24: Cheeto Corner Chronicle

0:00Justin: Hey, Andrew.

0:01Andrew: Hey, Justin.

0:02Justin: So I think the OHL also likes taunting London, at least the Instagram admin.

0:12Andrew: I think that they like to elicit

0:14Justin: reactions, and I appreciate that about them. I don't want to get anyone. I don't want to throw anyone under the bus. I don't want anyone to get in trouble. I like their style.

0:23Andrew: I think that they were taunting you.

0:27Justin: Oh, they were getting me to repost for sure. Yes.

0:31Andrew: They have collabed with us.

0:32Justin: They have.

0:33Andrew: So they know about us. And as much of an endorsement as you can get, that's what that is gonna be.

0:38Justin: Acknowledging that we exist is validating enough for us. Really?

0:43Andrew: Yes. And now they have put us. Not us, not the AudPod, but the Kitchener Rangers first in the power rankings now for two solid weeks, and

0:55Justin: London is now in third because they've moved Brantford up a spot.

0:59Andrew: That's that Zach Hyman money.

1:01Justin: Yeah. Rich parents, man. You can't escape the Zach Hyman money. You know, when I went off on my tirade about Brantford moving up the power rankings was a little concerning, but now Brantford has earned their top spot. I mean, their second top spot.

1:17Andrew: Yeah. Top spot of the Eastern.

1:19Justin: Yes. Yeah, exactly. Good for them. I hope they're in the west next year.

1:22Andrew: I hope so, too. I hope there are new first rivals, because apparently we're not first rivals with anyone. When I say first rivals, I just mean that, like, largest rival, like Calgary. Right.

1:35Justin: We don't have the. We don't have the other one.

1:38Andrew: Exactly. Whereas, yes, the battle of Highway 7 with Guelph. But I thought it was London.

1:42Justin: Yeah, I thought so, too.

1:43Andrew: And London now comes out and says that it's Windsor.

1:46Justin: Yeah. Take us to the dance. Anyways, I love the community of the OHL because it's all nitpicky and lovely and I love it.

1:54Andrew: Okay, so I have followed very closely the CFL for many years, and for

2:01Justin: our American listeners, yes, the Canadian Football League.

2:04Andrew: Canadian Football League. And that's what I've always liked about that, is because it's smaller, it's very accessible, and you can easily, you know, break into that community and you can interact with players online and that sort of thing. And so the OHL kind of has that same appeal. And even the OHL account you can interact with.

2:22Justin: And the let's Talk ohl, they're like, great like that, too. Yes.

2:26Andrew: I Sam O'Reilly taunting them today. Let's Talk London.

2:29Justin: Yeah, yeah. They're the only ones that have a let's Talk. I think Sarnia has one Too. Yeah.

2:33Andrew: Let's Talk has an offshoot in London.

2:35Justin: In London. And you're giving them the business today? I'm enjoying it.

2:39Andrew: You were taking a play out of my playbook.

2:42Justin: Follow us on Instagram because that's where we goat On London, that is. Yeah.

2:46Andrew: Basically exclusively.

2:47Justin: Exclusively. It's where we're best at it.

2:49Andrew: That is true.

2:50Justin: Yeah. Welcome to the Oddball, where we're talking Kitchener Rangers hockey with the AudBalls themselves, Andrew and Justin. Take it away, fellas. All right, so we only played two games this weekend. Friday, Saturday, back to back, we did the double shob squad.

3:14Andrew: That's true. Yes. I know that you were. You texted me. I Sam O'Reilly were frantically texting me about Jackson Parsons, one of our followers.

3:21Justin: Nick was mess and I was like, you're right, he is not dressed like they had Owen Edwards in as backup.

3:29Andrew: Yes. I took the plunge a couple months ago and bought a Waterloo Record subscription. Wow.

3:37Justin: Look at you supporting local media.

3:39Andrew: Local journalism.

3:40Justin: Yes, journalism. Real journalism. Not to be confused with whatever it is that we do.

3:45Andrew: I've called it before.

3:46Justin: Two idiots talking in a room. Burnt brass journalism.

3:50Andrew: This is what happens when you can't explain. Excuse yourself to get out to the pub.

3:56Justin: Yeah. Once a week. Somehow that's unacceptable. But this is acceptable. Somehow.

4:01Andrew: As long as we record it and post it to the Internet, it is now acceptable that we take Tommy Kut of our week to just sit in a room and talk about hockey.

4:11Justin: Yeah. Cool.

4:12Andrew: Of course. But anyway, I read a Josh Brown article which, like almost exclusively now, what I'm reading is like OHL overager The Waterloo record.

4:21Justin: Perfect.

4:22Andrew: Yeah. And basically it was just that Parsons is just resting because realistically, they're not going to catch London.

4:28Justin: Yeah.

4:28Andrew: Because they've got games in hand on the Rangers and it doesn't really make sense to risk anything at this point.

4:35Justin: And you don't necessarily want to rest your goalie like immediately before playoffs, like you want them to be playing. I think this is like a really smart. Sometimes it. It shocks me how progressive in the lines of thinking. The Rangers are like, they are new school all the way through. Even the Aud feels like an old school organization.

