16: (D)AudBalls

0:12Justin: Welcome to the AudPod, where we're talking Kitchener Rangers hockey with the AudBalls themselves, Andrew and Justin. Take it away, fellas.

0:32Andrew: Right.

0:33Justin: Hey, Andrew.

0:34Andrew: Hey, Justin.

0:35Justin: We're back.

0:38Andrew: Guess who's back.

0:40Justin: Back again.

0:42Andrew: Tell your friends to listen to the AudPod.

0:45Justin: Yes, please. Yeah, like, and subscribe. We get that all the way early and the Aud then people might do it. Yeah.

0:51Andrew: I just didn't want us to get demonetized by quoting D12.

0:54Justin: We should only quote D11. We took a few weeks off, Andrew. There were some holidays. Did you get anything exciting for the holidays?

1:03Andrew: Did I do anything exciting? I, I, I just, I got some time with my family. Oh, that's nice. It was really nice. I also got a cold.

1:14Justin: Oh, good.

1:15Andrew: Yeah, that was nice.

1:16Justin: Yeah. I love getting that kind of present. It's really personal.

1:19Andrew: That was really great. I really appreciated that.

1:23Justin: Yeah.

1:24Andrew: And overall, it was not really relaxing at all. Boxing Day was the one day where I could breathe.

1:31Justin: Oh, good. But. And watch World Juniors.

1:35Andrew: Ooh, World Juniors. Yeah.

1:37Justin: Maybe we'll wait a little bit to talk about that one.

1:39Andrew: Yeah, maybe we'll bring that up later. Or maybe we won't. How about your holidays, Justin? Did you get anything?

1:46Justin: Yeah, I got a child legally by my, My wife, who birthed it. And so now I have a baby girl. And hence why we are recording separately for the first time, because I was able to do.

2:01Andrew: Joined the ranks and now we're the DOD Pod.

2:04Justin: Now we are the DOD Pod.

2:06Andrew: The DOD Pod.

2:08Justin: The Pop, pop, pop. Exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, we're, we're doing a little, we're doing a little separate recording probably for the next couple few weeks to Naturally. Yeah. So that I can be closer to home by being in my home.

2:23Andrew: I'm still at the Kitchener Public Library because that's great. I am just wanting to come here and get away.

2:30Justin: Get away. Andrew, I have missed a lot because I am become a DOD. A DODball. Dodd balls were the DOD balls. So now that I. Now that I'm a Dodd Ball, I've missed a few games. But I was looking up some of what has happened since the last time we've talked and.

2:48Andrew: Oh, it's been all good.

2:50Justin: Yeah. Yeah.

2:51Andrew: We don't have anything to complain about.

2:54Justin: It's a lot of wins. So. You're welcome, Kitchener, for stopping watching in

2:59Andrew: the, in the, in the. In the daudpod era. We are undefeated.

3:03Justin: Yeah. Yeah. Nice. I also saw that we've moved up to fourth in the CHL rankings, which is. It just feels good. We're finally getting the respect we deserve.

3:15Andrew: Finally. Yes. And Jackson Parsons goalie, Ohl Goaltender of the week again.

3:20Justin: How many is that? Fourth time this year.

3:22Andrew: Fourth time.

3:24Justin: Just. Just name the award after him. Just.

3:27Andrew: Absolutely. Yes.

3:28Justin: Just stop calling it goaltender of the week.

3:29Andrew: Just call it the. The Jackson Parsons Memorial Goaltending Award. Even though he's very much alive and playing in the league.

3:37Justin: I wouldn't call it that until next year when he's not playing for us and I don't get to see him anymore. So. Yeah, it sounds like it's been. It's been all good. There's also. There's also lots of news that's coming out. Like we. We signed some new players.

3:49Andrew: We did.

3:50Justin: Or a new. Two new players.

3:52Andrew: We did.

3:53Justin: We. Yeah. So we got Zhu.

3:56Andrew: Yes. Jacob. Jacob Zhu.

3:58Justin: Yeah.

3:59Andrew: Which I commend you on because I was.

4:01Justin: I've. I'm.

4:02Andrew: I've heard the broadcast and I'm nervous about saying the name. So I think that's a great pronunciation, which maybe in your daudpod era, you take a step with the name pronunciation.

4:13Justin: I leveled up in name pronunciation.

4:15Andrew: Yes. And he is a 6 foot 2, 180 pound defenseman, little silky skater. He was drafted in the eighth round in 2024, but he looks very much at home. He's a 2008 baby, so he looks very much at home. He looks good to me.

4:38Justin: Who's he been playing with?

