The Chris Johnston Show, your number one destination for a behind the scenes look at the game of hockey. Here's NHL insider Chris Johnston and host Julian McKenzie. See each we've passed another weekend in the NHL schedule. A lot more teams are getting their seasons going. It's really early but there's a few things I've noticed and I'd like to get your thoughts on those things I've noticed. There's a few starts that I feel a little concerned over and I'm wondering if it's a little too soon to judge. Does that sound like a good idea? Yeah, let's do it. We should start an Edmonton. The Edmonton Oilers. 0 and 3 to start off their season. We've seen this movie before last year and we know how it ended for them. But at least in my head, just seeing them down 0-3 while I did expect there would be some kind of lull, definitely some other fans panicking a little bit. How do you read that situation about what's going on in Edmonton three games in? Yeah, I think of all the teams in the league. They've earned some benefit of the doubt just because last year it was 2-9-1 and in November to start the year for them. They ripped off what a 17 or 18 game win streak and a few others that were 8 or 10 games. They finished very comfortably in the playoff spot. We know what they did in the spring. Well, it's hard to pick any positives out of their start. Getting out scored 15-3 on home ice over three games tells you everything you need to know defensively. They're not clicking. Obviously, they haven't got their own power play going. They haven't got their top stars doing what they do yet. I just think it's a little too soon to be smashing any panic buttons. I don't see any reason compelling anyway at this point to think they're not going to get it together. But it's still an alarming start. You get three home games to start the year. It's actually four because they play another one before going out on the road. You're playing teams that didn't make the playoffs last year specifically in Chicago and Calgary. There's some opportunity there, I think, to get your mojo going to get everyone engaged. It's gone the other way for them pretty quickly. I'm personally not going to freak out about that one too much yet, but I did watch some of the Sunday night game against the flames. They just look like they're not connecting to me. I mean, they're not completing passes. Not nearly as dangerous as you'd expect them to be. The puck's going in a lot at the other end of the ice. I'd say stay tuned in Edmonton. I'm a little bit more open if we're going to go to other places where I think they're could be greater concern growing, even though it's not even yet a full weekend of the season. We have seen this show before as you mentioned. I'm not going to sit here and start pounding the button a week after we recorded an episode where I said, "I think they're going to go ham on the league." I still feel pretty good about where the Oilers are at for this season, big picture speaking. If you're Conor McDavid in that Oilers locker room, it's too early to do the dig-in right now speech. Definitely too early for that. I mean, I think they can lean on what they went through last year. I mean, the bones of this team, obviously, they've lost some sort of role players, guys like Fogle and players that were maybe part of their penalty kill. There's probably some reasons we can point to things not going well with getting used to some personnel change, but the guts of the team remain the same. I think they can point to when we've been pushed into a corner before, we've always responded. I think there'll be a little more urgency in the way they're practicing and the way their meetings are being conducted until they get winning because it does, I'm sure, weighs a little on their shoulders, weighs a little bit over their head, having the big O in the win column to this point. But yeah, there's no reason for banging anything, breaking anything. It's a little different. If your team liked the Buffalo Sabres, and we obviously saw Rasmus Dolin and Peyton Krebs get into a fight of practice on Monday, for them, they haven't really done it. So I could see there being a bit more reason for speeches and a lot of noise behind the scenes because they're trying to talk themselves into it. I think there can still be a steady con to what Edmonton's doing. It's just they need to focus better. They need to execute better. I mean, it was pretty sloppy. The third period of that game against Calgary, I mean, they're just not completing passes or not entering the zone with any control. They're not getting set up down there. I mean, the things that, you know, the hallmarks, I guess, of Edmonton while there's hockey, just we're not to be found in that game. And, you know, the problems are almost so deep. You can't hang it on one person. You can't be like, Oh, the goaltending has been lousy, but that'll come around. I mean, it's it really feels like it's been a team effort and, you know, starting slowly and not being crisp. And so, you know, I think that's probably the approach in Edmonton more than, you know, maybe as I mentioned, some other places, it might be, you know, really actually feeling the heat. And I don't think they're truly feeling the heat, at least not yet. We should get to Buffalo. There's another team I want to mention as well, but we should mention Buffalo. They did have that rough start to their season as part of the Global Series. They're one in three to start. You did mention the back and forth, the fight between Peyton Krebs and Rassus Dali. And I don't know if you saw Peyton Krebs after the fact on on Instagram, trying to smooth the water, smooth the waters over a little bit, calling Rassus his best friend. But yeah, not the ideal start for a team that's trying to make the playoffs. They bring back Lindy Ruff as head coach. What do you make of that situation? I bet Lindy Ruff loves seeing those guys get added in practice. I mean, I think he loves seeing that kind of spirit within the team. I mean, kind of an unusual one. I mean, Rassus Dali clearly hits Krebs low. Usually when you see a fight in practice between teammates, usually it's a battle drill. And obviously, there's frustration in the team that the emotions get high, some pushing and shoving and then maybe a fight, right? I mean, it's not usually because somebody low bridges a teammate in a drill, which is what Dali did. I mean, to be to be fair, he did own up to it and said it was a bad hit. Like, I mean, he put his hand up afterwards and said that was just stupid. But you know, I think in general, you don't mind seeing the players show some amount of care, some amount of passion, some energy. I know it sounds ridiculous at old school. And obviously, in all of our jobs, we don't settle. We don't deal with frustration this way. It's not an acceptable form of how you deal with