30: Luke Ellinas - The Biggest Boy

0:00Justin: Rap you suck ref you suck.

0:02Andrew: Rap you suck rap.

0:04Justin: New suck rap.

0:06Andrew: New suck rap.

0:07Justin: You suck rep. You suck rep you suck. the Aud On Monday night, game three, it was.

0:16Andrew: We were there live to experience the

0:18Justin: atrocities only be described as atrocities. The worst part about trying to be an educated hockey fan is you don't want to blame the referees and the officiating for everything. And as when we get into the game recaps, I'm going to say that I'm not going to blame them, but I try not to even join into the refuse suck chant. And as you can hear, I was screaming. You were screaming. 6,800 people were screaming.

0:48Andrew: Yeah. And it was. It was warranted. The reffing on Monday night was abysmal.

0:55Justin: One of the worst games I've ever seen across any sport.

0:59Andrew: Yeah. If you didn't see it or weren't or were watching but didn't know why the Aud was calling refuse suck repeatedly. Many, many times throughout the game it happened. It was because there were eight penalties for Windsor and there was one. Sorry. There were eight power plays for Windsor and there was one 13 second power play for the Rangers. And now the issue was not that the Rangers were taking these penalties. Most of them, some of them were a little soft, but most of them were warranted penalty calls. The issue came down to the fact that Windsor was getting away with some truly egregious stuff that they were not getting called at all, including a slash to the back of the head, some pretty brutal cross checking, blatant interference holding. Like there was just. There were as many penalties that Windsor should have received throughout this game that didn't receive any. Yeah.

2:06Justin: And it was a situation where I didn't really have too much to say about any of the calls that went against Kitchener.

2:13Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.

2:14Justin: They've been undisciplined the whole series and Windsor just wasn't being called for anything. And they were very blatant.

2:22Andrew: Also undisciplined. But I guess the refs are on their side, so I don't know how

2:27Justin: else to describe it.

2:28Andrew: Yeah, I. I agree. Kitchener has been undisciplined in the series. Like we're down, we're down zero and three in the series. Windsor has more power play goals than the Rangers have goals in the series. But Also they've had 10 more power plays than the Rangers have had in the series.

2:45Justin: Yeah, it hasn't been close as far as like game management or anything. I guess we can just dive right into the recaps, I suppose.

2:53Andrew: Yeah. I mean, this is. This is where we're at. Tonight is Wednesday. Game four is happening tonight. We're going to do the first three game recaps. Then we're going to take a break and go watch game four. Then we're going to come back and you're going to get like our live, unchecked, unfiltered. Unfiltered response to this.

3:11Justin: Haven't slept on it.

3:13Andrew: Yeah, hopefully. Haven't we a highlight package?

3:17Justin: You know, hopefully it's the beginning of the reverse Soupy but it also might be the end of the season and the AudPods that have games attached to them.

3:27Andrew: Yeah, correct.

3:28Justin: So the stakes are high. If you're listening right now. We don't know it, but you know it and the stakes are so high for us right now.

3:36Andrew: Yes, correct. Correct. It is very stressful. Yeah. We. Tonight is do or die. We are in elimination games until we are eliminated or we move on from the series. Yeah.

3:48Justin: Welcome to the AudPod where we're talking Kitchener Rangers hockey with the AudBalls themselves, Andrew and Justin.

3:59Andrew: Take it away. Fell. Here we are. So, yeah, we played two games. We played on Thursday night, which might be just the problem to begin with because the Rangers. This is the first Thursday night game the Rangers have played, I think.

4:15Justin: Yeah. Felt like that anyway. That's how it felt. It all felt uncomfortable playing on a Thursday for sure and playing on a Saturday. It was all wrong.

4:25Andrew: It was all weird. The first two games they were in Windsor because of the. Windsor won their division, so they got home a disadvantage. And we went into Windsor.

4:34Justin: I will mention they also got to pick lower sooner in the OHL Priority Selection, which happened. And we'll talk about that briefly, but that happened. And Windsor gets to double dip, so they had less points. So they get to pick sooner in the draft. But they won their division, so they get home ice in the playoffs. Y make it make sense. Ohl make it make sense.

5:02Andrew: I don't get it one little bit. Very confusing. Then we played on a Thursday night and I don't know this game. Like, I felt like the Rangers had pep for like two minutes and then Swick ran into Humphreys center ice.