4:40Andrew: He's been playing on the third pairing. I believe he was playing with Carson, Campbell and Balecki primarily. It's hard to say because I think we were doing the 7D thing that we do. And honestly, it's just a rotating lineup. It seems. It seems to work. So let's keep doing it. I do notice that there's lots of guys drawing in and lots of guys drawing out because we have a plethora of players. And then of course, Chromiak went away for the world juniors, but he's back.

5:09Justin: I saw last game.

5:11Andrew: Yes, he is back. So.

5:13Justin: Which is great. Yeah, I mean, bummer for him that they got knocked out so early, but great that he's back on the Rangers.

5:20Andrew: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the expectations were much lower for Slovakia than Canada and they both got knocked out really early, I, I

5:29Justin: think in the same round, didn't the

5:30Andrew: Aud sure was the quarterfinals, you know, first opportunity to get knocked out, as it were.

5:37Justin: You. You know, I, I'm actually kind of happy that none of the Rangers ended up going to play for Canada because I really happy that they weren't a part of that loser mentality.

5:48Andrew: Four nights, four London Knights Yeah, we

5:52Justin: know how that goes.

5:53Andrew: Andrew, sorry, three. I lied. It's three on Canada. Anyway, it was. Yeah. Easton Cowan. I think it was kind of sad that the boys were getting as much hate publicly because I didn't, I didn't want to blame the kids playing junior hockey at the highest level. I mean, these also, these countries, all of them are so good at this point that, like, you lose, like, what does it say? Like, there's no respect for the checks, that you're trashing the Canadians. That, like, the checks are good. That's just the bottom line. However, I was fully on board with criticizing the coaching staff and the scouting staff and the people who put that team together because like we said in the holiday extravaganza episode, Michael Misa wasn't there. Zayn Perek wasn't there. Becky wasn't there.

6:41Justin: Healthy, scratched.

6:42Andrew: Yeah. Rakoff was the taxi squad man, and they needed to score and they had a 53 goal scorer on the Taxi squad and they weren't playing him with his Brampton teammate. So I don't, I don't understand that. They had, they had Oliver Bonk, who did not impress me at all. He was playing, he was supposed to be power play quarterback. And, and he came out and said, well, I'm actually, I play the bumper in London. So first of all, how do you not say that in practice? Hey, I don't play power play quarterback. Maybe because that's probably not a good thing to be saying, hey, I, this, I want this opportunity is what I'm guessing, because he's a kid and he wants opportunity, but, man, it's not the time to learn how to play quarterback. Power play. I mean, it just frustrates me because I, I think it's somebody like Cameron Reid who could probably, he'll probably be on that team next year. And to me, you look at his stats compared to Bonk stats, I don't know. I'm not saying that he should have been there. I'm just saying I can understand why you'd take Bonk. I just. Yeah, I don't know. I thought that. Again, I'm not criticizing, you know, the kid, Oliver Bonk. I'm criticizing how they used them. I'm criticizing the coaching staff not paying attention to what positions players play on the power play in the league you coach in. He coaches for Ottawa.

8:00Justin: Yeah. The fact that it seems like the way that they pick this team, the way that they built this team was built more on politics than it was actually looking at the skill sets of the players.

8:11Andrew: Yeah, I believe that's true.

8:12Justin: To me. Yeah.

8:13Andrew: It was not good. It was embarrassing. And we were so embarrassed. Our prime minister resigned.

8:19Justin: Yeah. Terrible. I mean, good, good that we started chopping at the top. Right. That's the. Yeah, that's the goal.

8:25Andrew: So that's what happens if you get knocked out two years in a row in the quarterfinals of the world juniors. Prime minister, the leader of the country,

8:31Justin: has resigned, has to go mandatory.

8:34Andrew: Yeah.

8:35Justin: Doesn't matter who.

8:37Andrew: Doesn't matter if he's well liked.

8:39Justin: Yeah. No, it's gone.

8:40Andrew: You're gone. You're out of here.

8:44Justin: Also, Ter, like Matthew Schaefer going down. Like, obviously, I want. This is the Sam O'Reilly that I feel about the Oilers. Like, I never want McDavid to be out of the Oilers lineup because he's one of the greatest players in the league. I want him to lose on his merit. Not. Well, you.

9:00Andrew: You want to beat the best. You want to beat the best. You don't. You don't want to. You don't want to beat the Oilers and be like. And know that, like, well, you won because McDavid wasn't playing. Like, that's not. That's not as fun. I mean, you'll take it like, it,

9:14Justin: like, you always take it as a win.

