking of some hockey things one of the things i really wanted to just shine a light on it doesn't have to be long was the chevilly good deeds cup um my minster female yeah 13 blazers 100 grand and then a man i interviewed Ross Ulmer, who owns Ulmer Shevolds, matches the donation, right? And so now it's turned into 200 grand. And I thought, oh, man, well, A, like, for a group of young individuals, women,

to, you know, good work on their coaches, their managers, and everything else, but they're the ones that go and do that. Like, that's, hats off to them, and that's right here in my hometown. Well, your hometown has hosted us for both Scotia Bank Hockey Day in Canada and for Rogers Hometown Hockey Twice, Sean. And, you know, the spirit of that community, the last couple of towns we've been, it's funny, too, because it hasn't been without my Don Cherry protesters and the usual things that go on. And again, all in the name of, and who could, I have no qualms with that. That's absolutely hockey fans right to have what they love and cheer for whom they love.

But anyway, Lloyd is just the spirit of the town. Carly Agro, my colleague at SportsNet in Canada, did an unbelievable essay about her cutting her teeth in the industry there. Yeah, the spirit of... Carly was one of my first, not first guess, but one of the first from Sportsnet to come on. And it was the ties to Lloyd, and we talked a lot about that. Like, she's done very, very well in her career.

And, you know, people here in town remember her quite well, right? because she wasn't here for two months and then gone. She was here for a chunk of time. And, and you know, her mom is a legal wonder. Carly is a legal wonder. Carly is, reminds me of a district attorney. She's got this incredible ability to distill information and quickly get down to the fundamentals and the important stuff.

She can articulate what it is she's doing with, you know, just such a, I always say, Sean, and this is my. my little quarrel in life is persuasion, right? That's, the art of what we do is, is persuasion. And it's, I'm not that good at it.

I'm not good at all. So don't, don't, I'm cutting my teeth on that. We're good, we're good question asks, askers, but not necessarily good,

proclaimants. But she is. Yeah. So, keep, keep Carly in your loop, if you can, because she's a,

she's a gym. Well, I tell you what, you throw, you throw by the conversations we have Carlene, if she wants to come on, I would gladly bring her line. I enjoy having her mom. Get her mom. Well, I tell you what, I'll see if I can't work on some of that. Because to me, we need more of this, not less. The fact that we can sit and have a, I don't know, is this heated,

is this passionate, whatever it is, whatever it is. Like, it's just enjoyable. And this is, And this is, I don't know, this is what life's about is trying to, I don't think I have all the right ideas at all. Actually, I'm realizing real fast how dumb I really am at most times. But at the same time, I also know if you don't speak up your thoughts, that's a problem too, right? Yeah, as long as you look in the mirror and don't say, I've got this zest, you know, and you don't. But that's the biggest is we're extremely dangerous if we think. that our thoughts alone are correct. You know, there's so many things, our memory, which is our history, our intuition, our knowledge, there's so many fundamentals that go into every thought that we have.

And we're obviously, and we've discussed this time immemorial, we are so shackled by the lens of our life. You know, the simple existence and the walk that we've taken is so minor compared to the number of roads out there. you know, that you can't trust yourself. You want to be, you know, the whole, everybody I think is pretty strong in there. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. But I don't buy that. You know, I don't have, you know, judge learned at hand. The spirit of freedom is the spirit of knowing, being not too sure you're right.

That's freedom. Is being not too sure you're right. Judge learned at hand, I'm probably butchering a little bit. Well, and I'm, I watched, I don't know. why I'd never studied Gandhi before, maybe because he was on the other side of the world. But one of my favorite quotes of him is live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you'll live forever. And I'm like, well, to me, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's pretty powerful stuff, right? Like, I'm continually trying to learn. I, I certainly know that I don't have

all the answers. I don't even know if you want to have all the answers. Some of the fun is, is teasing them out, right? God, life has to have mystery, right? That when we can solve how we got here, then we can go ahead and think we can figure things out. But we won't figure that one out. And since we can't figure that one out, what makes us think we'll figure the rest out?