4:56Andrew: It is an old school organization.

4:58Justin: 100% right.

4:59Andrew: Like even right down to like basically the original six farm team jerseys.

5:03Justin: Yeah, exactly.

5:04Andrew: That's what they are. They are old school.

5:07Justin: Yeah.

5:07Andrew: But when you're a publicly owned team, I think you have to be new school and try and get every advantage with forward thinking and analytics. And what do the statistics say and what do we do? And this is the thing is I was looking at it. Having a European head coach, that was unheard of in the NHL. He's the first one. There's only been two ever in the NHL. Non North American head coaches. Isn't that bonkers?

5:38Justin: Yeah. So he is totally like breaking molds.

5:40Andrew: He's like on the track too. Like, he's definitely on track too. Coach in the NHL.

5:46Justin: Yeah.

5:46Andrew: Which is nuts. If he stays here, which I think would be very smart. Stay here and continue to develop this program as much as possible. And then there's going to be an opportunity. I'm not saying he's going to jump straight to head coach. I'm just saying that you can imagine that there's going to be an opportunity somewhere.

6:01Justin: I would hope so.

6:02Andrew: So this is. We could be looking at something a lot bigger than just junior hockey. We could be like, we could be witnessing something a lot bigger than just hockey in general. And that they were watching like kind of a pioneer come in.

6:15Justin: Yeah.

6:15Andrew: And do something. Because he was a very successful coach. I know we're getting on a little bit of a tangent here, but he was just. If you Google uc a hocus. The Juice.

6:24Justin: Don't Google.

6:25Andrew: Don't Google the Juice. That was what you'll get. But safe. Search on. But you see a hocus. If you Google him, one, you'll see his glorious hair and two, you will realize his coaching achievements in Europe were second to none.

6:41Justin: And he's a young guy too. But Then also Mike McKenzie is pretty forward thinking too. And I didn't really know who Mike McKenzie was coming into the season. And then you blew my mind in telling me that his dad's Bob McKenzie. And I was like, wait, what?

6:53Andrew: And then I sent you side by

6:54Justin: side photos of the Aud the Aud oh, they cloned Bob McKenzie at 30. And then now he's Mike McKenzie. And now he's Mike McKenzie.

7:02Andrew: Yes, exactly.

7:03Justin: Yeah, exactly. Then I went back to, oh, he's like an old school gm, but he's definitely.

7:08Andrew: He's definitely not like that at all. He's totally. He totally bucked the system.

7:12Justin: Yeah.

7:12Andrew: He didn't do any trades. Like he did trades earlier in the year last year.

7:18Justin: And yeah. But he's using whatever is the best possible scenario for himself at this moment. Yeah.

7:23Andrew: And it. To have a guy like Jack Pridham playing in the bchl have the wherewithal to draft him and be like, if the NCAA agreement comes in.

7:33Justin: It's been talked about for years. the Aud wasn't New.

7:36Andrew: Then we're going to have this guy come in and dominate.

7:39Justin: Yeah.

7:39Andrew: And then the same thing with Christian Humphreys.

7:41Justin: Yeah.

7:41Andrew: That was just like. I don't know how that all fell into place. And Haeden Ellis, like, all these guys, he just made acquisitions without subtractions. So he might be like old school hockey, like the name.

7:53Justin: Sure.

7:53Andrew: But he is definitely new school thinking.

7:56Justin: Yeah. And that's what we want. Yeah. And yeah, good for him for taking advantage. Also, other teams didn't take advantage. This quote unquote loophole, which it isn't. This NCAA agreement isn't a loophole. But it's not going to work the same in the future. Because now, in the future it's going to be like, people will. You're going to now draft differently.

8:14Andrew: Yes. Like, totally.

8:15Justin: This is a magical year where this was just a thing that happened.

8:18Andrew: Yes.

8:18Justin: And we were one of the only teams that took advantage of it.

8:21Andrew: It's true. Yes.

8:22Justin: Awesome.

8:22Andrew: This was definitely like a loophole year because it's just different because the rules changed mid season for sure. Which is weird to even think about.

8:32Justin: Yeah. You'd think they would do it in the offseason, future year. Yeah.

8:35Andrew: Right.

8:35Justin: Like right before the draft. Oh, here's the signing.

8:37Andrew: Yeah.

8:38Justin: Everybody knows everyone has the same place. No, they were like, no, no, get her done.

8:42Andrew: And then you, like some players in the BCHL were just like, casey.

8:46Justin: Yeah, I have to go play. We go play for a good team.

8:49Andrew: I have to go play somewhere where there's.

8:51Justin: Yeah.

8:51Andrew: Where there's exposure.

8:52Justin: Yeah. Okay. So the first game that we played this week was Friday night at home at the Aud against the Sarnia Sting. We won four to three in overtime.

9:02Andrew: We certainly did.

9:03Justin: This was an interesting game. We were worried about this game going in that. That it was like, we got to come out hot. We did not.

9:09Andrew: It was.

9:09Justin: No, it was a slow start.

9:11Andrew: It really was. When they got that late first period goal to the Aud up, I felt like. Okay.

