On hour two of The FAN Morning Show Ben Ennis & Brent Gunning focus specifically on Justin Turner; his recent, somewhat rapid decline. The boys, then, spend some time on Sheldon Keefe’s official introduction as the new head coach of the New Jersey Devils. Next, the morning duo welcomes on friend of the show, NHL analyst & host, Gord Stellick (23:28). The trio discusses what we are seeing in the hockey conference finals, what lessons can be learned from how the final four teams are built, how important having someone steady in the net is and what the Maple Leafs should take away from all of it this offseason.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliate.
the game. I'm not sure if you're, third straight quality start blue jays beat the awful horrific very very bad white socks fan morning show sports at five nine the fan bed and it's brand-gunning by the way shout out to the the assembled media who had to cover that game who got the rain delay off the hop which was like that's fine yeah eight twenty seven twenty local yep not horrible no what is horrible is having three outs to go in a game that is not close no and it's just like it's over in in everything except for the reality of it being over and getting a rain delay that wasn't five hours but what's an hour and a half to wait for Tim Maysa who I didn't see throw his final seven pitches sorry everybody I didn't watch Tim Maysa finish the game off with seven pitches in the bottom of the ninth after an hour and a half rain delay insane I I was not keeping tabs on whether in Chicago super closely all day long so I turned the game on and there's no game on and then they show the people walking around the concourse in Chicago and you know I understand like you buy your ticket you you want to head down but all I could think of is god these people must love baseball yeah oh my god like truly oh my god it's rainy and look like you know I know there's you got a you got a shirt or whatever but you're gonna go walk out to your wet seat after that you're gonna have wet butt for the five hours you're gonna hang out at the park and then Ryan's or should have been shaking every person's hand individually that was there they they should have they also should have just like hired on the spot the crew that was cleaning uh the Roger Center when we were there for the unveiling because they would have had those seats dried in seconds instantly but that was all I could think of and then if those people love baseball I think shied to be a joke there were like 36 people left in the stands for the final three outs I I love those sickos at a certain point it's like they will say they were there for the ultimate sicko game but that was the thing it's like poor poor shy poor Ben it's like okay yeah poor them getting paid to do their job poor those people who their life had led them to this point to sitting there to watch the final three outs of that game yeah it's one thing for the people to attend a White Sox game you know just like full stop yeah but that's like yeah you're in a baseball yeah it's another thing to wait around for an hour and a half to see your team in another loss down five runs I mean you get to have the game finished like those people you should feel sorry for because obviously they're avoiding something right like they're like it's like whatever's happening at home wherever it is they have to go next they don't want to do and they got at least say like hey I went to the game and I go over the bills when we get when you get back from the game tonight Jimmy's like more rain delay no more ghost runner there's just no argument to be made the like I'm a baseball purist I need to see all 27 outs I am generally that guy I am don't leave early guy like I really surely am you get that one I allow it I allow God that visual of Vlad just cackling up at the plate in the pouring rain washing down upon him funny stuff good stuff in the Blue Jays they've won the baseball game seven two over the White Sox they have a chance for the sweep today which would put them three games under 500 and just factually with a sweep of a pirate's team that you avoid Paul Skeens against and ain't that great either it could be back at 500 you keep saying it because it's an important fact to throw in but it also sounds like a threat if anyone in in Pittsburgh is listening like and they're missing Paul Skeens yeah right right because it is like truly the crux of the series it's like that's the thing that gives you hope for it yeah and I guess if you were going to be optimistic you would say that there is still hope for Justin Turner because we saw him at the beginning of the season you know he's did he age in a month like yes literally did going from 38 to 39 seemed important like going from 38 and you know an extra month in April turn him into like the true calcified version of himself he was this team's best hitter he's one of the best hitters in baseball in the month of April since then very much not so here's what we're looking at as far as his game logs are concerned from April 30 through yesterday inclusive where he did get a base hit and took a walk yeah RBI single the other way he is 7469 mmm he does have six walks 12 strikeouts that is a batting average of 101 okay and I have my own damning number but please if you have more on base percentage of 173 slugging percentage of a robust a robust 116 ops 289 what what's that do you have it's a little less it's a little less exact but baseball savant they have their sliders for everything mmm he's a better base runner than he has a hitter according to my default savant no that he is an 11 on the base running scale and a 7 on the batting run value scale that is I really don't think like we we don't need to break down the numbers for that you know how good Justin Turner is at running the bases and he's better at that than he is a hit in a baseball according to baseball savant this year that is that is all I needed to know yeah no that's a good one so this is a little tin foil hatty and I mean the logic doesn't really stick with this but stay with me here I can't wait Justin Turner very good in April again I think he's