people. But in a sport like hockey, I mean, it happens. I've been around teams that have, you know, had some fights in practice. Man, I should have actually tried to remember that I felt Kessel got into one when he was a leaf. I'm trying to remember who that was with. It was a long time ago, obviously. But I've certainly seen it over my years covering the league. And I do think it can be interpreted as a bit of a sign of life and can be something, you know, the way that Krebs is having fun with it on Instagram, you know, for sure they're having fun with it in the dressing room, right? I mean, it's kind of becomes like an inside joke with your buddies or something that can maybe ease some of the tensions. And so, you know, it appears everyone came through it on injured, which would be the only concern you'd have beyond that. It can be something for Buffalo to build on. But I get why the frustration is there. I mean, that, like, it might be the heaviest situation in the league. I mean, just how long they've gone without a playoff game, yet another season where they're putting themselves behind the eight ball, you know, even when I'm talking with Edmonton, like, I'm sure as much as Euler's fans are frustrated, like, I think that they're all knowing, yeah, but in the back of our minds, we have no doubt that this group of players can go on a crazy run and we expect them to do so. And Buffalo, there's nothing but doubt. They have a lot of individually talented players, but they haven't done it as a team. They don't have the high end, high, high end skill, right? Like, they don't have a true first line. Like, I think the Sabers, and that's something that's like a shot at Tage Thompson or someone. But like, what the Sabers have is like probably a second line as their first line, like on a team that's going to win. And so, you know, I think there is some doubt for whether they can piece it all together. And so, let's see where they go from there. But I don't mind seeing a bit of, you know, I know it sounds ridiculous. But boys will be boys. I think Lenny Ruff said the media like that it's kind of true. I mean, but that that that it could be a bit of a rallying point, I guess, all I'm saying, it could be something that's like a pressure release valve. And, you know, but if the losing keeps going there, like, I don't I don't know what happens next. I mean, it's there's not an easy we've already changed the coach and obviously a lot of players have come and gone. And it's still only mid October, like, what what do you do to spark the system with that that organization if they if they, you know, slide down the standings? I mean, they just can't afford to do it. They have to find a way, whether it's pretty or ugly or whatever to string together some wins here. I'm curious what what the seat is like for Kevin Adams right now, like if if you were to measure that to check the temperature, like is it how hot is that seat for the Durham manager? Well, it's hot because he's the one in charge of making decisions. He's been there for a few years. I've noticed I've noticed some fans and media members are starting to look at him. I mean, this is this is what happens when things go wrong for a team. And inevitably, people start looking around for someone to blame. Often just the nature of the sport as coaches take the blame, take the fall. That that's not the situation here, right? Lindy Refs coached four games for the Sabres this season in the second stint there, not to absolve him of any responsibility, but he's pretty new on the scene. And so I think it's only natural for people to make that link. But, you know, changing a GM even like right now, like what is I could accomplish? I mean, maybe big picture, they may feel eventually they have to do that, but it doesn't feel like the move to to spark them in season. So, you know, I think collectively, they have to find a way to start getting the job done a little better. And so little fire practice, you know, mark my words. I think that won't be the worst thing for them in the end as kind of silly and as it is. And I really was surprised to see the hit darlene through. I mean, as I mentioned, usually it's a meant it's a board battle game or drill that the coach does that leads to a fight. It's not usually headhunting or knee bridging that that causes it in practice. All right. What about the Colorado avalanche? They're also off to an O and three start. That's not something I expected at all from a team that still very much has a cup window open. Yeah. I mean, maybe it's something we should have expected, not necessarily O and three, but, you know, they are down three other top six forwards are Turi Lekken and still working his way back from injury. Obviously, gave her land as cog as two plus years in working his way back from from his surgery. And, you know, you've also gotten a Chuchkin still in stage three of the NHL NHLPA player assistance program and for at least another month here. So, you know, the fact that they're starting short-handed, they've had to lean on some younger players. You know, Callum Ritchie started the year with the team, a teenager, you know, great has great offensive skills. And I think a lot for that organization to be excited about. But in a world where all three of those other forwards were healthy and ready to go, you know, I can't imagine he would be cracking the roster at this point in time. You know, unfortunately, on excuse me, on Monday night, Devon Taves suffered an injury. So they might be down one of their top defenseman as well. You know, they're not getting enough saves from Gorgiev. We saw them make a waiver claim on Capo Caponin from Winnipeg last week. And so, they're really trying to piece it together right now to stay kind of above water until I think you get some of the players back into the lineup. And you can become the version of what people expect you to be. And, you know, so, this one to me is a little more cause for alarm than maybe even Edmonton, just because, you know, there's some mitigating factors here. And it's not like we expect those three forwards to play, you know, on Tuesday or next Tuesday night. Like, there's a window where they're going to have to play without these guys. And, well, I think, you know, obviously, they still have the talent level with the high end talent like the McCarres, the McKinnon's, Rantins, to get their way through that. I mean, this is a, it's a pretty thin roster. I mean, they have cap challenges because of the guys they have injured, right? Nachushkin and Landis Kog both eat up a lot of the available cap room. So it's not as though you can put those guys on LTIR and replace them with other players, because you know, you're going to have to take them off LTI at some point where you need that cap space. So they've been in, they're kind of in a difficult spot. And, you know, I don't