9:16Justin: Yeah. The energy was coming back.

9:18Andrew: Yeah. And then they came out and basically Sarnia took a two goal lead halfway through the second.

9:26Justin: Yeah.

9:26Andrew: So it was a weird game.

9:28Justin: It was a weird game. Yeah. I would say, like the first goal Sarnia really earned, it was like a heavy screenshot against Shabble, obviously then. Yeah. Romano. Okay. Jason does the play by play. Jason has started calling that, like, top corner call. It's like where Papa hides the Cheetos. He called it three times this weekend and I was like, I love this. I love this so much. Romano got the Cheetos in that. That was the first goal that Kitchener got from a beautiful feed by Ellis. And then. Yeah, the. The second period, it was like another good goal by Sarnia and then a bit of a softy against Shovel.

10:03Andrew: And that was third goal was soft. It was a. It was a kind of there nothing. There's no such thing as a nothing shot in Major Junior, but it was a shot that Jason Schaubel would have liked to have played back for sure. Because it was. It just went through him Y. And it was from the perimeter, which. Those are the ones you never want to give up unless you're screen. Unless you're screen or it's a deflection.

10:24Justin: Yeah.

10:25Andrew: And it wasn't a great goal against. But he played well enough to get the win.

10:31Justin: But then he was lights out, which was really my main point is that it was a soft goal. We've seen him do this before where it's like maybe there's a goal that he would want back and then he. He is lights out after that goal. We've seen Shabble do that a few times. Very true. Yeah.

10:47Andrew: And also he is 16.

10:50Justin: He's still 16.

10:51Andrew: Yeah, yeah, he's 16. Like for sure when you think about that look the way he has played, he's 82 and 1. 82 1. I don't know how they do that. Anyway, he has eight wins in 13 games or something like that. Or in 10 games or whatever. Yeah. Like he's won 80% of his games. Like it's been really good for a 16 year old.

11:13Justin: And when we talk about Shabble, we talk about him as a goalie. We don't talk about him as a rookie goalie. No.

11:19Andrew: Sometimes I remind myself that he's 16.

11:21Justin: Yeah.

11:21Andrew: For me, totally. Yeah. Yeah. He's 8:2:1 and 2. Because we do this really weird thing and we split up overtime and shootout losses. Yeah. I guess it's just for posterity.

11:32Justin: For starting wise.

11:33Andrew: Yeah. Like for scouting even like you can look and see. Oh, he lost two in a shootout. So we're going to just negate those

11:39Justin: and not to jump ahead into the next game too much. But when he did lose to Owen. Sound. But he did lose in the shootout and he was pretty lights out in the overtime. So.

11:48Andrew: Yeah, he was. He. There was. They could have lost that in regulation and overtime.

11:53Justin: Yeah. And he kept them in it.

11:54Andrew: Yes.

11:54Justin: So for sure. Yeah. All of that to Sam O'Reilly love this like little thing with Shable where you can see it in his face a little bit. And He's. I will destroy the Aud then he just.

12:06Andrew: At 16, you get rattled a bit, and then the blast shield comes down. I think the Aud is, as you get more experience, the blast shield starts.

12:15Justin: Yeah. You. You.

12:15Andrew: During the anthem.

12:16Justin: Yeah.

12:17Andrew: The blast shield comes down.

12:18Justin: Jackson Barzin hasn't lifted the blast shields all season. No, it's true. They're giving him a break.

12:24Andrew: They're repairing the blast shields right now.

12:27Justin: They're a little dented.

12:29Andrew: Exactly. He's faced a lot of rubber.

12:31Justin: Yeah. And then Humphreys got another Cheetos at the end of this game.

12:35Andrew: Yes, he did.

12:36Justin: To. To the Aud up and force overtime. Pridham also got a goal scored.

12:41Andrew: Yeah. Cameron Reid had an absolutely unbelievable goal where he walked through two guys deep through the puck, went in behind the net and Cameron Mercer retrieved it. And Cameron Reid had already circled around and was out in the high slot and just received a nice little pass.

12:58Justin: It was almost a lemonade goal. He did have a defender on him, but he was. He had opened himself up a bit.

13:03Andrew: What's crazy is when Cameron re. Starts moving his feet, it needs to be like an elite defender to stay.

13:09Justin: I know.

13:09Andrew: Otherwise you are just literally praying and hoping and wishing to stay with him. Because I firmly stand by that Allen Iverson comparison that I posted to the gram a few weeks back where he crossed that guy over at the blue line and like a point guard crossing a guy over.

13:25Justin: Right.

13:25Andrew: It's the same thing here. Like, he drove to the lane, circled back out to wait for that. That open pass, and then just sunk it.

13:33Justin: Oh, sorry. Humphreys got the Aud winner. That was the one he got.

13:36Andrew: He set up the.

13:37Justin: Aud the.

13:38Andrew: Aud was a Humphrey Swick Pridham goal.

13:40Justin: Yes.

13:40Andrew: That tied it up.

13:41Justin: Yeah. A great pass from Humphreys to Pridham for that. It was a chaotic sequence of events. When it's chaotic, that's when Pridham shines.