5:19Justin: Like pretty much chicken winged him in the face. I think he broke his nose, knocked him out.

5:24Andrew: He. He kind of tried to get fixed up on the bench, then left the game and like sucked all the energy out of the Rangers. Yeah, they came out with some energy, but that happened like two minutes into the game and the Aud was. There was no more energy. That was it. No.

5:39Justin: And it Was pretty much flat for about seven periods after that.

5:43Andrew: Yeah.

5:45Justin: So that's how this series is going. It's the first time we've ever lost three games in regulation all year.

5:51Andrew: Yeah.

5:52Justin: So that's a fun stat for us.

5:54Andrew: Yeah. Yeah. Some great stats on this one. There really are game three, green. I mean, Green tree's been unbelievable in

6:02Justin: this series, but, like, I can't take away from Windsor. And it really put in perspective just how filthy Flint was in the first series. I thought that was more along the lines of, oh, maybe this is just junior hockey in the playoffs. No, they're just dirty.

6:16Andrew: Yeah.

6:17Justin: Just a dirty franchise. Yep. They're losers. They're sitting at home. But they hurt the Rangers in that series, and I think we're seeing that. That's my theory anyway. It's not sour grapes. I think it's just that the Rangers are all banged up. We know that, like, there were significant injuries. There was mist time down the stretch. And then I think that guys got hurt in the Flint series.

6:39Andrew: Get it?

6:40Justin: Everybody's hurt. I tell you, though, the big three in Windsor, Green, Tree, Morneau and Protests are not hurt.

6:48Andrew: They're not healthy. We know for sure they are not

6:51Justin: hurt, and they are very good. And I haven't had really any problems on a, like a personal level of. Of dirty, like, play with the Spitfires. They've just been playing well and it's not even like they've been dominating because they look incredible. It kind of, sadly, from my perspectives, it looks more like the Rangers are really flat and there might be nurse in some injuries. And it's like we said, they were really flat after the Humphreys situation. Elenis was out for two games with a suspension. So you don't have Humphreys, you don't have Elenis, you don't have Mislegevic because he's injured. So that's three of your top six just gone.

7:30Andrew: Yes. And that's two games that they're. They were all. All three of those guys were basically gone for because Humphries didn't play in game two. Again, not to take away from Windsor. Costanzo's been phenomenal. Like, the Rangers have gotten some great opportunities on him, especially early in games and just cannot figure him out until, like, later in games.

7:52Justin: Realistically, you got to give the guy his flowers. He's outplaying Jackson Parsons in this series. Jackson Parsons, the original AudPod guy. Ride or die. We love the kid. Oh, yeah. Not his best hockey in this series.

8:03Andrew: Yeah.

8:04Justin: And I think he would Say that. So that's not a knock. I'm not criticizing him. I'm just saying. I'm just calling it as I see it. Not his best hockey. It's frustrating because this is a situation where I think he needs a little help. He need. And he deserves to be bailed out. He's carried this team at times. He's carried this team to wins at times. He needs to be bailed out. And sadly, I just don't think the horses got the juice. I don't think they've got the gas to do it right now. And that's what it looks like. It looks like. It looks like maybe. I'm not going to speculate that Parsons a little banged up, but it's been a lot of hockey for Jackson Parsons, he. He has a couple off games and you need the offense to score because you play better too. When you see a guy, maybe you give up one you'd like to have back, but then your team gets it back right away. Maybe it's water off a Duck's back, but then when it just. The ice tilts and you start to feel like it's going downhill, I think it's easier getting your heads. It feels like the Rangers are bitten their heads.

9:03Andrew: Yeah.

9:03Justin: But at the same time, I don't know how banged up they are because you see sometimes, like them bobble a puck or make a bad pass or a weak pass or fan on a pass for absolutely no reason.

9:13Andrew: Hasn't been their identity at all.

9:16Justin: It hasn't been the Aud all. It's been like totally. This is not the team that we've watched all season. And it's unfortunate that it's happening in the playoffs, but that's sports.

9:25Andrew: That's it.

9:26Justin: Sometimes it just happens, right? I don't want to speculate that guys are banged up any more than we have. However, it's like it's either nerves or it's like you're really trying to make that pass. But if you had something like a core injury or an. Or like a leg injury or anything where you could be affected with your range of motion, then yeah, you might fan on a pass. You might not be able to have as accurate of a shot realistically. And they've missed the net a ton.

