(upbeat music) - It's Friday, it's also the fan morning show. Sportsnet 590, the fan Ben and his friend, Gunning. Happy Friday to you. - Hell yeah, I'm in a good mood, Benny. How are we doing? - I'm doing all right. You're in a good mood 'cause you're gonna play golf. - I don't know, I was gonna do something golf related. I'll be honest, when you sent me the text, I spent half a second, I'm like, do I wanna watch good people play golf? Or do I wanna play golf with Ben Ennis? And it was a back and forth, it was, it really was. - Wow. - So I hate to break it to you, I don't think I'll get the same feeling watching you rip driver as I would, like seeing Nick Taylor do something similar or something like that. - You know what, I feel like I'm gonna have a good day though, because I did spend some time at the RBC Canadian Open yesterday. And I think you've probably feel the same way. But when you play with someone good, you don't become good, but you have a better chance of being good that day. 'Cause you're like, look at that guy. Ooh, okay, what are you doing? What are you, oh look, oh. Oh, you mean you look like you have some semblance of tempo and not mechanical. And like you have a good setup. - Yeah, there's some rhythm for validity. - So I think I'm a pretty good student, right? Like not, I don't study very well, but like I can be told what to do and apply that. - Okay. - Or I can learn by observing. - Okay. - So I honestly like, I don't know if you do the same thing, you go to a professional golf event, but I watch like the swings and I'm like, ooh, okay, yeah. I like that. There's a couple of things that I was picking up on that I'm not doing that I'm going to do today. So I think it's gonna be a big day for me. - I have to actively force myself out of - Rub mode when I'm watching. 'Cause I am a big, like what do I like to do when I'm at my beloved RBC Canadian Open? I had to go, hey hat, five iron from where? Just a lot of that. I do have to force myself out of that. - Yeah, when you get your laser out and you're like, oh, again, 270. - I don't even, 273? - I don't even own a laser. So I don't accuse me of side on the laser. I don't know where I'd be without a laser. - I know, this is the thing. You're like, oh, out there, I'll just ball park it, whatever. It's like, no, more important for you to be a good golf fan than a good golf player, a good golfer. That's better. - Good golf player, yeah. Anyways, we'll talk more golf later on in the program. - Yeah, maybe, maybe, I don't know, like we'll see if I'm too, 'cause I've been accused of being a little energetic in the mornings. It's like, I don't know, maybe you need to invite me to play golf with you more often 'cause I'm in such a good mood, or maybe you're like, I'm gonna, you're gonna mentally invite me, but not invite me until I 30 going forward, maybe. So I'm not like too over exuberant in the show. - Oh yeah. - Is that what I'm saying? - Yeah, but you're not over exuberant, you're just like, you're properly exuberant. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right, yeah, you're just like, well suited for the amount of exuberants you should have. - Thanks, Ben. - All right, let's talk a little hockey show, because the Florida Panthers, one game away now from returning to the Stanley Cup final after 3-2 win over the Rangers, yeah. So they dominated the series just about everywhere, except for the score sheet. I mean, they're winning the series and they won the game on the road, but if not for Igor Shasturkin, this thing would be over. And as thing about this this morning, Brent, I like watching history when I watch sports. I want to feel like I'm seeing something that is, hey, when I look back 20 years from now, I can be like, oh yeah, well, remember this era or this thing that happened that is important to the long history of said sport. In this case, the National Hockey League. It's been a long time to be alive for that. - It feels like there's been a lot of that going on. - But yeah, mostly world history. I feel like I've been alive for a lot of things that will be written in history books, which is, I remember as a kid thinking like, oh, so boring, nothing happens in the world. Like the '60s would be so cool. - Who cares of Archbishop or Archduke Franz Ferdinand? Who cares? - No, no, they always thought that the '60s would be a very interesting time to be alive with everything that was happening. We're going to the moon. And anyways, turns out like, no, I'm living in like one of the craziest times in human history. Anyways, besides the point, back to the point, the point being that if the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup this season, that will be very representative of an era of National Hockey League hockey to me. Because, I mean, you got, they were a president's trophy champion, then they made a cup final to make another cup final and finally win. Like this is one of the defining teams for me of this generation. So the other teams that I think are defining of this generation have won. The Lightning, one of the defining teams of this generation. The Avalanche, one of the defining teams of this generation, the Vegas Golden Knights making the cup final in their first year of existence, finally winning one last year. - How dare you? - A defining team of this generation. And the one outlier over like really the last boy, you have to go back more than a decade for the one outlier team that was not really a defining team, is the team that the Maple Leafs now have the head coach of, and that's the same Lewis Blues, right? Like that was, they were like, good. It's not like a dominant team and they were dead last when he was hired in the middle of that season. The other teams that have won have been either dynastic, whether you talk about the Blackhawks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Penguins, the Capitals finally breaking through with Alexander Ovechkin, one of the all-time greats. If we're gonna talk about the teams that matter over this decade, decade and a half run, the Florida Panthers are that team. To me, it makes sense for them to win this series, to win a Stanley Cup, because they've been one of the best teams over, well, last half decade at least. - Yeah, when you put it that way, you can't quibble. I think that it's the, there's a bit of Vegas to the Florida Panthers version of this because, you know, you throw the president's trophy in there and that has to be part of the story. But that was also the season that immediately precedented them turning into this version of the Panthers. Like that's the Huberdough team. Then they become the Kachuk team. Is there a bigger 180 that an org