The Steve Dangle Podcast - FraudKinnon | January 13, 2026

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Steve will be in the arena host the OHL Top Prospects game tomorrow in Peterborough! More info here: https://chl.ca/ohl/tag/ohl-top-prospects-game/ On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, the boys are live from the OHL Top Prospects game in Peterborough, Ontario, broadcasting from the Miskin Law Community Complex. 00:00 Leafs beat the Avs 32:00 Will the Devils actually fire Tom Fitzgerald? 42:00 The Blue Jackets fire Dean Evason 50:30 Looking ahead to the draft in Buffalo 1:06:00 Taking questions from the crowd! Watch all episodes of The Steve Dangle Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEidkgWpSiHVkYT7HrIzLPXlY Watch clips of The Steve Dangle podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEieOJuIrqWyZPWSIJtVMCbLz Buy SDP merch https://sdpnshop.ca/ Check out https://sdpn.ca/events to see The Steve Dangle Podcast live! Watch hockey with us! Live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEifCTX0vkKEaGg9otrW4Zl2k Subscribe to the sdpn YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sdpn?sub_confirmation=1Join Subscribe to SDP VIP!: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0a0z05HiddEn7k6OGnDprg/join Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/thestevedanglepodcast Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sdpvip/subscribe - Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Join us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/MtTmw9rrz7 For general inquiries email: [e-mail] Reach out to https://www.sdpn.ca/sales to connect with our sales team and discuss the opportunity to integrate your brand within our content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca. podcasts with your hosts steve dangle adam wild and jesse blake let's go uh well here we go top prospects game everybody thank you everybody for being here we had some cheers people showing up on their lunch breaks and taking days off work this is we're so excited to be here this is if you're not aware watching at home we're in peterborough for the ohl top prospects tournament and going on behind us here probably in the next hour or so we're going to get the u16 tournament

underway we're at miskin law arena which is right across the street uh from the peterborough memorial center and obviously um we're going to see over the next couple of days some of the best talent that ontario and specifically the ohl has to offer and they're behind us right now the people doing the public skate need some shout outs too right you know what yeah they're warming up the ice there it is yeah we got a total of 80 ohl players included in the nhl scouting services midterm rankings which came out yesterday so that's exciting and you know we're going to see the best of the best so you're going to see names like and again these might be names you don't know yet but ethan belchez uh ryan robrick chase reed uh adam novotny uh nikita klepkov uh beckham edwards

there's some it's it's going to be pretty exciting obviously uh those are just some of the names that could be on the connor mcdavid trophy uh by the end of uh well i guess the next 48 hours i keep wanting to call it a weekend but we're in the middle of the week here we sure are and those are names that everyone should know already because they've been featured in oh wow steve's highlights videos that's right steve do you have a favorite highlight from this year oh oh man there have been some insane uh like just diving across the net saves Nick Lardis basically built oh well last year and it's you know what's been interesting about this season it's not necessarily the highlights that I've seen this season it's the guys who have

graduated actually like I can say oh we featured this guy a lot last year and it's one of the best things about talking about sports is uh hey i'm smarter than you i know this kid and so when chicago called up lardis i'm like this i know him he's gonna be a problem and uh he's been pretty good for them this is uh famously peterborough uh the city that molded nick robertson into the defenseman that we all know him and love him to be i'm kidding nick robertson was a pretty big deal here uh and is now a pretty big deal in the nhl and we're going to talk about that in just a little bit but uh i just want to kind of run people through because uh we've got uh ohl commissioner brian crawford joining us on the steve dangle podcast tomorrow and why that's exciting is we're

going to be doing it from center ice where the peats play which i think is going to be super cool and you know the ohl has always been about talent and future stardom and that sort of thing but brian's brought his spin uh and brought a lot of new life and ideas and energy into the ohl and And I think it's a pretty exciting league here at the moment and obviously creates some of the best talent in the world. But I do need to mention the Toronto Maple Leafs, who gave us a great night last night. How many people actually stayed up for it?

Did you guys all stay up? Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Oh, we got thumbs up in the office there in the back. In the Canadian Hockey Enterprises offices. There you go. Yeah, they were staying up and watching. And this is a big deal.

I mean, I was I was worried about rolling in here and going, OK, well, they lost for nothing to the Avalanche. But here's why that's OK. Right. And and and I kind of felt like that going into last night's game. It's like, well, we know that they're not maybe necessarily a Stanley Cup contender this year, but beating a team that had not lost at home for 18 games since October 23rd. That's obscene. You know, a team that's lost what, five or six times all year. right they're 19-0-3 at home had not not not one regulation loss at home three teams have walked into that building and taken two points out of it it's at a higher elevation they had to fly there it's after you know after 10 o'clock at night when the game starts and the Toronto

Maple Leafs somehow some way did it and I kind of want to break that down I know we got a lot of Leaf fans here uh so I don't think anybody's going to mind too much but you know to start us off guys the Leafs have now claimed 18 of 20 points since the December 22nd firing of Mark Savard and I don't want to put it all on Mark but there has been an offensive awakening here and you even look at a guy like William Nylander who's missed most of that time he's got five points in the last couple of games he's I mean he's looked incredible he I was really encouraged by the game he had because after the first like two shifts of that game I'm like okay if they don't at least try to skate with colorado a little they're screwed because that team is

unbelievably fast and you need william neilander to be part of that equation um and sure enough he like helps force a turnover off of nathan mckinnon in overtime and he ends up uh burying the ot winner that was sick um but i'm i'm just glad uh producer drew is sad this morning and he's coping he is you know what's been what's been difficult so like like a few guys in my beer league team you know that they'll ask questions about like oh what do you think of this what do you think of that and marks of our gets fired they're like so what do you think and i'm like well i know him and he's a very nice man and it's weird for you that's got to be strange and now it's 8 0 and 2 and they're like how's your bud i'm like can you stop like this is you can't deny

the record it's 8 0 and 2 it's significant i wanted change there wasn't the change i expected but it was obviously change that was needed jesse going into last night's game and i want you to be as honest as you possibly can okay how did you honestly feel about the game beforehand what What outcome would you have been happy with outside of a win? Because I don't know that a lot of people were like, they're definitely rolling into Colorado and beating them. Yeah, I don't generally expect any team to beat Colorado this season. Like every game on the schedule for them should be a victory, you know, going into that.

And I didn't know how the Leafs would fare against a really fast team. And they go in there and they look just as good, just as fast. And they look like they could compete with them and they beat them. And I was pretty shocked at the result. The pace of play that you both have mentioned is kind of a key thing. Because, you know, Colorado plays extraordinarily. And it's not just McCarr and McKinnon, right? Obviously, Natchez is in there as well.

It seems like Sam Gerrard is a bullet out there. There's so many guys. Victor Olofsson. Victor Olofsson's fast. I was like, where'd those wheels come from? The Leafs decided to match them in terms of speed. And I wondered how, because, you know, when the Leafs weren't doing well, they were skating really slow.

The puck movement was slow. And Berube said to you guys in the scrum, Jesse, at one point, well, the reason we look slow is we're not playing the system properly. And nobody believed him. And I don't know if he'd ever admit it, but I think there's been a giant change in philosophy with the coaching staff there with the Leafs. They play so much less dump and chase, and it allows them to play a style of hockey that competes with teams who don't play dump and chase like them. They're not being sent into the corners by their opponents, and they're not doing the same thing. So in these games where they need a fast back and forth flowing game, they can do that because that's their system now. And I think that change came along the same times as Mark Savard getting fired.

So I really don't think it's a coincidence that once he left the organization that they've been good. It's not just the power play. It's an overall philosophy at five on five, too. Now, throw it to Steve. Throw it to Steve. No, don't throw it to Steve. Steve's close personal friend. So what do you think?

The same thing I thought when they won the last game. It's crazy. Listen, I'm happy that they win. Beginning, middle, end. It was clearly that was the catalyst to get them to do something different. They tried something from October till the end of December, and it was that slow style of hockey. And they said, okay, this isn't working.

