18: Eyes for Ando

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

0:28Andrew: Hey, Andrew. Hey, Justin.

0:30Justin: We're.

0:31Andrew: We are back in person.

0:32Justin: It's nice to see you.

0:33Andrew: It is nice to see you.

0:34Justin: And the people out there can now see us all, all of us if they want.

0:40Andrew: And you can also see us on YouTube.

0:44Justin: YouTube. That's how you can see us. So we're gonna. We're. We're venturing into the video podcast landscape, which to me just sounds like a

0:51Andrew: video, but yeah, it's a thing. Definitely just a video. It's not a video podcast.

0:56Justin: Yes, but now we are a video podcast. That's true. So welcome to the 2017 or whatever.

1:02Andrew: We don't make the rules. We only make the AudPod rules.

1:05Justin: We sometimes. We change those.

1:06Andrew: We often change them almost every day on the fly.

1:09Justin: Yeah. So yeah, here we are. Please check us out on YouTube. I don't know how to tell you how to get to our YouTube, but we have it linked in our Instagram. So go to Instagram, click the links and go to YouTube.

1:23Andrew: No one's going to YouTube.

1:24Justin: But I just discovered.

1:25Andrew: We just wasted all that time talking about it. Nobody's going to it.

1:28Justin: So on YouTube, we are going to do our uncut episodes. So they're basically just going to be. You get to see us talking about everything.

1:36Andrew: Everything.

1:37Justin: When we forget to research, you get to experience what that's like. So we tried to make it different than just the normal podcast because otherwise you could just listen to it.

1:45Andrew: So you want the extended uncut version

1:48Justin: of the AudPod, the no to YouTube, the no director's cut. It could be bad. It could be.

1:54Andrew: So joked about getting canceled earlier. This could be real.

1:57Justin: This could be the one. Okay, so I have. We're back to Justin bone picking corner.

2:04Andrew: Bone picking time.

2:07Justin: Ohl put the Brantford Bulldogs up five spots in the power rankings. The third. To third. To second.

2:17Andrew: To second.

2:18Justin: Yeah. Yes. What?

2:20Andrew: I'll tell you why.

2:21Justin: Why?

2:22Andrew: Because Zach Ivan's parents are rich. I mean, there is something weird about that. They get purchased and they get boosted through the roof and I don't really know why.

2:32Justin: I have no idea. I don't. They're honest. Okay. They're on it.

2:37Andrew: Yeah.

2:37Justin: Here's. Here's the only pros going for them. They're on a six game win streak. Six games.

2:41Andrew: Okay.

2:42Justin: That's pretty good. Yeah. We've done that three times. We never got bumped. Five.

2:45Andrew: True.

2:46Justin: But. But okay. They're on a 16 win streak. They beat the Generals twice in a row.

2:50Andrew: Okay.

2:51Justin: So. Okay. Like, they're good teams. So it's like that. That's fine. So. So what we've learned is you can play terrible teams. Yes. So, well, less good team. Yeah. Because they played terrible. They played the Pete's for sure. That's in their win streak. For sure. I don't discredit anyone. A six game win streak. Okay. I just discredit the fact that they jumped up five places.

3:12Andrew: Okay.

3:13Justin: And here's. Here's the other thing that gets me. Oshawa also jumped up a place. Jumped the Rangers.

3:19Andrew: That's right.

3:20Justin: They lost to Brantford twice.

3:22Andrew: I think you're getting caught up in these rankings, man. I gotta be honest.

3:25Justin: Yeah, I am.

3:26Andrew: You really are.

3:27Justin: I think they're.

3:28Andrew: They mean nothing because the CHL rankings still have the Rangers as the second highest OHL team.

3:35Justin: Yeah, the. The second highest or the third?

3:37Andrew: I think second highest. They're fourth in the ohl. Yeah.

3:40Justin: Okay, so they're still. No, they're fifth in the chl.

3:43Andrew: Sorry, the chl.

3:44Justin: Yeah, that's what I mean. They're. They're.

3:46Andrew: They're fourth or fifth in one of them. They're higher in the CHL than they are in the ohl, so it makes no sense.

3:54Justin: Yeah. Okay.

3:55Andrew: Okay.

3:55Justin: Yeah. Well, I. You know what? I've. I decided at the beginning of the season, I decided to join the power rankings train.

4:01Andrew: Okay.

4:02Justin: And I'm riding it to the end.

4:04Andrew: Okay.

4:04Justin: And I want retribution.

4:08Andrew: Well, I mean, I. Honestly, I have no idea how you're going to achieve that unless they win the whole thing.

4:15Justin: Yeah, that's pretty much suck at power rankings.

4:17Andrew: Yeah, that's pretty much where we're at now. I think. I think that the Branford thing, it seems fishy a little bit.

4:23Justin: Yeah.

4:24Andrew: But ultimately, like, do you think that the Rangers are worse than Brantford? I don't.

4:29Justin: No.

4:30Andrew: No.

4:30Justin: After the London game, do I feel like we're worse than any team in the league? No.

4:34Andrew: Right.

4:35Justin: So there you go, my Power Ranger.

4:37Andrew: Instant retribution number one.

4:39Justin: Yeah, exactly. Okay, so speaking of last night's game, we're going to not talk about it for a bit.

4:45Andrew: That's true.

4:46Justin: Yeah. Let's recap the other games that happened. Okay. Okay. So on Friday night, we played Flint. The Flint Firebirds.