9:16Andrew: You always take a win. It was. The Raptors won the title in 2019 and Kevin Durant couldn't play. I wasn't like, I'm not going to celebrate this. The bottom line is you're going to celebrate AudPod, you know, like, in your heart that, like, well, the best player wasn't playing. So it may have been a different outcome or whatever, but it doesn't take away from it. It just. It just. You'd rather beat the Aud their best.

9:38Justin: Yeah. And that's how I Now I feel about, like, Erie. Like, I feel terrible that they've lost. He's basically out the rest of the season, and he's an amazing player. And is this his draft year or was he drafted already?

9:49Andrew: No, this is his draft year, isn't it?

9:51Justin: I know. So this is only hurting him, and we don't want that.

9:54Andrew: Well, yeah, I don't know. There's going to be. Now there's going to be politics about taking guys who are in their draft year. It's going to be more. You got to take guys who are. Have already been drafted. Because you can't do this. Yeah, because. Yeah, because they're. They were projecting Schaefer and I Still think he does. But they were talking about him potentially going first overall with how well he was playing and if he made a splash at the world juniors. So yeah, I mean it's.

10:18Justin: I think he could go. I think he'll still go high. Like we've seen, we've seen players who have been injured in their draft eligible season still go fairly high in the draft. It just, I think it usually means that. I think it's pretty much guaranteed he'll be back in the O next year because without the rest of this year of development, that's what, that's what we've kind of seen with other players. I can't think of one specifically off the top of my head right now but.

10:41Andrew: And Schaefer is not like a slam dunk first overall or anything like that. Like chances are he didn't. He doesn't go first overall.

10:47Justin: He.

10:49Andrew: He could have before but like realistically. Yeah. I would say that he probably starts. I mean he probably goes to camp and then probably ends up back in the ohl. I mean it depends on where he goes. You never know. But it sucks that you get hurt in a international tournament. Of course we also, we kind of jumped. We talked about Jacob Zhu but we also brought in or we signed a developmental agreement OHL scholarship with Cruiser Christian Humphreys Yeah. Today who he drafted in the 11th round in 2022 and he. He was also already been drafted in the seventh round in 2024 by Colorado.

11:28Justin: He was looking him up. He's been playing with the US national team and he's been playing in the ushl. His numbers on the US national team look great. Like he looks like a.

11:37Andrew: He's almost a point of a point a game player.

11:40Justin: Yeah. So it's, it's. He's a centerman. I'm interested to see where he fits in this lineup. I, I think we can use the center help but I don't know. I don't know how high he ends up slotting in. Luca Romano been playing so well. Elena's has been playing great.

11:54Andrew: Yeah. I, I'm just wondering if he is a, if he is like a true like two way centerman then maybe he is like that bounces back and forth between the second and third line or maybe the second line is his home and they shift Elenis over so Elenis can. Honestly, I think Elenis is playing really well at center but I think it is hindering his offensive AudPod a little bit just in the sense of. I think that he could be more dangerous if he can focus more on playing offense. Whereas on center, I mean, most people know this, but if you don't know and you just listen to the podcast or whatever, when you're playing center, you have defensive responsibilities more so than a winger. You've got to get back and you've got to support your defense. So realistically, you are going to not necessarily have as much opportunity to cherry pick or receive a breakout pass. You're going to be making a lot of breakout passes. Right.

12:53Justin: So in the holiday extravaganza, I said what we really need is Elena's to be that next points getter. So this could be in this scenario you've just laid out for us. With Christian Humphreys moving into the center on the second line, Elena's moving to the wing and just becoming that bonafide goal scorer that we've now seen in the last few games. Like the dude's been putting in pox and has missed a bunch of open nets and opportunities that he's created himself. He is, he is listening to the podcast and becoming what Justin wants him to be.

13:30Andrew: He has, yeah. At the beginning of the year, I think I picked him that if he, if he played top line minutes, he would lead the team in scoring. Obviously he hasn't been playing necessarily top line minutes, but I would say his offensive AudPod to his opportunities has probably been one of the best on the team that way. I've enjoyed watching him develop as a goal scorer and as a threat and he's been playing pretty well as a centerman as well. And I know he's, I know he's like a natural center, but I just would love to see him when he can play down low and receive a pass like we saw in that game where he scored like Hedrick against Branford fed him a doozy little pass and Elena scored from the Leon draisaitl angle and it was just, it was just like it was the perfect shot. And shout out to the photography of the Rangers social media team because they recorded an unbelievable angle of that and the cellie the selly from Ellie was truly a sight to behold on the social media. So if you're not following the Rangers on Instagram, you really should be because you get some pretty cool photography.

14:42Justin: Videography. Phenomenal. Definitely. I know this might be biased, but definitely the. I follow all the teams and the Rangers photography might be the best in the league.