We need to make a change or else we're going to miss the playoffs. And they did it. And Corrado, Frank Corrado, when he was on our show, he laid that out. But what he laid out is what they're doing differently on the power play. specifically power play and there have been a number of games over the streak where you look at the special teams and they at least break even if not win the special teams battle and obviously that's going to help you win games last night was a game where they lost right um they did i mean cowan got a fluky one right it's an own goal but i don't still count i don't care colorado doesn't

exactly have a barn burning power play for some reason 23rd in the league that makes absolutely no sense defies all logic they scored five seconds in but despite all that they still kept pace with them it was tight there was never a was there a two goal lead last night i don't think there was no one nothing one one two one two two three two three three four three uh they they that's as impressed as i've been with this group all season and what what i'm what i'm finding very funny is you know all uh while i'm setting up the lfr video or whatever uh i'll still be listening to the postgame show in the background and i think it's been three maybe four consecutive games where they've been like that's that's their most complete game of the season it seems like every single time

out they're like oh this is the best win next win this is the best win and they set a real low bar but like that is legitimately their the best win the avalanche have played 22 games in that building this season they've beaten all but three opponents yeah and the leafs are one of those three and you gotta get lucky to be good you gotta be good to get lucky and last night the mckinnon goal or non-goal in overtime where he goes bar down and he beats joseph wall and it stays out of the net you know like forget that jess even starting the game easton cowan yeah yeah and there was that too yeah the easton cowan goal it goes off brent burns and it's just in the back of the net and these bounces didn't happen for the leafs early on in this season they played some

good games like i remember the dallas game like that was a good game no bounce goes their way and now they're starting to get bounces and they're playing good hockey it's really it's really good stuff easton cowan was notably very popular in peterborough from what i understand very huge of course oh yeah yes usually popular with Pete's fans everyone in the OHL loves the London Knights yes yeah I think that's that's the rumor they're known for it um so that favorite that goes in but then the abs go up two to one and and so like obviously we got we got you know Cowan scoring early but before the period's out you get Kale McCarr with his 14th and Brock Nelson who I think has 10 goals in his last I don't know is this like 15 games or something 14 in his last 20 it's crazy

Like that. And you're burying Nietzsche's completely breaking McCabe's ankles. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's always a little demoralizing when you're like, oh, that's like the best guy we got. Just getting humbled. And he got humbled a couple of times in this game. And, you know, the Brock Nelson goal happens on the power play and it happens relatively quickly. And it's one of those things where you kind of go, OK, well, that's that was our big strength was our penalty kill. right like it's tops in the league there's nothing you can do because they came right off that face off and mckinnon just goes to the middle of the net and everybody's trying to take their positions on in in the penalty kill and before they can even get to the where they need

to be on the ice he passes it to nelson he scores you have it's unbelievable you have to respect him right and there's a there's a very small handful of players in the league where when they're barreling down on you uh everyone's body language changes if i'm not mistaken remember um that outdoor game clip with alex petrangelo when he was on vegas i'm no only you are going to remember this very specific don't ask us anymore yeah no just say we don't have that kind of memory like you steve so petrangelo is miked up for the outdoor game and he's the only person visible on screen and you just hear him go oh boy and it's mckinnon oh yeah like that's an all-world defenseman and it's mckinnon coming at him and i'm pretty sure he scored because what are you supposed to

do right and yeah and yesterday in the the power play he's coming at you and the defensemen are backing up you know they're trying to get to where they need to be and you're kind of scared and oh oh there's like one of the hottest goal scorers in the world yeah he's wide open because uh uh you had five seconds to put all that together. And it's amazing they're not top ten, top five in the league in power play. It's very fun watching them, but did you want to rehash your argument where you said that Auston Matthews is so much better than Nathan McKinnon? Hey, listen.

It was something that I was keeping an eye on, right? Matthews and McDavid, because of the Canada bubble especially, have had their battles and mcdavid's gotten the better of the leafs recently let's be honest right but you know matthews has his moments in in that rivalry at least whenever these two go head to head it's kind of tough man um there have been a number of times where i'm like okay and here's austin's night here's austin's moment and sometimes the guy just has your number both of them actually kind of struggled with a little bit um maybe compared to their usual standard um Matthews with that horrible penalty at the end of the period almost cost you the game Nathan McKinnon

gives the puck away does cost his team the game that was that was one game where I think you could look at it and go you know what I think Matthews came out on top we'll give him the edge we'll get well the results anyway now Bobby McMahon at the beginning of the second period the the abs came out and had some pretty good scoring chances and bobby mcmahon was able to grab the puck with about well about two minutes into the period split the colorado defense which is like we said beginning like very very fast but he's faster and i i don't know if you guys knew this he has registered the third fastest maximum speed of any other nhl player this year i believe it who are the other two mcdavid mcdavid's one has to be mcdavid yeah uh i i was surprised by the answer

barzal good good good guess jesse just throw a name on mckinnon uh logan cooley oh yeah that is very surprising those are the three fastest top speed guys in a game so far this year uh he blew by the defense and they actually said it on the on the intermission i think it was elliot freeman and nick kiprio saying that uh the chance to get bobby mcmahon under contract on something team friendly passed a few weeks ago he is he is an unrestricted free agent so maybe we enjoy it while we have it and yet he's making a million bucks yeah he's making nothing and he still surprises people with that speed yeah i'm always amazed um that people haven't caught on to it yet like there's no game notes or nothing i think they know bobby mcmahon is like i i was i was

actually thinking about this last night like if you had the fastest skater competition for the Leafs who would the race be between and it's I think it's McMahon yeah and Nylander yeah personally and McMahon wins see McMahon is faster straight away Nylander's crazy on turns I really like him on turns so it's it's one or the other but one of them makes 11 and a half the other is Bobby McMahon yeah right and is it with the puck or without the puck let's say let's do one of each I always like to think of these situations as i'm a billionaire and i get to fund whatever vanity project i want yeah i'm gonna make him do it more than once i think i've honestly always thought this skills competition needs to be with the puck i agree with you like the fastest skater at the all-star

game like why are we doing it just hey go run it needs to be with the puck it's hockey i like that to mcdavid then well yeah that's isn't that the idea that's the only reason he doesn't win it every year yeah well yeah i guess but like the idea should be like we're determining the fastest skater in hockey yeah so you got to skate with the puck yeah i don't know he's he's still like mcmahon straight away you get into that foot race like i i showed it last night in the lfr like there's a three-way race when the puck is at the center ice line mcmahon is third of three and he's like a solid five six feet ahead of anybody by the time he's even taking the shot oh yeah i think it was i think it's chris cuthbert on the broadcast who mentioned that

he took a couple strides before touching the puck to give himself that acceleration and that's so that's so smart in that moment to do that you use your speed quickly get the puck and then you're just beating everybody that's what decided the game yeah right was uh was reeds um cowan's goal is obviously luck uh mcmahon is a calculation that leads to a breakaway leads to a goal uh matthews and really underrated lee riley had a nice little communication there that allowed Matthews to beat Manson for the third goal and then in overtime it's all three guys having the same idea at once right Matthews OEL leading the charge and Nylander made his decision to go for it before McKinnon did and that was it yep right they were really smart last night the rise of

Bobby McMahon's been interesting too because you look at his stats through like I mean we could we could go all the way back to the AJHL but we don't need to he went to Colgate University where's colgate university steve the toothpaste factory no where where is it i don't i have no idea jesse where's colgate university new york new york you got it yeah i know that from uh march madness he played he played four seasons there never got more than 14 goals and you're talking about 30 40 games a season he's got 14 goals now he's got 14 goals now he had 20 last year he had 15 the year before 24 with the marlies in 21 22 and was never like even with the growlers you know he was a point of game player and the wichita thunder roughly a point of game but not you know when you're at

those levels you expect guys to kind of blow the doors off and it seems like he's come to the nhl and really for the first time in his adult life figured out how to score goals which is usually something you figure out in in smaller leagues i i think one thing uh that we've seen kind of go away over the course of us doing this podcast you know over a decade is if a guy isn't fully developed into what we expect him to be by the time he's 25 it's over he's cooked it's done what McMahon has done since joining the Leafs as a pro is he's gotten better at something every year you know last year in the playoffs the goal scoring was not there the offense was not there But there was a little bit of bang and crash that was sort of missing from his game badly.