13:50Andrew: I could feel that one coming. I knew Pridham was going to pot one. It's like a weird. Like something shifts and he has. I'll just say he has shifts where you're like, jack's putting one in the net.

14:02Justin: Yeah.

14:02Andrew: You know, and. Or he'll get robbed on something or he'll hit the post. It's just like a little moment that happens where Pridham takes over.

14:08Justin: Yeah.

14:08Andrew: And it's that line to Humphrey Swick and Pridham. I'm glad that they're back together because there was a little moment there where they were. They're just all over the place. But they are just. It seems like that's going to be the line. That's going to be the line.

14:19Justin: Yeah. Bummer in this game. Three power plays, no power play goals.

14:24Andrew: It's true.

14:25Justin: This was a struggling power play weekend overall, but yeah, we like crazy outshot them 37 to 25. Not as crazy as we can outshoot a team. Yeah.

14:33Andrew: Which we saw in the immediate next game.

14:36Justin: So the very next day we were in Owen Sound for the glorious Bayshore

14:42Andrew: bounce and the extreme contrast issues on the Aud angle camera shot.

14:48Justin: Yeah, it's very. Why is it high? So close. But it's high contrast. I know. I'm like, why?

14:53Andrew: Because when they cut into the second angle, that's closer.

14:56Justin: It's beautiful. Yeah.

14:57Andrew: So I'm like, what's going on?

14:59Justin: Sorry, I know that's not exciting pod talk, but it is.

15:03Andrew: I'm like, what am I looking at here? Are they wearing black?

15:06Justin: Start a gofundme for a new camera for Owens.

15:08Andrew: I think it's just settings that they have to fool around with because it's like it's the other camera. That one looks great.

15:15Justin: The one that follows the players around. Yes, it's really good.

15:18Andrew: Exactly.

15:19Justin: Okay, so this was a 32 shootout loss, which not ideal, but that doesn't really explain this story because yes, we did get two goals, but what were the shots just yet? We scored two goals in our first 23 shots. And then how many shots did we get after that? We got 29 shots. 29 shots after that.

15:40Andrew: A total of 52.

15:41Justin: Yes. And we didn't get a single goal on those other 29 shots which were good shots. There were not all of them, but a lot of them were.

15:50Andrew: I'd say the vast majority, majority of them were scoring opportunities.

15:53Justin: Yes, I. We're way ahead here. But during our three stars of the week this week, I'm honorary mention to Carter George. Yeah, well, that's on the three star list.

16:02Andrew: He won the game.

16:03Justin: He won the game for Owens. He was unbelievable. Hats off to Carter George.

16:07Andrew: Anytime your goalie stops 50 of 52. Yeah, you better win.

16:13Justin: Yeah, you better win.

16:14Andrew: Although I did Andrew I did have a moment where I thought that the Rangers are going to pull it off in overtime. And then when it went to the shootout, listen, I'm very proud of 16 year old Jason Shovel, but I was like, no, this isn't going to go

16:28Justin: the Rangers way today. No, it was not a pretty shootout, but no. So in the game, some interesting things that I noted. We let a few breakaways, a few more breakaways than we Typically let go against.

16:39Andrew: But shorthanded goal, too.

16:41Justin: Yeah, there was a shorthanded goal there. But the breakaways, I. I thought our defensive core dealt with those very well. So there were three breakaways in the first period, two of them neutralized by the defensive core. No penalty, which is, like, hard to do.

16:57Andrew: Very hard to do.

16:57Justin: For sure. And then the third breakaway, Campbell did get a penalty on it.

17:01Andrew: Yeah.

17:02Justin: But I thought that it wasn't a. It wasn't a dirty play. He wasn't trying to do anything. No. Sometimes you gotta take a penalty. And I think he took the penalty because he knew he needed to because of the way that the play was progressing.

17:13Andrew: And they're a better team than Owen Sound despite the loss. So you want your penalty kill to be able to stop Owen Sounds Power play.

17:21Justin: Yeah, you'd think so. To me, there was some really good defensive work in this game against Owen Sound that I think needs to be highlighted. And not just from our defensemen. I mean, our defensemen were playing great, but our players in general were playing, like, exceptionally well defensively in this game. Yeah. The score does not reflect this game in any way, shape or form.

17:41Andrew: No, it was weird and it was. They got a. It wasn't late, but it was midway through the third. They got that tying goal.

17:48Justin: Yeah.

17:48Andrew: Owen Sound hung around enough to do that.

17:52Justin: Carter George hung around.

17:53Andrew: Yeah, exactly. And honestly, it was one of those where you just. You tip your cap because he stood on his head and. Yeah, and then he stood it on his head in the shootout.

18:04Justin: Yeah.

18:05Andrew: And it was a bit deflating when, I believe. Was it Missile Javic who shot first in the shootout, or was it Pridham

18:12Justin: Jevik did the second shot?

18:14Andrew: No, it wasn't. It was Trent Swick and Tanner Lam

18:17Justin: Oh, why didn't we put Misaljevic out? Oh, because Trenswick was five. Five out of six. Yes.

18:24Andrew: Yes.

18:25Justin: He hit the post and he hit the post.

18:26Andrew: That's what it was.