think they're going to go through a full losing season here, but it might be a tough year because of all these sort of, you know, this is hockey people love to call adversity. This is, this is real adversity, right? Like I don't think this is manufactured. This is, this might be a tough year for the apps to get into the playoffs just because, you know, they're not healthy. They don't have tons of available cap space to make moves. They're going to lean ever more so on their top players, but, you know, if they're not getting enough saves at the other end from Gorgia, I mean, what, what do they do? I mean, I could see this being a slog of a year. You know, the flip side of that is if they can get through it, if they, if they get healthy, if they find their, their legs, I mean, they might be good enough to, to go on another long playoff run. But, you know, I'm definitely a little bit more concerned about their situation than Edmonton's. You know, they've been out scored 20 to 10 in these games. You know, similarly, ugly Edmonton's 15 to 3. You know, it's not just like they're losing a bunch of three, two games on a bad bounce. They've, they've really been getting out class so far in the season. And I just don't see a lot of hope on the horizon. Whereas, I'm just betting you start getting some McDavid monster performances and drizzle and Hyman. I just think that the Oilers are going to eventually, you know, have that, that click in. I don't know if it's coming for the avalanche. And I really don't know what they can do to, to try to bring in help from outside. I mean, if it, if it goes on another few weeks, that there's probably no choice for Chris McFarland or GM. But, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're kind of in one right now. And, you know, I am not fully smashing that panic button, but man, my hands. You're hovering over. This is this is, this is way more concerned that I anticipated for the Colorado Avalanche. Yeah. Well, it's just, it's the guys out of the lineup. I mean, it's, it's hard to, it's hard to ignore that those are key contributors and big contributors to the team. And there's still a ways off unless the Landis Cog puts on his Superman cape and shows up a practice and is ready to go. I mean, it doesn't, it doesn't appear that that's the case. I mean, I think they're day by day with him and he's still a ways off. And even when he comes back, I mean, we all hope the best for the guy, but it's, it's, it's a big, it's a big maybe, it's a big what if for, for him in terms of what he's going to be able to, to bring to the table. Still early, but just picturing in my head, Colorado losing ground to teams like Dallas, Winnipeg in their division. And another team on my list, the Utah Hockey Club, three in one to start off the year, the first star, according to the NHL from this past week, Dylan Genther, five goals in his first four games. Like what I'm seeing out of UHC. What do you think? Yeah. And if you're in the Utah Hockey Club for an office, you're feeling really good about the start because, you know, they made the decision over the summer to sign Gunther to, you know, a long-term eight-year deal and got him a pretty good value. If this was going, this was the risk, if they didn't sign him now, because he still had another year on his entry level deal, is if he has a monster season and maybe you're paying him more next summer. And so they made the calculated gamble that to pay him now, I think he had what, 79, 80 games on his NHL resume entering the season. And you see him score five goals in the opening three games, you're like, okay, we feel good that we paid that man as money because the price might already be up after one week of the season. And so, you know, the vibes are pretty good around Utah. You know, they, their team, I do really believe will stay in the playoff race. I think they're going to make the playoffs. You know, it's hard to measure just how much better I think that, that just the existing players will be in a better environment, a happier place to go to work, no uncertainty hanging over them, an ownership group that's, that's giving them facilities and bat and things behind the scenes that they weren't getting in the previous spot, you know, probably riding some enthusiasm from the excitement of being in a new city that's excited to have them, plus the offseason moves the team made. I mean, to me, it all adds up to them having that kind of season and they've taken care of business so far. I know they lost on Monday, but you know, to win their home opener and then go to New York and take two out of three games in that region on the road, you know, that's a strong start to the year. And that's what you're looking for. I mean, if you are a Buffalo, if you're a Utah, if you're an Ottawa, these teams that are trying to, you know, climb up and get to a level they haven't before, I think, I think that the strong start for those teams is especially critical. You know, that the teams that have been there and done that, you know, Boston, for example, has had some ups and downs early in the season. Like, I just, I'm not that worried about a Boston, even if you haven't liked all their performances so far and you might have some individual concerns with things going on, you know, I just think a team like that is going to figure it out and has the veterans needed to be there when it matters. But, you know, these other teams have to build some belief and I think that's what Utah's done. I think Gunther's helped them do it. Barrett Hatton's had a nice start to the year and, you know, this is what you hope a rebuild does, right? I mean, the Arizona Coyotes had to struggle through the tough years where, you know, the last three, four seasons where they were starting to stockpile these draft picks and, you know, not really being overly competitive in that moment, but it was with this in mind. And now you've got a team with Josh Stone too. You've got a lot of these homegrown players that are helping drive things forward, you know, in addition with the Kellers and the Krausses and those that have been there for a long time. And so, you know, I like what I'm seeing out of Utah and the vibes are pretty immaculate there for that to the NHL's newest city anyway, if not a new franchise. One other team I want to mention, even if they've only played two games, the Vancouver Canucks, their first game against Calgary, they lose it over time. They blew lead. They've already started Kevin Lincoln to this point. A better outcome for him slightly versus what Archer Sealov went through in that first game, but just curious from your vantage point about Vancouver's situation, obviously playing without Thatcher Demka. Yeah, you know, I think Lincoln was a smart signing for them. You know, I remember he was signed in training camp. I know they had a long dance with him and