It wasn't enough, though, but you see a glimpse of it. But by the time the season rolled around, he still hadn't really done enough where you're like, you know what, Berube might be able to justify scratching him every now and then. He is the fastest straightaway player on the team. He's got a lethal enough shot that if he's one-on-one with a goalie, it's going in. I think his playmaking has gotten a little bit better And he plays Like an absolute jerk

This is a guy you need on your team to win games And so often he's the first guy Into a scrum Do you remember It was the one game we were complaining about them having no pushback And he was the one guy who had pushback And laid a couple hits There were a few of those games

We came on the show and we were like Bogman's the only one Could not tell you what happened That's a number of times this season and that toughness is what we've asked out of the skilled players for so long for the Leafs, and Bobby McMahon is doing it. It's awesome. He was also on the fourth line last night.

I think that's the important thing too. Did really well. Did really well in the top six. Got demoted. Didn't mope. And then when his number came up, Robertson goes down. All right, so you're going to get a little bit more ice time. It wasn't even someone on the top line who went down, right?

It was a line above him. But a line the coach loves, that Waugh-Robertson-Cowan line, clearly Berube does not want to split those guys up. He played on at least three different lines last night, had 25 shifts, six shots on goal, a breakaway goal. That's a coach's dream. Against the Avalanche. Against the Avs.

Yeah, yeah. And you know what's interesting is that we talk about players and, you know, oh, they got demoted or somebody came back and even though they've been performing well, they got to get pushed down. For the first time since I can remember, the bottom six, and specifically the fourth line has such an identity that when you're put onto that, because it's always Lorenz, Lawton, and insert player here,

it doesn't feel so much like a demotion. Those guys get offensive looks because they play such strong defense. Because they don't have a class system anymore, right? Like, even though, you know, the Leafs had this dazzling talent up front and it was a lot of fun to watch, in the games where the Stars don't have it or the other teams really doing a good job of shutting them down, no one else is hopping over the boards to save you it wasn't like we have a handful of memories

where it's like remember that Martin Marincin goal against the Canucks that was cool um it Thomas McClann it's in the playoffs that one yeah yeah and they wasted it they wasted it you know like uh there's no more class system McMahon can play anywhere and produce from anywhere Lawton can play anywhere I think and produce from anywhere Robertson has emerged as a guy who can produce from anywhere uh cowan can give you some pretty useful minutes for a rookie pretty much up and down the lineup and and there's just a versatility that we've seen recently um that we haven't seen before we haven't even mentioned that they're in a playoff spot right yeah they are yeah the toronto maple leafs are in a playoff spot this morning yay we got first time in a long time

also i want to give a shout out to simone benoit last night with a game saving uh stick i forgot to even mention in the video yeah it's so much happened but yeah incredible just uh stick work there to save a one-timer that looked like it was going right in the back of the net and you know we could give we could look at all these individual moments from all these skaters but like there was one particular text in the group chat that stood out last night because we were texting with producer drew the whole time uh as fan producer fan the whole time he's like we're not winning this game we're like shut up hedge lord the coin that adam turned but um i think it was a two-on-one save i want to say he made on natus he goes dude wool's pretty good

decent player yeah guy who's not even really supposed to be the starter wasn't their playoff starter and when the playoffs began last year oh you're saying staller should be the starter right oh i mean he was the penciled in one yeah if everyone's healthy right right who started the first game of the season right it was well i mean wool was out i guess that's unfair but still it would have been yeah it would have been stallers uh if everyone's healthy and wool's been at minimum a top top half starter in in the nhl and the games that he's played well and and so you know it i i think it's been uh interesting by the way uh baruba i believe gave a an update yesterday or the day before saying stallers is getting close to at least practicing with the team could play before

the olympics could play i was shocked by that maybe we don't know uh they're obviously notoriously could retire could retire we have no it's the least right we don't know what's going on um but you know i do wonder about the um you know with stallers and his injury history and wool with his injury history and and again stallers i think his the serious serious injuries that he suffered you know to both knees and have been reconstructed and that would happen all throughout his 20s obviously we don't know what happened this year um and wall is sometimes prone to oh i gotta go i'm gonna go go down for a week because i strained something right there's a lot of this strain or that strain having a three goaltending tandem seems to work out well it's

worked for carolina for the last few years and i know that hildeby doesn't need waivers to go down but if these guys are going to continue like this is there any problem with just having three goalies that are pretty good at hockey so i'm gonna say two things number one because uh hildeby doesn't require waivers you just send them down yeah you have a minor league team in the same city you just send them down and let them play that becomes a problem next season well that's the next season's problem get on your your kicking boots and kick that can down the road because it's not next season yet so we'll figure it out then another someone who uh someone in professional hockey reached they called me this person never calls me okay and they're like i listened it was colin campbell

to your yeah gary bevin called stop talking about my son no he has a banner in this in the building down the road doesn't he i'm pretty sure yeah he's pretty sure pretty sure he does yeah we should go see it beats legend colin take a picture who i have always loved and appreciated um no i i got a call from someone in professional hockey and they're like i listened to your podcast the other day and i almost or no no it was that day they called up they called us they called me mid-show someone in professional hockey listens to our podcast they called me mid-show what's wrong with them and they're like i almost drove off the road steve when you talked about a three goalie system no one does that and they don't do it for a reason never never talk about the three goalie system

ever oh wow oh they scream the phone but the hurricanes the hurricanes have done it for the past five years all right i'll narrow it down they don't work for the hurricane okay yeah because i brought that up someone else i think i brought that up what was it last week yeah and i was like you know what that could be a good idea and they called me mid-drive to be like no it's not they were not having it not having it at all uh do you do you um do you think the one of the guys that was the whipping boys or you know a whipping boy early season was Brandon Carlo and we're not sure if he started the season injured but he wasn't the physical presence that we've been used to facing in the playoffs when he was with Boston this is a player who's six foot seven right shot

defenseman has that sort of uh Gandalf you know you shall not pass range to him cartoonishly large he's a big man some of those scrums last night holy cow and you know obviously the the game where Anthony Stollers against Seattle called out the team when Mason Marchmont was on top of him the guy that wasn't pulling him off was Brandon Carlo and I think it was so interesting because we do have short memories as fans I thought he was very good coming to Toronto last year and what you saw in Morgan Riley's underlying numbers is they instantly went up and he started to play much better when those two were paired Carlo takes a puck off the skate it gets infected he misses a month and a half and now he's back and the best part about Brandon Carlo right now to me is nobody's

talking about him I don't have to think about him yeah you don't notice him when he's playing well and that except well you notice his giant body in places which is awesome yeah but uh he's been playing really well pretty massive with Chris Tanev being out how you know how badly you need a guy like this right and so you know let's talk about his effect because we you know there was a a time where you know we're without Tanev without Carlo McCabe was in and out of the lineup it was like uh Morgan Riley Troy Stetcher Simon Benoit and a bunch of guys and then Mermis went out there was a pre-Stetcher time in our lives too like I try not to think about I think the reason we have Stetcher is because Mermis went down I don't even remember they've used like 12 guys yeah it's insane

they've used two decors do you understand that like they're halfway through the season it's crazy So his effect on the team and the fact that fans – I just kind of wanted to expand on that because I don't think he's been given his flowers since he's come back and been very, very solid. Carlo. Carlo. Oh, I was like, Stetcher, people are –

No, no, no. We love Stetcher. Who doesn't love Troy? Everybody loves him. Oh, my gosh. There's a lot of – there's kisses coming from the crowd. Oh, my gosh. About Troy Stetcher.