18:27Justin: Carter George.

18:28Andrew: It was Trenswick.

18:29Justin: Yeah.

18:29Andrew: He hit the post. That was the chance. So it would have. You would have tied the shootout.

18:33Justin: Yeah.

18:33Andrew: As soon as it was one nothing for Owen Sound in the shootout, I felt like Carter George isn't going to give up anymore.

18:39Justin: No, no. And he didn't. No, he did not. A couple forward plays of notes. Evan Headrick scored.

18:45Andrew: He did.

18:46Justin: But it looked unbelievable in this game. He was great. He had so much confidence.

18:51Andrew: Talk about these.

18:52Justin: He threw a reverse hit.

18:53Andrew: These 16 year olds.

18:54Justin: Yeah.

18:54Andrew: What's crazy about Evan Headrick is that he's A physical presence.

18:57Justin: Yes. And I think he's my size.

19:01Andrew: I think you've got a fair bit of size on Evan.

19:04Justin: Yeah, he's listed.

19:05Andrew: He's listed at 57150.

19:07Justin: Oh, okay. Yeah.

19:08Andrew: That is probably a little generous.

19:10Justin: Yeah. And he could take me down on skates for sure. In real life, we've seen you.

19:14Andrew: Yeah, I was going to say on skates. That's not much of a.

19:18Justin: Since I don't know how to skate. Yeah.

19:20Andrew: In real life, I'm taking Evan Headrick but yeah. Carson Campbell had a couple of assists, which was really nice to see. Ando had a great couple games.

19:28Justin: Yeah.

19:29Andrew: He set up the overtime winner in the last game. He. And he set up the second go. This one that Humphrey scored. Ando had a great couple games. Yeah, he really did. He set up the overtime winner in the last game that we talked about. Sarnia, and he set up the second goal in this one. He's just, he's. It just seems like he's jumping up into plays more. I never notice him getting caught. Like when he jumps up. He knows when to jump up.

19:52Justin: Yes.

19:53Andrew: Which I really appreciate.

19:54Justin: So he set up the Humphreys goal in against Owen Sound. And I thought, Humphreys, that was an unbelievable hand. Eye coordination. He was. He had his weight on the opposite foot. He wasn't falling, but he was definitely not fully centered and he still managed to get his stick on that puck. And that was the sort of chaos that was needed to beat Carter George. I don't even understand how he got that puck in the net. But Humphreys, man, he's a great player. The silent killer.

20:20Andrew: I can't believe that he is a seventh round draft pick. So he's obviously refined his game quite a bit.

20:26Justin: Yes.

20:26Andrew: And this one year since being drafted because he looks very capable.

20:32Justin: Very.

20:32Andrew: I think if this was his draft here, he'd go much higher.

20:35Justin: I think so, too. Yep. And Shovel looked great in this game. Like, he was very sturdy all the way through. He didn't get scored on until, like late second.

20:42Andrew: And arguably he looked a little better in this game.

20:45Justin: Yeah, I think so.

20:46Andrew: Than in the other game.

20:47Justin: Yeah.

20:47Andrew: Not that he didn't look good. And it's just that there was really only one bad goal he gave up all weekend.

20:52Justin: Yeah.

20:52Andrew: And it was in the other game.

20:53Justin: Yeah. Yeah. There was an incredible Landon hooky chance in overtime that he's just shut down that I was like, yes. Yeah, man. This guy's. We're good. Yep. We're good.

21:02Andrew: Yeah. I'm really. I Can't imagine how.

21:05Justin: Yeah.

21:06Andrew: Jason Schaubel in two years.

21:07Justin: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Please be on our team.

21:10Andrew: Gonna be a good time.

21:11Justin: Yeah. Yeah.

21:11Andrew: 2027, Shabble.

21:14Justin: 2027. Yep.

21:15Andrew: Yep.

21:16Justin: All right. So what are your. What's your first star of the week, Andrew?

21:19Andrew: My first star of the week is once again a couple Camerons because this is now my. This is my shtick now. We just have so many Camerons. It's different Camerons this time.

21:32Justin: Okay.

21:32Andrew: Cameron Mercer was a legit face off king in the Sarnia Sting game. Cameron Mercer was 10 for 14 in the dot.

21:45Justin: Yeah.

21:46Andrew: And he also set up the Cameron Reid goal.

21:51Justin: Yes.

21:51Andrew: So I had that little duo because that happened. And just that Cameron Reid in general is having a crazy season.

21:58Justin: Yes.

21:59Andrew: And he keeps getting better.

22:00Justin: Yeah.

22:00Andrew: Every month of the season, Cameron Reid is getting better. I don't know if he took it upon himself like he took it personally that at the beginning of the season they were. He was not really on anybody's radar, but he should be now. And it's still starting to feel like. I know, like we're biased because we watch every one of his games. I don't know, man. Like, this looks like a top 10 guy to me.

22:26Justin: I don't know what is more of a top 10 guy.

22:29Andrew: He's 17. You know what I mean? We're not looking at a guy. He's only had a couple years.

22:34Justin: This is a guy when he's in the NHL that you want to grab in his contract years for fantasy. He bets on himself. Yes.

