78: The Schaub-shank Redemption

0:07Justin: Welcome to The AudPod, where we're talking Kitchener Rangers hockey with the AudBalls themselves, Andrew and Justin.

0:17Andrew: Take it away, fellas.

0:18Justin: Hey, Andrew.

0:24Andrew: Hey, Justin. Buy our merch. I thought you were going to say, hey, nobody. What? There's nobody out there. It's just you and I.

0:34Justin: We were just saying this before we started recording that we haven't done a solo pod other than like a car pod since the 3rd round of the playoffs.

0:44Andrew: But you know who is here? Whoever's listening to this. And you know what you should do? Buy our merch.

0:51Justin: Buy our merch, please. Intro music. Andrew, you know, there's a story that has yet to be told on the podcast.

1:05Andrew: It's true. And I know the one you're talking about.

1:09Justin: Yeah, because we talked about it right before we started recording. Yeah.

1:14Andrew: Pull back the curtain.

1:15Justin: Yeah. Oh my goodness.

1:20Andrew: He's a Scooby-Doo villain. He was pulling his— if you're just listening and you just heard random beard scruff noises, he was pulling his face off.

1:28Justin: But, uh, like the movie Face/Off.

1:31Andrew: I was gonna say, disappointingly not about hockey.

1:33Justin: It's true.

1:34Andrew: It's true.

1:35Justin: It's not. Okay.

1:37Andrew: So, I want to take his face off. Sorry, I had to, I had to do it. Everyone who's seen the movie, which is the 12 people, the, the, the, The crossover of people who watch Face Off and listen to The AudPod.

1:50Justin: And know what pogs are.

1:52Andrew: And know what pogs are. Yes. Very few people.

1:57Justin: Okay. We, so we have merch. We've said this on last week on the pod, but we, we have merch. So we're, if you're watching, we are currently wearing the hats.

2:08Andrew: Yes. And, and the most important thing about the merch, sorry, is we don't actually have it. We have it only in pre-order.

2:15Justin: Yes. Yes. So that, that is the reason we are not wearing the t-shirts because we have yet to print a physical t-shirt. Um, so we, yeah, we're pre-ordering so you can buy the merch. And then, um, and then when all of the orders are in October 5th, we're going to stop the shop and we're going to put in the order and get it printed at Civilian. And, uh, yeah. So, but the t-shirt is really cool. So the hats are pretty cool. We like them. We think they're cool.

2:45Andrew: Yeah.

2:46Justin: The t-shirts are pretty cool too. It is a picture of Andrew and I holding the J. Ross Robertson. And if you've been on our website, you might have seen the actual picture of Andrew and I holding the J. Ross Robertson on center ice at the Aud. How did that happen, Andrew?

3:06Andrew: We have never told this story. And we have, like, I think independently posted the pictures to our social medias. We kind of kept it off because I think there was one, I think there was a little bit of like an imposter syndrome, a little bit in the sense that we got to lift the Robertson. But 2, because I think it's better that it's a story. I think it's better that we've done it like this, even though we didn't plan it. So it is on our t-shirts now. I think it looks awesome. Shout out to Papa Born for the graphic.

3:37Justin: Yeah.

3:38Andrew: But story time. We, along with friend of the pod Sean Furfaro, followed the team bus back from Barrie, or actually we beat them, but for the story's sake, we followed the team bus back from Barrie and we didn't, definitely did not go to any casinos on the way home.

3:56Justin: No.

3:57Andrew: Definitely did not do that.

3:58Justin: No good luck casino trip happened that resulted in $0.

4:01Andrew: Did not happen for sure. It's like 2:30, 3:00 AM in the morning. And we are sitting in the parking lot. The Rangers bus gets back. There's, there's at least 30, 35 people there besides us. It was a great crowd for that time of night, also in the pouring rain. And we were lucky enough to be invited into the Aud by the—

4:30Justin: Friends.

4:30Andrew: The hockey gods. Let's put it that way. The hockey— something told someone Among the hockey gods to invite us in to the bus bay and bring us in. We again felt like imposters, but we were looking at each other like, oh my, oh my gosh, we're in the Aud. This is unbelievable. We're walking around. This is cool. Never thought anything of it.

4:55Justin: Everyone has seen the video of Ando shirtless getting off the bus.