4:53Andrew: The Firebirds of Flint.

4:54Justin: And we won four to three.

4:56Andrew: Okay.

4:57Justin: And that was that game.

4:59Andrew: That was that.

5:01Justin: That kind of feels like the whole game. Like, I know we won four to three which is great. Yeah. But also I'm. I kind of feel meh about that game.

5:09Andrew: I mean, you know, there was some good things.

5:12Justin: Yeah.

5:13Andrew: You know, Christian Humphreys had two points.

5:15Justin: Yeah. And Christian Humphreys is very good.

5:17Andrew: He is very.

5:18Justin: I really like.

5:19Andrew: Yeah.

5:20Justin: What a pickup. Yeah.

5:22Andrew: Mike McKenzie.

5:23Justin: Brilliant. That, that. Actually the best part about the Flint Firebirds game was. Was the interview with Mike McKenzie. Yeah. There was.

5:31Andrew: I don't know, it wasn't high energy the way it normally is, but you know, it was kind of. I think what it was was I only saw the. Believe it or not, I only saw the.

5:41Justin: Oh, okay.

5:42Andrew: So I saw absolutely nothing.

5:45Justin: Yeah. Right.

5:46Andrew: Yeah. And then I had to go back and watch the. The highlights of the second and third. So I don't actually, I can't speak to how exciting the full game was. However, the first period was not an enjoyable time. I got sleepy and. Yeah, that was the end of my night. However, there is some performers in this game that continued to perform throughout, you know, this three game stretch that we're. We're looking back on. You know, Cameron Arquette, I thought.

6:09Justin: Yeah, he's been, he's been killer lately

6:11Andrew: and he seemed like one of those guys that probably on a lesser squad would just play more minutes.

6:16Justin: Yeah. Which is. It's kind of sad for him, but also he's playing with great guys. Yeah.

6:20Andrew: Yeah, true.

6:21Justin: And he's. And he's producing. Like. He's not, he's not invisible or anything. No, I know.

6:25Andrew: Yeah. He's a. He's a hard worker. I mean, he's also like not necessarily out there to score.

6:30Justin: Sure.

6:30Andrew: So.

6:31Justin: Yeah.

6:31Andrew: I mean any. And he has been lately, so that's great. Yeah.

6:35Justin: The beginning of this game was good. Pridham got like a crazy shot in the first minute, I think.

6:39Andrew: Yeah.

6:39Justin: It was like right off. As becomes the Pridham way of doing it.

6:42Andrew: Yeah. Starting fast, ending strong.

6:45Justin: Yeah. Jack Britt Romano also was like. He was good all weekend too. Like, we Sam O'Reilly lot of Romano. He was like killing it.

6:52Andrew: He's kind of always good. He's now he's projecting to go early second round.

6:56Justin: I know.

6:57Andrew: Yeah.

6:57Justin: That was exciting.

6:58Andrew: Yeah, I'm.

6:59Justin: I'm. I'm happy for Romano. Yeah. I mean, that's the prospects tournament.

7:02Andrew: What a solid. Yeah, well, we, we didn't even really talk about that. No, the prospects tournament. The Rangers showed out.

7:09Justin: Yeah.

7:09Andrew: It was unbelievable. All three of them just crushed it.

7:13Justin: Yeah, it was great.

7:13Andrew: Yeah. You know.

7:15Justin: Yeah.

7:16Andrew: Player of the game for the, for the west had three Assists and. Yeah, the other guys had goals and I think Romano had a goal or an assist or was it just an assist?

7:26Justin: Maybe just an assist.

7:27Andrew: Okay.

7:27Justin: Yeah.

7:27Andrew: And Missile Javic had a goal for sure.

7:29Justin: Yeah.

7:29Andrew: Which was a beauty.

7:30Justin: Yeah, it was a real. Missile.

7:31Andrew: It was. It really was. Anyway, back to the Flint game, which was not as exciting as the. The prospect game, which was insane. There was like a ton of fights.

7:40Justin: Yeah, there was. There was that. That's awesome. An All Star game where it's. There's fighting. Yeah. Why? Why? Just how? Yeah.

7:49Andrew: Because they're very young.

7:51Justin: They are.

7:51Andrew: And their futures are on the line.

7:53Justin: There's a. And there's also a lot of hormones in that room. A lot of hormones. You put a bunch of guys who are 16 to 19 years old in the room. That's a lot of hormones.

8:03Andrew: Ye know what it would have been like with those guys who are usually rivals playing together. It'd be interesting. That'd be an interesting little documentary or something.

8:11Justin: It's a little. Yeah, I'd love to see that.

8:13Andrew: See like a. I mean, it would probably be awful. It'd probably be horrible for the quality of life to follow around an. Oh. Like that and just put the pressure on them.

8:22Justin: Like maybe more funding would come.

8:23Andrew: Maybe if it was someone who was already drafted.

8:26Justin: Yes. Yeah. You know what I mean? Anyway, we could follow Ando around for a day.

8:30Andrew: From what I've seen in the. The interviews and stuff like that, that would be. There'd be some hijinks.

8:35Justin: Yeah, I think so.

8:36Andrew: I don't know. I don't think it would be a completely serious.

8:39Justin: Him and Jackson Parsons.

8:40Andrew: I don't think it would be a total serious time. That's a great segue. Jackson Parsons had 30 saves, which just seems like he's automatic.