9:53Andrew: They've missed series. They've missed the net a ton. Yeah, a lot. A lot of shot attempts that just don't even hit the target. And also lots of posts. Posts and crossbars. Every game has had. I think Pridham's hit probably six posts or crossbars himself, like, feels like it, right? Like, yeah, the dude gets some amazing opportunities and just like, it's just not quite right. And it goes back to I. We don't know if they're hurt. We don't know if they got some nerves now that it hasn't gone well, especially in the first game or something. And then all of a sudden it's just like you grip from the stick

10:23Justin: too tight and, And I mean that, that can take us right into the second game. The first game they lost five to one, and the Aud was a carbon copy. The second game they lost five to one. However, I felt like there was an opportunity for this to game this game to go a different way. And it was, as you mentioned, Jack Crudham had a chance, a shorthanded breakaway, when it was two to nothing for Windsor. It wasn't out of reach. The Rangers, again, they're a lot more flat than we've noticed. They came out. It was. It looks sluggish. Like I said, they're puck watching. They're not moving their feet as much. But shorthanded breakaway. Jack Pridham hits the post. If he scores there, that is one of those moments that turns the series right around, is like, oh, okay, we're back in it. Maybe we win game two, maybe we lose game two, but not five to one. It's one of those moments where you're like, aw. Pivotal moment, you know that you're like. And because real naturally, seconds later, Windsor scores the third goal. It's three nothing, game over. Yeah.

11:23Andrew: Yeah. You can't, you can't come back from only having one goal and being down multiple goals. It just becomes too much of an uphill battle, especially against Windsor, who's playing well. Like, they're play. Not only are they scoring lots of goals, they're. They're playing well defensively. I think we saw in Game 2, the Rangers tried to be a little too fancy. They were, you know, some of the things that have worked for them in the, in the regular season with getting the puck movement going really fast, like, it just doesn't seem to work against Windsor. Windsor's able to defend against it, block, get sticks and lanes and block things and break up good rush chances. And if you pass the puck too many times on a rush chance, it gives that defender a moment to get back and help out. And that's what we see too. Yeah.

12:06Justin: And we've seen the Rangers shy away from shooting opportunities not to jump ahead. But the one that sticks out in my mind was a Two on one in game three. And it was pretty obvious that the defender on Windsor was caught flat footed, wasn't going to be able to catch him to stop him from taking a shot, but was in the passing lane.

12:31Andrew: Yep.

12:32Justin: And the pass attempt. And the pass attempt was made and like it was. You're down by two goals in the third period and you're passing the puck on a two on one when you just gotta take a shot. And it's just, I think, like I said, I just think it's just been unfortunately a. A snowball effect. It's been just rolling downhill. I think that things started in the last game versus Flint where we lost Missile Jevic to a unfortunate injury. Ellenus retaliated. I'm calling it a retaliation because Flint was so dirty throughout that series and they were headhunting and he got suspended. And it just feels like Jackson Parsons maybe needed to have a game where the boys came out and scored three or four and he never got that there. Now they scored three in the third game, but they lost six to three. And realistically the game really wasn't close because of the officiating. Basically making it impossible to dig out of the hole is what I'll Sam O'Reilly won't say that they lost the game because of the officiating. I'll say that they got in a hole once again and it became literally impossible to dig out of it because the officials were literally pouring dirt on them.

13:51Andrew: Yes. Yeah. The game three actually felt like the Rangers came out the best of all three games. Like they came out, they came out really fast. At the beginning of the first period, they got what like it was like 6, 61 or something shots where like they, they dominated probably the first six minutes of the game. And then they got, and then they got a penalty and then they got the, the five on three against. And yeah, that's when it, that's when it started to go downhill and they just couldn't, they couldn't get one on the board in that four first chunk of time before, before things started to go sour.

14:25Justin: No, and basically what ends up happening is Windsor gets a power play halfway through the first and Liam Green Tree gets his first of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 goals, which is absolutely unbelievable. I didn't even, I didn't even clock it because I was as at the game until the fifth goal. I turned and I looked at you and I was like, that's his fifth of the night. His fifth of the night.

14:52Andrew: Yeah.

14:52Justin: I'm like, no, that's not his Fifth of the postseason.

14:56Andrew: No, his fifth of the night.

14:58Justin: Yeah. No, it was actually one of those moments where you're like, I guess at some point I'm going to look back and go, I was at that Liam Green tree five goal, six point night. Because that's the only thing that you can take away from a game like this. Yeah, positively. And it'll be down the road.