4:58Andrew: Yes.

4:59Justin: This is right after that.

5:01Andrew: Right after that. Like, we followed them in. Like I said, hockey gods somehow told someone to grab us and Pull us inside. So we're walking through like just in awe that we're in here. You know, they're all just like teenage boys having fun, going nuts. When I walked in, when, when we walked in, there was probably what, most of the team, if not all of them, out on the ice celebrating and, and goofing around. And pretty much tarps were off in general. And, and we were, like I said, we were kind of standing down the hallway. And then again, the hockey gods said, come out towards the bench and stand near the bench. So we were actually on the Rangers bench watching these young men celebrate and laugh and whatever. And we were just, we were just, you know, talking to a few people who were there, a few executive people, you know, friend of the pod was there and we're just, we're just chatting and we're just watching and we're just taking it in. No cameras, no footage, no nothing like that. Because it was just like this sacrosanct moment. In the, you know, the cathedral of junior hockey, something that you want to witness forever. And then dear friend of the pod, Jack Pridham, comes over with this blank-eating smirk on his face, looking us dead in the eyes, holding the Robertson, and basically After Justin tried to carry it, I grabbed it. We pulled it out onto the ice. I gave him the heavy end, which is why you can see him struggling in the photo. And a wonderful photographer, again, who will not be named, was on the ice and said, let me take your photo. And not only is it a professional photo of us, It is just like the most amazing, like, moment. Like, it'll never be topped for as far as I'm concerned with hockey. So for it to be immortalized on a t-shirt for us, uh, that, that makes it so much cooler. So now you know the story. You may have seen the photos on our, on our personal, uh, Instagrams, or you, you might have even seen it on the, on the AudPod account. for a brief time on the story, but that's where it comes from. It's truly an iconic, like, after-hours thing. And I remember Dylan Edwards coming out on the ice and I'm like, do you want this back?

7:40Justin: And he was like, yeah. And he just took it.

7:42Andrew: He took it and went in the dressing room. And we looked at each other and we're like, that's enough for us.

7:48Justin: We got to get out of here. Yeah, we're going to go now. We're going to go. Yeah.

7:51Andrew: We don't want to overstay our welcome. We don't want to be those guys. No.

7:56Justin: Yeah, that was, uh, it was pretty sweet. There is also pictures of us individually holding the cup to prove that we are strong enough to lift the cup.

8:03Andrew: Yes, yes, it's true.

8:05Justin: Even though we were standing on ice.

8:06Andrew: It was arguably harder to do it with the one hand above, like, sharing it. I think it was, I think it was, it's still, like I said, I think it's, it's an iconic photo.

8:16Justin: It's great. Yeah, it's cool.

8:17Andrew: Yeah.

8:18Justin: Uh, yeah, special night. So that was, that was fun.

8:21Andrew: And Then we made a t-shirt out of it.

8:22Justin: We did. All right, Andrew, we got real games to talk about.

8:27Andrew: We got real games.

8:29Justin: Yeah, we do. So we also had a—

8:31Andrew: we had a banner ceremony. Talk a little bit about that, Justin.

8:35Justin: Yeah, that— I mean, that was pretty special. I felt like the Rangers really did it up well for the fans. I felt like it was a great fan experience of raising the banner. Obviously, we know— we all know, like, a lot of this team is gone. Like the team that won the Memorial Cup, they're gone. Some of them are permanently gone. Some of them are gone because they're in NHL training camps and stuff like that. So on Friday night, it really felt like they, they did it for the fans and it was pretty cool. They had a really awesome like recap of the run video that I thought they did an exceptional job at that gave me chills and I was smiling and I laughed a few times and I was like, oh yeah, I remember that. That was great. They even did the Carson Campbell part where he poked the stick, the puck away, the one that should be a statue in Campbellford. So build it, build it, build it. It was, it was spectacular. It was great. Mike Farwell narrated sort of the, the, the tribute, which was cool. And yeah, and then they, and then they brought out the commissioner and Mike McKenzie both had a trophy. And it was just like it It gave me, gave me chills. They shot fireworks off. Um, and then they raised the banner and look at banner. Sweet.

9:54Andrew: We got banners. We got more banners. We got more banners.