8:49Justin: Yeah. So this game. Yeah. Okay. Yes. The first period was sleepy. The second period started sleepy. Part of that was because Nathan Day was lights out. Nathan Day, the goaltender for Flynn, Just destructive.

9:00Andrew: Who's he prospect for?

9:01Justin: Yeah, I don't think he's drafted. Is he?

9:03Andrew: I think so. If you're watching on YouTube, you can just look at the logo on my hat. It's nice and shiny.

9:11Justin: Yes.

9:12Andrew: The Edmonton Oilers. Nathan Day. That's right.

9:16Justin: Yeah. Your other prospect, though, is suspended. Yeah.

9:20Andrew: Yeah. Much like the captain of the team.

9:22Justin: Yeah. I mean, following in the footsteps. That's right. But then Once the shot 25 happened for the Rangers. Damn. Broke.

9:30Andrew: Yeah.

9:31Justin: That's when everything started opening up.

9:32Andrew: It does feel like the Rangers will get you eventually. So.

9:36Justin: Okay. Brampton. I watched this game with my daughter. She didn't know what was going on.

9:40Andrew: No.

9:40Justin: But she.

9:41Andrew: Very new.

9:41Justin: She fell asleep, so.

9:43Andrew: Okay. Yep. Well, this was a good one to miss.

9:46Justin: Yeah. But we. We lost this one. We lost it four to one.

9:49Andrew: Was this the first time you tried to watch a game with her?

9:51Justin: No, I've watched several.

9:53Andrew: Oh, okay. All right.

9:53Justin: She's a. She's picking my fantasy team these days. Yeah.

9:57Andrew: She can't do any worse than just. You're doing pretty good this year.

10:02Justin: I'm right behind you.

10:03Andrew: Yeah.

10:03Justin: I'm right behind you, Brampton. We lost four to one. Obviously, we saw Brampton the week before and. Yes. Four to three.

10:09Andrew: Yeah.

10:09Justin: So. No, five to three. We lost a lot more.

10:13Andrew: Yeah.

10:13Justin: Because they got four goals in the first. Yeah.

10:16Andrew: Yes, that one. That one was a weird game because the Rangers outplayed them for most of the game. Unfortunately, it was four to nothing ten minutes into the game.

10:24Justin: I still think in this game, in this game against Brampton this weekend, that the Rangers outplayed Brampton again. But it didn't. It didn't feel as dominant as the first time we played. I just.

10:34Andrew: I just. It just feels like this is the team that has their number.

10:38Justin: Yeah.

10:38Andrew: Every team seems to have this team.

10:41Justin: Right. Luckily, we only see them twice, and it.

10:43Andrew: And it's. It's this weird. Like, doesn't matter how well you play, you lose a lopsided game. It's like a weird.

10:50Justin: It just. It just.

10:51Andrew: It's. I think it's just that weird, like, puck luck bounces, you know? It was the opposite this time. It was a close game. And then in the third period, the doors kind of got blown off, and Brampton just kind of took over.

11:06Justin: Ivan. 11 shots in the first period, like, total.

11:09Andrew: Yeah.

11:09Justin: For both teams. It was. It was nuts.

11:11Andrew: Yeah. Ivan Kovic is. Is the Achilles heel, I think, of the Kitchener Rangers right now. Just very. Like you said, thankfully, not gonna see him again.

11:19Justin: Yep. Yeah. So. Yeah. Cause there was, like. So the first period was very dry.

11:24Andrew: Yep.

11:24Justin: And then the second period, Brampton was ahead. Missile. Javic got a goal. And that's when it felt. It felt like the momentum was starting to build. It was like, okay, this game isn't going to be a blowout. Like, the last one, like, at least started for sure. And then we're gonna build up. We're gonna get into something. And the Aud then the momentum just sort of trickled out and didn't show up for the third period. But Ivan Kovac destroyed us and that was it. Yeah. Like you just said.

11:47Andrew: And Luke Misa and three goals and an assist.

11:49Justin: Oh. Who is he a prospect of?

11:51Andrew: I don't know. Will he ever actually play there or will he get traded for a strong, tough defenseman or something like that?

11:59Justin: So we have those now. Yeah.

12:01Andrew: You just keep getting more of them.

12:02Justin: Yeah, that's good.

12:03Andrew: You're going to go. You're going to go 10, eight. You're not going to play the 11, seven. You're going to play perfect. 10 forwards and eight defensemen.

12:12Justin: And that was the last time the Calgary Flames ever had a puck shot from centerai. Yeah. Yeah. And then after that game, we went

12:22Andrew: home and we played the London Knights, the number one team in the country,

12:27Justin: where we won five to two.

12:31Andrew: That's right. Finally. Finally.

12:33Justin: Yep.

12:34Andrew: Oh, it felt so good.

12:35Justin: It was. It was. And it was a good game, too.

12:38Andrew: It really was.

12:40Justin: Both teams showed up.

12:41Andrew: I mean, I feel like the London Knights played London night hockey. They didn't have, like an off night.

12:48Justin: No.

12:49Andrew: It was just that Jackson, Parsons and the Rangers, as a collective, outplayed them.

12:56Justin: Yeah. Yes. Yes, they did.

12:58Andrew: And I'll tell you what, the Rangers had more opportunities that didn't go in, didn't result in goals than I would say the Knights did. There was a couple of, like, no doubt, you know, opportunities. High danger. A plus plus opportunities that did not go in.

13:16Justin: Yes.