has done while staying great? Quite honestly, not one that I can think of. So that's why it's so interesting to me is that they were able to be this president's trophy team and then completely rip their heart and soul. Well, I guess not their heart and soul 'cause that's Markov, he's the captain, but you know, just their 120 plus point guy and change their coach completely, right? Quenville was there. Yeah, it's night and day. - Yeah, it's pretty amazing. But yeah, they're, I mean, you just watch the games. It seems like they're a better team than the New York Rangers who had a nice regular season. I think we can now pretty firmly say that, yeah, the Atlantic Division better than Metro. - I've been firmly saying that for, I don't know, about five years now. The Rangers are one of these odd teams, or I shouldn't even say odd. They are a, they are the classic NHL team that is not great, but has the right, great pieces that can make a run. Like they have Schusterkin, they have Laffranier who has been tremendous. You throw in a guy like True, but there's a lot of pieces we like, but go back to all the conversations we're having about the Rangers during the regular season. Yeah, part of it was the Leafs are beating them with Martin Jones in net, and you're saying what exactly is this team? But I think we all realized what the Rangers were. They were a group that had a lot of pieces that you like, but they are still a, I wouldn't even go as far as say a flawed team. They're just, they're missing that little bit extra, that little bit more. I mean, again, like you look at Keandre Miller, Truba, Laffranier, Panerin, Zabenajad, like up and down the line up, tons of tons of pieces you like, but they just seem to have always been one, and again, weird to say about a team that won the president's trophy, but even when we were having these conversations in the regular season, it felt like every, you know, one of the big topics a conversation we had was, are there three or four teams that can win the cup or are there nine or 10? And if you were a nine or 10 person, of course the Rangers were one of those teams, but if you were a small group of teams can win the cup person, I don't think anybody had the Rangers in that super small group of teams, unless you were of the belief that Shostakum is just gonna go steal it, which I'm not gonna completely paper over the possibility of with two games left in the series. - Yeah, for a sport that is so random, we're told, and just chipping a chair, just getting into the postseason, well, one, the final four makes a whole lot of sense, and the Rangers falling to the Panthers makes a whole lot of sense. So like this idea that some random team with an incredible goaltender, now three of the four teams all have good goal tenders, and Sir Gabe Abrowski is quite good, now established himself as pretty capable in the postseason, but yeah, I mean, what? An Oilers, Panthers, Cup final, or even a Stars, Panthers, Cup final, and boy, the entertainment value on both of those, I think are very diametrically opposed, 'cause like every game of this series has been close between the Panthers and Rangers, and yeah, it's like physical and, you know, playoff tested players and some great goal attending, not exactly blown you away with the offensive skill. No, I feel like we could use an Oilers matchup against whoever it is emerging from this Eastern Conference final, like that would be a real opposition of style. Yeah, place the call, Gary. It is, you're right, like it is styles make fights, the Oilers are the only team that gives you something different, you know what I mean? And you're not wrong, I agree with everything you said there. It's just so funny the way narratives and storylines work because if I remove the names and I just tell you, the struggling first overall pick from the New York Rangers is having the second coming out party in the playoffs of his young career. He's doing it leading the teaming goals, looking like a grizzled vet with a great playoff beard. We would be talking about this as though it's one of the great stories in the sport, and we've talked about it a little, but even my mileage, like I'm trying to sell you all on it. And even my mileage is bearing on it. Second and playoff scoring at five on five, Alex, yeah, and it's just seven. It's two behind Zach Hyman's nine. But am I wrong that it feels like? Yeah, all right, what's happening? No, it's fine. No, it's like, okay, so what? So what, the Rangers first overall pick who was like a beast for Team Canada and is another one of these guys that, yeah, no, who cares, who cares about that? It is so odd that it is not becoming a bigger story and I can't put my finger on why, 'cause when I just give you all of the, not the principles, but just the storyline, check the boxes, you'd say, yeah, this is the greatest story. That's the thing we would be actively rooting for. And I think part of it is that, if the Rangers were to go on and win the thing, there's only one guy who's winning the consmite and it's just Durkin. So I think that is part of the conversation with him, but it's so odd to me that the laugh for near story isn't, and nobody's not talking about it. We just go, okay, sure, no, no, that's fine, go ahead. No, you wanna, no, okay, score two marbles. Sure, do it, do it that, what you will. It's just, it is remarkable to me that it's not breaking through and I'm just as mad at myself as I am, all of you. Yeah, I guess, yeah, it's just, and he's scored flashy goals too, like maybe the best hole of the postseason. And the other one, he didn't score the other night where he just completely dances Reinhardt at the blue line and rings it off the bar. It makes no sense. Yeah, they've had the easiest path, no offense to the Carolina Hurricanes, who I think could have, in an alternate reality where they didn't have Frederick Anderson as a goaltender, could have won the Stanley Cup. The other's like a word about easy paths as well. Well, okay, yeah, you're right. Yeah, just two of the four teams left that like, you know, somewhat cupcake bounces. Oh, no, I, like, I know where that comment is coming from and it's coming from a place of the Toronto Maple Leafs playing the Boston Bruins, the difficult Boston Bruins who got, you know, also waxed by the Panthers in the second round. Yeah, look, the thing with the Leafs is because it's happened a billion times, we have to make our peace with it and they had their chance against Montreal and they had their chance with Columbus. 