15:14Andrew: Yeah. When the sting is gone.

15:16Justin: Yeah, when the sting is gone. And realistically, when you're talking about. Oh, great. Oh, you got to watch play.

15:22Andrew: I mean that.

15:23Justin: It's just undeniably. That Green tree and Protas are unbelievable. I'll throw Moreno in there. Although I don't think he drives play as much as those two guys, but he's been a great finisher for the

15:35Andrew: third guy to finish. He's.

15:38Justin: Yeah, he's been a great finisher for them as well. Liam green tree has 14 playoff goals. It's round two. Yeah, it's. Honestly, it almost feels like maybe in this case, we. When we previewed the Rangers, we talked about the. The depth versus the top end, and unfortunately, the depth hasn't been there because the depth got sliced in half for sure.

15:59Andrew: Early. Early. Yeah. You lose a. You lose a whole line going into the series. It's a challenge to come back. All your systems are going to be slightly off. But to speak of a couple positives of this.

16:11Justin: Yes.

16:11Andrew: This third game, I don't. I don't have much positive to say about the first two games. Romano got a really beautiful shorthanded goal in game two. Yeah. Like, even the goal we got in game one, like, Reed got it, which is awesome. But it was like a real softy goal. But game three, Tanner Lam was.

16:29Justin: That was actually Tanner Lam in game. In game one, Reed had the assist, but.

16:34Andrew: Oh, re. Oh, okay. Yeah, Yeah.

16:36Justin: I just wanted to make note of that because Tanner Lam actually now has four goals.

16:39Andrew: Oh, yeah.

16:40Justin: Good for him in this. Yeah, he's doing great.

16:42Andrew: Tanner Lam had an Amazing Game 3. Like, that was. That was the most noticeable. The whole line. But Tanner Lam, he got a goal. I believe he got two points, a goal and an assist. The goal that Mercer got in the second period was all created by Lamb getting it into the zone, giving himself space, getting the defenders away from Mercer, giving Mercer time. Like that was all Lamb. And in the third period, Lamb got his own goal, and it was again, just like. He very much looks like a dominant player out there. And for a.

17:15Justin: For a young player in this league, I'm really excited for next Year with Tanner Lam Yeah. Not to write them off. I'm still. I'll be rooting for the boys tonight, of course. However, like I said, regardless of what happens, Tanner Lam is going to be a dominant top six player for the Rangers this coming season. You mentioned Cameron Mercer. I want to point out that at one point you. Cameron Mercer had a shift where he was doing dirty work along the boards and he was fighting off like two, three guys on Windsor. And you and I turned and looked at each other and you're like, who was that? I was like, I don't know. Who was that? And you were like, it was 14 because we were sitting up way high. And I was like, oh, it's our. It's Arette. Or. And I was, it's Mercer. Because it was the Smurf line, as they call them. Mercer, Arette and Lamb. And it was Cameron Mercer. Just absolutely. He looked like a young Sid the kid. Just like, just pushing guys off with. While controlling the puck and keeping the puck in the zone and just to get it.

18:13Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

18:15Justin: That line was just like unbelievable in this game. They were the. Not so much the lone bright spot, but they were the brightest of.

18:22Andrew: Definitely the MVP of the. The MVP line. Of the game.

18:26Justin: Of the game.

18:27Andrew: Yeah.

18:27Justin: Cameron Reid you mentioned him as well. Going to another Cameron. Cameron Reid he had his. Probably his best game. But we have to remember Cameron Reid is probably playing hurt.

18:39Andrew: Yeah.

18:39Justin: He missed two games in. In. Was it two or three in Flint?

18:44Andrew: It was the two last games in Flint. The last game five. Yeah.

18:48Justin: And yeah, there's no way that if you're unable to play and you come back within a week that you're 100%. There's just no way. It's not how the human body works.

18:58Andrew: Not my human body.

19:00Justin: No. Exactly.

19:01Andrew: The spread. Yeah.

19:02Justin: These boys just fleet, what, 15 years to 17 years. And yeah, the human body, it just honestly just never heals.

19:11Andrew: I mean, it might be. It might be different if you're a professional athlete versus two guys who do a podcast on Wednesday nights.

19:19Justin: That's true. That's true. Although I'm going to take my chances with my knees and my legs compared to some of these NHL or so.