What I would say is Gandhi is a great, great mentor, like Martin Luther King, Jr., like Mother Teresa, these are the leaders who lead with love. And again, you know, when you sense in a, you know, any behavior, that love is lost, that's the first leadership you should start to question.

You know, Gretzky loved. Gretzky, I could give you a million examples when he built the 2002 Olympic team, the way he built that team. Theron Fleury was going through the shackles and chains of addiction. Eric Lindross was coming back from a massive concussion and blown out shoulder.

Michael Pecka had gone a year without playing in the NHL over a contract impasse. There were so many folks on that Did Pecka play on that team? He was valuable beyond. In fact, Eric Lindrosk probably played a little less down the stretch than Pecca did because Pecca, you know, for penalty killing purposes and defensive purposes, he became what Rick Nash, Jonathan Taves, became at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics when they needed to shut down Ovechkin in his prime. And he's still kind of in his prime. But anyway, Nash and Jonathan Taves became the shutdown duo.

And you just want to, I guess the, why it surprised me, I'm trying to recall, you know, I certainly remember watching it. But Pecca, and this is no knock on Pecca, but the two names you said in the newer age is Jonathan Taves and Rick Nash. Yeah. He was never, oh, he was a fantastic hockey player. You know, Buffalo almost won the Stanley Cup in 1999, Foot and the crease, famous Brett Hall goal. Yes. They were that close. Now, they had the dominator, Dominic, Ghanacch, and Nets. So they had great goaltending. But Pecca, honestly, Sean was one of the most underrated. He would be like Patrice. Oh, yes. You know, not quite Taves. Dave's had a little more, a little more offense, but Mike could score. Mike was incredible on face-offs. Mike was the pound for pound biggest hitter of the time.

He just crushed people. Was it because he played in Buffalo then? He played it. Oh, in the 06 run. No, no, no. What I mean is, absolutely. I remember I'm playing in Emmington. And honestly, now that I think about it, if they win in 06,

and they win when the Brett Hallgo goes in. Now he's got two cups and maybe his fame rises even more. That's right. That's right. He would be the Jonathan Taves, who's got three, I realize. But, you know, Michael was a driver of that 2002 Olympic Stanley, or Olympic gold medal. He really was. And Gretzky chose him.

Gretzky picked a guy, you know, like we're all thinking, God, he hasn't played hockey all year. But that was Wayne. And he led with love, you know, it's my point. He realized. What a ballsy move, eh? Yeah. You think about it.

I remember him taking Theo, and I certainly talked to Theo about it on here, about him getting picked for that because he wasn't in the best spot either. No. And, you know, like, he took it all a huge risk in what he did. And, I mean, look at how it turned out.

Like, that was, you know, chunks of that are the most memorable, obviously Michael Peckett doesn't stick out to me, but chunks of that are the most memorable gold medal game I've ever watched. Olympics I've ever watched. I mean, the gold medal game as well. And that's, you know, the other thing I remember about that is Mario Lemieux and Steve Iserman. They were the two that settled everything down.

Iserman was just, you know, you talked to a lot of the guys in the NHL. Now, Darian Hatcher, I was with him the other night, and he played for the Dallas stars, as mean an hombre on defense as there is, just adored Iserman. Rod Brindamore. You asked Rod Brindamore, who is favorite captain ever, and he didn't play with him, but he played with them in the Olympic teams, Steve Iserman.

Just one of the unheralded, and he took over as the manager of the 2010 Olympic team in 2014 and Sochi and got gold both times. Just a brilliant talk. Stevie Y is my favorite player of all time. He sits on the wall with Mr. Howe, who certainly in the old hockey lore, is ranked pretty high.

Hi. You know, sticking with hockey, Ron, the oilers in the flames, and much to my sugar in the Calgary Flames are sitting on top of that division, and I'll hear about that. But is this the year we finally have a playoff battle of Alberta? It's been what, 91? Is that right? Yeah, it is.