'Cause I feel like everybody else has made their peace with it, you have to make your peace with it. Okay, well, I refuse to. So I'm just being honest with you about that. I refuse to make my peace and live in a world where if the Leafs didn't get to play the Kings every year and have a little shadow boxing to warm up for the playoffs. But they have and they failed. Yeah, I know, I know. And then everyone's like, no, no, honestly, we should look at that series but no Green's Assault, even though the two best players on the team miss half of it. It's okay, don't talk about those things. No one wants to hear it, Brent. But we've heard it plenty. No, I don't. Back to the task at hand here. So yeah, Rangers aren't done, obviously. Win Game 6, bring it back to MSG for Game 7. MSG has crappy ice. It's like, yeah, every once in a while, you get this story again and, you know, wait, the Ice Capades apparently happening at MSG right now, which is what exactly are the Ice Capades? Does anyone know? Is anybody? I throw the question open to anybody who can answer this. What are the Ice Capades? I feel like people are skating around. Yeah, okay. That's the most I got for you. Definitely on skates. Yeah, that's, I just think they're cruising around out there. Because is it like Disney On Ice? Disney On Ice, they're wearing outfits. It's like they're recreating scenes from Disney movies in costume and like doing some figure skating. Is it like our people in costume? Is it just like dancing on ice? Is it many people? My wife tried to sign me up to take my child to that and I quickly dispatched that. What, Disney On Ice? Quickly dispatched that to never been. I've been to a lot of children's things. And I've never been to a Disney On Ice. Anyways, it's MSG and it's crappy ice. You know what, I was thinking of two things surrounding this. Like one, and I know they talked about it on the panel yesterday. It's like, ah, is that part of MSG's charm? 'Cause we all, you just, you go into MSG, you play the Rangers on the road, you know that that's what you're gonna get. Your skilled players may be gonna have to chop it up a little bit more because it's hard to keep that puck flat on the ice. Is that part of its appeal? And also secondarily, it's the world's most famous arena. That's just, it's factually, it's weird. I was, you know that's only the second oldest building currently operating in the National Hockey League. You know what that oldest building is? This is gonna blow your mind. I, oh, oh, is it this a loophole with Seattle? Yes. I did know this, see? Good job. I'm a pledge arena, I think was founded in 1960. MSG, I think, opened 69. And once, I want all of the NHL to pledge that that's a fake stat is just 'cause they kept the roof, the building's not the same story. Yep, yep, yep, all right. I don't make the rules, except they just made that one. MSG is the world's most famous arena. For hockey, but I mean, come on, mostly the Knicks. Let's, let's be, like the Knicks and Billy Joel. And like the Rangers in '94. Maybe in the straight shots ever played there, do we think? Boy, I mean, he like owns the building. I know, I know, but I think he would be tough, though, to like have a cavernous building. But just like, I mean, playing people in there. I, I suppose, yeah. I'm all in the world. Yeah, I suppose you could, you could force Knicks season ticket holders to watch your band play. Anyone who wants to renew Knicks season's tickets must get 100 front row seats. Anyways, do you, you, it has like the Mecca, right? Of the national hockey league. Now, some of the historic buildings are gone, right? Like there's no Maple Leaf Gardens. There's no Montreal Forum. There's no Great Western Forum either, right? Like it is. So it is, I mean, the age of it. And the fact that there is history there, recent history, I mean, you can go further back than that. But yeah, '94, and being in that building, does that, does it feel like a historic, like if you're a hockey fan, are you like, well, that's the pilgrimage I got to make one day to MSG. No, I would go to New York to go to MSG. And I wouldn't be upset to see a hockey game there and check it off the bucket list that way. But if you're going to MSG for the, for the thing of going to that arena, you are going for basketball. Honestly, maybe it's just because it's the most recent one we lost. It's like, when I think of hockey's cathedral, it's like, I think of the Joe. It was the last like active old barn. Well, I mean, you went to Windsor, so you must have gone to the Joe. I didn't go a ton. Like I've been to, I feel, yeah, three, three times. I did go for the, I think it was the last or second last Leaf game played there. I made a point to be in there for that. It's like I were in a Doug Gilmore jersey, but instead of Gilmore, it just said killer on the back, which was great, no. You like that? I thought it was hilarious. Yeah, I thought it was awesome. Yeah, that was awful. Okay, well, different strokes, different folks. I wouldn't wear it, but I think it's awesome. That's like your deep alley while you're a jersey. No, no, no, no. Come on, no, no, no, that's like, that's sorry, Gritty. But now you're the avatar for everybody that buys it. I disagree on conforming jersey. I think that's a very different, like not for me, respect the hell out of that guy. Anyways, the point I was trying to make is I think the Joe was like the last of those arenas. Like there is some, there will always be something to coming into Toronto on a Saturday night. That is, I think, and I know everyone's gonna be like, well, shocker, you would land on that opinion. I think that is the closest thing we have to a marquee place and time, but it has to be place and time. Or God pains me and say it. Montreal, Bell Center, it's the other one. Yeah, but for MSG, it matters. And I think it's amazing that the Rangers play there. I would hate it if the Rangers had some, like, where the ice palace with the ice compades or whatever. I love that they are a fixture in the most famous arena in the world, but I don't think of it as a hockey thing. Honestly, it's like when I think of the images of hockey with MSG, I think of God, I don't think of the ice. I think of guys walking up the ramp. Yeah. I just think of all the walking talks we've seen. Are guys drinking their coffee, walking up the ramp and all of that? That's actually what I think of not when I close my eyes and think of it, I don't see the ice. I see that. Because if you saw the ice, you'd be like, ew, ew. Yeah. It's so bumpy. It's very bumpy. Like it is actually mostly frozen. But, yeah. Well, this is also, you know, like, conference final. It's the semi-final of the sport. Like, you'd think you'd want ideal playing conditions. And I understand. Like, it's different. I would never want a neutral site NHL game for