19:26Andrew: Yeah, that's true. That's it. The comparison might be good at one point or another, but right now, even when they get to our age, they might still be.

19:36Justin: Two episodes ago, I had a cramp sitting doing a podcast.

19:40Andrew: Yeah.

19:40Justin: The worst Ham street cramp of my life. I don't know how much of that made it into the uncut episode on YouTube. But that's a plug to go watch that two episodes ago.

19:50Andrew: Yeah. Andrew eating a banana.

19:53Justin: Yeah, it happened.

19:55Andrew: Do you, do you want to talk about OHL draft at all now? Well, we got a few minutes before the game.

20:00Justin: The OHL Priority Selection happened where we draft 15 year olds and 16 year olds which is just so funny to me that I'm like these are just like literal babies. 20 years older, these people.

20:14Andrew: Yes.

20:14Justin: Yep, we're old. The first pick the Rangers made was Kane Bar, the player out of Humber Perth. U16 Humber Perth. He's a 5 11, 174 pound left winger, son of long time NHL grinder Chris Bar. He's out of Grand Bend, Andrew Now the news has broken he will not be playing with the Rangers next year. He is going to go and play the U17 National US National Development Team program next year. So they haven't made up a mind beyond that. But he will not be playing with the Rangers next year. Mike McKenzie made that gamble on purpose. It was a strategic move because he doesn't have a place on the team next year. Doesn't matter how good he is. I don't think he's getting into the lineup as much as you'd want. So realistically it could be really great that he could go and season and come back as an 18 year old and just like slot in and just own face. So that's exciting. I think that's great. I think that was a great pick personally.

21:23Andrew: Nice. That sounds good. I'm pro. All these development programs like, I mean obviously the OHL is a development program but we've seen NHLers go away and do college hockey or other sorts of development and come in and they seem to be more well rounded for sure. There's all these things that are working in your advantage in these moments and that just means that the more experience you have, the better you are when you move up a level or you move into a system with more players and more responsibility and whatever. And whatever.

21:54Justin: Yeah. And he's American born. Right. He was born in Plano, Texas. So it, it makes sense he can do that. It's not like he's choosing to go to the U.S. yeah, yeah, no, he can do that because he's American born. So it makes a lot of sense for him. Then moving on to the second round, we got a right shot defenseman. The coveted right shot defenseman.

22:16Andrew: Yeah.

22:17Justin: Alexander Forest, he's 5 foot 11. He's from Grimsby, Andrew He came out of The Oakville Rangers U16 program, which I believe had quite a few. And I think the Rangers actually picked up another one of them. I just want to. I want to talk about these first three and then I'll get faster through the next. I'll just give you a little bit of a breakdown. I heard that from it from one of our insiders and he just said he was ranting and raving about Alexander Forest and he said that this was a unbelievable pick at the end of the second round. So I'm really excited about this guy. And then lastly, in the in depth kind of preview, but not least the Friday night draft. The Friday night draft, we drafted Tommy Kut a left shot defenseman who has some size. He's 63194. Came out of the Don Mills Flyers U16 in Toronto. Apparently that is like a factory for making. Oh, okay. Because we got another one of those. Those guys. Actually the next pick was another Don Mills Flyers kid.

23:22Andrew: Nice.

23:23Justin: And the amount of Don Mills Flyers kids that went in this draft was very impressive. So the interesting thing about this big left shot defenseman Tommy Kut is he's the first ever Hong Kong born player drafted to the ohl. So really excited about watching his development. Just, he's already 6:3, basically £200. If he doesn't grow, it doesn't matter.

23:50Andrew: Like, are you describing Jew now?

23:53Justin: Yeah, that another. I was gonna say that's a. We didn't mention him in the breakdown. But man, Jew, like first of all, rocket shot. Rocket shots.

24:03Andrew: I thought he was gonna break the glass behind the net. He missed it. He missed the shot at one point on Monday night when we were there and my God, it was like a bullet hit the glass. Yes.

24:13Justin: And a dude throws his body around. As we found out on one of the Windsor telecasts, he is committed to Harvard. But I'm. I'm hoping that. I don't think that's next year. I think that's the year after. I could be wrong.

24:26Andrew: I would think he needs like at least another year of school. Yeah.

24:29Justin: Is he not good for him either way. And I really hope that he's a big part of this team next year because I just. I'm sold.

24:37Andrew: I'm sold. The kid. Is the kid super fun to watch. For real?