13:16Andrew: In fact, didn't even really test the goalie like the. The Pridham fan shot on the breakaway.

13:21Justin: Wide open. Right. Yep.

13:23Andrew: Yeah.

13:23Justin: I love.

13:25Andrew: What's his name, Jason, yelling Showtime on breakaways.

13:31Justin: And it just. Both times during this game, he's like, showtime. And it resulted in nothing. I love it because I love how

13:42Andrew: into it they are in the booth.

13:43Justin: Yes. Oh, yeah.

13:44Andrew: But it is funny when it's like a total fan dog shot. Nothing happened.

13:48Justin: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, Ando. I've already named this episode Eyes for Ando.

13:55Andrew: Eyes for Ando.

13:56Justin: It's our. It's our. It's our Valentine's Day early edition.

14:00Andrew: We only have eyes for you.

14:01Justin: The refs did during this London game.

14:04Andrew: Yeah.

14:04Justin: Because he got a pretty soft penalty to start the game, like one minute in.

14:09Andrew: Yeah.

14:09Justin: He got another. He got a penalty, a slightly more warranted one at the beginning of the second. And then they gave him three penalties in the third right at the end of the game.

14:18Andrew: I mean, that's kind of who he is, though.

14:21Justin: Yeah.

14:22Andrew: Like, I will say that there is times where almost borders. I think if there was going to be like a knock On. On Ando is that sometimes he gets a little undisciplined, but it never seems to be like, in a spot where you're like, you can't handle it. You know what I mean? So, like, I wouldn't. I don't think it's a knock because you want the guy to have that kind of edge. He's your captain. He's the minute muncher on defense. You kind of like, if you play that and you play a physical style, which he does, that's who you're going to be. But it's funny because I feel like there is a bit of like, you know, they. I don't know, like last week we complained about the officiating, so I don't want to do too about it, but it does feel like officials get to know players.

15:09Justin: Yeah.

15:10Andrew: And then they just have an easier time just saying those numbers when they're going over to the. To the box and putting in a penalty, you know? So.

15:18Justin: Yeah, that's fair. I. I didn't feel like he. I didn't feel like it was all of them were warranted or all of them didn't have like a similar non call on the other side.

15:27Andrew: Yeah.

15:28Justin: Yeah. I don't want to complain about it either, but you know why I have eyes for Ando?

15:31Andrew: Why?

15:32Justin: Because he looked like freaking Ovechkin on the one team. On the one tee.

15:36Andrew: I was beaut.

15:38Justin: Holy. It's also like. He's also like.

15:40Andrew: He read that perfectly to come down. And it was Pridham behind the net.

15:44Justin: Yeah, Pridham sauced it to him. And it was.

15:46Andrew: It was. It was. He was coming around the back of the net and Ando came down low and just. It was. It was perfect. Yeah, it was a. It was beautiful. And it. And it. And there was. There's really nobody, I think, can stop that kind of a play.

16:00Justin: Right. Yeah.

16:00Andrew: It's true beauty.

16:02Justin: And then, you know, it was fun in the second period. We. We reversed Ranger.

16:08Andrew: You reversed Ranger.

16:09Justin: We were on the penalty kill and we scored. Oh, Little shorty from Mercer. Yeah. There, like, this was a bit of a goalie battle too, this game.

16:17Andrew: It was. Both goalies played incredibly well.

16:20Justin: Jackson Parsons got the. Got the goal of the. Save of the game, the whatever, which

16:25Andrew: was save of the week.

16:26Justin: Save of the. Yeah. But Medvedev also had a save that could have been save of the night for sure. Saved it off a Lamb. It was like insane. Yes. Yeah. Or. Yeah. Yeah. Lamb.

16:36Andrew: Yeah. And Lamb had a beautiful goal.

16:38Justin: Yes.

16:39Andrew: The patented insurance goal. Tanner Lam scored a nice one and it was. He had a great opportunity and he didn't score. And then he followed the puck and got it in there.

16:49Justin: Man. That was a fun game.

16:50Andrew: That was awesome.

16:51Justin: You could tell the crowd was super into it.

16:52Andrew: Oh, yeah.

16:52Justin: It was like ripping in the Aud Like I wish we were there.

16:55Andrew: I agree.

16:56Justin: Yeah.

16:56Andrew: We got to get to a game. Yeah.

16:57Justin: It's been a while.

16:58Andrew: It'll be hard, but we'll get there.

16:59Justin: Sometime someday we might get there.

17:01Andrew: I mean there is now. We are now in possess of an odd potty. We were called out by a recipient of an odd potty.

17:10Justin: Yes.

17:10Andrew: And we did over promise and under deliver on the timing.

17:14Justin: However, as we almost always do.

17:16Andrew: Life got in the way.

17:17Justin: Yeah.

17:18Andrew: However, now there is an odd potty here.

17:20Justin: Yes.

17:21Andrew: In this room with me. I'm looking at it right now.

17:25Justin: Yeah. Well, don't. Don't get too.

17:26Andrew: I'm not going to reveal it here.

17:28Justin: Yeah. No.

17:28Andrew: Especially not because now we're on YouTube.

17:30Justin: This does not feel like the appropriate setting.

17:32Andrew: It isn't. But we have it. We're in possession.

17:34Justin: Yeah.

17:34Andrew: Now we need to make a plan. The. The draw.

17:37Justin: The presentation.

17:38Andrew: The presentation.