22:41Andrew: Yeah.

22:42Justin: So I have. I had to.

22:43Andrew: I just had to package those guys.

22:45Justin: Yeah. Good. Your can't. Your cams.

22:47Andrew: Yeah, my cams.

22:48Justin: My first star is Humphries. Two goals and an assist. Like, I just was talking about a hand. Eye coordination on that Ando tip was just insane. He was like, very quietly one of the best players on the team this weekend. He always seems like a very understated guy. Like he's on this team with two monster dudes who like are. We're always talking about, but he is driving that ship. Like, he is always making those plays. He's great.

23:11Andrew: He is. And that feeds into my second star. He falls under that umbrella. Is that lots of moving parts, Same results. So I credit the coaching staff, but I also credit guys who came in later in the season. Christian Humphreys is a. Is probably the biggest one because he came in the latest, but lots of moving parts. Like we saw Haeden Ellis get a couple goals last week. We Sam O'Reilly see Jack Pridham Is just like the offensive powerhouse that he is. But we are seeing Ellen. This came back from injury and slotted in and did something different. Was playing center then. Now he's on the wing. Like, it's just my thing is. Yeah. So the second star for me is no matter where you put the puzzle pieces, you get the puzzle, it works out.

23:58Justin: Yeah. Just works.

23:59Andrew: So what's your second star?

24:00Justin: My second star is Shabble because he played. This is his first time playing a back to back in the OHL. Yeah. Five goals against on 53 shots. Like very solid. Like I said, he looked good. Third period of the first game and he started super strong and didn't really have a weak moment against Owen. Sound.

24:17Andrew: It's true.

24:17Justin: He just.

24:18Andrew: Yeah, he's playing against a first round pack.

24:20Justin: Yeah. So I'm not. I'm not discrediting.

24:22Andrew: That's what it is. Right. That's a Canadian national junior team goalie.

24:26Justin: Yeah.

24:26Andrew: So it is just is what it is.

24:28Justin: No, I very happy with Shabble's play. Who's your third star or what is your third star?

24:32Andrew: My third star is. Is. It's the two defensive leaders and I think that's Chromiak and Anonofsky. Yeah. I think those two guys have set the tone. They play the big minutes. They are both very responsible. They both dabble in playing some offense as well when that's not really what they're known for. But they're both very capable and that has set a precedent where you see Carson Campbell playing really well. Max, you see him playing really well. You see some of these younger guys. McNeil like, you see these guys who slot in maybe don' Play all the time. Everyone follows the lead of what I think is Chromiak and Andonovsky.

25:12Justin: I agree. Yep. So that's a great.

25:14Andrew: And Cameron Reid obviously is a defensive leader as well, but he's a first star. He's in a class of his own

25:21Justin: and he's an offensive defenseman and he's got to do it all. He's got other things going on.

25:24Andrew: And he'll fight.

25:25Justin: Yeah. And he'll fight. Don't fight. Speaking of guys who will fight that I don't want to fight. My third star is Elenas.

25:32Andrew: Yes.

25:32Justin: Not crazy on the stat sheet this weekend. Very defensively sound. He shut down a few plays in both games. He was throwing some hits. I was like, what is Elena's like, he literally does everything on the ice.

25:46Andrew: Anything that he's asked to do, he does it. He'll fight. He'll take face offs. He'll play wing. He'll back check. He'll be that bumper on the power play. He'll be a puck carrier on a rush. He'll. Or he'll be a guy who will be waiting for an outlet pass. That's the dude does it all. He's.

26:02Justin: His. His hockey IQ is off the charts. I'm really not surprised that he was

26:07Andrew: drafted where he was. And I'm very excited to watch him because he seems like a very malleable player.

26:12Justin: Yes.

26:13Andrew: Which is what I think scouts are looking for.

26:15Justin: And if he can make any coach happy, you're way more likely to play.

26:19Andrew: Yeah, exactly. That's the thing is we were talking about this a little bit before the mics go on. Sometimes I'll look back through OHL stats and I'll say, how did this guy not get drafted? How did this guy only get drafted in the sixth round? Or whatever. And they had monster offensive AudPod because flaws in their game took away from 127 points in their 19 year old season. Because he can't be coached.

26:44Justin: Yes.

26:44Andrew: You know what I mean? Or he doesn't back check. He doesn't care. Yeah. The numbers are very rudimentary, I think at the OHL level because scouts are looking for something and I think they're looking more for an Eleanor's type player. Look at the Rangers. They're winners. And Misojivik leads the team with like less than 60 points.

27:00Justin: Yeah.

27:00Andrew: On the year.

27:01Justin: 100%. Yeah. They just have guys that do it all over the place.

27:03Andrew: They just have everybody doing everything all the time. Yep.

27:06Justin: Man. Great week. Great week. Hockey. And coming up, only two games this week. Coming up. So we play Windsor at home. We play both games at home. Windsor at home on Friday and then Guelph at home on Sunday in an afternooner. This Windsor game, this is when we just have to Sam O'Reilly are the second team in the west despite what the standings say. And you guys can suck it.

27:32Andrew: This is the opportunity to. Yeah. Squish them like a bug.