24:40Justin: Yeah, yeah, he's super fun to watch. He's entertaining.

24:43Andrew: Yeah.

24:44Justin: And then quickly I'll run through the rest of them. Evan Nicholson, Don Mills Flyers from Sutton, Andrew He's a winger. Then in. We had three rounds a break just from trades. So we got to the Seventh round we got Joshua Taylor, who is a goalie. He's six feet tall, came out of Toronto. Logan Anderson, a center 510 out of Fort Myers, Florida. So that'll be interesting to see. Maybe he goes stays in the US for a bit. I don't know. And then we got Logan Massimi from Scarborough. So a good Scarborough kid. Another right shot. Defenseman Griffin Fox, a center from Amherst View, Andrew Another center. We went heavy on the forwards here. Marcus Harper out of Toronto. Then we took another defenseman, Jason Sinott. Or Senate. I apologize. We'll know soon enough. From North Bay, Andrew Then there's a name I'm very scared of. Mason Rick. Off Ridge, off H R I C Z O. the Soo sounds like he's got great potential on the Rangers. Rich Doff, I don't know. I like it. It's a great name. However you'd say it. I think the H is silent. We learned that from Le Char. He's from North Caldwell, New Jersey. He's a big goalie. He's 61194 and he's still young. So these are 2009 babies. Then we have Hudson Highsey, who is a undersized winger. He's five seven out of Oakville, Andrew but he's another Oakville Rangers pick. And then we've got Cole Crawford rounding out the 15th round as 510 center out of Barrie, Andrew So a couple of couple us born players, excluding Cain Barch. I mean, like a couple more. So we took three American players and quite a few out of Toronto and the GTA area, which I think is to be expected. I hear that Toronto is a factory, which makes sense because it's Toronto.

26:42Andrew: Yep.

26:43Justin: Agreed.

26:44Andrew: Cool. Well, that's. That's great. Well, it is almost 7 o', clock, so why don't we break now? We'll do some music.

26:55Justin: Yep.

26:56Andrew: And we'll come back.

27:00Justin: Let's go Rangers. One eternity later. We're back, we're back.

27:06Andrew: We're back, we're back.

27:07Justin: I'm on my. I'm on my. Down three one. LeBron James tip here.

27:12Andrew: Yes. Yes, you are.

27:14Justin: Jackson Parsons got me feeling like LeBron James. Luke Ellinas got me feeling like Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics who said, don't let us get one. Don't let us get one. So I'm saying today, better not let us get two.

27:31Andrew: Better not let us get two.

27:33Justin: Because if we come back to the Aud We're going back to Windsor again. I'm telling you, I'm calling it now. I'm Calling it now.

27:41Andrew: That was a statement game. Statement. This was a we, we showed up game.

27:45Justin: Oh, we're back. We are so back.

27:50Andrew: It wasn't even in the first period. We were back. It was like we waited for five minutes into the second to be back.

27:56Justin: Yeah. And Luke Ellen is living up to the billing. We said that he was going to be the offensive leader. We said there he had another gear and guess what? He came back and he has another gear. He has the Hattie.

28:09Andrew: He said he had to be the guy.

28:10Justin: Yeah, we did.

28:11Andrew: He's the guy.

28:12Justin: And it's funny.

28:12Andrew: He's the guy.

28:13Justin: It's funny because the way the things work with the Missile going down with an injury and Ellen is having to like, rise his game up, you know, to the occasion. And with poor Jack Pridham just being snake bitten, I mean, if you didn't watch the game, he missed an empty net. He hit the post.

28:30Andrew: We were texting during the game saying, like, Jack Pridham is like, due. He's overdue. He had so many opportunities. And then I was like, he got the puck with the empty net at the blue line and he's shining at the post. And I was like, I. I can't believe.

28:46Justin: Yeah. So my theory is, is if they have positive regression, if Jack Pridham has positive regression in the next game, the Aud coming back to the Aud because Pridham is due to have a green tree type game. He's about to have five a game.

29:03Andrew: But this was. This was not a solo effort by Luke Ellen and Jackson. No, this was. This was a good team game. I almost thought we were going to have to play the booze again from the top of the episode for the, for the refs because it got, it got rough in the second period. Like, this is just continued embarrassing reffing at the, Aud this level.