something of this magnitude. But how much would we be killing the NFL if there was like turf that appeared to be less than ideal? We've seen it, though. We've seen it in Super Bowls. Right. And we kill them for it. Yeah. So it's like, we're gonna do the same for the NHL. Have better ice. Oh, I don't know how you do that, other than you like. You tell the ice capades. Not yet. Stay back. Is that so hard? Like, it is, again. Yes. I mean, there's millions of dollars on the line. Okay, but like, it's the New York Rangers. It is the semi-final of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is your conference final. Is it so hard? Like, I, you gotta prioritize some things here. And sorry, ice capades. You fall behind the New York Rangers in my personal pecking order. Wow. I don't know. I know. That people will be shocked to hear that coming from me. They're like, I've got to go with big ice pay guy. I want to shoehorn the Brian Russ talking on ninjas. This is a stream in here. Yeah. Okay, so Brian Russ, uh, bangles forward. I don't know. I guess his friends with Ninja and like the, the, for the uninitiated people of my vintage. Yeah, please initiate me. Cause I was so mad that this story came via a Twitch stream. Like, why couldn't he have just said this to a print reporter? No, no. But this is, I mean, yeah, you're telling on yourself. Time. So your age is concerned. Not understanding. Well, one who ninjas and two, yeah, that this is an important way for people to speak to people honestly under the age of like, even early 30s, what are you 35 34 34. So like if you're, you know, even mid to late 20s, you've lived through Twitch streams. You know exactly what it's about. But yeah, this story I clicked on the link, it was like, here he is on the, it's a six hours stream. And I was like scrolling through it. I was like, where, where, what's happening here? So ninja is this, he's a gamer. He's a pro gamer. All right. And he plays some games. He's playing Fortnite for six hours. And people just watch and like he talks and like engages, but sometimes he's just playing and you're just watching his face is he's playing a video. Okay. There's God. There's nothing. I understand less in the world. Your kids not old enough. No, I know. It's coming. My six year old is like, that's all he watches is people play video games and he plays video games himself. But like, I don't know man, given his druthers, he might prefer to just watch people play video games. I mean, like I watch people play sports. I could just go play basketball, I want to watch Luca Donch. It's do it. So yeah, I guess I have to understand. But ninja is like in North America, maybe one of the top 10 most famous people, if you're under the age of 20 to, I don't know, seven. Yeah. And Brian Rust isn't. He's 32, but he's friends with him, I guess that I got to be honest. Just there could not be a more perfect generic NHLer for this story and it's like he's got some bought a few days because he's been there. But just the Pittsburgh Penguins, like the Mark Bonk and Doug Flibbit joke that we all make about the rotating cast of third line wingers that have been through there. He truly is the perfect guy for this story. So he said that the Panthers are probably my most hated team in the league. He said also just constant cheap shots. You're skating around after Whistle and you're just going to give a guy shot for no reason. I get it in the playoffs. It's all about gamesmanship. You got to do it. You got to do. But if you're doing this thing, game 15 in the middle of January or whenever, and you're just trying to get through the season, it's like, all right, take it easy. There's multiple things here. Firstly, like all the quotes coming out of this thing, it's really great when a sports person talks to a non-sports person and they don't feel like they need to be guarded, especially when you're like in the middle of a six hour stream. Unfortunately, for him, like, yeah, someone's going to go through like a pro athlete is speaking in a very notable area. I would also just like to commend whoever it was who found this because there's no way it ever would have been me. Well, I mean, again, like, Ninja has, what, like, 30 millions subscribers to a switch stream. No, no, I'm not saying they like unearthed this gem that no one had seen, but it's like, it was buried in a six hours of like, yeah, build the Fortnite ramp, I don't know. Sound older. Yeah. When I play, I play zero builds. So like the building. You can do that. I do remember downloading the app and it was like, there's just kids like building skyscrapers to the Mars. And I'm like, I've never been out on something so fast. I just want to snipe people. I don't want to build stuff. Anyways, so kudos to Brian Ross for being very honest with this to this thing. Secondarily, what a badge of honor for the Panthers. Oh, my God. And thirdly, that's pathetic, Brian Ross, like, what do you think honestly is legitimate opinion that like in January, game 15, you shouldn't be trying as hard as the Panthers are or caring enough about two points. Yeah. Maybe like if you would care, maybe 10% more or closer to the Panthers, you guys would have gotten into the playoffs instead of being on the outside looking in and you would have also had a chance to do the thing that you also claimed in this stream that your penguin team would have beaten the Rangers instead of just taking a game, which the capitals weren't capable of doing. So yeah, well done, Brian Russ speaking your mind, but yeah, we can also dunk on you. Yeah. Part of this though, is that that's two time cup champ Brian Russ, like he is, if there's anybody who has like, it's like the guy played on the back to back peg with his cup championship teams, but it also shows gotta how far away they are from those back to back championship teams. He's like, God, try in so hard. We can't have this. I just, I need this from an NHL player. Everyone's going to focus on the Panthers thing and rightfully so, but this is what we get on NBA player podcasts all the time. This guy's talking crazy about like, Oh, my middling team, we would have done great. It's all dictated on match ups and like, I think he's wrong, but I'm so, so happy. He said it. We, all we ever hear is a respect off in, in the NHL, like even in these series where guys hate each other. It's like Brad March on just coming out in the middle of the leaf series, like, Oh, no, they're growing up so much. So proud of these guys and like, you know, you know what he's doing there with the big brothering a little bit, but it even has to be done through a lens of, I respect you. I'm going to shake your hand and this is