his agent over the summer and figuring out what would make sense, but you know, Lincoln has played a lot of NHL games. You know, he's always been in a sort of number two role in the NHL, but you know, gave Nashville a lot of good games last year. Is there number two behind UC Sorrows? And so I think that having a combination of Sealovs who had some playoff success in Lincoln and can help whether the storm, you know, well, you know, basically Demka works his way back from this knee injury that's not one that hockey players have been known to deal with. There's not a clear timeline. There's not a, you know, you do these three rehab exercises every day and we know in three weeks you're going to be strong enough to perform at your best. I mean, there's still some doubt about the Demka situation. You know, after two games, it's just hard to draw too many conclusions. It's not like three. I've learned everything for the other teams that I am starting to draw conclusions from. But, you know, I think Lincoln was a good addition and well, you know, I do think Vancouver will be able to get through this period. It's just the question is, is when does Demka come back and how good is he? How much can he be relied upon? Does he become their number one? Can he handle that workload? I mean, there's a lot that we don't know about that, but you know, at least having Lincoln in there, I do think gives you gives you a little bit of a comfort if you're the Canucks, because you know, between him and sea loves, they should be able to at least give them you're hoping for league average with those guys. I'm thinking like, just give yourself a fighting chance and you know, hope the team is good enough to to keep winning until you want the big guy back when the games matter most. One more team on the list. They actually have a winning record as of now, but their power play is very concerning. That is the Toronto Maple Leafs. One of four teams to have a conversion rate of 0% on the power play. Quick trivia question, can you guess who the other three teams are? No, I appreciate the audience. I can start guessing teams, but they would be based on nothing because I haven't looked at that up. That's okay. Anaheim is one. Carolina is one. Buffalo is the other team. Toronto, obviously, the fourth team on that list. I have to admit, marks of art, having seen him more up close in Calgary last year, for those who were in the market who have heard me say it, I was more convinced that the personnel for whatever reason, I thought that was the right thing for him is just maybe there are need to be changes with some of the players there. I remember the beginning of last year, he said what he had on paper looked as if he was going to have a top five power play in the NHL. That did not work out. And now he's in Toronto, where the weapons available to him should put him in that category of top five. He's been on a team that had a top five power play before in the NHL, but through the first few games of the season, nothing seems to be working. What do you think of the Leafs power play to this point? Well, I'd say it's their biggest issue through three games. They've played well, they've only allowed four goals against in the three games. They very easily could have won all three. They have a two and one record. The game they lost was a one nothing loss in Montreal with 48 shots on net. So, I mean, they were right there in that one. This is but this is definitely a concerning trend. And I look at it like there's a blessing and a curse to take heel release power play. They've been what five or six years, they've been a top five power play consistently every regular season with the same personnel. And it's the same personnel. Savard started with this year, but the problem is in a lot of those seasons, including last year, late in the year that the power play has seen to go a bit stale, it's struggled and it certainly has not delivered for them in the playoffs. In fact, I think if you want to draw any big conclusions about why the Leafs are who they are, I think if their power play had to perform better in the playoffs, we're talking about them winning more than one playoff series in the last eight years. I mean, the margins have been that close. I mean, they're losing game sevens against Boston. They were one for 21 on the power play. I mean, if they score a couple more goals in the power play, perhaps, you know, they would they go around two last year. And so, it's an important job running the team's power play, but it's also a bit of a touchy one. I mean, are you taking who are you taking off a power play one if you come in your marks of art, right? You've got John Tavares, you've got Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Austin Matthews, and you've had Morgan Riley on the point with that power play. And again, they've performed over a large period of time among the best of their peers in the league, you know, with some caveats that it goes stale. You know, I think that this start gives, you know, a little bit of creative license to change things up, we saw that actually in the most recent game on Saturday, John Tavares was out with an illness in that game. But they also moved all over Ackman Larson in on the point replacing Riley, you know, Ackman Larson brings more of a point shot threat. So I think it might keep the teams defending them a little more honest because he's he's a possibility for one timer. But obviously, he's passing out to the wings where he's got Matthews on one side. He's got Nylander on the other, you know, a lot of dangerous shooting weapons potentially in that look. And so, you know, I don't know where this goes from here, but, you know, it's, it's definitely needs to change it up. And I think, I honestly, I'm of the belief in my benefit to players because they have played so much together. And while that can obviously work, when you start running out of ideas, or maybe when the momentum goes the wrong way, I mean, really now with those, the five players I mentioned earlier that started the year as Elise PowerPoint one again. I mean, they had a tough 12 or 15 games at the end of last season, the regular season. They had a tough seven game series against Boston. Now it's another tough couple games. I mean, it's a long stretch of time where they've just not been in sync together, maybe become a little too predictable, settling for kind of perimeter play, trying to set up a perfect pass versus, you know, maybe having someone like Ackman Larson who can just hammer a shot from the point and create a little chaos down by the net. And then you start to read and react off of what the defenders are doing at that point. And so I think Sivard, we're not going to put him on the full hot seat here after three games either because he just got hired in the off season. But I mean, he's, he's kind of, I mean, depends