the same human being I don't think a month changes you okay unless something happens like yeah unless yeah I don't know you you do get attacked by a gorilla you know and like oh my god yeah and you all your joints are are uh disconnected I thought you're just gonna say I guess swarm of bees yeah whatever okay swarm of bees yeah that's yeah they have gorillas are happening like a harambe situation going on in Pittsburgh or Chicago I hope in peace yes harambe obviously um but yeah I don't think a month ages you right like it must be said that it feels like a year can age you uh because he looks aged compared to last season but I don't think like Justin Turner factually is a different person than he was in April but you know what did change between April and May is us getting the behind the scenes look at the swing metrics and the swing speed and we'll all take so look how fast Vlad swings wow I like one of the fastest swings in major league baseball that correlates to the exit velocity yep and hey you know who has a very slow swing Louisa rise but guess what he's made it work and that kind of makes sense because single machine he's just trying to put the ball in play get it over the infielders heads okay that can that can work for some people fast swing does not a great offensive player necessarily make Addison Barger had the fast one like the second fastest swing on this blue jay's team when he was here briefly it was one for whatever 20 in his five games as a blue jay but what did stand out to a lot of people and myself included was like Justin Turner having an outlier insanely slow bat not just on this blue jay's team but in major league baseball as a whole also him being 39 mm-hmm can we totally like and I'm sure the blue jays have have had that metric for forever but why on earth would they tell Justin Turner your baddest well it's a great point why would they ever say hey Justin so we're looking at swing path and you know here's a picture that you can really take advantage of also your bats really slow so like you started earlier because you're really old and slow and no no but I'm sure since we've all found out his bat has slowed or is very slow that information naturally would have gotten to him mm-hmm is it possible and boy I'm thinking of the one strike out yesterday where it was like three straight sliders on the other planet like on a different planet outside of the zone where it looked like this guy's like if it's a fastball I have to start like yesterday swinging the bat so let's oh no it's a slider and I can't stop is it possible that that type of mentality is the result of understanding that like hey I think I'm pretty good I think I'm I'm not the best version of myself when I'm a key cog of a World Series winner but like I'm not that far off and then realizing oh my god and one of the slowest swings in major league baseball is it possible that that's impacting Justin Turner we often overlook the human element like so I don't think you're completely nuts to bring this up but I think he knew he had a super slow bat like I think the more likely thing that's a play here is the reason we're having these conversations is yeah like the play has diminished but there's been some semblance of hitting around him that Justin Turner before was held up as the north star look he's the only guy on this team who could do it and now other guys on the team are hitting and you've seen him take just a little step back that's all the way to this I think that that is the way more likely thing that it was a guy who got off to a hot start and we've seen it but I love you bringing this into it because there is an element the only problem with that is that Justin Turner is supposed to be above all that like he's brought in to be like mr vet leader who's done it and done it a million different ways and probably dead at times when he was hurting his career and playing through something and has seen all those or has a million war stories about that he's supposed to be the guy that is above above all that now you're only human you can only be that for so long and convince yourself of something I think it's interesting but yeah I think it's more likely than not he just kind of uh kind of stopped performing above what he was capable of which is what you saw in April but I do love you bringing this up it's good theory yeah is as confident as Justin Turner is and has been throughout the course of his career he also understands like that birth certificate's not changing let's say you fake it like Miguel Tohata did but like what outside of that what I'm sorry I'm leaving that is god god that clip is like so if I just showed you this what would you say I would leave that's what I got that is a strong man I might like that move strong more than call me Chris one more time from Jim Rome I might like that even more than that so he's got lots of confidence but yeah he does understand that at some point it's all going to be over for him and yeah if there's like boy if it maybe one started to happen before the other like maybe I got to actually figure out the exact date that this became publicly available and whether a question was asked of him like hey Justin like how are you able to get it done with such a slow bad he's like pardon what do you think he was wandering around and they have like they have it like blocked off because obviously again like he's had this info for a while that he he comes into the like the hitting coach's room because that's like his place he just loves to talk hitting with these guys I'm like oh quick quick quick yeah it's like switching off of the last button on the remote he's like dog go back to David's side of the page yeah don't hold the baby that's not that fast either look out go to ears right Justin I do I do love to now think that they've just been like hiding this from like he's mr. Magoo or something I mean would you if you just needed like one thing to be like oh my god I'm 39 like just to snap out of that like I can envision a scenario again I apply my own sensibilities to these situations but like wouldn't you if you were in the same situation you're like I'm so good look at