14:51Andrew: We just have some really talented people here in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge. It's really cool.

14:56Justin: Yeah, yeah. So we've kind of. We talked about a few of the games. So we've missed, like on the podcast, we've missed talking about basically this whole winning streak. All six of these games. Yeah. So I'm just gonna. Because I. Like I said, I haven't watched them all. I'm gonna just fly through them, give you the stats and then, you know, I've watched some of the highlight packages. I have a few notes on what, what I saw. But Andrew, I'd love to hear some of your happy recaps. So let's, let's fly through these. So starting way back on Friday, December 20, we played the Ottawa 67's and we won 6 to 3. And then we had the holiday break. And then I always get worried during holiday breaks because you never know when you're playing hot before the holiday break. It's always a little worrisome if you come back as hot. But oh, did they ever. Sunday, December 29, Sudbury Wolves. We won 3 to 2 in overtime. And then 3. December 31, we played North Bay and won 5 to 2. And then on January 2, we played Branford in what I, I actually watched this game. That was a tight game. We won 2 to 1 and in overtime and it was a tight checking game.

16:04Andrew: That was a goaltending duel.

16:06Justin: Yes. Lers versus Parsons. And then on the third, we played our old pals, the Erie Otters, and we won three to one. Yeah. Special segment coming about that one.

16:17Andrew: Yeah, there was some fun stuff after the. The horn went in that one.

16:21Justin: Yeah. Yeah. And then finally on January 5th, we played Guelph and won 4 to 3 in overtime.

16:28Andrew: Think.

16:28Justin: I think we still play Guelph one or two more times, but I'm, I'm pretty sure we have dominated that series. So.

16:33Andrew: Yes. Yes.

16:34Justin: I think, I think we've won them all. We have. Yeah. Andrew, tell us your hot takes.

16:40Andrew: Okay, well, let's go all the way back to the Ottawa 67's All the way back to December 20, 2024, and Haeden Ellis gets his first goal as a Ranger. He has a two point night. Also of note, Jack LaBrash played out of his mind in this game. He was a monster in this game. He had two points, but he was just one of these. He. He was driving the line that he was on. He's playing like fourth line. And it was just, he just looked like a man amongst boys in this game, which is saying something because there's some really good players on Ottawa. Ottawa is a good squad and there's some, some talented. Oh on that team. Like Henry Muse. We're flying through these.

17:33Justin: Yeah.

17:34Andrew: Then moved on to Sudbury, of course. Jackson Parsons, he stops 32 with 34. He was, you know, once again, like this was a game where the Rangers gave up a goal right away. And I didn't know how things were going to go because it had been nine days off. And then thankfully, right away, Haeden Ellis gets another one. The answer back the less than a minute later, he ties it up. And then right at the beginning of the third period, Luke Ellinas has a beautiful goal unassisted. And it would end up. Oh, yeah, that's right. A power play would end up clinching that game for us. Misaljevic, as he has all season, he scored his 18th in that game. Romano and Cameron Reid set him up. Moving on. North Bay didn't have an answer. The Kitchener Rangers scored three minutes in. They actually gave up the next two goals. But Trent Swick, two goals and an assist. He was a monster. Like we said, big man on campus. When Trenswick has a Trent Swick game, let's call it. Trent Swick is the best player on the team. That's just when Trencyck is firing on all cylinders and everything is just. He's in the zone. He is the man on the team. Jack Pridham continues to score. Jack Pridham. I mean, I could watch the dude skate just. He could just do laps and I would. I would tune in. He's got the flow, he's got the wheels. And Evan Headrick scores his first OHL goal in this game. He throws it on net from the corner when he's retrieving it and the goalie's not set and it goes in. And it was a hardworking play from a talented kid. It was smart. It was reactionary. Is honestly, I'm going to talk more about him. But Evan Headrick is the whole package. I am proclaiming it now. This dude is a dude. He's going to be the AudPod guy. He's just a guy right now already. And he's not very big and he doesn't seem like he plays small because we're going to talk about a hit that he threw in the North Bay game. No, it was in the Bradford game. That's right. It was in the Bradford game. Which brings us to the Brantford game. He throws a monstrous hit in the Branford game. And he's already. We're already buzzing about Evan Headrick in the previous game because he gets his first goal.

20:08Justin: You texted me when he scored that goal. You were like, this is our Future captain. Yeah, that's what you said to me.

20:13Andrew: And don't get me wrong, I know that there's guys like Cameron Reid who are likely going to wear the seat at some point just because he already has a letter on his jersey.

20:24Justin: Yeah, right.