9:57Justin: We got Bruce Banner. I think there's more banners going, probably going up because they'll probably just hang a bunch of banners. But this one was the Memorial Cup banner. Yeah. Why not put a J. Ross Robertson one? Put a Wayne Gretzky one. Put a, you know, all the, all, put all the banners up.

10:12Andrew: Put them all up there.

10:15Justin: Absolutely.

10:15Andrew: Yeah.

10:15Justin: Just put like, just start putting players up in the rafters. Just put up a banner that says the Minute Gallery.

10:24Andrew: I was going to say, probably put up a 23 at some point, which is crazy because I don't think any— it's like a Kawhi-level effect of less than a season. But let's, let's, let's get past that because there is hockey to break down.

10:41Justin: Yeah. Yeah. There is not a lot from that first game. Well, a lot from that first game, but not—

10:46Andrew: I was going to say not a lot of scoring, but a lot of hockey.

10:48Justin: Not a lot of goals.

10:49Andrew: No, no, a lot of opportunities.

10:53Justin: Yes. Yeah. So we had a home and home against Owen Sound the Friday night. Opening night was a 1-0 loss to Owen Sound. Leenders.

11:04Andrew: Yeah. I mean, this was a— this was a— this was a goalie battle like true and true.

11:10Justin: Yeah.

11:10Andrew: It really came down to the Rangers getting tired and making a mistake late in the game. Moments before the goal was scored, Jason Schaubel had not one but two 10-bell saves that were like saved the game. So it was very disappointing to see a missed assignment and a tired group of penalty killers. be out there and, and, and leave their top scorer in the slot and have all the time in the world to score. And that's what happened.

11:46Justin: You can't leave Pierce Mbuyi by himself.

11:48Andrew: No.

11:48Justin: In front of any goalie.

11:50Andrew: No.

11:50Justin: And expect him not to score.

11:52Andrew: Like, I would say—

11:53Justin: Schaubel had a killer game.

11:54Andrew: Yeah. And that's, that's the thing is I would say that pretty much any OHLer with that kind of time and poise is going to score from that spot. It's just, yeah, it's not a great angle. It's, yeah, it's a perfect— it's, he's not too close. It's a great angle for a shooter. It's not a great angle for a goalie. It's just one of those moments where it was just too bad because Jason Schaubel played his butt off and the expectations have been so high for him coming into this because we've had 2 years, like I said, of Basically 2 years of championship goaltending. Now, I know we didn't get a championship with Jackson Parsons, but that was a championship type of season. Like, he— you could put— if, if the Rangers had a little bit more forward depth and a little bit more experience, which of course they did the following year and they won everything, you could easily win a Memorial Cup with Jackson Parsons' performance and statistics. Christian Kirsch was no different. He peaked at the right time. He got better and better as the season went on. He fought through some struggles, but he, you know, blossomed into this elite goaltender who could not be stopped in the Memorial Cup. So here we have Jason Schaubel coming into this game and all the lights are bright, but they are not too bright for Jason Schaubel. So we have to give Jason Schaubel his flowers in this game. When you lose 1-0, it's never your fault. Ryerson Leenders stood on his head. What was great to see was that the Rangers outplayed them. They had better chances. They, they, they are— they had more chances. I don't know about better, but they had some great chances. They had, they had some really good chances and they had more chances.

13:35Justin: Yeah, I would say, I would say that, that Kitchener outplayed— like, it wasn't, it wasn't a shellacking in any way, but it was, it was like Kitchener outplayed Owen Sound, specifically the first 2 periods. They had a really strong edge in shots, but they also were getting really good opportunities and not just like one-off opportunities, like rebounds and getting traffic into Leenders' eyes and everything. And, and it really just came down to the fact that Leenders just had an unreal game. Like, I— he, he stopped everything literally. And but yeah, no, I think the— I think the Rangers had significantly more dangerous chances against Leenders than Owen Sound had against, against Schaubel. But also there were some good opportunities. The Rangers didn't play super disciplined in either of these games. Lots of penalties against the Rangers. So, you know, there was even a 5-on-3 in the first period against Kitchener. So, you know, they had their opportunities. The penalty killers did well, but You know, you give them a lot of opportunities, eventually one's going to squeak through.