me I'm making what is he making 12 million dollars a share 14 million dollars whatever it is I'm so good 39 like a world series champion what up and then a great start aren't they so happy to have me oh you know go for a week long stretch where you're like one for for 20 and you're like yeah that's weird oh hey Justin Turner I was like the slowest bad in the sport by like a factor of a quadrillion oh yeah that's concerning I and make sense it's funny because now I actually realize that it's like I can look at this from my own sensibilities because I would caught the reason that one of the many reasons I'm not a professional athlete is like the constant neurosis of wandering around like second guessing every decision I make ready to make that but it's like yeah Justin Turner doesn't want to be any closer to this brain than he is to his own and I think you're great to point this out I I'm so happy I love this this is great I'm just saying but then they need to lock him in a room with Davis Schneider and the two of them could just like talk about and I KF those are the three slowest bats of like the guys with enough tracking data on the team well well we're here yeah then also coincide when Vlad started to get hot right us having this data and him having the one of the fastest bats in the sport hmm maybe there's also a correlation there on those head yeah although kind of haven't we done the maybe we've all been wrong this whole time of us being like you know they kind of maybe convince Vlad he's not doing so great like spurn him along and not rest on his walls apparently different different strokes for different honestly if he's just leaning into this guy and he's not going to be a 40 home run guy he's going to be like a 25 30ish home run guy but he's going to try and rack up 200 hits in a season you hey that's that's something it's it's it's better than what we got out of him last year and it does feel like he's like embraced kind of the new hitting profile that he's put forth this season yeah hey like nobody wanted him to be Louisa rise when he came up but nobody doesn't want Louisa rise on their team either it's true um Sheldon Keef not on the the local team anymore he's a head coach of the trauma police can confirm but he is a head coach in the national hockey league in 2024 25 hired by the New Jersey Devils but a week ago and yesterday officially unveiled as their next head coach taking no time off but saving MLSC bunch of money because he had two more years left on his deal which gets torn up I suppose um he had some public comments in New Jersey also joined the Jeff Merrick show yesterday to talk about his experiences in Toronto well I absolutely feel I was treated fairly I had no issue with how I was treated by anyone fans media anything like that the expectations are extremely high in Toronto as they should be and that's what was most exciting about it and I never took it for granted for a second how how much of an honor was the coach and a police but also how big a responsibility it was to deliver for the fans I can tell you that you know being the coach of the Maple Leafs and living in the city and having a young family and being out and about and you know being in the arenas with two kids in minor hockey and you know everything that comes with that you know I'm probably a little more exposed than the than the most uh least coaches in history but um I never did I have one negative experience people are incredibly respectful and excited about the team so yes it's difficult to be a coach of the Maple Leafs and and to be a part of that organization in terms of what the expectations and the attention that comes never all Mike was treated with anything but the utmost respect out in public so as you would expect Sheldon Keith hitting all the right notes again uh in his second public comment since being let go his head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs the first was on his Instagram account or on his Twitter account yeah and him verifying that that was close to his home and and not a cottage then so that might have actually been Lake Ontario if he was on maybe maybe him in like SGA could have been neighbors if the crypto king didn't bill come out of the house it's true so it's been a while since at least had a head coach that you know we could have this discussion about right their next job so here are the last two head coaches by the Toronto Maple Leafs that's gonna be good Mike Babcock yeah before him Peter Horacek yeah before him Randy Carlisle uh-huh before him Ron Wilson oh and those guys just like vanished we had the fleeting moment with the abs yeah but how many games did that last zero zero so you have to go all the way back to Paul Maurice to find a guy who got another chance in the National Hockey League which maybe is another discussion we can have about what being a head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs and failing here can do to your career I just think that those guys are particular I agree individual circumstances all hard of them and also not like in their mid 40s like Sheldon Keefe is right I don't know and like Horacek was seen as a caretaker of a dead era like yeah we understand what was happening with the various guys there yeah yeah also nobody had the regular season success that Sheldon Keefe had like those guys were all like failures up and down and like okay if Randy Carlisle like what notably in the playoffs once but it's like good one Randy yeah okay not a lot happening during the regular season for any of those guys anyways so we haven't been able to be like well what did those guys do outside of Paul Maurice's yeah well I think this is informing yeah okay are you rooting for Sheldon Keefe though now in a second stop I am not rooting for Sheldon Keefe to go win the Stanley Cup at the New Jersey Devils next year like that would feel that'd be a bit too close to home for me but even even somebody who sits here and goes and you know was critical at Keefe and I wouldn't count myself in that camp I thought he did a pretty good job as head coach and Leafs I have my quibbles with him but even when we're doing the playoff thing