how you frame it could be a good, good thing for him that in a way it's going so badly that it's like, all right, I'm going to just redraw this up because I don't think those players can push back against that or you don't think you have to worry about hurt feelings in quite that way. And, you know, overall, I think this has to be a strength of a team like the Leafs, you know, the way it is for Edmonton. If you're going to be built hot, top heavy on the four group, I mean, that has to be an area I think where you're cashing in, you know, in addition, you know, Craig Brube, the head coach is having his team play a little differently at five on five. And I think, you know, they, they, they, again, don't want to draw to make, but you know, they've scored eight goals, I believe, eight or nine goals in their first three games. Like, they don't, aren't necessarily going to be as run and gun as they've been in the past, which I think is a positive up five on five. But I think it makes it even more imperative that your top players, then if they're going to buy into that style at five on five or getting their points or are still scoring on the power play. And so that's, that's kind of where we're at. I mean, I guess there's always something to worry about or fret about if you're a Leafs fan or you're covering the team on a day to day basis. You know, there really isn't many concerning signs from the start of their season other than that power play, because it's not just that they haven't scored 0 for 9 so far in their opportunities that they really have not, they haven't looked good. They haven't, they haven't generated enough in that area where you're like, okay, they've just got some bad luck here. I mean, I, I think that it, it requires a redraw back to the drawing board kind of situation. Maybe it's just a matter of balancing out the units. I know a lot of teams don't do that these days, but maybe, maybe it's, you basically build two pretty strong units and you, and you basically say the number one unit to ever scoring and, and just create an internal competition. It might, might be the way to go because going with the, oh, going all the stars together is, has not produced the kind of magic you'd hope. Any other team worth being concerned over or any other concerning situation, quote unquote, you've seen around the league that maybe we need to calm down a little bit over. Look at us coming right out of the holiday weekend here in Canada and just, just trying to tune up the negative, right? I mean, we're not given the Calgary flames, some flowers and saying, Hey, three and oh, start. No one would have called that. You know, these claims do deserve to be on this list. I think the fact that they've played really well the first three games of this season, absolutely, absolutely deserve to be on this list. I'm very impressed with what I've seen from this team. I think a lot of the fans out there are realizing that maybe that start might not last forever, but considering what the pain they expect to feel over the next little while, this is as good of a start as you can have, especially with one of those wins coming against the rival Edmonton Oilers. This is a good, a great start for the Calgary flames. Sure. It's been good. Young players there, right? You got some enthusiasm. Like, it's fun. They're scoring a lot of goals. They put up a few, but who had a four point night, right? So you start to imagine maybe, maybe a going better than most of the pundits, including me would have, would have had them for the season. So you can't all be doom and gloom here. I mean, there's been some, some nice stories around the league too. We already did. We did spotlight Utah on a positive stamp. It wasn't all negative. Like, is there any one that talks your word about? That's fair. That's fair. I could have worded the question differently. It's like, hey, other teams are worried about other teams you want to praise. I could have worded that differently. You're right. Yeah. So I'm, I'm giving the, I'm giving the flames some love because they're full, you know, they're full value right now. I mean, they had the big comeback win in Vancouver on opening night. They beat Philly on home ice and then go to Edmonton and win a game. So good for them. And they're scoring a ton so far, which isn't necessarily what I would have predicted. And I don't know if it can last. I don't know how sustainable this, this team will be. But you know, look, this is, this is a year where Craig Conroy, the flames jam, doesn't want to be in fire sale mode again, right? I mean, I think he's of the mind, you know, last season was all about all the players he was trading out of town. And those kinds of things, like I think the veterans that are still there, the Coleman's and the cadre's and Uighurs, like he wants them to be part of the solution as the team transitions to younger players. And so, you know, is if they can create a winning environment and harness some of that, you know, we're, we're won't be in this position where when I put out the trade board in November, there's like six flames on it like there was last year. So, you know, I think all those things are small wins because, you know, it's, it's a long road if you're, if you're trading away those, that other NHL level talent. And it's, it's a really good sign to see Huberdo producing because let's face it, whether I put him on a trade board or not, they're not trading him. He's got a massive contract a lot of years left and he hasn't performed up to it during his first two seasons in Calgary. And he's trying to, trying to maybe scrap back here and, and show that he can still do it because he's not, not really that old still in his early thirties. I'm just one thing on Huberdo, just really funny to see, maybe funny for me, but we've seen him on so many different lines with so many different centers in his time in Calgary, Elias Linholm, Michael Baklin has come up, Nazan Kadri. What it's something that it seems like he's playing some of the best hockey he's played at least to start this season with Martin Pospasal. And I don't know how many people pegged him as a number one center on this team before the start of this season, but really interesting to see that it's working with him and also Anthony Manta, who they signed this off season. I know they expected those two Huberdo and Manta to have some chemistry together. I'm very curious to know how many people predicted in that front office Huberdo and Pospasal to work together. I would imagine it was it's a very small number of people in that front office, but yeah, it's really, I think it's cool to see that Huberdo is playing well. I'll give him this over the last two years where it has not gone great for him in that market. I know every time, at least we've asked for him in that media market, he's at least gone up and said, Hey, I