No, Carlo, I mean, fans got on him because we saw how well he played. And we're like, where'd that guy go? Right. And Stollers calls him out. And do you remember how we had a live show that night? Yes, I do. And I was talking about how this season is still lacking a defining moment. And I thought that was going to be it because Stollers comes out, calls out the team, and you're going to be a completely different team the next night. no they got pumped uh and it ended up being the defining moment just not the way that i had hoped um they were weak they were not a team they were bad at hockey that's that's what they were and

so was carlo he was part of that right but your opinion changes as the evidence in front of you changes right i was screaming for max domia to be a healthy scratch and be off the team He was. He was a healthy scratch. He was a healthy scratch, and now he's on the first line, and I haven't had a single complaint about it. You know why? He's played well.

He made some good defensive plays last night. I was like, Max, Domi did that? He does that on the wing, Craig. Are you sending a message to Steve? Are you saying, please play him on the wing? I'm sure he figured it out when his team started winning games because he moved maximum. So the one thing I quickly want to mention, too, on the Leafs

before we leave them and go to the Devils, who actually won a game. Can you believe it? Unbelievable. I want to talk very quickly about Utah. The Leafs, I think, are the first team to go into Utah since the players and team started asking fans not to whistle during the game.

So we're going to find out tonight if they listen or not. Oh, is this the first post-whistle game? I'm pretty sure it is. Easily the funniest thing you could do is every visiting fan that goes into Utah has to whistle. Start whistling? Yeah. yeah i'm i i'm i'm curious about this game because obviously it's the second half of a back-to-back

we know dennis hildeby's been great but i think the the thing for me is that like uh um the you never you're never quite sure which utah team you're gonna get they are a bit streaky they're capable of more than they've shown yeah right no i i 100 understand what you're saying a little bit of i want to say the offensive version of last year's kraken a little bit there were some nights where i was like that's a legit team and then most nights where i'm like oh they'll they may never score again right um they seem to go how jj peterka goes if he's hot they're hot and if he's not there's talent oh yeah there's lots of talent they're getting sean dersey back as help yeah there's lots there's lots of talent there lots to like so we'll see how that goes sometimes life

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Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca. Now, I do want to move on to the New Jersey Devils, who did win a game last night, and Dougie Hamilton, who was scratched the night before, and it was such a notable scratching that J.P. Berry, who's one of the biggest agents in the entire game, decided to make a statement about it.

And then Tom Fitzgerald then had to respond to that statement. Dougie Hamilton's stat line last night. Two assists, two blocks, plus three, 19 minutes of play time in a 5-2 win over a very good Minnesota team. And who do they have? Capri's off and Hughes and Quinn Hughes we don't need you come on come on double scrams let's get it going Steve you also called exactly what happened in terms of I couldn't believe it scratching it was unbelievable do you want to re-explain that yeah so Dougie Hamilton was a

healthy scratch and his agent JP very uh JP Berry was very upset about it and I was like all right let's get him back into the lineup but you have to scratch Simon Nemech who is also JP Berry's only other client on the devils and then they did that's what happened the second the show ended they announced so it's like where's the statement for him i think they should announce it they should it's we we haven't gotten enough statements in the last week in the nhl we need more yeah actually but like that's the performance you want after a scratching right like that's what they're asking dougie hamilton to do is hey rebound show up do everything you can so we can trade you yeah So then we can move you eventually, but it's good for him.

Good for him for not like pouting, you know, in his play. Well, what kind of a morning are we waking up to today in New Jersey if they lost that game? Because, again, it's Quinn Hughes, and that would be their fifth straight loss, and, you know, Sheldon Keefe on the hot seat, Tom Fitzgerald specifically on the hot seat. I think it's Tom Fitzgerald's fired. Okay, now let me –

I don't think so. You don't think so? No. Because I don't know that New Jersey's going to – I'm with you. I don't know if New Jersey's going to do anything. Towards the end of the season thing, if anything They seem to be really stuck in their ways with Tom Fitzgerald They do, but Devils fans seem to be stuck in their ways

About being from New Jersey You can't make personnel decisions based on the fans Nobody would survive anything You sure can What do you mean? Brian Burke did that one time If their home game, I think it's tomorrow, goes poorly fans are going to make it difficult on them right yeah but you can't react to that yeah there's a

reason you are paid to do your job and not just listen to what the fans want it's true well in this case it's not someone being paid to do a job this is just ownership's decision to gas a guy or not right right and i don't like i'm not agreeing that he should keep his job i actually think he should be fired but i don't believe that they think that here's here's one thing that uh i think is just undeniable whether Fitzgerald gets fired or not someone with the authority to make moves in New Jersey has to make them this cap situation is ridiculous the Dougie Hamilton situation is ridiculous you have too much money on the books Palat scored last night which was also had to also hilarious everyone who they need to perform well so that they can trade them performed well

last night but at some point get on with it yeah well so let me let me ask you guys this because I think you know it's pretty clear that the Palat and Hamilton contracts blocked New Jersey from having the cap space to bring Quinn Hughes in everybody kind of knows that right Palat has not worked out I think the body's probably just breaking down at this point he's also known as a playoff guy and they haven't gotten very far in the playoffs he's played a ridiculous amount of playoff games. And been hurt a ridiculous amount of times. Dougie Hamilton, all of his advanced stats are still pretty good. Maybe he's not a $9 million guy anymore, but he might be a seven and a half. And the offense hasn't been there until last night this season, but last

year it was. I don't think he forgot how to play hockey, but here's how those two guys apparently became Devils. Are you ready? This is fascinating. Have you heard this? Yes. Okay. So the first thing is uh the devil's analytics group uh you know that works for tom fitzgerald recommended highly against signing andre palat but fitzgerald overruled them a few years ago and signed him and so now he's stuck with that deal the hamilton contract is a little more interesting and this is where it gets into how much of this can you lay at the feet of tom fitzgerald because it was ownership that stepped in and said you need to sign dougie hamilton and you need to do it now And I remember when that contract was signed, everybody was like, that doesn't seem to fit the window quite yet.

I mean, we didn't know how good Jack Hughes was going to be at that point. But it was a different sort of like, that's odd. I remember being a bit surprised. Yeah. Not that he's not a great defenseman and it doesn't help a team. But we were just kind of like, really, at this stage? That's the group. That's the group.

So if you're ownership and you're going, okay, well, if he made a mistake on a $6 million contract, That's roughly 5%, 6% of the cap next year. Are we that upset about it? We were the ones that wanted Hamilton, and we were the ones that pushed him to get him. Can we lay that at our general manager's feet? So that is actually a really interesting take on it because there's been lots of justification

for why Tom Fitzgerald should lose his job, and I've been saying it. But if their biggest quote-unquote mistake or their biggest financial hurdle right now is one of their own creation, it kind of sucks to gas a guy for that very interesting take it happens all the time by the way owners do that all the time this is sorry bye you signed it sorry it's your name on it but yeah and i just i just think like i do feel like i think pilates is staying there's no question

about that you got to keep that guy unless i haven't looked at a bio calculator on puckpedia but it feels like the contract's unmovable so it's unmovable yeah in my mind so you can't You probably can't buy it out. He's going to find a way to end up on the Lightning. I'm telling you. I could see them paying assets to get rid of it. That could be a thing. I mean, it would really help them.

But do you not think that they would have to retain, right? And they've gotten rid of the double retention in the trade, right? So that makes it even more difficult. But if you can retain a little, somebody will take them because he's still a player. At $3 million, you would take them. Yeah, it's just not that cap it right now. So, yeah, I shouldn't say they can't move that. They could find a way with creative cap maneuvering.