14:47Andrew: Yeah. And I think, I think, you know, the, the, the odd audience is probably screaming at us, talk about the Schaubel throat spear. Yeah, talk about it. And yeah, it absolutely is a thing. It obviously didn't affect Jason Schaubel, but it wasn't great. I don't want to say it was the wrong way to officiate the game because by letter of the law, the rulebook, If you jump a guy after something that doesn't get called and you start a fight, you're going to get an instigator. I can see how you could get a 10-minute misconduct. So you're without your captain. So those— the rest of those guys are playing, you know, 17 minutes without— as 5 defensemen, essentially. And then, of course, we know that they were really only— they weren't rolling complete forward lines. So you're going to get even more tired killing penalties as much as they were. So keep in mind that these games, not everybody's here, not everybody's back for both teams. You'll see, you know, have the special shout out, see Guelph absolutely pooping the bed in their first 2 games. But then I checked their lineups and they're missing like 10 guys. So I'm not going to start—

16:04Justin: No excuses.

16:04Andrew: I'm not going to start victory lapping them too much. I did want to, you know, GIF comment on their posts, but I refrained because, yeah, not a lot of guys are around.

16:16Justin: At least for another week.

16:17Andrew: Or at least another— yeah, exactly. You got one more week before guys get back and then we can start chirping them. Some standout guys I just wanted to say, Haeden Ellis.

16:25Justin: Oh, I just want to say before you get into that. Oh, sorry.

16:27Andrew: Yeah.

16:27Justin: Going back to the spearing, like, yeah, it, it was a spear. I also— so yes, that should have been a penalty.

16:34Andrew: Agreed.

16:35Justin: Then MacNiel jumped on the guy that speared him.

16:38Andrew: Yeah.

16:38Justin: And then MacNiel got that. Yeah. Like you said, the 10-minute, but also the instigator, which—

16:42Andrew: Yeah.

16:42Justin: It just like, it just felt like a pileup of things. Like, this is, you know, we've seen this before with the Rangers, right? Where something bad happens to the Rangers and, you know, they're, they're guys who stand up for each other and we— that's what we love about them. Yeah. But it does sometimes cause these types of problems where it's like, yeah, the penalty should have been called. Absolutely. And you should definitely stand up for your guy. But there is also Like the consequences build at that point because they— the refs missed the call. But then also you've made, made it worse for your team in that moment. So yeah. Yeah.

17:16Andrew: And like, obviously you're like, you know, you're a newly minted captain. You're that type of player anyway. You're always going to want the scrap. You would like to see the other guy drop the gloves and, and just Take the snap. So there's no— maybe not turtle away. Exactly. But it's, it's frustrating that you, that that happens, but that happens sometimes. And I know that the, the, you know, I know that the average OHL fan is going to get frustrated by that, but that's, that's, that's part of it. They're going to miss penalties. I don't know how they missed that one or how, like, I would have to look up in the rulebook how they treat high sticks on goalies who are down or are crouched or anything like that. But I think that that was just kind of a spear. Like, it looked like it was a— it was the end of the stick right into the throat.

18:11Justin: Didn't look intentional, but—

18:12Andrew: No, it was—

18:13Justin: Was what it was.

18:14Andrew: I don't think it was intentional. I think it— I think it all happens too fast. I think when you go back on replay and you see that and you get upset and you'd be like, look what he did.

18:23Justin: I don't—

18:24Andrew: if you have that kind of ability to do that at that speed, that's— that seems like pretty unlikely. So I do think that it was an accident, but an accident— an accidental high stick is still a high stick, right? So, so like you accidentally spear a guy, you accidentally spear a guy in the throat, then you still speared him in the throat. So I don't really— I didn't love that, but it was okay. Honestly, I felt really good. I know it was a 1-0 loss and it kind of sucked that they didn't score and it was the night of, You know, the opening night and all that kind of stuff.

18:55Justin: But those nights are never— they're never good.

18:58Andrew: They're always a little bit of a letdown. So I wasn't, but I felt good. It was, it was the vibes were still great in the Aud. I missed—

19:06Justin: they were—

19:07Andrew: I missed all of you. I missed the Aud so much. That was such a nice feeling to get in there and watch some hockey.

19:13Justin: Now, okay, you wanted to mention— I do bring out some guys that you wanted to talk about.