know I'm not playing well. I know I need to do things better. He tries to find a little bit of humor in some of the situations he's gone through. But yeah, I get a lot of people in that market have been frustrated with him. So I think to see him at least show off some of that offensive capability that made him successful in Florida, if he's able to keep that going, that could be a really positive story for him. So I just want to know, I just got to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I mean, you sign that kind of contract, no matter where you sign it, no matter what circumstances you sign it under, you're going to be feeling pressured to perform and to keep, you know, putting up the kind of points he had, he was coming off what 110 point season or something. Yeah, and then, yeah, and he hasn't gotten back to close to those levels. And then on top of that, the team you left goes to two straight cup finals and wins a thing after you'd been there for many years. So I mean, between seeing your old buddies thriving without you, it's like your ex girlfriend or ex boyfriend thriving without you. And then you're not, you know, living your best life in the current day. I mean, it's probably been a tough couple years for Huberto. And so it'd be a great story to see him push back against that. And, you know, look at his story isn't fully written. He's still got a lot of years left in a league. And he's got to get by some of that stuff. And you know, he's he's often a nice start towards doing that. I like the fact that we ended this segment with a positive. Yeah, I should mention it as well. I don't know if you saw it, but on Saturday, I did watch the flames that a nice ceremony for for Johnny Goodrow prior to the game was was a nice tribute. And on Tuesday, both Johnny Goodrow and Mattie Goodrow will be honored by the blue jackets before their home opener, the jackets have had Guy Goodrow, their dad, the dad of the two boys on the ice, both on Monday and Tuesday morning at the morning skate. And so it's nice to see out of, you know, what's obviously tragic circumstances, the hockey world continue to try to wrap its arms around that family and support them, give them love, make them, you know, give them something to focus on each day and keep moving forward. So, you know, I want to tip the flames for the tribute they had, and I'm sure they've got a special one in mind here in Columbus before Tuesday, so an opener against Florida. That's very well said, CJ. I want to move on to another topic here, Gary Bettman. He was in Montreal yesterday. It happened to be the first Monday night hockey for Amazon Prime. I want to focus on these comments that Gary said to the media contingent there. I thought they were very interesting with regards to the future of how the game could be broadcasted in Canada. One quote that Mac Antoine got input up on Twitter, I'll read that. The world is moving away from cable TV. The court cutting cord never continues and the reach of cable and satellite linear is not where it was. The world, putting us aside, is moving towards other forms of distribution and we're very mindful of that. And keep in mind that Amazon Prime is distributed in Canada more broadly than anything else. When you hear that quote from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, what starts percolating in your mind? Well, I'll say it confirms what I've already thought. I was at the Amazon event in September in Toronto when they launched the face-off docu-series but also unveiled the play-by-play cruise for the Monday night Prime hockey and the like. What really struck me that day being there is I looked around the room and I'm like, "There's Gary Bettman. There's Bill Daley. There's Steve Maher. There's a bunch of other senior NHL people." The league was there en masse to the point that I said to one of them, like, "Wow, I didn't expect you guys to shout out in such full force." And he's like, "Yeah, we are all in on this. We're all in on Amazon." And that point in time is where it dawned on me, "Okay, this isn't just like a one docu-series that obviously we've talked a lot about that show on the course of the last few months here." But it's a sign that Amazon is a really, really important company for the NHL to be doing business with. And the fact that we're two years out now, little less than two years from a new Canadian rights deal taking effect. Right now, Rogers and SportsNet have had, they're in a 12-year agreement, 5.2 billion, where they had all the rights. Obviously, they're subleasing some of the rights now at Amazon for the Monday night games that have started on Prime. But it only seems natural to think that Amazon will have a spot beside what I assume would still be Rogers and SportsNet potentially Bell and TSN, where I work as well. So just to name my employers, but I don't have any inside knowledge other than it's clear that TSN is still very much in the business of hockey. And so I think the next model for the Canadian rights deal could very likely include both those Canadian networks plus some streaming aspect. And so it only makes sense. I mean, this is the way I watch a lot of my TV now. I still do have cable just because I'm such a SportsNet. And frankly, I still think it's the best place to get live sports. But the more it shifts away from that, the quicker I'll be cord cutting as well. Because really, it's only the live sports aspect that keeps me locked to traditional cables. So I think Amazon is a huge partner for the league. I mean, the factory Batman is up in Montreal for that debut game of the Monday night prime game, the Penguins and Habs that was played on there. And he's doing media availabilities on the broadcast. Jeff Molson, the Canadian owners on the broadcast. So I mean, I always believe it's not just what people tell you, it's what they show you, right? And what the NHL is showing us is that they are all in, as the words were related to me on Amazon. And so I would think from Amazon's end, I mean, it's about what they see back now. I mean, they're getting information back. Are people reacting to this? Are they getting the kind of audiences they want? They're going to have a Monday night game every week nationally available in Canada. It's a lightning leafs next Monday, this this coming Monday. And, you know, if they get the kind of reaction, I think that they're expecting, I mean, they're going to be bidding for that next rights deal in some way, shape or form. So you're ready for a world where you're watching games on sports net plus, is it sports net now? How what's the name of ice? I don't know. What's the name of it? Do you don't have sports that? Oh, good. That's fine. TSN plus for sure. That's the name sports net and then Amazon. Those are the three different places you could be watching the NHL in Canada as early as potentially 20, 27, 20, 