And I think, Jesse, that Tom Fitzgerald's future hinges on his ability to get out of this in terms of good timing and not saddling them with a ton of retained money. Because conceivably, let's say Hamilton's got at least three more years and Palat does have three more years. if you're taking hamilton from you know nine million to say seven and a half that's one million five hundred five hundred thousand each of the next three years a lot if you were to retain 50 now that's three million on your books that's two retention slots four and a half million dollars which probably gets you bobby mcmahon next year if we're being honest about where the cap's going right considering philip broberg just signed for eight million bucks a season uh it's it's kind of one of those things I was surprised by that that starts to really cost you so if he's able to as

Jesse says attach assets retain less maybe not retain at all well then all of a sudden this you know then it's like well maybe Fitzgerald isn't so bad and I listen I'm not as close to the to the picture as Devils fans are but looking from the outside in to me those two moves are key to his future in New Jersey they're key and even then the work's not done right like Luke Hughes hasn't lived up to that contract at all yeah and now you know you get rid of Hamilton now you got one of those deals instead of two like you still have a problem right the the the one thing that most Stanley Cup contenders and champions have in common is almost all of their guys pull their weight financially right there's a there's a few outliers but for the for the most part you get

pretty good value out of your out of your roster and you know especially your depth yeah talent surprise money yep talent toughness discipline yeah but it's a lot of a numbers game as well and seeing how the luke use contract has played out over the course of the last what three months so so far it's existed i don't think there's an argument right now to say that they didn't they made that deal a little too early that they should have definitely waited to see how this kid played out a little and that contract's probably probably lower if you're giving to him right now yeah and it was a mistake i think to give him that early without the resume yeah the one thing that we've seen in recent memory uh is young players just going oh and like all of a sudden

he rattles off 60 points he had 43 last year yeah like it wouldn't shock me um 43 is a little ironic that's a little on the nose it's funny sorry um but uh yeah yeah somebody got somebody we got number joe that's quinn hughes's number yeah yeah i think it's luke's too oh is it okay yeah um uh i could he still has lots of time to figure it out he's so young but like i said giddy up the devils have a really weird window you know what i mean like they're young old they're you can't even call them in the middle because they don't have enough guys in the middle they're just this combination of well young and old I think the reason that Tom Fitzgerald has pressure on him is because their competitive window is right now and the fan base

and everybody doesn't think they're doing enough right like they're supposed to be competing for a Stanley Cup and they're not doing that and the expectations are the only reason that his job is on the line right now if they were just a middling rebuilding team that nobody's concerned about Tom Fitzgerald I think Devils fans are sick of what we were sick of you know watching your team struggle night in and night out and then hearing uh yeah but we're we're trying to do stuff and we just can't yeah yeah you gotta be able to do something and then the leafs are like assistant coach and we're like really what's that gonna do virtually undefeated right you gotta try something well and the columbus blue jackets have yesterday a surprise firing the columbus blue jackets fired dean

evison he got there 18 months ago guys uh and you know columbus had a uh a great year last year on the heels of obviously the gadreau tragedy and you know a team that missed the playoffs by a point last season i think we all forget that there was a really disappointing follow-up to a great story but they are i mean listen right now there are seven points out of a playoff spot at this point in the season seven points starts to really stretch out and become a very tough number to swallow last in the east last in the east last the bottom of the eastern conference is starting to stretch out too yes it's no longer a picture where oh everyone's in it blue jackets might not be it's blue jackets and the sands but they believe in bringing bringing in rick bonas who's

the second winnipeg jets coach in a row to retire and then immediately find work the next season um that the first one being paul maurice forgot about he took time off well he took time off yes but he resigned he left for like mental health reasons to take time off and then Rick Bones is 70 years old yeah he officially retired officially retired yeah they they gave him his flowers they put out statements and everything he was done done and he can't escape the game what I love about addicted to it Rick Bones's first season as an NHL coach came roughly five months after Steve and I were born we were born in consecutive months uh in October of 1988 with the Winnipeg jets so he is he just finished up with the jets that was a nice little completed circle and then

of course all of a sudden he's back and he's with columbus and they think we've got the talent we should be able to do this i i feel like i i understand uh why you make a change i guess at this point i do have some doubts about columbus say turning around and going on a st louis blues 2019 run where they go last to stanley cup finals they're a hard team to figure um because they have pieces they have pieces they have talent they have speed uh they're still kind of young i know goaltending is still a bit of a thing elvis has been out for a little yeah well and like and now he's back but yeah jet greaves hasn't been great and i thought he was going to be excellent it's Only Adam Fantelli could play in Toronto every game.

Man, I saw his numbers the other day, and I was like, that's not like a 90-point player. He plays like it every time he comes here. When he comes to Toronto, he does. Yeah, hat trick every time, basically. Yeah, no, and then you look down, and his non-Toronto numbers, it's just sort of a guy. Yeah.

Which is wild. Like a pretty good guy, but, you know. But Blue Jackets fans will tell you, listen, Evason wasn't the right guy. You know, you got Kent Johnson, who's a top-ten pick a few years ago, playing on the fourth line. Like, what are we doing here? This is their fifth head coach, I think, or fourth head coach since John Tortorella in 2021.

Okay, question for that number. Does Babcock count? Yes. They hired him. He was hired. He was supposed to be their head coach. Undefeated. Well, yeah.

Zero wins as well. That's, you know, listen, look at it. Toronto media. That's negative. Do we blame Tate McRae? Potentially. If we're running down the list. Is it the curse of Cole Sillinger?

Yeah, because now, I mean, listen, it's not going well for Jack Hughes either. So, you know, she's dating Jack now. Well, she's transferred the curse. That's right. There it is. Well, you've got to hope. What are we doing? There is a thing about Columbus, and I always go back to what Aaron Portsline wrote two or three years ago.

And the heading of the article was Columbus Blue Jackets, the team parody forgot. And you keep looking. Jeez. That's mean. He's so good. man he's one of the best best beat reporters in the nhl he's incredible but with the thing with portsy was saying was listen like it's great to have an ownership group that will spend the money and they will that want to grow the game and they do and stay out of the way of management but if

they could be faulted for anything it's staying too far out of the way like they didn't act quick enough in a lot of instances and now you've got uh uh you know don waddell's a pretty active general manager this is a pretty jumpy move yeah i'm curious about this what were your instant thoughts because i was actually really surprised well i was really surprised and then i looked at the standings and i thought what am i surprised about their last yeah you know uh that's not good uh and they're falling behind i i kind of wonder if they're looking at it like we can get back in this thing right you know because one thing you don't want in the middle of a rebuild and i think i would still probably categorize it as that in columbus is uh progress followed by now you stink

again yeah and you're right back where you were they shouldn't still be rebuilding because they've been rebuilding for so long some of their guys are old enough yeah yeah they really ought to be taking the next step and like how many how many players in the league out of 800 or whatever are better than Zach Wierenski oh not many in terms of defenseman it's like two you got a super de-duper star back there and you've done nothing yeah with the guy now you know you get rid of the coach you're about to find out some stuff about your personnel if you don't get a bump I think you're looking at real significant turnover this offseason I think it's important to bring up Zach Wierenski because how much of this has just been he's been injured and out for a little bit

now and he was amazing last year that might have sunk them for a couple weeks and then now that he's back and maybe they'll get a new coach bump along with a hey Zach's back bump so I like my expectations for them I think were a lot higher than last and last in the east and I feel ownership probably saw the exact same thing and general manager saw the exact same thing so when you look at this on the surface you say oh this is kind of a surprise firing but you take a closer look and you're like this is exactly what they should be doing right now to try and get this team up to where they should be and it's the eastern conference conversation we had the other day like detroit has taken a lot more than a step they've taken a marathon um the sabers have taken

a step uh they are also as of this morning in a playoff spot yeah so it's toronto and buffalo in the wild cards and of these teams i look at philly as a comparable to columbus and if i'm in columbus and i look across the hall to philly i'm like we should be where they are and i'd be really disappointed and then you look at the standings and there you are yeah right like yep i it i thought they would be better but i'm also looking at like the eastern conference standings and i'm like who am i surprised they're behind it's not a long list of teams right philly and detroit like you mentioned like we need Detroit we've been waiting for years for to take a step forward they finally have but it's taken them a decade almost well you know no they got a earlier this

or before the season began my lack of faith in the Red Wings was a lifetime achievement award right like yeah how many times are you gonna fool me before I get sick of it yeah and and they were bad and they were bad and they were bad and now they're good and everyone's like see and I'm like all right like you were right nine of the ten years i don't know if it's a c okay they're good now but now that they're good they're good as far as i know 90 on the test was about the highest score i ever got so like that's they're good and i trust that they're good so they're gonna stay good i'll give you a team to be surprised by sure if you're if you're in the metropolitan division being behind the islanders i think has surprised everybody oh yeah yes because none of us they're

None of us knew this kid who played 17 OHL games last year was going to come in and immediately be one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Yeah. That doesn't happen. No. We should have known the goaltending is always going to be there for the Islanders because they have some good goaltenders. As long as they're healthy.