just so great to see a guy who has belief in his team, but like to throw that away for a second is just willing to put it out there and name names, not because we would hear, I'm not blind to the reality that we would hear from a NHL player. Oh, yeah, I thought we would have had a chance. We'd be able to get in, make a little noise to name names. Anybody would have been better than the capitals and we would have beat the Rangers. I love it. I love it. It's not even like a regular season statistic to back that up. I think they were one and two against the Rangers. Well, this is this season. There is also something to like, I think this is mostly a little bravado. This is also the guy who has played with Sydney Crosby, his whole career. And he's like, no, I actually do think that's like, I know I've lost series where that guy's played him. But if you've seen him play in a series, I think there's got to be an element of that that he's like, you know, Sid's on my team, right, like Sid's not going to go play for them. He's playing for us. There is an element of that that it's when you play with a guy like that, you just, how can you not have some like, board of unstupid belief in yourself? Is hockey having a moment here? Like, again, like it's, it's a little confusing to me that like one of the most, if you wanted to get your word out to the 20 something set, you go on ninjas, which stream and some huge notable professional athletes, I mean, not the Juju Smith Schuster is like the biggest- >> The biggest bull anymore, yeah. >> Yeah, but like he's, we're talking about NFL stars and you can't compare Juju Smith Schuster to Brian Rust. >> No. >> But like, is that important to the like the expansion of the NHL's fan base? Like it is the NHL growing in a way that I'm not quite perceiving because Brian Rust was on ninjas twitch stream or like, are the streamers that are watching ninja and then they stayed all the way to like hour seven and then like, here's this random hockey player upset that it's Brian Rust on that stream. >> I don't think they, I think it could have just as easily been his friend. Like I don't think that matters that it's Brian Rust. It could have been Brian from, it's like, hey, we got Brian from Pittsburgh joining the stream today. I think it could have just as easily been that I'm such of two minds of it because my immediate reaction to that is, well, I mean, no, no kid is going to have the attention span. Like if you're somebody who watches like video games, the idea that you would then have the attention span to sit, but they watched it for six hours. So clearly they have the ability to sit there and watch something all to even throw in the, you know, not for me of it all, but Pat McAfee leaning into hockey all the time. >> Yeah. >> It's like, if that makes sense. I mean, the ESPN has, has rights. >> Okay, he does, but if we're going to talk about like a Twitch streamer is the Pied Piper for 20 something. It's like the, the Pied Piper for their older brother or, or fun uncle is Pat McAfee. So if you could kind of build a pipeline of those kinds of guys that are into it, I don't think that's the path to it. I think the path to it is Conor McDavid, plug your ears, everyone, myself included, going and winning like three cups in five years or something. And we're all telling the story of true greatness once again. I actually think that is what, what it takes. But yeah, it can't hurt to have people in these spaces like that. But I don't ever, I don't ever actually think this stuff materializes, I mean, it would be good if like the Rangers got knocked out and then like next week, Chris Cryder is going on ninjas Twitch streamers like that guy's an idiot. >> I would like to see that. >> Right. Like that would be good for the sport. >> Mm-hm. >> I'd also, but, but he could and like do both. He could just say that into a mic, right? >> Right? >> Nobody's got the guts to do that. >> Nobody has the guts. But that's the thing. It's like that'd be good for hockey. Then that goes, cuz even this, like we're talking about it here, but it's like if that happens, then it becomes like a block number one sports story of Chris Cryder crying in his post-series press covers and these bums are cheating and Matthew checks too dirty. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, ain't gonna happen. >> No. >> We can dream though. >> Thank you. >> It's all involved. Very happy to have seen an NHL player say literally anything interesting ever in their life. >> Good job. Ninja. >> Okay. >> Hey, let's try and get Ninja for next week. >> Okay. >> I mean, it would be our most listened to show in history by a factor of 10 million. >> You think more than when we had Francesco? >> Yeah. >> All right, after reuniting for the first time in 14 years, Jane's addiction along with love and rockets are going on tour to celebrate, we're giving away tickets to the September 18th show at Budweiser stage to enter all you have to do is tune in to the fan morning show, listen for the code word, then text that code word to 59590. Today's code word is nothing's shocking. Text nothing's shocking to 59590 right now for your chance to win. We are giving away another pair of tickets on Monday, but if you don't win with us, make sure to secure your tickets today, 10 a.m. on ticketmaster.ca. Then we come back, took an extra day, but we finally have our NBA finals match up, which starts a week from Ecaster Day and Andrew Wiggins, I don't know his appearance in Paris in July is up in the air. We'll get to that in more next as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, Sportsnet 590, the fan. >> I think we would have beat the Rangers. >> What? Oh yeah. >> Hey, it's Aelish for a Fire. >> And I'm Justin Cuddford. >> Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. >> It's the fan pregame, 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, the fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. >> The fan morning show, Sportsnet 590, the fan mass, Brent Gunning. So gentlemen, sweep it is for the Dallas Mavericks over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was not the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history by a lot. >> Yeah. >> They all try. >> This was a game that was not close at any point, ends up as a 21-point victory for the Mavericks in game 5, 124, 103 in Minnesota. I would say, just like from a neutral observer perspective, like an overwhelmingly positive season for the Timberwolves, finished third in the Western Conference, and knocked off the defending champions after they knocked off Kevin Durant and the Super Team Phoenix Suns. And yeah, it was a disappointing ending, and