of he got out coached I always look at that and say I don't know like I think Austin Matthews got out played by Philippe de no I don't know that Sheldon Keefe got out coached in that series that's just where my mind tends to go on these things but yeah I think you'd like him to have success I do wonder how it makes you feel about the group if he doesn't have success in the next stop there's some element to that there but I nobody wants to see him win a cup of first year in his next stop like that is way too close way too soon but I don't know any person in this fan base unless you are just so anti of the whole doobess keefe chanahan era in which there's some segment of that with people but I think they put that all on doobess I don't even think keefe wears a lot of that I I would think most people are wishing him well ultimate success a bit too much a bit too soon for most people but yeah who who wouldn't be wishing keefe well it's not apples to apples and it's not fair and who knows what the roster is gonna look like but like yeah if he goes to New Jersey and like if there's still a skilly team and like that they skill their way into like a bunch of playoff series victories and a Stanley Cup and like here is this Toronto Maple East team even with the a new head coach they can't get it done and they can't score on the playoffs boy not not I would try to do this thing with like hey what do the Bruins do in the preseason the retroactively evaluating what the Leafs team is and you can't do that and even no if you wanted to they lost in the next round they did there's anyways but like I think that might be a real takeaway if you know you separate the head coach put him with another like not identical group no players but like a young skilly guy in a Jack Hughes and he leads him to playoff success and then there continues to be no playoff success with this group I think you can definitively say it wasn't the head coach yeah I think you I mean I can I can I feel for me I can definitively say that now but yeah we definitely would have an ample body I would just say that if that happens it's just for the proof that the Leafs are cursed is my actual like takeaway on that which I know no one likes and it's like you know it helps the Jack Hughes and Nico Hissher make collectively like what Austin Matthews total salary is gonna be for next year that certainly would help a lot but yeah I don't I can't imagine a person wishing him ill like yeah Leafs Leafs Devils playoff series no one sitting there going oh well don't worry if the Leafs lose Sheldon still wins we're we're not doing we're not doing that but yeah this was a guy who handled himself well wore the slings did the thing at the end this is really the most important part of it all did the thing at the end that everyone just wanted the players to do say it's all my fault even if it wasn't just say it's all on me yep yep now I played the media game perfectly and and deserving of another opportunity absolutely yeah and I I think good hire by the devil's see if it pays off in the postseason all right before we take a break and talk to our pal gourd stellar we'll ask him this question as well so we're down to the final four on Stanley Cup playoffs and I don't know if there's a a shared trade amongst the four teams but is there is there a big takeaway this postseason as to what gets it done in the postseason because last year I think it was yeah the heavy big blue line of the Vegas golden nights that's what you got to do is there a thing this postseason I mean the problem is is that outside of the three guys I'm about to mention I don't know how many more of them exist if you could have a vesna winning goalie that's pretty good right like but that's the Oilers do it like he's the one guy okay but then instead the lesson is have the best player in the world or have a vesna winning goalie those will be the lessons then we're back to like yeah the the avalanche like hey it's just plug and play like the running backs in the NFL I don't know if we if we have four of the final teams and whoever is coming out of the east is going to have one of those goalies that we that we hold up and then depth I think that's the the other part of it as well is that you can well and again maybe the Oilers it is funny how it does seem like three of the teams fit a profile yes pretty cleanly copy and paste but the Oilers are the the outlier there of it all yeah I think that the main thing and especially if you were like the Leafs and you wanted to have a takeaway it's the goal tending thing it's like have the best goal tender which they still do but statistically Joe all frozen in time with his like nine sixty-eight percentage in the vote season with Jacob Marks from fitting this club for you like you see sorrows these are questions to ask yourself sorrows is an interesting like yeah marks from like 35 years old yeah I know tough but I actually feel better about that one because you get like the two runs at it without having to commit commit whereas with sorrows you got to commit all the way but he's probably better so yeah I don't think marks from fits he's like he's obviously he doesn't fit with Stewart's skin or either but I don't think he fits with the vesna trio that's the other three guys yeah no he doesn't like yeah yeah sorrows is is closer to the much asna much closer anyways obviously it has to be somebody with some pedigree how about lienus olemark again who doesn't asna as it is yeah just like I know this is no way to live your life but there's just no way the Leafs trade the Bruins for lienus olemark and it's like they found their guys just like it'll be the reverse to caress trade somehow yeah but like I mean you can go bad I and I'm sure that's the thought process that you have for any goaltender trade yes it is I refuse like unless they're unless the Rangers are trading shisturkin or the stars are trading odinger like even barovskia like mmm she had too many good playoffs yeah there's no way he has more left than the tech beyond this yeah all right when we come back we'll talk to uh Court Stellik as the fan morning show continues Ben and his prank gunning