29:26Justin: Yeah, man, that's. That's. Like I said during the game to you, I said like, this is just like embarrassing. Like, if I was taking somebody to an OHL playoff game and introducing them to the product, I'd be like, embarrassed. Like, yeah, this is the league that I have the A podcast about. Like, no, it's not. It's not the. The quality of the league. It's not the quality of the player. Like, nothing else about this league is questionable. Even though even the regular season officiating was quality officiating.

29:54Andrew: Yeah, we rarely talked about it.

29:56Justin: Yeah, here and there. And that was the thing is it was a talking point because it was like, rare. There was a tripping call, clear as day now, I will say they did give the Rangers three power plays in a row in the third period.

30:09Andrew: Yeah, it was different. The badness was different. But some of the penalties that it took, the penalties that it took to get a power play for the Rangers were egregious. By the name of Abraham.

30:20Justin: Yeah. Ryan Abraham has something against Jackson Parsons.

30:24Andrew: I don't.

30:25Justin: I don't know why. Thankfully, it wasn't like. It wasn't like. I don't think it's like, suspension worthy. Like, he didn't hurt Parsons. It was just like, weird to get frustrated like that in the third period. He. He again, if you didn't watch the game. He shoved Parsons, which was a frustration thing. He was in the crease behind him. He got pushed into the neck kind of thing. He kind of blew a tire, but he got up and he shoved Parsons for no apparent reason except to take a penalty.

30:53Andrew: And then Jason was saying in the broadcast, he's like, he. He checked Parsons like he was fighting for position in front of the net.

31:01Justin: Yeah, it was weird. And the Aud then got out of the box and had a chance, Had a scoring chance and then followed through and just ran Parsons. I don't.

31:10Andrew: Just charged him.

31:11Justin: I don't understand, man. Like, why would you do that? Like, you're up three games to nothing. I don't understand, like, are. Maybe. Is there something shifting mentally now after this, this shutout?

31:23Andrew: I. I also wondered if it was. If it was something along the lines of. At the end of the second period, Anonofsky took a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. So it was called after the second, Luke Elena's goal. Ando hit Costanzo, like, bumped him a bit. Go into the net. And Costanzo, Olympic team diving call. Yeah, he just like, oh, yeah, the dude flopped like a. Like a fish out of water. And so Ando took the penalty after the goal. So they couldn't. The puck was already in the net. They couldn't call it off. They tried. You could see the refs trying to call it off, but they couldn't. And then maybe this was frustration by Abraham, but Abraham was playing dirty all game. He just finally caught up with him

32:08Justin: in the third, that the Ando penalty. I mean, it is what it is. He made contact with the goalie, but, yeah, Costanzo, who's been playing very well in the series, and I don't like that. It's nothing personal with this goalie, but it was a unbelievable embellishment. I said. I said to you, like, they. They got to call that both ways. Right? They got to call the ando contact and they got to call the embellishment because it's as bad of an embellishment as you'll ever see.

32:35Andrew: If anybody in is listening to this and is thinking about taking acting classes, go talk to Joey Costanzo because his teacher is phenomenal.

32:42Justin: Hey, maybe he. He can get a gig. You know, it's. It's hard out here for. For us actors.

32:49Andrew: Yeah. So we won. It's. It's 3:1 in the series statement game. We're going back to Windsor for game five. That is Friday night, which is. Which is great. Like, now we're back. We're back on track. Like, I just. I just felt like this team needed to get some gremlins out, and they did that tonight. I saw it come out of them. Everyone but Pridham.

33:07Justin: Yeah, it. Maybe it's too little, too late. This is the. The problem with spotting a team three games, but, I mean, it's also. There's nothing for the Rangers to win four in a row. They. They did it lots this season. So if. If the puck luck starts to shift, if the officiating bias starts to shift a little bit, even just to even.

33:27Andrew: Even.

33:28Justin: Just even. Literally even. And you know, if now Pridham can get on the score sheet, if that top line, basically, if Swick Humphrey and Pridham can get going, then this is a series. This is not over. And I think we've. We saw Ellenus announce his presence in last game even. They lost six to three. He had a goal and he looked like a. A factor. And tonight it was like, oh, he's one of the best players on the ice.

33:58Andrew: Yes. There you go.

34:00Justin: Straight from. Straight from the horse's mouth.

34:02Andrew: Yes.

34:03Justin: You heard him. You heard him. I think you're just. You're just thrown off by all the swag over here.

34:10Andrew: Yeah, it's. It's.