91. 31 years? You know, I mean, they're both incredible right now. who do you like Evanton so well yeah I get harassed by my brothers we have round tables and every year we do one ring

for the playoffs and every year I pick the Oilers to make the conference finals and every year they let me down but I'm like how do I I don't want to cheer against them I want to cheer for them I don't want to have in the back of my brain

that I picked Colorado Vegas or something and and now I got to cheer for Vegas I cheer I'm on loyalty remains to the Oilers. And what they've been doing, you know what? We were pretty hard on Mike Smith. And geez, like lately, he is looking like a goalie of the past. Like, he is, as lights out, the Oilers themselves. Like, you're seeing, you're just seeing some depth come in, which,

for so many years, it's been dry, Settle McDavid. If they ain't scoring, they ain't winning. And now you're starting to see a little bit more of different guys step up, which has been a lot of fun. and, you know, Vander Kaine, who is, man, he's had his story in the NHL. And I was skeptical of him coming. And so far he has been lights out. So, I mean, there's lots of great stories in Emmington. But, I mean, Calgary, I've interviewed Dary, I, like, that man is a wonder to watch coach a team.

And you see Calgary respond to him is interesting to me, because there's a guy that I thought was done. You know, when I interviewed him, he was on the farm and he was happy to be, you know, as he was before L.A. He was basically drunk of hockey before he won the two Stanley Cups. Fair enough. Yes. And came back kind of in a pinch just before Christmas the year they won in 2012. He is a, he is just brilliant. You know, one of the guys who stands out, it's obvious the big line there, Godro, Lynn, Tom, and Kachuk. And they've got depth scoring in Manjia Pani. But I, the guy that's amazed me, Sean, is Eric Goodbranson. Eric Goodbranson. Eric Good Hansen came into the NFL as a third pick overall.

And I think the weight of that was just so hard on him for so long. And now he's just playing. And he looks like otherworldly to my eye out there. Their defenses, you know, they brought in Tannaf and Markstrom to shore up the back end. That's what Daryl did. The first time he took over, Calgary, got Kippersoft. This time he went and got Markstrom. And they just, but I do like your Oilers.

I don't, it's a pick-um. I love when Duncan Keith came back to Mike Smith after Smith's second shutout and the Oilers' third consecutive shutout. I mean, when I see Brett Kulak playing 12 minutes, that's all he's getting. That's how good the Oilers defense is playing. And Duncan Keith, you know, to bring that leader in for Connor and for Leon to have that guy to kind of be the Steve Eiserman at the Olympics, they are going to be really a handful. And Duncan Keith, in my younger years, his younger years, I got to watch him in Tampa Bay back when the lightning had La Cavier and St. Louis and a young Stephen Stamco's, who to this day is the most talented and hardworking player I've ever watched. I remember watch a Federov, and it seemed like he wouldn't skate. But then when he did, he was gone.

Stephen Stamco's was the same way, except he skated everywhere. And it was fun to watch. But going back to Duncan Keith, I've never seen footwork like him. You know, they always talk about, I've heard so many stories about Bobby Orr. Obviously, I was way too young to have ever really fully witnessed what Bobby Orr could do. I can watch videos, but it's such a different game. It doesn't even translate. Watching somebody live is, well, there's no replacement for it.

And Duncan Keith, when he was a younger guy, his footwork, I'd never see. seen a Dman doing that. Me being a defenseman, I was like, wow, that is, that is something. So when we got Duncan, I know he's an older guy, but sometimes a little veteran leadership goes a long way. But the question still remains. Do you think we're going to see, can the flames get through the first round? Because they're going to have to face right now, one of Dallas, Nashville, Vegas catches up, and the Oilers, L.A. right now tentatively, you know, as we sit and record this, that's what it sits. Do you think, Ron, and I know you're probably not want to predict too much.