17:39Justin: Yes. All right. So those were our three games. Got some three stars.

17:43Andrew: Oh yeah. For sure.

17:44Justin: Who's your first star?

17:46Andrew: My first star is Jack Pridham.

17:48Justin: Yeah.

17:50Andrew: I thought about making a line combination. My first star. But I realized that kind of the through line is Jack Pridham.

17:58Justin: Driving play.

17:58Andrew: Yeah. Getting out to fast starts being dangerous even when he's not on the score sheet. And I feel like I've been giving so many first starters to Jackson Parson

18:08Justin: that I needed to just offer it

18:10Andrew: up to another player.

18:11Justin: Yeah. Just go with another jp. Yeah.

18:13Andrew: The other jp. Right. In fact, I married a jp. So there might be some sort of thing going on.

18:20Justin: Yes.

18:20Andrew: With JP's being very important. Yeah. Jack Pridham. What can you say that hasn't been said on the AudPod? He's going to be a Blackhawk and I do not like you go and you have a great career, man.

18:33Justin: For all the reasons we talked about. Because I guess I now want him to be my valentine. My first star is the Andalorian You

18:39Andrew: know, I'm sure we can make a.

18:41Justin: This seems.

18:42Andrew: This feels like a bit of a make a wish situation and. Yeah.

18:47Justin: Yeah. But for all those reasons and that beautiful goal. Number one. Who's your second star?

18:52Andrew: So my second star is the coaching staff. Yeah. All right. The coaching staff. Basically the big thing was the turnaround from the Brampton Game to the London game and having them come out and play as well as they did. And I kind of feels a little bit like we're a bit.

19:09Justin: We're.

19:09Andrew: We're not quite in the home stretch of the season, but we're kind of getting ready there. And it almost feels like the dog days of the season where it's really easy to get tired and get fatigued and lose some games that you shouldn't. And not so much losing games that you shouldn't. Lose some games that you should. Right. So London coming to town. That would be an easy one to pack in and say, well, we gave it our best, but they're the best team in the country. That's not the mentality of this team. That comes from the coaching staff, I have to imagine. And they're my second star.

19:44Justin: Nice.

19:44Andrew: Who's your second star?

19:46Justin: Your other JP, Mr. Jackson Parth.

19:48Andrew: Yeah.

19:51Justin: Because some of those saves that he made this weekend, they weren't. They weren't stopping pucks. They were like shot genocide.

19:56Andrew: They were saving. Yes, exactly. Yes. The pucks. The pucks fear him.

20:02Justin: Yes. He was using the Force vulcanized rubber.

20:05Andrew: Manufacturers fear him.

20:07Justin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

20:08Andrew: Well, that's. That's a good segue because he's my third star.

20:10Justin: Oh, good. And thank God you have him.

20:12Andrew: I'm keeping in the. In the vein of. Or I should say going back to the vein of third star where you, You. You like it, but you kind of question a little bit, I would like to see some saves now where Jackson

20:26Justin: Parsons doesn't have to make some incredible save. Yeah.

20:30Andrew: You know, like, there's. There's a certain level of, like, it's great that we have the best goalie in the league and we absolutely do. There's no question about it.

20:38Justin: Yeah, not at all.

20:39Andrew: However, there is sometimes you're just like. Like, if we didn't have the best goalie in the league.

20:45Justin: Yeah.

20:45Andrew: What would the story of the season be? And you know, you know what? Ifs. You can go all night, but I would just like to see Sam O'Reilly mean, it's junior hockey, so it's scrambling, but I would just like to see a little bit more responsibility and puck possession in some of these, you know, big games so that Jackson Parsons doesn't need to necessarily have the OHL save of the night and be the OHL go tender of the week all the time.

21:07Justin: Even though we love to see it.

21:09Andrew: Even though.

21:09Justin: Yeah.

21:09Andrew: I celebrate it more than anyone.

21:11Justin: Yeah.

21:11Andrew: Yeah, for sure.

21:12Justin: I think that's good. I think this weekend I. I hope we see shovel in at least one of these games.

21:17Andrew: Yeah, well, just. I don't want. I mean, it's a long season and the playoffs. If they're going to make a deep run, if you're thinking at the very least a showdown with the Knights or the Spitfires or whatever in the third round, let's say that's kind of now where I feel like they could get. Yeah.

21:36Justin: You got.

21:36Andrew: You got to have a. You got to have a goalie who's not hanging by a thread.

21:40Justin: Okay. My third star is lechart.

21:42Andrew: Oh, yeah.

21:43Justin: Game against Flint. He got. He got hit. He got rocked pretty hard, which is saying something because he's not a guy that goes down easy.

21:51Andrew: Yeah.

21:51Justin: The player who hit him, who I cannot remember now off the top of my head, he went and then hit Humphreys. The moment he touched Humphreys, lechar was up and Le Char. Zard came out. And the Aud then also leuchar crossed the three fight threshold and got suspended.

22:07Andrew: But, man. But threshold.

22:10Justin: Yeah, but it was. It was just like we were talking about last week. Guys who are Rangers.

22:15Andrew: Right.

22:15Justin: These guys are the Rangers. Like, Right. They're the team. Like.

22:18Andrew: Yeah.

22:19Justin: Humphreys is. That's his, like, fourth game. And lechar was all over this guy, protecting him.

22:24Andrew: True. It's true.

22:25Justin: That's.

22:25Andrew: That's how the Rangers are, though. That seems like that's. That's the Kitchener Rangers culture.