20:24Andrew: He hasn't even been drafted. But the combination of that open ice hit him scoring and also the interview he had with Sean for all during the Branford game, I was like, holy, this guy is an old soul. Like, this is not. This is not a 16 year old kid.

20:43Justin: This is.

20:44Andrew: This is not a 16 year old kid. He honestly struck me as just like being very wise beyond his years and cool and collected and poised, which you don't normally see when someone is that age and they're interviewing. Probably one of their first times ever being interviewed in that kind of a sense. But against Branford, once again, Jackson Parsons. We talked about it a little bit. It was a duel. Lers Parsons leaners had honestly an incredible game. It was unfortunate that somebody had to lose this game between Branford and. And Kitchener just for the goalies because honestly they both played well enough to win unfortunately in overtime. Jack Pridham.

21:36Justin: Yeah. End to end, which was an amazing goal. Like, you know, if you have to lose if. If you have to be a goalie and you have to lose a goal that's like, look, the one that you have no chance on, that's the one you want to lose on.

21:50Andrew: Yeah. I mean you can't give him that much space. Right. The guy went end to end. Props to the Andalorian. Our captain, he set up behind the net. He was patient waiting for the line change. He knew.

22:02Justin: He knew.

22:02Andrew: I'm going to put this on a tee here and just wait for. Wait for Jack Pridham with the, with the gold. Gold tier wheels to come around the back of the net, skate down the ice, cross over just over the blue line and just snipe show. It was just literally like, that's a. That was a NHL goal. That's what that was.

22:23Justin: It was.

22:23Andrew: Yeah.

22:24Justin: Yes.

22:24Andrew: And I am. He is ready and I am very jealous that he is going to go to the NCAA and he's going to continue to season and get better and bigger and stronger and faster and more skilled and play against bigger and stronger opponents. And then he's going to just waltz into Chicago and be a guy and it drives me nuts because I cannot stand the Blackhawks. And he's definitely going to be an

22:48Justin: NHL player and we're going to in six years from now. He's going to be Connor Bedard's winger.

22:55Andrew: Yeah, he's going to be a guy

22:56Justin: and it's going to be brutal. A nightmare for everybody watching. Who doesn't like the Blackhawks.

23:01Andrew: Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be brutal. And then moving on to the spiciest and most. What will we call it? Controversial, I guess. Game. However, it was not on the score sheet. It was 3 to 1. Kitchener beat Erie 3 to 1. It was tight checking. It was close. Obviously Erie opened the scoring. Malcolm Spence is a good player. Ty Henry is a good player. They've got good, good players in Erie. They're solid squad. They match up well with the Rangers. It's a battle. And then the first period wasn't a Rangers best. They were through a lot on net. They outshot Erie in the first period, but it. It felt like it. They weren't generating the top tier scoring chances that the Aud funny, the shots evened up in the second and third, but I felt like Kitchener got stronger even though they outshot Erie in the first. Luke Ellinas had that awesome goal and that awesome photography from the social media where he scored basically at an impossible angle. The OHL official account posted it. That's. It was so good.

24:07Justin: Yeah.

24:08Andrew: Hedrick made a nifty little pass on the power play, which again, this power play is going to be the key to this team winning and going far in the playoffs. If power.

24:18Justin: Justin talked about that in the holiday extravaganza that the power play was going to change the course of this team.

24:25Andrew: It's literally been a narrative all season for this team. Why is it streaky? Remember I said if I could interview the Juice, it would be, you know, I would. I would eventually build up to like what's going on with the power play. How come sometimes it looks phenomenal and then some games it's like one for six, like against Erie. This is the thing is if we had actually been able to convert power play chances and more than the one that we got against Erie, it would have been a blowout. Yeah, it would have been a blowout. And if I don't want to. I don't want to go too far about the power play right now. Evan Headrick scores his second goal. He is a star. He. This was a just literally again like a digging, hardworking goal. This wasn't like necessarily a high skill goal. This was in the crease making things happen. This was following the puck to the net. This was things that you want to see a guy drafted in the first round doing because a Lot of times guys that are drafted that high don't do these kinds of things and have to learn to do these things. He's already doing them. He's already doing the Aud then the best part was Cameron Arquette who worked so hard in this game.

25:40Justin: This game was the Arquette game for sure.

25:42Andrew: It really was.

25:42Justin: He played six goals in this game.

25:45Andrew: He played so well. And like right before this he had an opportunity in the third period and he didn't score. And then late in the third, he gets one. And I mean, honestly, I'm looking at the score sheet right now. Cameron Arquette from Grisolia Mercer. It's like three heart and soul guys who work so hard. I love seeing those guys on the score sheet. And the Aud obviously we have to talk about that. You know, the two goalies, Jackson Parsons and Noah Erloden, both played very well in this game. It was. It was by no means lopsided. However, that power play, if it's clicking, I think we've got Erie and we do. We have them four in a row. Which is what drives me nuts about what happened after.