That was always Don's role. Do you think we'll see a battle of Alberta? Because I mean, as much as the NHL wants rivalries in the regular season, we all know it happens in the playoffs. And there would be nothing better than Calgary, Eminton, the winner is going to the conference finals. That would be sweet, in my opinion. Oh, and who would argue with that?

You know, I'm red deer where we had a little bar on the South Hill, the crown and anchor, and we had a red line drawn through the middle of the bar. And that was in the summer to separate the Eskimo and Stampeeder fans. And, of course, in the winter to keep the Oilers and Flames fans at May. We grew up, I grew up in that rivalry and pray that it happens again because it's good for hockey in Alberta, good for two, you know, great programs. I'm really grateful the Oilers were able to turn it around. You've got the best player in the game. You want to see him involved.

And you've got maybe the best coach, I would say the best coach, Darryl Sutter. that that's going to be a fantastic series and yeah as for predicting it'll happen you know i love how you dance the prediction you're like what's what's the you know i would say yes but i would just be you know to pander to a flames and oilers crowd right there's no no way that i know the answer to that question well that's setting up that's a prediction though all right well let's do this let's slide into the crude master final five brought to you by uh well brought to you by crude master uh showed it to Heath and Tracy McDonald, supporters of the podcast

since the very beginning. Truly do appreciate that family and that company for sticking with me through thick and thin. Instead of a list of questions, it's just we got five minutes left.

So here's where I want to start. Obetrickan, everybody says he's going to break the record. He's at 780 goals right now. The record is 894. He did just tie Gretzky and Bossie with the most 50 goal seasons ever with nine. He's 36 years old, turns 37. I'm going to put you on the spot with predictions

again. Do you think Ovechkin can break 894? Yes. I just think he's the kind of guy that wants to. And it loves to score, loves to play. He's healthy. You know, you can see what he's doing. It's, what is it, 115 is what he needs. 114 to tie, 115 to break it. Yeah. So, yeah, it's, a lot to ask, I realize. But I think the game is trending in a way that scoring is going up. So I believe this trend that, you know, we've jumped up to 6.5 goals per game. The two teams combined this year. That's back to the scoring, you know, of the 1990s. So my answer is yes. Yeah, that'd be pretty, you know, of all, there's a lot of Grexky's

records that'll never be broke. That was one I think a lot of us thought, that'll never be touched. It'd be pretty cool for the sport in general to have a guy break it, right? Like, Like, I mean, that's, that's, I think even Gerexky would probably pat that guy in the back and be like, well, good for you, man. It's a funny story, Sean, I'm sure you know, but when Paul Coffey broke Bobby Orr's goal scoring record for a defenseman, which was 46. And Glenn played Paul to death to get him to the 48 goals he got that year. Now he just needed a couple points to break Bobby's record of 139 points. And Paul was looking at Glenn, am I going out?

Am I going out? And Glenn says, no, you're not going out, Paul. you're no Bobby Orr. He didn't want him to have both records. He would let him to have one, but he wouldn't let him have both, which is a great testament to the great Bobby Orr and to Glenn Sater.

Last time I had you on, it was Mr. Miller going around, Ryan Miller going around, shaking everybody's hands and his curtain call for a season. This year, it's Getslap and him being a sasky boy. What's your story on Ryan Getslap through the years? Well, first of all, his brother Chris, we were doing an event. I think it was University Cup in Regina.

And I was asking Chris had played, if I'm not mistaken, for Dwight McMillan with the Red Wings. Wayburn, Red Wings. So I think Chris played hockey there. Maybe it was his best friend played hockey there. Anyway, I said to Chris, this Dwight McMillan, the coach over in Weber, has 2,000 victories in Junior A hockey. Like, what's the deal? And Chris said to me, well, this McMillan guy, all he needed was two games of a series. And he would then devise a game plan.