Yeah. The way I looked at it heading into the season was they're going to be trailing behind. There's not a ton of sellers out there. And if the Islanders chose to be, there's so many guys on expiring deals you could get the sun and the moon for. So that's why I had them at the bottom. But they're very obviously not going to do that anymore. Yeah, it's fascinating.

Two in five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer.

Register today at pmcfwalk.ca. You've got to try breakfast at A&W. You've got to try breakfast at A&W. And what better way than with a delicious Pret Organic Coffee? Starting at just $1 all day, every day, now until December 31st. You gotta try breakfast at A&W. At participating A&W locations in Ontario. Now, a couple of things regarding prospects and the draft.

So, NHL, as I mentioned at the top of the show, the NHL Central Scouting released their midterm rankings. And there was some debate, I mean, especially during the World Juniors, and there always is. it's, it's so funny, right? Like, uh, junior hockey, as much as I love watching it, I wouldn't say that I'm like a prospects expert. There's very few people who can do that and do that. Well, you know, our friend Scott Wheeler at the athletic is one of them who is always really great to bounce things off of. He's very objective and cold in his analysis. I don't know how guys figure out, okay, this is a good junior player, but it's going to translate to the pros. That's, that's, that's evaded me forever. And I might never get that. Um, but you know,

Gavin McKenna's name is at the top of the North American list and there was some question about his ability to dominate and there's also been some question about the lack of results that they've maybe seen at Penn State where he's been there especially early on people were saying well Keaton Verhoff might be the guy and he's number two he's playing at the University of North Dakota McKenna Verhoff uh Carroll's from the Prince George Cougars and then Chase Reed from the Sue Greyhounds, Caleb Malholtra of the Brantford Bulldogs. Really good. And I also mentioned him off the top,

Ethan Belshazz from the Windsor Spitfires, who will also be here. Those are three, four, and nine on the list. And then on the European side, some of the names to kind of keep in mind, Ivor Stenberg, who keeps, yeah, tell me about him. Well, he's in the number one conversation, right? So he's the guy, do you think he's the guy over Verhoff

that might challenge McKenna for it? I think it's those three. Okay. Yeah. So, and this is, this is the thing is that sometimes coming to a year, like, you know, we're at the Conor Mc, you know, we're going to see the Conor McDavid trophy handed out tomorrow night. Conor McDavid's year was pretty obvious, right?

Yep. Uh, it's pretty, pretty simple. Um, there, then there are years where, oh man, it might be Nico Heischer or Nolan Patrick, but actually three and four Miro Heisken and Kale McCarr turn out to be right. That was 2017. Those turn out to be the two best picks. 14 was pretty crazy because there was – Ekblad ends up going first, but there was a lot of talk about Sam Bennett.

Right. He went fifth, I think? Fourth. Fourth. It went Ekblad, Sam Reinhardt, Leon Dreisaitl, and then Sam Bennett. Three of four of those ending up in Florida. Yep. How fair.

Hooray. The most recent example is the Shane Wright year, right, where that's somebody who every year – all year long is supposed to go number one. Even years before that, we're all projecting Shane Wright to go number one. And then we get to the draft floor, and everybody's like, I don't really want him. In Montreal, and he's supposed to go to Montreal, and he falls. And we're sitting there. We're doing our live stream.

He keeps falling. He keeps falling. We're shocked. Well, I remember being in the hotel, and Corey Prawnman released his list that ended up being correct. And we read it, and we're like, no. There's no way he falls. What was it? Four?

Four. Four to Seattle. And there was no way. And then it happened. so like i don't expect that with mckenna i think mckenna ends up going you think you just take him and i think whoever ends up there takes them but it's you shouldn't be so confident in that because we've seen it in very recent memory yeah you know this isn't breaking his name down this is just breaking down human nature but sometimes there's name fatigue um and i remember us having

conversations about this i want to say this is like one of our earliest podcasts for the 2013 draft because there was a discussion uh this kid out of halifax nathan mckinnon is he gonna go first but this seth jones kid has roared into the conversation and i remember being like well mckinnon has been mckinnon longer than jones has been jones jones roared onto the scene we've been talking about McKinnon going first in 2013 for three years now right right and we've sort of been doing the same with McKenna I at this point right now you tend to go history on that yeah all right yeah well and I think the same thing happened with Patrick Liney and Austin Matthews remember Liney had a crazy world juniors and then was on a torrid pace and there actually was some debate

about is he a better pure goal scorer the Leafs needed a center it was pretty obvious was supposed to go first for over a year yeah and I think that name fatigue is something that's very real When you get to the later months Leading up to the draft You're like, okay, it's been all season long I heard about this one kid And then you start hearing about more prospects And you're like, ooh, this could be something

You almost become like a hipster about it Here's how I'm smarter than you 100%, you get the people who are just Trying to give the other names And then you get enticed by that And you try and think about, hey, maybe they can go ahead But at the end of the day, you should probably just take the guy A really good example is 2009

it's Tavares it's Tavares it's Tavares it's Tavares it's maybe Hedman yeah maybe Hedman Tavares and then this one other scouting agency goes it's Matt Duchesne we all go what but you know Tavares you know you could argue Tavares or Hedman's careers I mean Hedman's got more cups and everything they're both going to go in the hall of fame uh but Tavares had been Tavares for four years heading into his draft so that's why he went for and I think the smart thing like the scouts they know not to fall for that stuff right yeah and it's more of probably a media narrative amongst our peoples where we get enticed by the new name but the smart people making those calls they usually know and they have their pick well you can't get a lot of people to

listen to your show or click on your podcast if you're not like hey this is the guy that could unseat if it's the guy that could unseat uh gavin mckenna okay i'll click on that right listen we do that what show's gonna do better one titled stuff you know or stuff you should stuff you don't know stuff you do yeah or should know stuff you should know stupid comma stupid here's a name i never want you to forget whether this player makes the nhl or not he's listed at number 10 on the international skaters in the midterm uh tiers his name is simas ignatia vicious there's no way you said that ignatia vicious there's no way vicious is in the last name ignatia vicious he plays for i'm gonna go with sure servetta i don't even know i

don't think you said that right either that that i believe is a swiss team it's a swiss team yeah Well, listen, I didn't even bother to look up the pronunciation beforehand. I didn't want to wreck it. We can tell. I wanted to make sure that I got Ignatius. I think I'm right. I think you're supposed to hand out communion after saying that name. Holy cow.

Where are they from? What's their nationality? It looks like, well, Geneve Servetta sounds Swiss, so I'm going to assume that it's Swiss. Well, they play for a Swiss team. It doesn't mean they're Swiss. You know what? I'll look it up. Give us something about this player.

All right. Give me a scouting report. All right. Give me a quick rundown. Elite Prospect says. How many goals have they got? Hang on, hang on. I'm just pulling it up here.