boy, they had some games early on in this series that they fretted away leads and then just the closing wasn't on the level of the Mavericks. But they were boot off the court at times yesterday, and it was such a pathetic performance that it's, I wonder if you're a T-Wolves fan, whether it does like it impacts your overall view of how successful this season was. >> That is the ultimate you need to go like, I am not somebody who's ever owned a dog, but the times I need, I want to own one most or after like a catastrophic season ending loss like that, that's where you need to put the phone down, go walk your dog, go collect your thoughts and actually think about what happened here. Because at the end of the season, the way that game went, the fact that this series just seemed to peter out in a way we all kind of saw cutting, we didn't see coming heading into it. But once the series kind of started, you could see where this was trending to. It's hard not to live in that immediacy afterwards of saying what? What happened just rolled over, but you have to appreciate the season that was just had if you're a Timberwolves fan, like there's no world. This was your wildest dreams. You're going back to Kevin Gardner, Kevin Gardner, Kevin Gardner, Kevin Gardner days of when you could have hoped and seen something like this, you had the Anthony Edwards coming out party. And again, I think a big part of it is that he was unable to single-handedly kind of power them to anything in this series. And I think that's where the frustration comes from. But did they deserve to be booed off the floor at times last night? If you're just talking about that game, sure, but man, it's so tough for that to be the lasting image for that team and those fans. >> Yeah, but I don't begrudge them it, you want to what you want, boo, boo, I'm not a like, don't boo, test test that port feel like you can boo. And it's tough because it's City of Minneapolis in Minnesota. That's it. Despite being PWHL champions, they're so nice. But that's a tortured sports town in general in an overall sense. >> Okay, twins in 91, but the Vikings just perennially just a nightmare in the postseason. The T wolves outside of the Garnet run, but I mean, look at all the rings that they want. >> No, no, nothing. >> Nothing. >> So yeah, I get it. They're like on edge to begin with. >> They don't have Prince anymore? >> Just separate yourself from the long-tortured sports history of that city and just you got one of the guys, right? He wasn't the guy in this series, Anthony Edwards. I mean, part of the reason they couldn't close games is because he wasn't as good as he's been late in games against this Mavericks team. But there's no debate that Luca Doncic is despite not having an MVP of that caliber and top three finished third this season in MVP voting and is at the conclusion of this playoff run, I think, well, especially if he wins going to be anointed as the best. >> Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with that. The other thing with the T wolves is just the scar tissue that the fans do have with the rest of that team aside from Anthony Edwards, right? And not to say that he doesn't wear some of what happened in this series, he wears a lot of it. But how many people in that fan base have been ready to kick Rudy Gobert, Carl Anthony Townes. Do you go pick any of the guys that have already been kicked out of town? They've been dying to do it. And I think it almost felt like if the fans could say boo, but not you and boo, but not you boo mostly for Carl Anthony Townes and Rudy Gobert. >> I think that's the other part of this is that this is a run and but this was a team that there was palpable frustration in rightfully so and Gobert is such a divisive figure. I think more so for fans outside of whatever team he's playing for than fans in that market particularly. But I think that's the other part of it is that you had a team that their play was almost forcing you to love them, but there was really just the one guy of the core that you that you wanted to love and it was and because I don't think there I mean, obviously there are people who go like oh, Rudy Gobert, old Carl Anthony Townes, but mostly people are there and believing because of it. >> Yeah. And Nas Reed. >> Nas Reed had like an unbelievable post season run not so great yesterday, it was two to ten from the field, but it's funny like the two headed monster in the back court did the exact same thing, both Kyrie Irving and Luca Donchich with 36 points. We're getting an NBA finals where Kyrie's facing his whole team, the Boston Celtics, he's, of course of recent vintage, remembered for stomping and squishing Lucky's head. The Celtics mascot painted at center court in Boston. >> I believe he's saged the arena the first time he made his return back to Boston. >> That's right. >> Yeah. He's gonna get plenty of barbs and vitriol. >> If I could bring a good tweet to the air, I was just Kyrie getting ready to return to Boston and it was Dr. Dre on the set of the real slim shady with all the fake M&M surrounding him and I'm like, that's very good. >> It's amazing where we're at with Kyrie, one that he's been able to keep himself out of the news cycle for things non-baskable related for as long as it's been, it hasn't actually been that long for him, a thousand years. >> It really is amazing and that he's been able to defer. He went from being the obvious second banana to one of the greatest players of all time in LeBron James and being a huge part in hitting the biggest shot in one of the most important championships in the history of the sport. And the Mavericks don't have a long drought, but this could be Luca Donchich's first, which is also a huge moment in the history of the sport. And he's gonna be right there and that he's decided that, okay, my job is to be one of the best closers in the history of the sport, especially when we get to the most important points in the season. But I've also understood that these aren't my teams. It was his team in Boston that didn't go so well. It's amazing the narrative arc we've gotten to with him and also the acceptance of his role as a player in this stage of his career. Not just even in this stage, like when he was closer to his prime, that this is the deal. He's a great player and could be the best player on a team that doesn't quite have championship aspirations on a championship team. If he's your second banana, you're actually winning a title already once and maybe a second with the Mavericks and Luca Donchich. Kyrie Irving can be part of a great culture, but he cannot be the culture setter on a team. That's why I didn't work. >> That's very fair. >> That's