sports that 590 the fan the jazz marri show subscribe and download the show on apples spotify or wherever you get your podcasts fan morning show sports at 590 the fan Ben and his brain gunning that was the Stanley Cup playoffs leading scorer Zach Hyman as his Edmonton Oilers trying to get back on level terms tonight against the Dallas stars let's talk to Gord Stellik your friend and mine how's it going Gordo uh good Ben good good enjoying the playoffs little baseball get some weather going you know what can I say yeah it is a it's a glorious time of year it's a very familiar time of year because the Maple Leafs have been done for a while um but yeah it's it's uh there's this it is a it's a great time of year because you can go outside the weather's been really really good we got the Canadian open um in the GTA which I know Brent and I are gonna go check out the this weekend um all right let's talk about the playoffs let's start with the the series that we we just saw uh get knotted up yesterday between the Rangers and Panthers um is there a takeaway that you can have Gord I mean we we don't know who's gonna be in the cup final we don't know who's gonna win it but I think last year all of us or most of us at least thought that hey the the best way to win a Stanley Cup is to have a big bruising physical blue line when the Vegas Golden Knights did that is there a takeaway this season when you look at the four remaining teams well you know and not just big and bruising but the the whole depth component right and and uh on both sides because all of a sudden you got the Rangers the the big guns Chris Kreider gets the hat trick in a critical game to win against Carolina and now that big line is shut down and you've got the the Franyare and Wienberg's and you know those kind of guys Barkley Goodrow coming up coming up with the critical goal so I mean obviously number one you know beyond the depth you got to have the goaltending and I felt the Leafs had the goaltending this year just to use the Leafs as an example but you got to have the goaltending and I know of the four teams left one of them Edmonton there's a little bit debate about what exactly type of gold and they have and and then the other one is just what you're alluding to that that kind of depth but the last thing you're seeing as well is that you can be the better team and you can be in peril right that the if the Florida Panthers don't score in overtime holding macro they're down three one and they've really outplayed the New York Rangers so you know that when you when you get into overtime with these one goal games that that and you know again game seven for the Leafs right that that margin of victory or losing is is not that big but it's it's huge if you move on and it's huge if you don't move on so I think that's what we're kind of seeing in that Florida New York Rangers series the Panthers got to be breathing a sigh of relief but they got that goal last night and let's find out in the best two out of three right now they're the best team there's great goaltending on both sides but the Rangers have had the best goaltending and how will that play out yeah it is kind of funny you know it feels like the the two teams in the East the Panthers and the Rangers and then throw the stars in they all kind of seem to fit the same world and then the Oilers are built just a a little bit differently and it all kind of kind of starts at the top there you know power play has been such a focus in this in this I mean playoffs as a whole bring it back to the Leafs obviously with them well it just seems like I've seen the Florida team score that little bumper pass goal a billion times in the playoffs I mean the goal that you see from Reinhardt last night it feels like braid and pointed scored those a million times not to make everything about the Leafs scored but I am why can the Leafs power play seemingly never look like that like I remember John Tavares early on in his Leafs 10 year scoring goals from that spot but it just seems like that maybe unlocking that area is the key for what has ailed the Leafs power play because it does seem like it's been a feature of those Florida teams specifically in their deep runs of guys scoring from that exact spot Reinhardt scored from last night yeah it's you know it's I mean there have been times over the last years where the Leafs power play has been you know in overdrive and going fluidly but it seems every year to your point Brent that it's a topic you know and obviously we're seeing again the other thing because Ben asked the question about what you saw but of course specialties you know and you know at Edmonton Dallas you know they're hard to get like first of all Edmonton's hardly getting any power play opportunities right so who knows what their power play can be like because Dallas just not taking penalties but you're right about the power play being a difference and the other part that's really more so worked for the Rangers shorthand of goals man oh man they were daggers so you chatted with your chatted with Rod Brindomore last week about you know what they did in Carolina and then of course that won one of those wins against the Florida Panthers has been a shorthand of goal but yeah the kind of skill that Florida has the Leafs have obviously they do on the power play we know that and why can the fluidity and the success and the consistency not be there well you know that's I still at the end of the day it's the players that are accountable but obviously the coaches probably get become more accountable about that and that's their challenge to figure out a way because it's a beautiful world when you get two power play goals like Florida did last night yeah I mean we're gonna have Mark Savard be the face of the Toronto Maple Leafs power play it feels like Gordo a guy that our former colleague who we've we've all heard espouses opinions on on the power play like I don't know if ever there was a guy that could could could change it do you think it it is Mark Savard coming in here as we assume after being I was gonna say relieved of his duties but it was like a mutual parting of the ways in Calgary because