First off, the picture of him is pretty good because he's got the Kachuk mouth guard hanging out of his mouth, right? Nice, yeah. He got you on that. He's a verified player. So you know he's a player. 18 years old, Lithuanian ancestry, but American-born. American-born?

But plays for the Lithuanian international team. So if all that clears that up. Yeah. But weirdly enough, he's playing with in the elite, which is just underneath the men's league in Switzerland. He had five points in three games, but he's played 40 games at the men's level, has nine points. But everybody's, you know, again, it's a player who's 18 playing with men. So but like at an international tournament, they're representing Lithuania. Yes.

OK. Yes. And played two games internationally this year and scored. How big? How big? Uh, I bet you that's a big body right there. Uh, Oh, six foot three, still less than 200 pounds. Six.

Yeah. Yeah. But the frame, the frame, man. Well, and you know, these guys too, like they're not, they're not the same as the rest of us. They don't stop growing at 14. Like I did. Like they, they're, they're still growing. You're a big 20 year old.

I was, I was, yeah, it's the coffee. The second I was introduced to coffee, I never got taller. You know, my doctor told me, and I, and I hate this. He's like, you're not going to love this, but he's like, you probably should have been taller. I was like, well, how do you know that? And he's like, you're an asthmatic. Your asthma meds stunt your growth.

I was like, get out of here, man. No way. Yeah, so I'm 5'11", and I never crossed that six-foot thing. It never happened for me. And now look at him. He's been married twice. It didn't hurt you on the dating apps. Let's go.

NHL draft will take place at Key Bank Arena in Buffalo this June. Quick trivia question. Who was the last person to go first overall the last time the draft was in Buffalo? patrick line uh austin austin map is that's right and they the nh i don't know if you guys end up watching the draft anybody in the audience um all four hours if you are the first round oh yeah if you like watching the worst programming you've ever seen in your life you should go back and re-watch that draft uh gary betman did say uh since it was the first time decentralizing we wanted to try some things uh that we knew would be new and different uh than you would see in

other drafts i think the first round might have been a little overproduced gary betman said that gary betman said that wow we learned some things that worked and we maybe learned some things that didn't and i think we're gonna look to streamline it so maybe they'll get it down to three hours this year that's gary betman publicly admitting something didn't go 100 smoothly yeah which is just very uncharacteristic you know what scares me there was rumors that they were gonna try and do rounds one and two on the first night so i'm afraid that they streamline it but they just stack more rounds on that day so it ends up being the same amount of time just more picks so we're still stuck there for four hours at the end of the day and we do a live stream when that when

the draft happens and it's like man i gotta get up and go to the bathroom at some point all right we're in hour six adam and i are gonna slap box click like and subscribe didn't i eat a glob of Wasabi? Yes, you did. Yes, you ate wasabi because we ran out of stuff to talk about. It hurt. I didn't like that at all. Yeah, it wasn't fun. You can only tap dance for so long. So anyway, those are the things that are happening now. Remember, we're here

tomorrow, but we're at the Peterborough Memorial Center across the street. It's not really across the street. It's across the parking lot. And we're going to be interviewing OHL Commissioner Brian Crawford straight from Center Ice. They even brought in the carpets that you put on ice. Steve has a story about the arena and today.

What story, Jesse Blake? Well, I can tell you things look great in there because I went there today instead of here. Oh. Because I'm stupid and don't follow instructions. You know, it's funny. I did text everybody on the way up to say, just so you guys know, we're at Miskin Law Arena today. Did you walk around the arena looking for us? Yeah, I was the only person in the bowl.

Did anybody say anything to you? No, I did get some looks like, what the hell are you doing here? but no one actually, it was very Canadian. No one actually said anything. You just walked in the front door and said, I'm here. I'm here. Howdy.

Walked right in, and I was scanning the bowl, and I almost went, Dizzy? Howdy. Where is everyone? And I even called you. I'm like, hey, I'm here. And you're like, yeah, we're up on the second floor. I was like, just take the stairs on the right.

Why are you calling me? You walk in, there's stairs. Oh, you're right. So I climbed the stairs, and you still weren't there. Oh, so you went into the stairs in the arena? Yeah. And you're just on the upper level? When I called you, I thought I was still in the right place.

Well, you know what? It's good that you scouted it out because tomorrow you're doing the in-game hosting. The boards are still square. Looks great. Man, there's nothing like the corners in Peterborough, right? Going to the corners here, it's different. It's really cool. Yeah, you guys love it too.

It's such a unique spot for hockey here. And obviously we're so excited to be talking to Brian Crawford tomorrow and we're going to do it at center ice. And it's funny because, uh, the, the, uh, Eric, who's helping us out for the pizza is like, listen, there's going to be some ambient noise. There's going to be some people that were like, that's awesome. That's great. Uh, let's have some fun.

So tomorrow's show is going to be perhaps a bit more chaotic than, you know, what you're used to, but I think that's going to be, that's going to be the best part about it. We're doing it on a nice surface. We haven't mentioned that. We live in the cave. I know. I'm so excited about that. Can you tell?

Center ice. That's us. And it's at center ice. Yeah. And so tomorrow, let me ask you this, okay? So, Steve, after the show from Center Ice, just in case you didn't know where it was, you're going to be doing the in-game hosting.

It's good that you got to scout the arena early today, you know, just so you can know what you're working with. But I want to know if somebody was wondering, what's it like to do the in-arena hosting and the giveaways and all that sort of thing? You used to do this for the Mississauga Steelheads. Yep. Before they became the Brampton Steelheads.

Were they the Ice Dogs back then? No, no, they were the Steelheads. Oh, they were still the Steelheads? Because there was the battalion, too, at that time? That was Brampton. Yeah, and they didn't move to North Bay yet. At the time, there was both the Brampton Battalion and the Mississauga Steelheads, and no one went to either of them.

It's true. Which is why they're not there anymore. No, OHL doesn't work in Mississauga. So tell us, Steve, from your perspective, what's the number one thing you have to keep in mind when you're on the microphone on the Jumbotron in front of all those people? Well, there's a couple things. one thing i'm looking forward to tomorrow is people because like it'd be like all right so

we're gonna do a winner from section 117 or whatever and then because it was the steelheads you'd walk over and you would pick with your eyes one of the 2025 people sitting in that section oh no and you'd be like all right fans and whatever but just there was one game where there was a snowstorm and the attendance was so bad i just walked up and sat next to him and i went hey you want a coupon for pizza did they not throw the doors open that day and said anybody that can make anyone who who can make it including stupid steve who got here for some reason uh yeah it's free okay so just come in it's good but it's gonna be a fun night tomorrow and i i can't talk the way that we talk on this show like i gotta please no i gotta be a little extra animated

and i gotta add like a little bit of the high note oh because it cuts oh it doesn't pick up the low end because i was just talking like this i was like hey fans blah blah blah and my wife took a video of it and it's just pizza pizza so you gotta make sure everyone you gotta make sure everyone can hear you so i'm gonna put on a stupid i thought you were talking about the swearing and the brad yelling oh no i wouldn't be like what the f is on this yeah please don't do that yeah no i won't

Won't be doing that. Okay, all right. So it's like a 1970s sort of radio DJ thing that you're doing. Yeah, a little bit of this. Dear Peterborough, stop. This is Steve Dangle, stop. Coming to you from the home front. Yeah, coming to you.

All right, well, we're very much looking forward to that. And while we have everybody here, we can do a mini press conference. Does anybody have any questions that they've always wanted to ask? Yes, what's your name? My name is Roderick. Okay, Roderick, how are you? I'm doing it. All right, what's your question, Roderick?