22:29Justin: Yes. Protect each other, stand up for one another. It's good. It's good to see NHL moment of the week. I know you got one.

22:37Andrew: Yeah, I do. And it's not. You probably think it's going to be the angle that, you know, an Oilers fan is going to take on this. I'm going to disappoint you. My angle on this is. This is such a nothing burger situation. You cross check a guy in the head, you're going to sit.

22:53Justin: Right. Yep.

22:54Andrew: Okay.

22:54Justin: McDavid cross checking Garland in the Vancouver Edmonton game on Saturday.

22:59Andrew: I mean, this is the thing. It was. It was provoked. There was. He was holding him.

23:04Justin: He was.

23:05Andrew: Connor Garland knew what he was doing. He was preventing him from factoring in. In the last 15 seconds of the game.

23:11Justin: Yep.

23:11Andrew: Which is what his job is to do. I'm not going to scream and shout about any of this because I just don't think it's that big of a deal. He got up.

23:19Justin: He.

23:19Andrew: He provoked. I. I don't have a problem if he, if he doesn't retaliate there. We're all just Going to be screaming and stomping our feet, being like, Connor McDavid needs to get calls and whatever. They had possession, it doesn't matter. There's. There's not going to be a call. You can't stop the play when the Oilers have the puck. Yeah. So there's not going to be a call. So Connor Garland's going to get penalty at the end of game. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter to me.

23:42Justin: Goaltender was already out of the net. You already had six players. You had possession.

23:46Andrew: Yeah, exactly. It's a total. There's nothing going to change here, Right? Yeah. I think that the. I would think personally being a part of a union, being a part of like a professional association, there should have been an appeal just based on that. That's good to do for your fellow members going down the road because they always look at that.

24:08Justin: Yeah.

24:08Andrew: So I don't really understand why you wouldn't appeal. Just from a bureaucracy standpoint. I think three games is kind of lame in the sense of you got to think that it is an entertainment based league and there's a lot of people who have tickets to the game and they want to see the Aud three games is a lot of games. It really is to not have the face of the NHL. Which brings me to my next point. The NHL is kind of in an atrocious place for entertainment value right now.

24:37Justin: Yeah. It's in a weird state where literally

24:40Andrew: the big story is that Connor McDavid got suspended and we've had a goalie goal, a two point night from a goal. We've had all this cool stuff happen and this league does not know how to market itself, refuses to listen. I'm not making a case for protecting superstars, but you do have to elevate them.

24:58Justin: Yeah.

24:58Andrew: That's how you become as big as soccer and motorsports and all these individual sports like, like golf and tennis and that kind of thing. They celebrate these people who are better than everyone else. This is a weird league that is driven by hoeing the line between we want the players to police themselves. We don't want that. Right, we don't want that. But we're also not going to encourage officials to just make calls. We want you to game manage. Yeah, I don't know. I. I think the NHL moment of the week to me is that I don't think that that was a big deal. I think like, yeah, they said if you're going to choose to retaliate like that, you're going to sit. That's Not a big deal to me.

25:39Justin: Yeah.

25:39Andrew: It's not the end of the Oilers season. It's not like they're fighting for, like, this.

25:44Justin: No.

25:44Andrew: Like, Right. Like they have a good team. It's. It'll be okay if they. If they win only one of the games without them, they'll be okay.

25:50Justin: Yeah.

25:51Andrew: I just think it's, like, a lot of false outrage. And it's weird that there's a podcast making up things about this. He does the two Months podcast. They made things up about that. That Connor McDavid was going to pull back from his media responsibilities and his is like. Like advertising and being the face of the league. And I'm like, this is so. Or maybe they didn't make it up. Maybe they were tipped off. So I don't want to upset anybody, but it was like Ryan Rashog of TSN came out and said it was false. I don't really understand why we're talking about this this much. It's cut and dry. You want a biased Oilers fan to Sam O'Reilly I thought the Tyler Myers one was worse because it was unprovoked, but, yeah, what does it matter? What?

26:34Justin: They were both. They were both sticks to the throat. So.

26:36Andrew: Yeah, so. And I mean, the one thing that, like, did kind of rub me the wrong way is that this happened in the playoffs. Connor McDavid took one in the face in the playoffs and there was no suspension.

26:45Justin: These things happen all the time without suspension.

26:47Andrew: So I, you know, and I like, you know, set a precedent. It's fine.

26:50Justin: Yeah.

26:51Andrew: Stick to it. Not the NHL. Never will.

26:53Justin: So when you flew to Edmonton yesterday with the candlelight vigil for Connor McDavid. Yeah. How does that relate to all this? Yeah. And in my family.

27:02Andrew: Yeah, exactly.

27:03Justin: When I.

27:04Andrew: When I flew to New York to the headquarters of the NHL and protested, man, people just want to get mad about.

27:09Justin: Everyone. Thought you were an inauguration. Progress. I was going to Sam O'Reilly There's

27:13Andrew: a lot of things to be upset about in the world. Connor McDavid getting a three game suspension is not one of them.

27:18Justin: Yeah. All right, so coming up next week, we got three games again on Friday night, we play Owen Sound at home at the Aud Always Friday, Saturday we play Erie Otters. We go. We go north. No, wait, Erie.

27:32Andrew: What?

27:33Justin: Is Erie north? No, it's in America.

27:34Andrew: It's in Pennsylvania.