why I didn't work in Boston. He was the leader, unquestioned. We want to follow you and I understand like Tatum probably younger going, I feel like I don't know, I think Kyrie was going to give all the accolades, he was going to follow him. You need to put him with a guy who has just as many accolades as him. And I don't even say this to Kyrie can't be the best scorer on a team. I think there's a world where it's not Luca Donchitz and it's a collective where there's maybe a better two way player than Donchitz and don't take this as me sliding what he is, Luca. I have a whole, you agree with all the accolades, but there's a world where it could be structured a little differently. Kyrie is the unquestioned number one scoring option. I can believe that, but he cannot be the number one unquestioned best player, leader on the team. Everyone get on my back and follow me. Follow me in moments. Follow me once I get on to the court, but I'm giving the speech at the start of training camp about what we want to be as a team. No, not that guy. And that's, guess what? That's fine. There's only really in the grand scheme of things among the truly elite players in this game. But five guys that we actually think of that way and everybody else, if they're in that spot, we go, eh, you don't love them there. It is not a knock to be the seventh best guard in the NBA or whatever we're going to, whatever we're going to land on him being. And it's so nice for him. And one of the best closers, yeah, like, and not a guy that just because of sheer height, you can get off your own shot because you're incredible at spinning them all and it's finishing through traffic. Oh, his ability, the fact that him and Luca both, if they get a, forget half, a quarter of a step on you, they're finishing. They're just going to find a way through contract, through contact without contact, right hand, left hand does not matter. No hands. I think they, I think you do need, I mean, I feel like Kyrie could head the ball in. Luca definitely can. Yeah. He played some soccer. Oh, yeah, no doubt. What Boston reporter, what tact are we taking with Kyrie? Are you just, is the world flat? Yeah. Your thoughts on your issues of, I mean, there's going to be lots of bear traps left all over the place. And if you're Kyrie, you have to be acknowledging that that's the reality and there's going to be, you know, talk of your tenure and the fan response and you have to, you have to go full like against your nature, right? And just give the most bland, nothing answers at all, but yeah, you wouldn't be doing your job if you weren't, not even just a Boston reporter, like a national reporter flying in for the NBA finals, which again, start a week from yesterday. We got a lot of time to, to think about this series and a lot of time to talk to the principles involved in it. Yeah, you wouldn't be doing your job if you weren't asking those types of questions of Kyrie Irving, trying to see if this is the moment after all this, this, I mean, quote unquote, good behavior, this, this, this, this non headline behavior that if you can, you wouldn't be doing your job if you weren't at least opening the possibility for him to slip up. It is just remarkable that we're sitting here saying, yeah, God, it's, it's amazing that he has been able to stop saying the world is flat among many other things and we're giving him credit for it. And I am too, like I'm not blind to the reality that he does deserve his credit. God, what a, what a strange career it has been for Kyrie Irving. I mean, he comes out as the number one pick and then the by himself with LeBron hits the trying to think, Kawhi shot Ray Allen three against the Spurs and Kyrie from this kind of era of NBA, I'm sure I'm sure I feel like there's got to be one I'm missing in a game seven. Yeah. Yeah, it's okay, Ray Allen one also had the stakes of that being the first one and the end of it would have been over and yeah, right, yeah. And yeah, obviously Kawhi comes before the finals, but that's game seven of an NBA finals with the great it with like, if not the greatest player, the second greatest player that ever lived going back to his hometown team against the biggest dynasty in that era of the sport. And I love just for me personally, I love that it will always be in Steph Curry's face. It doesn't make it more impressive. It's more impressive. It's in Andrei Grudel's face or something like that. But for me personally, just what a game like that. I have. Okay. So we had bring on when you were on vacation earlier this year and leading up to it, I just went back and watched it's a seven something minute video of the last two 50 of that game where Kevin loves play like great defense. Incredible. The block by James and play by J.R. Smith and Kyrie and LeBron almost finishing like the greatest dunk in the history of the sport. I'm so happy you brought this up because that for all the LeBron highlights that we have and no regard for human life. And it would have ended Draymond Green on TNT because they would have just played that on a loop every single that who would have been on that LeBron's spine was broken when he landed after that thing too. Remarkable. Yeah. What a game. You it as like, Oh, one of the great historic series. The first six games were not closed. They were not good games, man. And Draymond obviously being suspended for what? Game five is the tipping point in the series. Game seven was an all time game, but the other six games in the series. No, it was a very, it was very odd in that it was kind of the opposite of this Mav's, this Mav series that we've just seen or especially early on where it's like, oh, these games are tight, but it's going to be a gentleman sweep and that goes seven and none of them felt tight. We've been lucky with some of these. Like we also had the greatest world series game ever played of like the rain delay and Jason Hayward speech and Santa Maria. Yeah, everything. We've been lucky. Yeah. Hopefully we're luckier in the finals than we were in these conference championships because those were brutal. Yeah. I mean, some close games again, like early on in the series between the Mavs and the T Wolves and even early on in the series between the Celtics and the Pacers. But yeah, I'd argue with like nine combined games between those two series that we can kind of underwhelming. Yeah, just stay healthy. Kyrie and Luca. I mean, I can't have the Celtics just waltzing where we do a referendum because one of those guys gets hurt. Dude, like legitimately are the Celtics any good like we were having, we could be having that discussion that the best team during the regular season, like by far record