34:12Justin: If you're not watching. If you're not watching and you're just listening, I've got a backwards Jackson Parsons jersey on. I've got the LeBron James down three games to one, the sunglasses and the wired headphones plugged in. So I'm just. I might go to work like this tomorrow. You never know. Yeah, you know.

34:32Andrew: Please. Yeah, please. I mean, so let's go. Who are your three stars of the series so far? Andrew?

34:38Justin: Three stars.

34:38Andrew: Your first star.

34:39Justin: Three stars of the series so far. Well, I'm. I'm gonna go recency bias, and I'm gonna say Luke Ellinas is my. Is my first star. So Far because doesn't.

34:50Andrew: Doesn't need to be recency bias.

34:52Justin: He.

34:52Andrew: He's had a pretty killer two games of the series.

34:55Justin: Sure, sure, sure. I, I guess I'm just throwing out the first, first two games to be honest. Yeah. Luke Ellen is. I mean he scored a hat trick. You score a hat trick, you get first star.

35:04Andrew: Right.

35:04Justin: It's like the Michigan. It's like the Michigan rule. Score, hat trick, you get first start.

35:09Andrew: Yeah. Good with that one too. Second star was your second.

35:11Justin: Tanner Lam Tanner Lam Yeah. If the, if the series had ended tonight and and the rangers had have lost, I think I would have given Tanner Lam the first star in the series. But because Ellen has kind of shifted the whole thing on its head then that's where I'm going with that. But Tanner Lam has and even tonight he dealt with, you know, getting interfered with and getting clutched and grabbed. Protas who is a gigantic, you know, grown man. He's pulling on Tanner Lam and I

35:42Andrew: mean Tanner Lam double the size Tanner Lam does.

35:45Justin: Never plays the victim and that's why I love him.

35:47Andrew: Yeah, for sure. I'm, I'm with you. Secondar Tanner Lam Yeah. No points tonight but like he's been, he's been a force in this whole series. Great passing, just great teamwork and yeah. Toe literally towing around the other team.

36:01Justin: Absolutely.

36:02Andrew: And then third star, who you got?

36:04Justin: Ah, you gotta go Jackson Parsons now because he bounced back. We had our action Jackson, we had reaction Jackson and now we had bounce back in Jackson. That's a stretch but I'm taking it. It's a shutout. Here's the bottom line is anything could happen in Game 5 if they lose in, in Windsor which, you know, whatever. Hats off to the Spitfires. The fact that the last game that Jackson Parsons ever plays on the odds ice is a shutout win is just so perfect, you know, the Aud up with a bow. However, I'm telling you what, man.

36:38Andrew: Don't let us get to.

36:40Justin: Don't let us get to.

36:44Andrew: Yeah, I'm going to go. I'm going to go third star. I'm going to go the Andalorian. Nice. I think he showed up. He showed up at the beginning of the game. He threw out a few big hits to start the game. Get the energy in the guys. I think the leadership was needed and. And he stepped up and so got

36:59Justin: to give it to the Andy. I fully agree. He was all over the ice tonight. He was a physical presence while being mostly disciplined.

37:07Andrew: He, he Mostly disciplined.

37:08Justin: Yeah, mostly disciplined which is, you know, that's seems to be par for the course in playoff hockey. You can be mostly disciplined unless you're the Kitchener Rangers in round two, then, then you're just parade to the box. So we'll see now. We'll see how those, how these officials get on in Windsor and we'll see if the Rangers can continue this momentum.

37:29Andrew: So thank you of course to Ken Born director of branding and marketing. He got the week off this week a little bit, I think he didn't, he didn't have to make any groat things this week.

37:39Justin: That's okay. We'll. We'll just triple his AudPod next week.

37:43Andrew: Yeah, for sure. He got his week off. Of course.

37:45Justin: I gotta shout out the prodigal producer, Liam the phenom.

37:49Andrew: And yeah. How do you, how do you find us in the world, Andrew?

37:53Justin: You find us at theaudpodcast on TikTok and Instagram. You can also send us an email@theaudpodcastmail.com we'd love to hear from you. We're also on YouTube. If you go, if you Google, you could Google us, but if you go on YouTube and you search the AudPod, Kitchener Rangers will come up.

38:12Andrew: We will. And you know, if the refs from these games want to send us an email, you're more than welcome to. That's totally fine. And yeah, and as always, you can

38:21Justin: find us at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

38:25Andrew: See you at the Aud on Sunday. It.