27:36Justin: So you gotta go north. Okay. Why did I think they were going north? Okay. They go. Owen Sound comes to us. They're from the north.

27:42Andrew: They are also not going north. They go south. Geography not Names and geography. We're learning the weaknesses of Justin here today.

27:52Justin: And then on Wednesday, next week, of course, recording day. We see the Soo in the Soo country that.

27:59Andrew: Now. There you go. You didn't say it. And that is north. It's actually north west, but it is north.

28:07Justin: I don't want to talk about it.

28:07Andrew: Yeah.

28:08Justin: Okay. Owen Sound. We've played. We're two. Oh, and one against Owen Sound. They're sitting fourth in their division and ninth in the West.

28:16Andrew: Gotta beat them.

28:17Justin: We gotta beat em. Hoping to see Shabble against them. That's what I.

28:19Andrew: That would be a good. On a Friday night. Shabble deserves a crease, I think.

28:24Justin: Like Landon Hookey. Still good at hockey.

28:26Andrew: Yes.

28:27Justin: But that's kind of it for them.

28:29Andrew: They've. They've traded some. Some guys. They traded their captain.

28:32Justin: Yeah.

28:32Andrew: Yeah.

28:33Justin: They sold.

28:34Andrew: Yeah.

28:34Justin: Like I don't discredit that.

28:35Andrew: No.

28:35Justin: It's good moves, Ben. Erie we play. They're sitting third in the Midwest, fourth in the West. We're four and one against the Aud this is our last meeting.

28:45Andrew: This is the spiciest of all.

28:47Justin: Oh, yeah.

28:48Andrew: Yeah. This is gonna be a.

28:49Justin: This is. This is gonna be good. I hope. Or it's gonna be interesting. See what the Aud shenanigans they pull at home versus when the Aud they pull when they're away.

28:58Andrew: Yeah. To me, if, you know, if I had one thing to say to the Rangers is just. Just go out and beat them again. Yeah.

29:05Justin: Just smoke them.

29:05Andrew: Yeah. Just beat them again. Don't worry about. Don't get caught up in the bs.

29:09Justin: Just beat the Aud the Aud then the Soo they're. They're sort of. It feels like they're kind of in the same boat as Owen. Sound like they're fifth in the West. West division.

29:19Andrew: Yeah.

29:19Justin: Eighth in the Western Conference. Two zero and one against them this season as well. And this is the last time we

29:25Andrew: see the Soo so.

29:26Justin: Yeah. Minosa. Also still good at hockey.

29:28Andrew: Also still good at hockey.

29:30Justin: Yeah. So that's our. That's our upcoming weekend. Yeah. Erie is probably the game I'm most excited about.

29:35Andrew: Yeah.

29:35Justin: To see what happens.

29:36Andrew: Yeah. That's. I mean, that's. That's. That's almost appointment viewing. Yes, it is for us. But I mean, for anybody who likes hockey, they should be tuning in that one.

29:44Justin: This one could get spicy and excellent. All right, now we are on to the greatest Ranger of all time. The Groat. The Groat.

29:55Andrew: I'm back to full grow health.

29:56Justin: Yeah, I. Whatever. I just coughed. I can't do it.

29:59Andrew: It crushed me for a couple weeks there. I couldn't. Couldn't do it. Couldn't. I was unwell. And that was the last part to come back was my voice.

30:07Justin: Yeah.

30:08Andrew: Which is not good.

30:09Justin: Not when you have an audio.

30:10Andrew: When you have an audio podcast and when you teach people something. Oh, yeah, right. You. Yeah. And you have to use your voice. It's not great.

30:17Justin: That seems important.

30:17Andrew: Yes.

30:19Justin: I'm going to give it another shot here now that I got another cough out of the way.

30:22Andrew: Okay.

30:23Justin: The gro.

30:24Andrew: Nice. Yeah. I got upper register. Safe. Safer in the upper r. Yeah. Yeah.

30:29Justin: Uh, I'm going first this week.

30:30Andrew: You are?

30:31Justin: Yeah. From Orleans, Andrew I didn't know there was an Orleans, Andrew It's probably north.

30:39Andrew: Probably.

30:39Justin: Yeah. This player was a Ranger for his Andrew ohl career. Playing four seasons from 2007 to 2011. He won the OHL championship with the Rangers in 08. He scored 254 points, 68 goals, 186 assists, and 201 games. This man was a machine at the dishes.

31:00Andrew: Is like washing them.

31:02Justin: Like a dishwasher.

31:03Andrew: Ole. May Tag.

31:05Justin: I bet that's what they called him. He holds a uniquely a unique record for the Rangers, being the player with the highest assists per game in a full. In a full season. Okay. He played every game. The season was 2010, 2011, his overager season where he had 87 assists in 67 games.

31:26Andrew: Wow. A lot of app.

31:27Justin: One and a quarter a game.

31:29Andrew: Apple time. Apple time.

31:31Justin: He got one full apple and then also some slices from the other apple. Every game.

31:36Andrew: Every game.

31:37Justin: Every game. After leaving the ohl, he was a journeyman through several different leagues, including the AHL and the NHL. He still plays professional hockey.

31:46Andrew: Wow.

31:47Justin: Where he is currently a point per game player at his Austrian team, HC Pusterel. That's probably how you say it.

31:55Andrew: It's north of here.

31:56Justin: Longitudinally.

31:58Andrew: Yeah. That is. That is.