26:26Justin: Tell us more. I turned off the tv. I didn't even see this, but tell me more.

26:31Andrew: Well, I don't think I've ever really seen this before where both teams are on the ice because one is leaving and one is celebrating and then they start congregating at center ice and there's, there's, you know, words being exchanged and Erie Otters player takes a wicked slash, a hack at another at a Rangers stick. Thankfully he didn't hit a Ranger, but he hit the stick. And then naturally a. I don't want to get this wrong, but I think it's Brett Hammond is either Brett Hammond or Wesley Royston. It's hard to tell because there's so many bodies, full out sucker punches. Alexander Bilecki full out sucker punch. It's not. It's not. It wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't warranted. There was. There was no shoving. There was no nothing. It was quite literally just a sucker punch. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable. And then there was a all out brawl between a couple players. There wasn't. It could have been much worse and I think there could have been suspensions on the Rangers side had the Rangers got goaded into this. Thankfully there weren't. And there was only suspensions for Erie but good gutless as gutless. You had 60 minutes. You had 60 minutes to fight. You had 60 minutes to say something. You had 60 minutes to put up or Shut up. Get out. You lost four in a row. That would be it. That'd be five games. You're done. You don't. You can't possibly. You can't hang. You can't hang. If you're doing that kind of stuff, the coaches need to be reprimanded because you need to get these kids off the ice and say, no, boys, You.

28:10Justin: We're gonna.

28:10Andrew: We're gonna play him again. That's when you can beat them. That's when you can beat them up. That's when you can beat the Soo I expect. I think they have one more game, do they not? I think they play six.

28:18Justin: I'm looking now. I don't see another Erie on the schedule. Oh, there's one. January 25th.

28:25Andrew: End of the month, January 25th.

28:27Justin: Yeah.

28:28Andrew: Lacharazard will be in this lineup, and le Charizard. He's got some stuff to Sam O'Reilly I expect that the Andalorian will have some stuff to say, too, because he bounties. Yeah. He was on the wrong end of. Of putting. Standing up for somebody when he shouldn't have even had to do that. But ultimately, yeah, I mean, that was out of. That was so out of pocket from Erie.

28:52Justin: When you're. When you're in somebody else's building and they won and they're celebrating center ice, to do that is insane.

29:00Andrew: Yeah. And, like, you got away lucky that it was three to one. Like, you had.

29:03Justin: You.

29:04Andrew: You took six penalties. Like, it's. You know what I mean? Like, it could have been.

29:07Justin: It should have been a blowout.

29:09Andrew: Easily could have been. And I just think that your goalie kept you in it. He made. He stopped 36 pucks. You know, like, I just think it was classless. I lost respect for the whole franchise. I lost respect mostly for that coaching staff. You've got to get those guys off the ice. You cannot do that. And if they're not listening to you, like, what does that Sam O'Reilly So I would love to see Erie in the playoffs again, because I think. I think it's literally a. We're in their heads. We're in their heads.

29:38Justin: I Andrew how the. The Erie Otters tracker or whatever his name is on Twitter is doing.

29:42Andrew: Yeah, I don't know, because I don't care. I do not care.

29:46Justin: But it's funny to think about.

29:48Andrew: It is funny to think about. Yeah. All right. And then let's get past that because we won.

29:54Justin: Yeah.

29:55Andrew: And then we went into guelph, and there was some moments in this game where I was kind of like, what are we doing? They ended up. They were down three to two in the third and then Cameron Mercer had a big goal to the Aud up and then in overtime Luca Romano came through. And I just think that generally the talent level is just different between these two. Guelph has sold off some high talent players. Like they have their goalie and, and their top defenseman which. What a weird trade. That was a very strange trade. They traded Gillespie to. Where did, where do they trade him?

30:36Justin: Brampton. Brampton, right. Who has a good goalie? They need other. Literally other pieces.

30:43Andrew: Yeah. I did not understand that. They don't, they don't need a goalie.

30:45Justin: They need defenseman. I think.

30:49Andrew: Yeah.

30:49Justin: I just.

30:52Andrew: That was strange. And they, they traded. Unfortunately they traded Allen to London, which I don't think. Again, I don't think London necessarily needed a guy that skilled. However, that's what London does, it seems like somehow unfortunately.

31:06Justin: Honestly, I feel bad for him because he's probably going to play now a depth role and he's. He's kind of better than that. Like.