We'll repeat it into the mic. that's the question seeing how matthews has scored last name by the way seven goals in eight games yes uh repeat the question is it possible that austin matthews is back there you go how when do we know I mean the evidence is mounting right like the question about Matthews goes along with the question about the Leafs uh are the Leafs back are the you know is this stretch an anomaly uh with Matthews is this stretch an anomaly with Matthews there's a lot more reason to believe um this is just who he is he's been such a dominant player in this league for so long and you know one thing he's always been able to do through thick and thin is score

goals and he's scoring goals the way we're used to seeing him score the the the toe drag releases back coach chippy style um his skating is great his read is great and he's playing with a a a vibe and a confidence that you're just used to seeing from him um like it doesn't matter if we think he's back he thinks he's back right and i think we're all feeding off of uh that energy from him it's not just uh he no longer looks surprised when he scores you know which we were starting to get for a little bit that celebration last night with the the colorado fans flipping the double bird at him and he's like oh yeah i loved that he's he scored and of course i scored i'm austin matthews and you're not that's what you needed to be okay anybody else with a question

Yes, sir. What's your name? Dan and He's got two questions. Can you I don't know I don't we can handle that. Go ahead first question Dan Yeah, yeah you start you got back into the Jays And last year, like, the Jays were in the bottom. And they started bringing it together when everybody started pulling their own weight. Like, David Schneider is going up and down the lineup not complaining. I see that again with the Leafs this year. And I don't feel like anyone's like that.

So, do you feel some Jays-ish vibes in the sense that, you know, the Jays did start last year pretty bad. First couple months were not good. It's important you bring it up. The way we talk about the Jays, you think they were great the whole time. I just have to repeat the question because the mic didn't work for the for the list. And then I want you to jump in. And then and then, you know, the guy started to pull there.

Everybody did their role, pulled their own weight. The team comes together. They make it to game seven of the World Series in extra innings. And oh, my God, I want to cry. You know, I Steve, Steve, Jesse, do you think there's some similarities, at least on that point? Go ahead. Oh, how dare I speak when you're here? You're you had already started your answer in mid Adam.

No, no. I was just pointing out that it's the way we talk about the Blue Jays is like they're flawless and they were great the whole time, which isn't the case. Right. They they started the season poorly and then the tide turned and then it never turned back. Yeah. No. To focus on the Leafs like that. Yeah. That's everything we've asked. We've wanted out of the Leafs for so long. Right. through the last nine years of this core four and core whatever era we've never had the team all come together and play as one where we don't have an individual who has to do everything whatever night to get this team a victory and over this last win streak we've seen them play where it's not anybody we're pointing to and like that's the reason that they're on this crazy different

person every night yeah it's it's the entire team who's been playing well so it's definitely not dissimilar to the jays where yeah on that team there's not one guy it's everybody plus you have the stars who are doing their star thing and and obviously you got great goaltending through that and that's important but even the goaltending situations like we got a couple guys it's held to be animal who've been playing great so i i don't i don't hate that at all and that like they're a team right now and who knows how long it's gonna we kind of need it to last i'm very i'm very fragile with how long this thing can run with the leafs like i've been burned too many times we've all been burned too many times where you can't have so much confidence in this team

but right now in this very moment they are playing like that for sure you look at the east someone's gotta lose eventually like it's it's the atlantic's crazy right now so what was your second question Oh, I got a Leafs jersey with no name on the back. You got a Leafs jersey with no name on the back? I got a ping pong in between Lawton and this man. Lawton or McMahon. Both of them could not be here. Yeah, they're both UFAs, so you're taking a risk.

They're both free agents. That's risky. I like where your head's at. I like a man who wants to take a risk. Do you have a deadline? No. No? Birthdays at the end of March.

No, no. Birthdays at the end of March. We can't go deadline-less. We need to make, yeah, so it's got to be by his birthday or something like that. I would say wait till July 2nd. It's smart to wait till July 2nd. But in absence of that, I'm going to go Scott Lawton because I love Scott Lawton. And I was the first one to say, I don't like this Lawton trade.

I don't know why they're doing it. I know completely now why they're doing it. That PK rocks because of him. It's better than it was last year with Marner on it. And that's not to take away from Marner. He was great on the PK. But this is a guy who's brought character and personality not only to the dressing room, but he's given the fourth line an identity they've never had in the matthews era never never never

and so i think uh that's and he's also a guy from the area so you can't hate that as well bobby mcmahon no no disrespect uh is not from toronto so i'm gonna count him out although uh we we had someone but he's adopted he's our adopted toronto we had someone from his hometown visit us when we were doing shows out of the sport check at maple leaf he's a big deal back yeah oh yeah in alberta yeah so okay you have to pick and you have to do it before july you have to do it in march okay okay by steve's birthday for instance who are you picking i'm gonna pick lawton because i think he's most likely to still be here but trade deadline is march 7th i think around there one of those guys fingers crossed is going to be locked up before then oh and then i think that's what you go with

Brad loves a long-term, low AAV deal, doesn't he? It's happening. Jesse, go ahead. Oh, whichever one signs first. That's just for your sanity. Perfect, perfect. Anybody else? Anybody else?

Oh, yes. Ma'am, your name. Hi, Heather. Did I bring the, yes. Okay, so Heather asked. I got a story about that, Heather. I was asked about that on Twitter this morning. So I have an issue with memory, as everybody who listens to the show regularly knows.

The Connor McDavid trophy Is here and downstairs That's the good news The almost uh oh news Was that even though I left it On my desk which is near my front door I did walk out the front door Without it today

And then had to walk back in and went I gotta get that and I put it in my calendar several times Do you have a problem Leaving the house once Yes I think my problem is that I don't have a problem Leaving the house once I need to go back

Because I'm I should assume Every time I leave the front door I'm forgetting something That is what I do You know what I mean I But the door has to be closed

Okay And then you go Oh What else should I bring I'm at the front door No I don't know Door's closed Door's locked

Yeah So it is here It's downstairs It's available for viewing And I walked in And one of the officials From the OHL's like Hey

Glad you brought it And We'll take it from here Yeah Okay Thanks It did have sushi with me and my family last night, though. Oh, that's funny.

It was sitting at home having dinner with us. That's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was pretty cool, I thought. I'm like, there's some pretty talented players that are going to touch this trophy, and it was at my house. Sir, what's your name? I know you had a question. My name is Josh.

Josh, everybody. Say hi. Hi, Josh. Hello, Josh. All right, Josh, what is your question? My question is, since we are in the land of the maroon and white. Of course. Who is your favorite Peterborough Pete to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Name your favorite Peterborough Pete to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. So who do we got? We got Lorenz, I believe. We got Robertson. Robo, yeah. Who else we got? You mentioned him a couple episodes ago, Freddie Gauthier. Freddie Gauthier.

Freddie the Goat was a Pete. I forgot about that. Wow. Freddie the Goat was a Pete? Yeah. Wait, I thought he was Q. I thought he was Q. I thought he was Q, but sometimes guys play both.

Yeah, they can switch. Yeah, they can switch. Okay, all right. I don't know. It doesn't matter. My favorite Leaf currently to pay for the Pete's, it's, man, it's hard not to love Nick Robertson, but I love Steven Lorenz and just the fact that he's like a puppy dog. Ty Domi.

Ty Domi was a Pete. That's right. Oh, that's a good one. Well, that's the one then. I mean. How could it not be Ty? I mean, I made that stupid mistake with Nick Robertson calling him a defenseman, called the team up immediately and was like, can I shoot a skip with the guy?

And when I called them, they're like, we were actually kind of expecting this phone call. Oh, good. You saw. Great. That's cool. So for me, it's always going to be Robo just because of that moment. Thank you to everybody who showed up today. We really appreciate you guys.

We know it's like the middle of the week and the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Thank you for being here. It was a real pleasure. And remember, tomorrow, where are we broadcasting, guys? The other building. Where? Oh, Center Ice.

That's right. Thank you very much. We'll see you then. The Steve Dangle Podcast. Follow the guys on Twitter. At Steve underscore Dangle. At Adam W-Y-L-D-E. And at Jesse Blake.

Connection complete. Two in five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.