28. I mean, I just yearn for a world where they were all in one place and you could just watch every day. I think there's so many people would do. You know, like, I realize there's a lot that goes into that. And some of it's the way these rights were traditionally sold. And so we're still married to this old idea of regional games and national games. And like, I do understand why it's not as simple as just saying, Hey, it's all here. But if you could just say, Hey, it's all here and choose between which broadcast. I mean, I know there's versions of that package, but it's never as perfect as it should be. Frankly, if you could offer me that for all of sports, I would pay a stupid amount of money for it. And I wouldn't, I don't need any cable. I don't need anything else. I just, I would love it if my NFL games, if my Blue Jays games, if all my NHL games were in one place, I would be fantastic. Yeah, I feel like the States were starting to see a little bit more of that bundling. I wonder if Canada catches on someone just steps up and says, Hey, we have rights to all of these things. I don't know how that would work. I'm not an expert on that. I'm very interested in the media side of things, but I don't know exactly how that would work. But I'm very intrigued about Amazon Prime and them getting into the game. I caught a little bit of the of the Penguins, Canadians broadcast. I saw that Andy Petrillo had an interview with Cole Cofield as part of that as well. It seems like they went off to a good start. I still think John Forzlin as their play-by-play guy is a brilliant, brilliant decision. I think for people who are not familiar with him, you have a very exciting voice. I think one of the best voices you can listen to in hockey. So I'd like to think that they're off to a good start. Obviously, Ann Ann Burke, part of the broadcast as well. I'm cool with considering Ann Ann Burke a friend of the show, by the way. I don't know how you feel about Ann Ann Burke. I love Ann. So having him part of Amazon, good for him. But yeah, it seems like they were off to a good start yesterday. Yeah, I watch most of the game, very professional broadcast. I mean, the people they have working behind the scenes on that show have literally put on thousands of NHL games. They've worked for all the big networks. And so if you didn't know any better, it was as good as what you'd expect from a national broadcast. It's just available in a new way. And I know they want to challenge maybe some of the norms, let's call it, some of the conventions of the industry as time goes long. But last night was their first ever broadcast. I'll give them a few weeks here to warm up and find their footing and look for ways that they can maybe do some things differently than we've seen the cable networks tackle them. But they're off to a good start and should be a good game in week two with Tampa and Toronto. Cool. Are you ready for some questions? It's ask CJ time. Bring the heat, brother. Let's do it. Thank you to everyone who sent them questions on Discord and on Twitter. Here's one from Richard. Has CJ had the talk with Steve about the do's and don'ts for covering the Leafs as a credentialed correspondent? I guess in this case, Jesse would be the person you'd want to talk to. But Jesse seems like he knows what he's doing over there. I've seen the updates from reporter Jesse. He's good. Yeah, if it was Steve, I might have had to have the talk. But the fact that it's Jesse that's using those credentials, I think he's a very smart guy, doesn't think he knows everything. Not that Steve does. I'm not trying to subtext Steve here a little bit. But I saw Jesse on Saturday morning at the morning skate before the Leafs Penguins game. He fit right in, as you would imagine. Very professional. It's cool to see the STPN get those creds and to know my buddies will be around a little bit more. Because we don't all see each other in person as much as you might think. It's pretty rare. But I'll be seeing Jesse a fair bit at the rink. I think that's only going to benefit the coverage that you get on the STP. Where does Jesse sit in the press row in Toronto? I don't know because I wasn't at the game that night. I can't answer that, but I did see him at the skate. Everyone knows Jesse. The media world's pretty small. He's not an unknown in the Toronto sports reporting community. I'm sure he was welcome with open arms there for game one. Shout out reporter Jesse from Tyler did CJ send his buddy peer Lebron a get well soon card after the Cowboys lost by 40 points. We're getting a lot more Dallas Cowboys questions lately. Yeah, well, unfortunately, I'm also a Cowboys fan. So Pierre and I were morning together. I can say the best thing about that game, and this was the Lions game on Sunday, is that I was in the middle of family Thanksgiving celebrations. I really didn't catch much of it. I saw the first two drives where the Cowboys had a field goal and the Lions got a touchdown. It was seven to three when I kind of had to tune out and do turkey duty and get everything ready. And then by the time I saw the score again, they were well on the way to that blowout, and I didn't watch any of the game. So that that was good for my heart that I didn't have to endure that on, you know, because some days you almost like I'm excited. I have a clear Sunday afternoon. I'm at home. I can, you know, pay close attention and really watch the game. And if I would have been terribly disappointed to watch that, but Pierre was trying to find some positives in the group text because there and drag her was giving it to him in our TSN chat and he's like, yeah, we got, you know, X amount of guys injured and this and that I knew was going to be hard seasoned. So Pierre's funny nowadays. He used to take the losses hard. Now he's got like kind of like the sage. He's always he's always looking for the one bright spot or looking for a plausible explanation. So maybe Pierre should be selling me the sending me the get well soon card because I felt ill after seeing that score line next one for David. Give me your turkey dinner starting line up. I wonder how we would do that. I guess maybe mentioned five a cent. How about this name? Mention five essential things you need at your Thanksgiving dinner, turkey mashed potato stuffing right off the bat. I don't know if gravy counts as one of the five, but I want to have gravy on that turkey and mashed potatoes in particular. And then and then a vegetable we had what do we have? Oh, Brussels sprouts, I think. Okay, just try to remember your try to remember what you had on your I obviously didn't prepare that part of the meal. What did you prepare? Did you prepare anything? Oh, yeah. I mean, I do all the dishes. I'm moving. Well, it's a lot of food. I met food. I met like, what did you make? Did you make anything? I I'm like, you can make