31:14Andrew: Yeah, he's a top line defender. Yeah. I did appreciate shout out to Sean Furfaro for saying had the quip of the week of the. Well at least two weeks now where he said that London was beating up on Niagara and he said during the intermission they're the two favorite trade partners for each other. London will probably trade a bag of pucks and a buy one, get one off popcorn coupon to Niagara for some elite talent. I just appreciate that the hatred of London runs deep and.

31:46Justin: Yes. Everywhere.

31:47Andrew: Yes. And it feels like perhaps they benefit from some under the table dealings.

31:53Justin: Well, thank you for running through these games, Andrew. Yes.

31:57Andrew: Appreciate that. Wasn't too long winded there but there a lot that happened and a lot important that happened like first goals.

32:06Justin: I needed a. I needed a little story time catch up and I appreciate it. Do you have, do you have a three stars that you wanted to present?

32:13Andrew: I do, I do.

32:15Justin: I, I also have some and they're based on highlight packages. They're a little surface level. But let's do it. Go ahead.

32:21Andrew: Absolutely.

32:22Justin: Give us your first star, Andrew.

32:23Andrew: Absolutely. My first star. It's always going to be this guy because I honestly don't know what this record would look like, what this team would look like. It's Jackson Parsons. Of course it is. Of course it is. It's Jackson Parsons. You could put him as a star in every one of the games.

32:41Justin: Yeah.

32:41Andrew: Like, you know what I mean? Like in every one of the Games. He could be a legit for the ones he didn't do, a three star. Except for the ones he didn't play. Which shabble. He stayed in there. He stayed composed. He got us the win.

32:53Justin: My third star. Because I Andrew if I just like, I feel. I feel secure in the future of our goaltending. Right, right. Like, that's. That's where I feel right now. It's like, obviously Jackson Parsons is playing out of his mind. Best goalie in the league this year. Probably the best goalie in the CHL right now.

33:08Andrew: Absolutely.

33:08Justin: And he's a phenomenal presence on the team, and I think a Shabal is getting to learn from that. But then they have not always put shabble in on the easiest games. And he's.

33:18Andrew: No, for.

33:20Justin: For the most part, he is like, he's. He's totally been able to, like, sustained pressure. Like, he's been. He's. He's looked great. Like, he's looked so.

33:28Andrew: And not only that, he's only playing like, he only played one game out of these six games.

33:34Justin: I know.

33:34Andrew: So he has big stretches. It's hard to come in and, and. And play cold like that.

33:40Justin: Yeah.

33:40Andrew: You know, it doesn't matter what the level of, you know, player you're playing against, team you're playing against. I mean, like, I mean, you had to come in and Max Nemestikov is one of the best scorers, I think, in the country. He got him for two goals, but there's nothing wrong with that. That, that's. That's like. I mean, like I said, he's one of the best goal scorers, pure goal scorers in the country.

34:01Justin: Those two goals were nothing to be

34:02Andrew: ashamed of letting in. They were exactly right.

34:05Justin: Goals like.

34:06Andrew: Yeah, yeah. And so. And you still came out with the win in overtime. So you face some pucks in overtime. You had 20, 26 shots against. You gave him a chance to win. Shauble is a great third star. My second star is. Is Evan Headrick Just because.

34:21Justin: What.

34:22Andrew: Just. It's nice to see the beginning of a career arc like this. I. I'm excited about him. I think it was mostly because I bumped him up to the. To the second start because he's coming back from kind of a devastating wrist injury early in the season where he broke his wrist. And it's hard to just get right in there and immediately make an impact, especially as a rookie.

34:43Justin: Yeah, as a rookie, you don't know what the speed of this league is, and all of a sudden you have to play it while everybody is, you know, 20 to 30 games into it already.

34:52Andrew: Absolutely. And what's your second star? Did you give me your first star?

34:56Justin: I didn't give you my first star, but I'll give you both.

34:58Andrew: Yeah.

34:59Justin: My first star was Swick and Priddham because. Yeah, like when you're watching highlights, like they're the two guys, they get highlighted in every package, not just their goals. There's like always a shot, there's always a play. There's always a pass that one of them is involved in that gets highlighted in every game even if they don't score. These two guys are phenomenal. I love watching the Aud then my second star is Ellen is because he's making me look good. So far so nice since the holiday extravaganza. On point, man. On point.

35:28Andrew: And I absolutely love the Swick and Priddham shout out because, yeah, they're just so good. Pridham could easily be my second or third star, but I'm going to go off the board here because I think this kid is playing extremely well. It's none other than our own Dericolo. Honestly, I think I just. The more I've been watching the games closely and seeing what he does, that's not going to make a highlight package. I think Derek is a very important player on this team, man. Especially with Chromiak being gone.