clearly he's good he's set up to to rejoin Craig Barouba in Toronto do you think he's gonna have success here so okay yeah and I don't know anything official in that way shape or form but you know you and I were biased because we work with Savvy and really enjoyed the experience and and you know and to be fair the Calgary power play didn't do great last year and again I don't think coaches have to own that but it is you can't really be a miracle worker but I will say that I was super impressed what a student in the game he was I really was and you know how we do we you sit there and just the subtleties and the nuances and and even the taping twigs thing right you know that was that was a neat little youtube feature he got going but just breaking down how guys taped their sticks and you know I mean just I that always impressed me and certainly if the more marks of our type players on a power play you can get the better that your power play is going to be so yeah I'm biasedly a big booster of his and and I I think yes it would be a very positive thing wherever he ends up next year yeah I think we'd all like it if it came here and yeah I mean the only downside for that is if Savvy is is with the Leafs is like we know we know the muzzle they keep on the Leafs assistance here so it'd be a shame to never get to hear from him that'd be the only the only downside there one guy I wanted to ask you about Gord is Alexi Laffranier he may be of all the number one picks of recent vintage has had the oddest start to his career I mean he was in a weird spot coming in and that he was a clear definitive number one but he wasn't quite on that McDavid Bedard like tracked of this guy's going to immediately ascend to greatest player in the league status and it took him a while to find his footing but this is a couple of playoffs now where he really seems to have been able to rise his game what do you just make of of Laffranier and the kind of growth he is showing as a player maybe not what you would have expected for a number one overall pick but far from a bust either yeah yeah I never thought he was going to be a bust but I thought he'd be more vanilla you're right you know look back and and it also shows the whole thing we're so quick the rush to judgment and why you have to have to be patient I mean Quentin Byfield was a number two overall pick and he's made great strides with the Los Angeles Kings you know funny one is that okay look at Connor Bedard last year so number one overall pick and he goes to a horrible Chicago Black Hawk team so you know he's the best thing on a horrible team he plays a ton of minutes whatever it may be the Rangers picked first overall but they were a horrible team I don't know so it just worked out that they had the pick they kind of were doing a nice job under Jeff Gordon back then of retooling and coming together so you know it can work one of two ways so you're saying okay so Laffranier should be with a you know better grouping maybe kind of arguably like Wyatt Johnston's opportunity with a really good Dallas group and that should you know help him develop quicker versus you know maybe he wasn't getting the opportunities that say Connor Bedard's getting in Chicago so maybe that held him back and then the mental part of the game to all of a sudden see what he's doing and go that's the guy that's what he did in junior that's what he did in the world juniors now how much of its confidence it could be everything I mean that's a huge part of it but he seems to this year have found that and you know and that's that's great part for the New York Rangers yet you're you're keeping the younger players you know coming in and also different guys are coming up big in the playoffs when for now your big guns haven't been going around three offensively yeah uh Laffranier um second in five on five goal scoring in the postseason behind Zach Hyman's nine he's got seven in this postseason already for the Rangers obviously they're only doing what they're doing and only in this series on the strength of the former Vassana winner Igor Shusterkin's play in this series so far like we're doing this in the NBA gourd where it's like hey who's gonna be the next best player in the NBA who's going to be the gold standard going into the next season and it felt like Anthony Edwards for a moment like after taking it away from Nicola Yokich despite all the MVPs and like now maybe it's Luca Donchich um and and not that anybody doesn't think Igor Shusterkin's great and he has a Vassana but I think good like and based on the regular season play I think Connor Hellabuck was like the belt holder I guess it is it possible that like it's going to come down to whoever gets into a finals or wins the cup between I feel like Jake Ottinger and Igor Shusterkin are the two guys battling out out to be the number one gold tender that we all think of like hey you need one goalie in a game seven that's the guy that that that's up for grabs here at this postseason yeah you know and I kind of find that let's say refreshing and in that and obviously I think the listeners out there know that the the Vassana vote will already already have been done so likely Connor Hellabuck is going to win that but after a couple of years where the you know the gold tender hasn't been as much the story winning a Stanley Cup you know the thing's been put a great deep team together and we lost him hmm big goalie didn't even like the inference of like just like get a bunch of good fans men he was no I know but they he's like gonna make the counter I know but he's like don't you dare say Aidan Hill's name don't you do it it's like that's what was about to happen and then they just snip the chord yeah so what do you think of that that theory that like hey they're all great and you take any one of them even Connor Hellabuck who apparently played great despite giving up a quadrillion goals in every game against the Colorado Avalanche there has never been more proof of the track record of success that a player has that he could step to the podium after the performance he had and was like I honestly thought I was great guys just live with me in a world where