19:19Andrew: Yeah, I just wanted to talk about Haeden Ellis. We talked about him last week. And he showed up in a big way. He had 4 shots and all 4 of them were dangerous. He looked really, really strong. He was kind of centering that line, that second line that we affectionately have referred to as the Smurf line before. I don't think that that will be the line combination that we'll see him No, we got news today that Luca Romano is coming back.

19:53Justin: Of course, there's no, there's no way that Ellis or Lamb or even Arquette, like one of them won't be playing at least with Luca Romano. Yeah, I suspect 2 of them will be. And, but we'll see how that all works out now. Yeah. And guys start coming back. But I think for sure that might've been one of the last times or the next game will be one of the last times we see the Smurf line together for Yeah.

20:17Andrew: And I mean, I know that, you know, under Jussi Ahokas, there was always times where he tried different combinations to get guys going. So we could see that too. But I just wanted to shout him out. Also, Tanner Lam had a great game, 3, 3 dangerous chances on 3 shots. And I just thought that Cameron Arquette rounded it out with a lot of strength on that, on that line. And, and I'm just, I'm just I'm just happy that these 3 veterans are looking to be in midseason form already because we need them to be leaders on this team. And I think they will be.

20:54Justin: Yeah, I— they're a remarkable team. I also really noticed Puglisi. Puglisi? Puglisi?

21:04Andrew: Charlie Puglisi, I think.

21:07Justin: Yeah, we'll get it.

21:08Andrew: We'll get a confirmation on that.

21:10Justin: We will not.

21:11Andrew: We'll text Sean.

21:16Justin: Jason.

21:17Andrew: Jason.

21:19Justin: Jason. He looked, he looked remarkable in this game. Like he's a dog with a bone kind of player. Like kind of like the old, what was his name? Pug Life.

21:30Andrew: Wow.

21:30Justin: Is it also Puglisi?

21:33Andrew: Puglisi.

21:36Justin: Pouliézie. I knew it was different.

21:37Andrew: Yeah, I don't know exactly. It's like, it's one of those like variants, right?

21:42Justin: So I'm like, they might pronounce them similar.

21:45Andrew: It's so similar, but probably different pronunciation. Maybe not. Who knows? Maybe we're saying it all wrong. Maybe it's fusilli.

21:53Justin: Fusilli.

21:54Andrew: I love that kind of pasta.

21:56Justin: I love all pasta.

21:56Andrew: Me too.

21:57Justin: I do too.

21:58Andrew: Yes. Except angel hair.

22:00Justin: Yeah. You know, shades of, shades of his namesake from 2 years ago. He was a pretty remarkable young player. Wow. Way off track. Okay, then we went Saturday, we went to Owen Sound where we won 4 to 1. Yes, we scored the first goal very quickly.

22:17Andrew: Very quickly.

22:18Justin: In this game to make sure that Leenders knew that we showed up.

22:21Andrew: It's that, it's that positive regression we love talking about. Yes.

22:25Justin: Yeah.

22:26Andrew: About 3 minutes in, Ryder Roberson scores his first ever OHL goal. Yes, Ryder. Yes. The—

22:37Justin: I think they originally officially gave it to Jack, Jack LaBrash, like in the moment.

22:42Andrew: Okay. In the moment.

22:43Justin: He got to celebrate.

22:44Andrew: Oh, he did. Oh, he knew it was. He knew it was.

22:47Justin: Okay, good.

22:48Andrew: Yeah, he knew it was. He was, he was given it. Yeah, he had quite the celly. Of course, the young man wearing 44 for the Rangers out of Cambridge, Ontario. That's right.

22:58Justin: Lewis Hamilton's number. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

23:02Andrew: I can think of a few more that don't make me happy. Chris Pronger. Oh, okay. That was set up by a great outlet pass by Alex Forrest, who we didn't mention in the first game, but he had a strong game as well. He looked much— he looked even better in the second game. He was very effective, very efficient with the puck. He passed to Jack LaBrash, who looked great streaking down the wing and throwing it out into the slot, which was the right thing to do. And Ryder Roberson just buried it, which was great. That was the first period, 1-0.

23:35Justin: Yeah.

23:35Andrew: There were lots of penalties in this game too, by the way. This is—

23:39Justin: there were. Yeah. It could have been 4-0. It could at the end of this first period.