27:35Justin: Yes.

27:36Andrew: Yeah, exactly.

27:36Justin: Yeah. Because they get that perk of just being in a weaker division. Yeah. And we just got to remind them.

27:41Andrew: Yeah. We got to remind them that if second round is Windsor, Kitchener, we'll just beat you once on the road. And then we have home rink advantage.

27:52Justin: This is how we remind of what we really.

28:00Andrew: Okay, okay.

28:01Justin: And then we play Guelph and like we see Guelph so much, so here we are again.

28:08Andrew: Yeah, we do. And you know what I like Seeing

28:11Justin: nothing makes your stat lines feel better than having eight games against Guelph.

28:15Andrew: Guess who we end the season against.

28:17Justin: I know. Yeah. It's like this is our seventh game against Guelph and we still have another one and we only have seven games left.

28:25Andrew: He's already dead. No, they are actually. We. Like we talked last week, they are in the contention for the last playoff spot.

28:34Justin: Insane to me. Because they were also in contention to be the worst team in the league.

28:39Andrew: You know what, though, is I think we've followed an especially weird year where the top teams are so. It's so top heavy.

28:47Justin: Yeah.

28:47Andrew: That the bottom teams are just gonna be bad.

28:50Justin: Yeah.

28:51Andrew: And eight out of ten make the playoffs.

28:53Justin: Yeah. It's insane.

28:54Andrew: That's the one thing I think positive about maybe a small expansion. I'm not really advocating. As I started to think about the Aud of advocating for, like, lots of American teams to come into the league and you're actually starting to maybe affect. Negatively affect the opportunities.

29:15Justin: Yeah.

29:16Andrew: For Canadian players and playing into the playoffs and doing magical things as Cinderella teams and stuff. But maybe two more teams.

29:24Justin: Yeah.

29:25Andrew: And eight out of 12 would be better than eight out of 10, I think, for competition sake.

29:30Justin: Yeah, I agree. I think. I think that just looks better on the sheet too.

29:34Andrew: Yeah. It's like the going back to the Canadian Football League. There's only nine teams and how many

29:40Justin: teams make the playoffs? Six. Oh, man. It's so embarrassing. If you don't make it, you're last in the division. Ye.

29:46Andrew: Exactly. Oh, man.

29:48Justin: Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to this weekend with Guelph fighting for that spot. They're all these teams who are desperately trying to get into the playoffs. Yeah. There's always a level of danger that you just have to be aware of.

29:59Andrew: You just saw what Owen sounds. Realistically if they weren't a bubble team and.

30:04Justin: Yeah.

30:04Andrew: I'm not saying Carter George wouldn't be trying. I'm just saying that Carter George is playing to be in the playoffs.

30:11Justin: Yeah.

30:11Andrew: Yeah. To play more hockey.

30:13Justin: Yep. For sure. And then we get to the news around the ohl.

30:18Andrew: The news around the ohl, which was that the hapless Niagara Ice Dogs, who all but gave up on their season.

30:28Justin: We talked about it last week.

30:29Andrew: Now, to give them a little bit of credit, they Both of their starting goaltenders are injured. Okay. So they are scraping quite literally into their farm system to try and find goalies who can go. And they found Hayden overager. B, this is his first ever game, and they threw him to the Wolves. Not the Sudbury Wolves, but the London Knights, the figurative Wolves. And he came up huge. They won six to four. So they got the offensive AudPod that they needed. But he legitimately put the team on his back. And it was a wonderful moment because his. It was. It came at home in Niagara and his family, they all stuck around. I was reading an article, shout out again to the Waterloo Record.

31:18Justin: Thank God for the Waterloo Record.

31:20Andrew: I was reading an article saying that they stayed in the stadium until they were kicked out. They were just all taking it in and it was just really nice because he was coming up from the Gojhl and. Or the Go jhl. And it was. It seemed almost like a last minute kind of call up. And here you are. You're going to play the team that has eight regulation losses in the country. Literally the best record in all of the CHL right now as far as winning percentage. You're going to play the Aud you're going to win because you don't know any better. And he was playing against Medvedev. It was. He just out dueled him.

32:01Justin: Amazing. It was awesome.

32:02Andrew: It was a real. You know what, that's the cool thing is maybe he goes on and it's a Binnington situation where you're a journeyman and then all of a sudden you're a superstar. But maybe you don't and this is your moment. That's what it's all about, man. That's what it's all about.

32:15Justin: That's awesome, man. Good for him. That's so awesome. So great for his family. And a little bit of a David and Goliath story. Totally. Yes.

32:23Andrew: And of course it was. It was London Knights favorite trade partner too. If he is a superstar, he'll be wearing. He'll be wearing Subway. Eat Fresh green and yellow next year, next season.

32:34Justin: Yeah, he'll be.

32:35Andrew: They'll trade for a bag of pucks.

32:37Justin: And then our NHL moment of the week, I feel is maybe not the quite the right term, but it's. There was a slew of OHL signings this week.

32:46Andrew: There were.

32:47Justin: So. Of course Rangers forward Trent Swick signed his ELC with the Vegas Golden Knights.