wise, who were like what 26 and 0 at home before they they lost the game at home and then cruising to the NBA finals, if they lose in the finals, we could have a legitimate conversation as to whether they were good at all ever at any point this season. And if it's Kyrie Irving that does that to the city of Boston, I just want to sit back and watch. Truly the era of Boston dominance in sports would be over at that point. Yeah, it does feel that way. Okay, I want to get to the story before we take a break. So thank goodness that Jamal Murray and Jay Gill just Alexander played well in the postseason but aren't still playing like no offense to those two guys and Jamal Murray already has his championship. So I think it's a little easier to take for him and Shay Gill just Alexander. This is just the first baby steps. That's fine. Now you can concentrate on the real championship that is leading team Canada to a medal at the Olympics at the end of July in Paris. Will Andrew Wiggins be a part of that team? I would say a very strange season for him in Golden State where he was away for personal reasons when he was playing. He was rancid, awful awful awful. When the Raptors were talking trade and stripping it down to the bone, Scotty Barnes and whoever else, whatever young player you could bring in, there were more than a few discussions around. Well, Andrew Wiggins can be had from Golden State and it was, I think, rightly decided by this front office that like, no, his contract is maybe the biggest Albatross in the NBA. Now he bounced back a little bit at the end of the season, but horrible was Andrew Wiggins this year. It also should be said that despite the fact that he didn't show up for this generation of team Canada and the three year commitment that they wanted for players who were going to try and qualify for the Olympics, they achieved that goal and are going to play in the Olympics. He did. He's shown up, right? Being a part of that last chance Olympic qualifier in the last cycle and being the best player on that team, like he's done it before, but- >> Thomas Satteransky. >> Yeah, it's not what you want. Anyways, it's hard to say that it was his fault that he wanted to have basketball game. Now he's great. I mean, he hit it. Big shot to get it to overtime. Anyways, he's shown up for team Canada. Will he show up this summer? Do they want him to show up? Because again, it was not part of this core of players that they wanted a commitment from but I'm sure if you, maybe I'm not sure, but I think if you ask these players, hey, do you mind if Andrew Wiggins shows up, like just parachutes into Paris? Is that okay? They would be okay. He was asked yesterday, I guess, during a conference call for a- >> Yeah, to make him the round. >> Quench. >> Quench. >> Yeah. >> Which is boy. >> Look, we don't need to disparage, but it's confusing. >> It's spelled C-W-N-C-H, quench. All right. Sure. Well done. Thank you for giving us Andrew Wiggins content. >> So he was asked whether he's going to be there. We'll see what happens, you know, you guys, you just stay tuned and you know, we'll see what the road brings, okay? So this is also a guy that he does have a championship and he was a key contributor to that, the Warriors don't win the championship without Andrew Wiggins being what he was in that postseason run. >> Mm-hm. >> I mean, what do you make of him being non-committal at this point? >> It's really weird. I would like to first start with just, I am of the belief that if you can play, you should play, okay? And extenuating circumstances once in a while, that's fine. And I'm not even making this comment about Wiggins, it's just my belief in general. If you can play, your country wants to play for you, and it's not some tournament. This is the Olympic Games, you should play, you should want to play. Having said all that, I think with Wiggins, there has been just so much odd around him. You mentioned the personal absence, and we still don't really have a ton of clarity on exactly what that was that he had the comments or it was included in the write-up about him not wanting to parachute in and be seen that way. I really do think he just feels not a part of this group and the idea, now, I think the answer should be, I would love to play. It's up to Canada basketball to want to have me, blah, blah, blah. You put the ball in their court. It just seems to me like it's a guy who doesn't feel a part of this thing. Why that is, I mean, I don't know, because to your point, he's played. I think the other part of it is that Canada basketball isn't, these guys didn't all grow up like necessarily going to junior camps together and everything. You get spread out, so there's not that continuity across many generations as well. It's a weird one. The weird thing is that it doesn't feel like they need him. I mean, he could help, for sure. He could help, but, okay, and I guess I'll leave the possibility open that the personal stuff is the reason that we haven't heard anything definitive. But at this point, considering the season you just had, considering the fact that you already have a championship, considering the fact that there's no wear on the tires because of some long post-season run, you're not committing yesterday or at least, like you said, putting the ball in Canada basketball's court, like, I'm sorry. Get lost. That was my reaction, even with the showing up for a tournament that was not the easiest considering the era existed in also, like the COVID protocol of it all. I mean, it was in this country, so the travel wasn't horrific for him, but, nah, I'm sorry. If the Olympic Games, and you're not saying right off the hop, yeah, man, I know I didn't commit and those guys have been there, so it's up to them, but I would love to be there. Well, okay, what are we waiting for then? Oh, yeah, I'd love to see the comment from SGA or Jamal Murray saying we'd love to have him today. Like, that's not hard. Also, either. I'd love to see that. Yeah. Some certainty would be nice. Anyways, it's very possible that the Canada medals, even without Andrew Wiggins. Yep. It's an incredible combo, and a couple of guys with some now post-season bona fides when you're talking about Shay Gilchis Alexander and obviously Jamal Murray's are unquestioned. It's possible that's the best story of the summer, too. Yeah, I can't wait for it. End of July. When we come back, can't wait for the Blue Jays to get back to action against a crappy team. That's tonight, and they have bullpen reinforcements. Ever heard of Ryan Burr? Me neither, but he's a Blue Jay, at least in name only. That and more next as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, Sportsnet