23:44Andrew: They—

23:46Justin: we didn't say this in the— about the first game. They hit the post and/or crossbar in the second at least 4 times. They probably hit like 6 posts or crossbars in that first game. But they also hit a post in the first period of this game. And also Leenders stole like, again, like not, not just like first opportunity shots, like second opportunity, third opportunity. Like he is able to, like, it's really disappointing that we now have to go from seeing this guy twice a year to 8 times this year.

24:16Andrew: Yeah. Ryerson Leenders is very good, and I'm not surprised that he has been drafted by Buffalo. He was drafted very late by Buffalo, but Buffalo is one of those places where they like to stock up on goalies, and I think they actually might have a goalie in Ryerson Leenders that could be playing at the— at a higher level very, very soon. I, I just think that this year he's going to be extremely dominant. So Owen Sound is going to be a problem in this division, but I don't know if they have the horses besides Leenders and, uh, Mbuyi. That's the issue. There, there are some really good players. I don't want to, I don't want to put them down. I'm not putting them down. You know, like there's, there's guys that I noticed like Jake Crawford and, and, and, and Max Delisle and stuff, but I just, I'm not sure what they're going to be like because I was really high on them last season because they started so well. I thought, oh wow, this would be really interesting to see Owen Sound, you know, be a competitive team. And then they just fell off. So I have no idea what that's going to be like in Owen Sound, but it'd be great for Owen Sound because that's a great small little barn and it's exciting. I just don't want them to be a problem for the Rangers.

25:33Justin: So yeah, yeah.

25:34Andrew: As long as we score more than 2 goals, maybe we should be okay. We can beat them because Schaub again stood on his head. He didn't have to do as much in this game, but as we said many times last year, sometimes that's harder than being locked in or even just having like an average amount of shot output by your opponent. When you have— when you're just kind of standing around waiting for something to happen, you can get cold and kind of your mind can wander and whatever. I act like I'm speaking from experience. I'm speaking from experience watching these guys because, you know, sometimes it's just like they're not really into it because they haven't had to be.

26:11Justin: But let me tell you, Andrew's mind can wander like crazy.

26:14Andrew: Oh, I'm thinking of— I'm thinking of Lewis Hamilton again. Anyway, the second period. Can we move on to the second period? We good to move on to the second period?

26:24Justin: Dear God, I hope so.

26:25Andrew: Okay. Tanner Lam opens the scoring in the second period. He gets his first. This is great. All the guys that we talked about were going to have great years for scoring. This one came from Cameron Arquette and Weston Cameron, the dual Cameron connection right there on the power play. Love to see Weston Cameron out on the, on the power play. He looked great in the first game as well.

26:45Justin: Yeah.

26:46Andrew: Just lots of like chances, a big body. They look like they're gripping their sticks a little too tightly in the first game, of course, because of that emotional crescendo before the game, but he looks very comfortable out there as a power play player, especially, you know, down along the wing. And he can get down in front of the net because he's a big body. So I'm looking forward to that. That turned out to be the game winner. Okay. And there'd only be one more goal in the second period.

27:13Justin: Tanner Lam revenge tour 2.0.

27:17Andrew: Yes. Let's go. He's— it hasn't ended. It's still the first—

27:21Justin: still the tour. It's—

27:23Andrew: we're still on the tour.

27:24Justin: Season, season 2 of the tour.

27:26Andrew: Yeah, the tour never stops.

27:27Justin: Taylor Swift tour.

27:30Andrew: Pierce.

27:30Justin: Yeah, exactly. Never ends.

27:34Andrew: I think it was, it was Elton John's farewell tour. I went and see it. I went and saw him and it was like 3 years later, the same tour is still going on. I'm like, I don't know if this counts.

27:42Justin: This is not a farewell tour.

27:44Andrew: Yeah, of course. Pierce Mbuyi, we mentioned him before. He gets his second of the year on a power play.

27:50Justin: Almost exactly the same kind of goal that happened in Game 1. Like kind of got left alone.

27:55Andrew: Yes.

27:56Justin: By himself directly in front of the goalie.

27:58Andrew: Yeah. So just don't do that. That's our only note.

28:01Justin: Super. Seems like a super easy fix.

28:04Andrew: Super easy fix. Just don't leave that particular player right there.

28:09Justin: Yeah.