that happened for the least for two mils I know why I was gonna say like yeah part of it is the track record and he's got a version of a part of it is also it's like Winnipeg they're like what are you gonna say thanks for staying yeah and he's got the extension so it's like yeah but imagine yeah oh god yeah Ilya Samson I was like what am I supposed to do like I thought I was great I well he did factually say like I'm glad I didn't come out in over these goalies then you can't convince about anything all right we got Gordo back uh hopefully you didn't do the thing that I'm always afraid of when people get disconnected where you have the conversation to nobody if you did please repeat it well apologies to the Shusterkin family first off and I would I would just say it's it's kind of neat to see that again because usually winning a Stanley Cup was synonymous with Premier goaltender in the last couple years you've had you know Colorado and Vegas kind of saying okay if you get a deep team and you get good enough gold tenny you can win and yeah I concur with you if it's if it's Dallas and and the New York Rangers you got like wow about who's the next person that is the number one gold tender because you delivered a Stanley Cup and you know there's Vesna trophies which hella buckle win this year but nothing could be better than being a a gold tender like Vasolescu Ben or whatever that has been a difference maker in a team winning a Stanley Cup do you think that that all changes true living's mind because like we're prisoners of the moment and seeing a play-off some reacting to has got the best one Joe wall the leader in save percentage among playoff goal is hey I am I am a believer in wall I mean we all have the questions about the health but do you think that this kind of further and we know they're looking at a different goalie again I forget exactly what the words were in the press conference about Samsonov but it was basically don't let the door hit you on the way out I hope you enjoyed your time here obviously they're going to be looking for a new goalie do you think that the way this playoffs is playing out further emboldens for a living to go out and really try to solidify that position as opposed to just getting a tandem partner for Joe wall why they here see a tandem party you don't need to make a sport whether first of all they don't really don't have cap space to make a splash so you don't need to make a splash as far as a goal tender I mean I think Joe wall is a chance to be their e-garchist circuit you know or whatever I mean I uh I mean Freddie Anderson was a great number one goal tender here just not so much in the playoffs and certainly I can see Joe wall fitting the bill I mean a complementary goal tender I mean let's throw a camp helmet name in for example you know that kind of guy good kind of personality as well so that's where I see it I mean I I really am big on Joe wall I believe in Joe wall and obviously like anybody if he has if he has injury problems well that ends up being a problem but I'm I'm you got to be optimistic and and let's see what happens this year I know they couldn't make the trade for him because like every other player of note in the NHL this year he was traded for a second round pick but like Jake Allen kind of feels like exactly the guy that I think would have been a perfect fit alongside Joe wall if somebody that if you need a measure starter he could carry the mail for you for a period of time but he's also not going to push Joe wall out of that job if Joe wall is performing the way he's capable of like that feels like the kind of guy that would have been perfect and it's just kind of serendipity that that keef gets him now in New Jersey yeah yeah yeah good point you know it's another one I get but again you know it comes down to the number one guy and you know being whatever whether like the audience you're a sister and I mean it's not there yet but I just think he has a chance to be among the elite um Easton Cowan has a couple of assists and is a couple of games of the Memorial Cup of the London Knights but he's had an incredible postseason run in the OHL playoffs and you know his his standing continues to rise after the Leafs selected him late in the first round last season and a redraft man to be interesting to see where where he went um is so many months to go until we have this discussion in earnest and we see him play in like some preseason games but like recklessly uh recklessly speculate do you think uh we see Easton Cowan as a Toronto Maple Leaf next season why not you know why not I mean it's just uh yeah you saw with Matthew Knives like okay Nick Robertson it just hasn't happened which is unfortunate a lot of it's been injuries but also but getting a guy like Matthew Knives now he did stay in a bit longer but coming out and being a complete player and playing as well as he does you know what a plus and the fact that they have entry level salaries as well I'm getting all choked up about it anyway but you know that's that's a that's a positive route that they've been taking hanging on to draft picks and you know getting some of those types of players to play so I think there's a decent chance um that he could play I'm not you got to make sure it's based on merit but I think there's a decent chance okay Gordo uh I love this as I always do but yeah you get yourself some tea some maybe some hot uh sorry to tug at your heartstrings so early in the morning Gordo yeah I just when I was talking about Eastern Cowan Eversister could I get emotional buddy always always great to chat I love you Gordo thanks Beth okay see you guys Gord Stella uh the great word Stella amazing it's so good yeah it's it's hard not to think about Easton Cowan being like the next one and what Wyatt Johnson he's doing now and what he did is a 19-year-old in league okay not a first overall selection either but like so what well you know what other thing I was thinking about is we we spent a lot of time you know the Frasier mintan experiments and it went how it went there was a lot of consternation of you know they lost Sam Lafferty so they could do this yeah that really matter