36:02Justin: Yeah.

36:02Andrew: I thought that the person who stepped up the most on defense and this is nothing to take away from Ando or any of the other guys. I think the person who stepped up the most on defense for the Rangers with Chromiak out was Max Dirracolo Yeah.

36:16Justin: And that's what we wanted to see. We expected to see that because we saw it in the. We saw it in the preseason. He was playing top line minutes.

36:25Andrew: Yeah.

36:25Justin: And he. He has all the skills needed to step up into a better role. He's kind of just getting. He's kind of just getting down so that. Not for any reason other than the fact that we have a plethora of good defensemen. Like, that's kind of why he's playing third line. And there's no, there shouldn't be any shame in that. It is the fact that he does it so well. He's so understated that it's great when he can, he can. He has moments to shine like he did in Chromiak's absence.

36:55Andrew: Absolutely. The whole defense of Core is. I think it's just so well coached with, with, you know, Chromiak and Anonovsky. And Campbell and Reed and Dirakolo and. And if Zhu is going in there or Balecki or McNeil or, like, whoever is going in there, or if they're playing seven, it's just they're very disciplined, they're very calm, and they know how to be physical.

37:18Justin: Yep.

37:18Andrew: And that's what I love about Derick. Colo. Derick in between the whistles. He will not put up with any bs, let's put it that way.

37:27Justin: Yeah.

37:28Andrew: Because. And that's what you need from your. Your leaders.

37:31Justin: Yeah, for sure. All right. I think. I think that's the week.

37:35Andrew: I think that's the week. I think that's. That feels good.

37:38Justin: So thank you, everyone, for. For sticking with us during the break. We'll be back to more regular scheduled programming next week, but, yeah, we'll see. Yeah, we'll see how things go. A couple thank yous, of course. Ken Born thank you for all the logos and branding and being the director of those things. Thank you to Liam our. Our prodigal producer, the phenom. And thank you to the Kitchener Public Library for hosting Andrew this week.

38:03Andrew: Yes. It's been a nice little solo mission here. I want to thank the people who are listening every week and actually messaged me and were like, when's the next pod? And, yeah, it's. I appreciate it.

38:17Justin: We have a thank you to Tim, who we shout out regularly on the podcast, and probably nobody other than Tim and a few of our close friends know who Tim is. True.

38:27Andrew: That's true.

38:28Justin: Tim. Tim is our dear friend who we've known. We've known Tim forever as well. Forever.

38:33Andrew: Yes.

38:33Justin: And. And Tim is an audio engineer and has helped us with a lot of advice and. And things like that when setting up the pod. And the reason we yell Tim in the middle of podcast episodes is because something has gone wrong and we need Tim to fix it. And that's really what Tim does for us. He fixes things. And then Tim graciously bought us a present and we should open it on the pod.

38:57Andrew: We should. We should. We must.

38:59Justin: So it's separated openings. Look at this. Ooh, Ooh. Oh, yeah, there's a present opening. I'm ripping it open. Oh, I'm ripping. Is a photograph. It is a beautiful photograph of our home away from home. Oh, the kitchen of public library.

39:15Andrew: Public library.

39:16Justin: Awesome.

39:17Andrew: I love it.

39:18Justin: Yeah. That's so great.

39:20Andrew: That's so good, Tim.

39:22Justin: Thanks, Tim.

39:23Andrew: Tim.

39:24Justin: Tim. Tim. Tim.

39:25Andrew: I'm feeling things.

39:26Justin: Help me. I need your help. I don't know what this what is this salty discharge? Yeah. So you can find us on the socials. I made you jump right into this, Andrew.

39:37Andrew: Yes, you could find us on the socials. You can follow us like and engage with us at the AudPod on Twitter, on Instagram and on TikTok. We're posting lots of content. We're getting back into it. We, we weren't over the break, but we'll get back into it now. We're excited for you to engage with us there. We want you to tell us about your greatest ranger of all time. Which brings me to a quick segue. The groat candidate Dwight Foster passed away this week on a somber note. He was only 67 years old, but he was one of my nominations. So at when we're going through our bracket, we will definitely pay special attention to some of the things that he did here in Kitchener, especially as he is the all time leading scorer in Kitchener Rangers history. So that was a big loss this week and hopefully his family is getting lots of love from their inner circle and from the Rangers as well.

40:36Justin: If you want to send us any of this information, send it to us@thetheaudpodcastmail.com yeah, as always, you can find us

40:43Andrew: at the the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

40:48Justin: What was that? You almost said it. I know. We'll just keep that in. We gotta keep that in.

40:55Andrew: Thanks everybody.