anything. That's fine. No, but I'm the sous chef. Like I went and got the turkey. I brought it there. Like everyone plays a role. I'm moving. We had to move all these chairs and tables to one spot on my dad's house so everyone can fit because you can't get around one table. You look, you can't say you were to help again. I'll give you. And I literally I literally did all the dishes, man. It was like over an hour of dishes after, you know, I don't know how many 15 people there would you wash or would you put it with the dish washer? Oh, I would put what I could in the dishwasher, but there's a lot of pots and pans and things. I had to hand wash it. It was a it was a thing. It was trust me. I didn't sit on the reason I didn't see the Cowboys game is because I was busy. Okay. That was a necessary distracted distraction for you. Let's face it is the passing of time. There's a lot of those years I went to those thanksgivings or Christmases or whatever, where everyone's preparing food and I was just sitting on my butt doing nothing as a kid. So now I'm in the stage of life where I got to actually go buy the turkey and and do things at an event like that. I'm happy to do it, of course. I imagine that for sure. Definitely Turkey's got to be there. I mean, we do things. I'm not necessarily that differently with my fam, but like we have to have that Caribbean flair. So we had some some curry chicken this year. I'm trying to think what else we got. I'm literally looking at the I don't know if I could if it makes sense for me to show you made fun of me and then you can't remember what you had. Look at this. So I got so this is actually a plate I had. So this is for those who are not watching see some macaroni pie there. There's some lamb. There's some rice and peas, some roasted carrots are there some salad. I actually didn't have turkey on this plate here, but there's some ribs. We have some good ribs this year. This was this was an elite spread. We had an elite spread. There was definitely some stuff in there too. Oh man, we do things right. We do things right in my fam, particularly on my mom's side with a cook. My dad can cook too, but my mom and my my my my anti-caron like we they they throw down they threw down this year was very happy. My first time celebrating Thanksgiving with my parents in two years. Nice. Yes. That's good. Very happy. Small blessings. Have any back and east. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. I think we had some pretty good turkey dinners. Let's see what else we have here in terms of questions. Corey Oliver, which type of weather conditions does Chris brag about the most when he goes for a run? Strong wind, rain, snow, ice sketchy neighborhood getting completely lost in unfamiliar surroundings swamp like humidity. Well, the hardest for me is is swamp like humidity or just absolute extreme heat. Like it's it's the one thing my body does not take well to. Ironically, when you look outside and you see like a crazy amount of snow and it's cold, you might think like that must be the worst. I actually, I don't know if I'm weird. I kind of like that. I mean, you can dress for it for the most part. I got winter running shoes that are pretty grippy. So like, you know, obviously you don't you got to watch your strides that you don't because you don't know if there's ice under that snow or whatever. But that's the part where you probably think I'm the most hardcore where I'd actually argue it's not it's not nearly as hard as for me like a 30 Celsius, whatever 100 100 degree Fahrenheit day. Like I find that very difficult. I don't I just don't do well. So to put it this way, the fall and the part of the world where I live, this is a great time to run because yes, some days are getting a little cool. But like I just feel like my heart rate doesn't get up as high when I when I do the exercise and that's good. I'm actually doing a half marathon this weekend, Julian and Toronto. So I'm hoping for some cooler weather, even though actually it looks like it's supposed to get a little warmer on the the forecast. But to keep it cool, I like that. Good luck for your half marathon. I know you're going to crush it. We'll see. I mean, I'm okay, but I'm feeling a little slower these days. And you know, the one thing about running is you you can notice the passing of time, put it that way. Like I can just tell it's not going to be it's not going to be as fast as I once was. And not because I didn't train well, I just think it's a product that getting a little older and slowing down a bit. How many days is your streak at? It's roughly 1630 give or take. I only know this because my dad asked on the weekend. And I think it was 1628. And it might have been two days ago. Anyway, it's roughly 1630. Should we have a run day counter? That is that something we could do like fraud? I don't know. Let's not let's not add to producer Nick's headaches with us. That's very fair. Let's give him a few heads. I'm at four and a half years exactly on October 29th. So I'm coming up to four and a half years. You celebrate? Yeah, I'm going to celebrate by waking up and put my shoes on and going. Every day is like a small celebration, I guess. No, that's a perfectly fine way to approach. The next time I'll probably get excited is if I get to 2000, but that's more than a year away from now, just by my quick math. So, yeah, it's about a year away from now, roughly actually, if I'm at 1630 plus 365. So if I get to 2000 that when you when you're adding like when you're stacking thousands of days on top of each other, then it's like, okay, this is this is real. We're coming up on 300 episodes, speaking of milestones. I'm glad you keep track of that. I would have I mean, other than you telling me, I would have no concept. Like if you have you had never mentioned it along the way and you just said how many episodes deeper we I would have no idea. I wonder if we should do something for 300. Should we do something for 300? That's an open question to you and people listening. I'm open for it. We just got to figure out what day it is. Can you do that ahead of time? I'm sure we can. I mean, we can probably plot out the next how many weeks of when we'll do these two weeks and then kind of go from there. But yeah, maybe we should do something for episode 300 when it gets to that point. We'll figure that out. Anyways, big money siege. Thanks for answering. Thanks for answering questions. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions. We'll be back on Thursday with another episode of our fantastic and amazing and spectacular show, The Chris Johnston Show. Thanks for listening to Ragged at the end day. We're allowed to talk our shit every now and again. All right. Sounds good, brother. Peace. The Chris Johnston Show. Follow Chris on Twitter @ reporter Chris and follow Julian at JKA McKenzie. The Chris Johnston Show.