32:01Justin: That is how north goes. My Groat nomination this week is Jason Ikson.

32:06Andrew: Nice.

32:07Justin: Yeah.

32:08Andrew: So give it up.

32:09Justin: Nice. Nice little high producing disher.

32:12Andrew: That's awesome.

32:13Justin: Mr. Maytag himself.

32:14Andrew: Mr. Maytag the dishwasher.

32:16Justin: All right. Who's your girl? Our friend. Our friend Phil. Who is. Hey, Phil. He. He sent us that. The Groat is the name of a famous Scottish person.

32:28Andrew: Yes.

32:28Justin: Which is awesome.

32:29Andrew: Yes. On a coin.

32:30Justin: On a coin.

32:31Andrew: On a historical coin.

32:32Justin: Yeah. I didn't look up anything else about Mr. Groat.

32:35Andrew: Yeah.

32:35Justin: But he is. He's a groat.

32:37Andrew: He is a groat. He's a Groat.

32:39Justin: He's a Groat. All right.

32:40Andrew: Speaking of my nomination for greatest Ranger of all time is an American born player from Dearborn, Michigan, USA.

32:53Justin: The Hockey Hotspot.

32:54Andrew: Yeah. Right Wing, coming in at 5:11, 180 pounds. He played with the Rangers for, well, two full seasons and then a third season. And he was actually freighted to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound. In his rookie season, 1882, 1983, he put up 39 goals, 48 assists for 87 points. And in the playoffs, he had five points in 12 games. Then in 83, 84, he went next level. He had 63 goals and 76 assists for 139 points. And in the playoffs, in 16 games, he had 28 points, including 12 goals. So he was just all over the score sheets for that Andrew year, that Andrew run in the playoffs as well, right? 83, 84. It was a good year.

33:50Justin: It was a good year.

33:52Andrew: Then he continued to tear it up with 46 points in the first 31 games. But 84, 85, you know, after a championship, he's an overager. Whatever what happens, he gets dealt, sent to Soo Greyhounds. Of course, there's just more success there. He only plays 11 games there in the regular season, but he has 14 points and then he has a full 16 game playoff run with the Soo Greyhounds where he scores 13 goals and has 22 points. So naturally, he is a offensive powerhouse in the ohl. And the Chicago Blackhawks took notice of this and they drafted him 39th overall.

34:34Justin: Oh, wow.

34:34Andrew: In the. In the 83 draft, his best statistical season was in 86, 87, when he scored 32 goals and 61 points. He was never a big point guy once he got to the NHL, but he scored five shorthanded goals in consecutive years. 93, 94 and 94, 95, which is really impressive. He was just a great kind of, you know, middle sixer. Had a decently long career. He played for Chicago, San Jose, Buffalo, New York and Toronto. He ended his career with 684 games played, scoring 155 goals and 147 assists for 302 points. This Week's gross nomination is a famous Wayne. Not the one you're thinking of, but Wayne Presley.

35:24Justin: Wayne Presley.

35:25Andrew: Wayne Presley.

35:26Justin: Two very famous names pressed together. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Where's Elvis Gretzky? Where's Elvis Gretzky? Find him. Find him for me. We need him. We need him now. Nice. Awesome. Groat, man. We're groatin. We're groan. We're like 25 groats I think we're

35:42Andrew: getting real close to the end here.

35:44Justin: I think so too.

35:44Andrew: Yeah. And the bracket will begin. And maybe the fantasy draft. And things were. I think we're winding down.

35:51Justin: Agreed. Yeah. So that's our episode for this week, Andrew. We got some thank yous.

35:58Andrew: We do.

35:59Justin: We, of course have Ken Born Ken Born Papa Born. And because we're on YouTube, here's the hat that.

36:04Andrew: The hat is in the house.

36:07Justin: We got the hat. So, director of branding and marketing. And then of course, our prodigal producer, Liam, the phenom. Thank you. To the Kitchener Public Library. And then you can find us on social media. Yeah.

36:19Andrew: At the AudPodcast on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter for the time being. I don't know how long we're going

36:26Justin: to be on there. We have grabbed the Blue Sky. We have not started blue skying.

36:31Andrew: That's true.

36:31Justin: But if you want to follow us on there, you can.

36:33Andrew: Yeah, that would be great. We'd love to connect there.

36:34Justin: If people are on Bluesky. We will go to Blue Sky.

36:37Andrew: We will. We'd love to. We'd love to leave Twitter at this point in human history.

36:42Justin: And as I said at the top of the show, we are on YouTube. Find that through our Instagram links.

36:47Andrew: Believe it or not, we are now a video medium.

36:51Justin: Yes. But you can also listen to the podcast through YouTube Music.

36:55Andrew: True. And you can email us@theaudpodcastmail.com if you have interesting stories about the Rangers, if you have a GROT nomination, if you have a factoid about the Aud or the history of the Aud and perhaps just something about Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, this area, Waterloo region. We'd love to hear from you.

37:15Justin: Or if you want that YouTube link, we can send it.

37:17Andrew: That's true. You could email us. You could also just say hello.

37:20Justin: Yes.

37:21Andrew: Introduce yourself.

37:22Justin: Be nice to hear.

37:22Andrew: Maybe you're not on social media. Maybe you're better than all of us.

37:26Justin: We would give you a phone number, but we don't have one and we don't want to do that. And as always, you can find us

37:31Andrew: at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

37:34Justin: See you at the Aud