32:54Andrew: Let's give it up for Swick, though. Yes, man. That's so cool.

32:57Justin: So happy for you.

32:59Andrew: Get that money. Get that money.

33:02Justin: So awesome. Yeah, so, yeah, super happy for him.

33:05Andrew: And then take it easy on Edmonton and Calgary.

33:07Justin: Yeah, okay. Just take it easy. I know it's gonna be really hard to cheer against Trent. Like, I'm not gonna cheer against him as the person no, but it will feel weird.

33:17Andrew: I hope he lights us up and they lose.

33:20Justin: Hat trick. And the Aud a 76 game. Exactly. Yeah.

33:24Andrew: And then.

33:25Justin: Yeah. And then Joey Willis and Finn Harding also signed ELCs this week. So just congratulations to all the guys. Like, I'm just happy that I'm always happy when I see these kids. Like this is the next level to get succeed and all that sort of

33:36Andrew: business get paid and it's. There's. There's no guarantees in life. So if you can take it when you sign that contract and I mean it just needs you watch this all happen from this level and you realize how few people achieve superstar status in the NHL and how many people achieve long careers in the NHL. And you have to celebrate all of the wins, no matter how small or big they are as they come. And so Trent Swick, man.

34:03Justin: Yeah. These are huge.

34:04Andrew: Unreal.

34:05Justin: So happy for you. And it was so nice again on Instagram, like every single teammate posted the picture. The coaching staff, they were all posting it like the team posted it.

34:14Andrew: It's a very positive atmosphere.

34:16Justin: It's so good. I'm just so happy for. So happy for.

34:18Andrew: They're good. They're good teammates. They seem like they're a good group of guys.

34:21Justin: Ye. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I think they all click. I. I remember that in one of Sean Pafaro's intermission, I can't remember who he's interviewed. It might have been Cameron Reid And he was just like, what has been leading to your success this year? I think we just all like each other. That's huge. I love that. That's huge.

34:38Andrew: Any team that likes each other. You ever been a part of something and you all gel.

34:42Justin: Yeah.

34:43Andrew: Just works.

34:44Justin: Like Andy said on the last episode of the Office, I wish someone would tell you when you're in the good times so you remember them. Was it the quote? What is it?

34:52Andrew: It was.

34:53Justin: Yeah.

34:54Andrew: It was like. It was. When you're in the good old days.

34:56Justin: Yeah. Someone would tell you when you're in the good old days.

34:59Andrew: Yeah.

34:59Justin: Yeah. It feels like what this team is right now. It's like we're in the good old days.

35:03Andrew: Yes, it feels like that. Absolutely.

35:04Justin: Yeah.

35:05Andrew: I hope they all know that because when you're young and you're having a blast with your buddies, that's that soon one day you'll. You'll probably be changing diapers.

35:15Justin: You'll still be having a blast, but

35:17Andrew: in a very different way.

35:18Justin: That's coming at you. Yeah. Just listen.

35:23Andrew: Put a Wipe down.

35:24Justin: Yeah.

35:24Andrew: Okay. Always cover it with a wipe. Yeah, I had the fire hose issue.

35:28Justin: Yeah.

35:28Andrew: But that's. Now it's.

35:29Justin: We're okay with that.

35:30Andrew: Yeah, the bladder control is there now.

35:32Justin: Yeah. Yeah. We've spoken about Instagram a lot this episode. Andrew, how do you get to us

35:37Andrew: at the AudPodcast, on Twitter, on instagram and on TikTok.

35:43Justin: Great.

35:43Andrew: Come at us, whoever you are.

35:45Justin: Yeah. And we're also on YouTube.

35:47Andrew: We are on YouTube.

35:48Justin: So, yeah, if you want to watch the uncut episode of this live in 4k. Not. It's not live.

35:57Andrew: It's not live.

35:57Justin: But if you want to watch it

35:58Andrew: at 4k, it was live when it was recorded.

36:00Justin: It was live. Recorded in 4K. But yeah, you can find us on YouTube. Join us there. If you want to watch the videos, also go up on Spotify. Those are the cut videos.

36:09Andrew: Yes. The edited.

36:10Justin: I don't know why we do separate, but we do.

36:12Andrew: You can email us, you can reach out to us@theaudpodcastmail.com send us an email. You can tell us about groats, you can tell us about the Aud which I dug up old photos of. It was really cool. Pre renos and yeah, we'd love to hear from you.

36:28Justin: And a few thank yous to throw it. Of course, we got Ken Born director of marketing and branding. And then of course, we got a shout out to Liam the phenom, the prodigal producer.

36:37Andrew: Phenom.

36:38Justin: Phenom. I had brunch with him this week. Producer.

36:40Andrew: I didn't get invited to that.

36:41Justin: No, you didn't. Very exclusive brunch. Yeah. And of course, we got to thank the Kitchener Public Library for hosting us. Yes.

36:48Andrew: In our favorite space.

36:49Justin: In our favorite space.

36:50Andrew: Not to take away from the other

36:52Justin: ones, but this is a good one.

36:53Andrew: Yep.

36:53Justin: And yeah. Where can you find us, Andrew?

36:56Andrew: At the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.