and the great in the grand scheme of things did losing Sam Lafferty really matter was he a nice piece in games that you'd like to have him exact this is the point I'm driving at here so if you were willing to do that for Frasier mintan who granted the you know the there was a more obvious need of like a a boring two-way center that's just gonna there was a very obvious fit there guess what I'm pretty confident there's gonna be a fit for a bulldog who can score goals on this team next year here so you're gonna see the nine game experiment at the very least that's what I was gonna say it's like I would guarantee you with a guy that is not eligible to play in the American League yeah then you are at least going to see the nine game run at the National Hockey League level and and whether or not he can stick makes a lot of pressure on a kid to make it work in in single digit games in the National Hockey League while he's trying to adjust and understand what it means to be an NHLer but that's the way she goes like I guarantee you he's gonna get at least that whole heart of the degree I'm so torn on these rules because you know the frustrating part is that if he was a you know if Easton Cowan played for the the University of Denver if he was a Michigan Wolverine you could just sign his ELC and go play in the A and you'd figure it out I love the Canadian Hockey League I think it is awesome that these stars go back and play in these markets and okay you know like the City of London I think they would have been okay without Easton Cowan this year but all of these guys who go back and have these years I think it is so important for like the fabric of our country I'm not even joking about that but it is so unfair to the players and it is so unfair to the teams who hold their rights that if he just would have come from a different system they could just put him in their farm system and he could be up and down and yo-yoing it's uh it's it's frustrating and I wish there was an obvious fix but every time something like this comes up it's just it's impossible not to be infuriated how how is it impacting the fabric of our country the the Memorial Cup is in Saginaw Michigan awful we had an American come on here and call it the memcups who are face love you john but he did do that it wasn't to our face but yeah to my ears yeah he did it you had to see you had to see the great shame on my face as he said that yeah yeah I don't like it I don't like it but yeah also like there's so many team I was looking at this there's so many American teams in the western hockey league like it's Oregon and there's a bunch of teams in Washington and yeah yeah there's the Everett silver tips I have a child named Everett and I still I need to get him some some Everett silver tips some merch merch if you're listening yeah I'm always open to the free stop and anybody has a connection to the Everett silver tips yeah hit me up with some free stuff all right time now for the wake and rake presented by sports interaction your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly blue jays are capable of beating one team and one team only when it comes to series it's the white Sox the only team they beaten in a series over last month they've already secured the series victory looking for the sweep tonight 740 on sports net one it is Alec Manoa on the hill against Chris flexin he of an era of five six nine the blue jays against the worst team in major league baseball are favored minus 175 white Sox plus 145 the total is eight and a half there won't be Chris it'll be the blue jays that are flexin after this one let's not get greedy just take him straight up on the money line yeah you got to pay minus 175 to do it manoa's on the bump that makes me a little wishy washy on the total there and the run line I don't want to get cute with this blue jays team again minus 175 on the money line complete the series sweep that's what I like I like the under again like once once it gets back to even on both sides of it with the two of the the five worst offensive teams in major league baseball minus 110 under eight and a half runs after they went over the total in a game like betting against that continuing for two consecutive I like that a lot game four stars and Oilers is the Oilers trying to even up the series after blowing a lead in game three eight thirty tonight on sports net and CBC Oilers favored minus 135 stewards Skinner is going to start in goal for the Oilers in this game which is curious that it's once again a conversation and understandably so stars plus 115 the total is six when take stars on the money line total scares me when you have a team that can run it up like the Oilers and a goalie that can shut it down like autanger and then the puck line I'm not uber confident in in one of these teams kind of running away with it tonight so I take the stars plus 115 on the money line it's where I'm leaning on this one yeah I it's hard to argue against the team with all the depth I mean the favorite going into this series I just I see this one go in the distance and and I like the Oilers even at minus money at one minus 135 that was the Wakenrake presented by sports interaction your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly all right blue jays have this 13 game stretch where they play the white socks twice they had the four game series against the Tigers and they got three more upcoming against the Pittsburgh Pirates it felt like it was going to be a disaster no matter what after losing three of four in Detroit to the Tigers and the lack of offense that existed in a couple of those losses and the heartbreak in game four I know you sweep the white socks who your favorite to do and you win a series if not sweep one against the pirates maybe there is salvaging this 13 game stretch we'll talk to Ben Nicholson Smith next of the at the letters podcast next as the fan morning show continues Ben and his friend cutting sports net 590 the fan covering the blue jays from an analytical perspective jay's talk plus with Blake Murphy be sure to subscribe and download jay's talk on apples spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