He would find the Achilles heel of the opponent. He would know which players you could intimidate, which players you could expose two games. That's all he needed. And then they would come back and win series time and again. That's a favorite gets-lap memory. That has nothing to do with Ryan. But I just remember Chris telling me that. Anyway, Ryan, you know, Kevin BX is a buddy, of course.

and just they all speak glowingly of the four pillars of the franchise where Scotty Niedermeyer late to the game but Paul Correa, Tame Usilani and Ryan Getslath, they are the ducks. Those four are the core four of what made that franchise viable. He and Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, who's a, you know, Winkler, Manitoba. They,

in that 2007 run were unbridled Mustangs. You didn't know what the hell they were doing out there. They were out of control half the time. but they were so intimidating with the power of their game down Brian Kilray always said from the circle to the goal there isn't a better player in the NHL than Cory Perry and they all compare to Getslaft to Mark Messier so just a tremendous thing that he did in in southern California where it's not easy you know you feel good you're you're in warm weather so your body holds up a little better but a great great career yeah great career he's been he's I mean him being

the same division or the same conference as the oilers has always been frustrating because they were so good for so long and Cory Perry alongside him would drive you nuts any day of the week. Your final one, I don't know how much you'd cross pass with Buck, but Buck Martinez is stepping away from the broadcast right now and hopefully he gets well, you know, diagnosed with cancer or fighting cancer. I don't know of a more calming voice than Buck. I don't know of a more calming voice than Buck. I joke about this, but I'm serious. I don't know how many Sunday afternoons I'd flick on the ball game, and Buck would just kind of serenade me to sleep, and I wake up about the seventh inning stretch and watch the end, and he was just, and I don't mean that as it boring. He just

has like this great, silky, smooth voice. Any stories on Buck? Or do you guys cross pass at all? Well, the only time in a sense that I did, I threw out the opening pitch at a Blue Jay's game. And that's unnerving. It was a big crowd that day, 40,000. And I remember I stood at the front of the mound. It kind of cheated. So it's 66 feet from the rubber. I think I took it down to 60 feet just for fear. And I threw a perfect strike, which was a, you know, a lucky thing. Because I'll tell you, you do have adrenaline firing on all digits. But Buck was there that day. And I was just chatting with him. And he said, you know, it looks like you've done that a time or two. And I was just a nice, you know, feeling to hear it from that voice that you just described. He, he absolutely,

as a catcher, I love, you know, the catchers to me are the, are the game. They have so much. Yeah, I love the fact that they, they call obviously the game, but also they, they play such a, I love Danny Jansson right now with the Blue Jays and just watching the work he's doing with various pitchers and, you know, they platoon a little bit. But that's always been my favorite. You know, growing up I was a big fan of a lot of the catchers and probably Johnny Bench, you know, being number one, Carlton Fisk. So, yeah, he's a great, great guy. And, you know, we're having all of us collective thoughts and hugs and so.

And he's got the team this season is just fun to watch, right? Like they're a dangerous little group of players, right? Just slowly growing into their own if they can. if they can start, you know, weaving some magic together. I like the opening game where they had last year was the trailer. This year you can see the movie. And it just kind of feel that way for sure. Great last Boston, in 40 below Boston.

Well, I appreciate you hopping on and always, you know, doing this with me, Ron. It's always, it's always fun, you know, sit and debate and talk about different things and thoughts and be so open. I truly do appreciate that about you. Same. Yeah, you know, and I wish you nothing but the best, Sean, and to the McDonald's, your sponsor, that's a great thing to have them in your corner. Yeah, it's, I get excited because it's our vocation, is to live and learn. So you're doing a great job and keep it up.

We'll see you on the trail. You betcha. Thanks, Ron. Here, Sean. Hey, thanks for tuning in today, guys. I hope you enjoyed it. If you haven't subscribed yet, make sure you subscribe, like, leave some feedback, share, anything you can do. Appreciate it.

If you're looking to support the podcast financially, first off, you can tell me a flag kite. That's totally cool. Otherwise, there is a link in the show notes that takes you to my Patreon account. Otherwise, we will catch up to you on Hump Day, Wednesday, when we got another archive episode, and of course, Friday we're back at it as well. So go out there, kick some ass, and we'll catch up to you Wednesday.