28:10Andrew: Moving on to the 3rd period, we had Tanner Lam scoring an empty netter with about a minute and 15 seconds left from Cameron Arquette and Kaden Schneider. Nice to see Friend of the pod there, Kaden Schneider, getting on. We'll have to have— we'll have to have Kaden Schneider jump on the pod with us. I think it's long overdue. The— the— we need another Alberta-born AudPod guest for sure, or at least one, a first one. And then— and then Avry Anstis actually intercepted a pass at the opposing blue line. Really, really, you know, high IQ play to just get out there and play hard even though the game is pretty much over and got himself a goal. goal. So, uh, if you're counting, Tanner Lam, uh, has 2, Avry Anstis has 1. Obviously Luca Romano is going to come back and hopefully score 1 right away. And, uh, Luke Ellinas, watch, we're still waiting. So those, those, those were the 4, the 4 picks for the most goals this year. So, uh, I just wanted to check in right there. Uh, doesn't matter, Avry, if you get 1, If you get them all empty net, I don't care. Just keep putting them in because I want to, I want to win the non-bet. It's not a bet, but it's for pride. It's for pride.

29:26Justin: You know what? Ovi did it by basically not trying for 2 seasons. It's true. It's all good.

29:32Andrew: That's what you have to do is actually not try because once you start trying, that's when you can't score.

29:37Justin: Okay. You know, you know what really annoyed me about this game? Leenders had a good game. Don't get me wrong.

29:43Andrew: Oh, he did.

29:44Justin: They— but they gave him the first star.

29:46Andrew: I'm like, yeah, I know.

29:49Justin: Come on, Owen Sound. I felt like we've had this problem with you before, like a little too homerish on your, on your 3-star picks. I think you—

29:57Andrew: I think you— and it's also— it's like they gave Tanner Lam, of course, who had 2 goals. I get it. And, and Cameron Arquette, who had 2 assists, the 2nd and 3rd star respectively. I personally, I think like Ryder Roberson Getting that opening goal, you kind of got to give him at least the 3rd star because—

30:15Justin: You give Leenders the 2nd star, but he didn't win the game. If he won the game, you know, no argument.

30:20Andrew: And that's the thing is, yes, he stopped 28 of 30, but it's not like it wasn't like a shooting gallery. It was, it was just a good, a good game. You give him the 2nd star, you give Lamb the 1st star because he had the winning goal.

30:33Justin: And you give Robertson the 3rd because he got his first OHL goal.

30:37Andrew: Because he got us exactly all—

30:39Justin: it all makes sense.

30:40Andrew: I know, I know. That's— I think that's the least you can do.

30:44Justin: Yeah. The night before, Leenders, first star, hands down. Schaubel, second star, hands down. No, no arguments. And then Mbuyi gets the third star because he scored the goal.

30:56Andrew: Of course.

30:56Justin: Like, easy, easy, easy, easy. Owen Sound, you need help picking your stars?

31:03Andrew: We'll do it for you.

31:04Justin: We'll do it for you. Yeah, we're happy. We're happy to help. Okay. That was a good game. Hey, we won 1-1. You know what happens when we get 50% of the wins? 3 stars of the weekend.

31:15Andrew: 3 stars. Oh yeah.

31:19Justin: Andrew, who or what is your 3rd star of the weekend?

31:22Andrew: My 3rd star of the weekend is Weston Cameron. I thought that he looked really good. I mentioned it before. He looked really good. But I think, like I said, I think the whole power play was gripping their sticks a little too tightly, but I thought he was in good position. I think it's nice to see him in a role where he's being asked to provide offense as opposed to chucking fists, and I expect him to have a great year. And I think that he's just like a solid kid off the ice, and he's going to bring that kind of leadership to this team. So I thought he was really good in both games. I think he looks really comfortable on the power play, and I think— I hope he stays there. as either the top unit or the second unit throughout the season. I think, I think he's a great addition there and I'm really excited to see what he's got going on.

32:13Justin: I mean, it is well documented that the AudPod is big Weston Cameron fans. So we have to. Yeah. And he was on the pod. My, my third star is the new guys. New guys looking really good. Pugliese looks so good. Yeah, just looked great on the ice. Like, you know, got a motor that never quits. Ryder Roberson obviously got the goal. Also looked like he was fitting in.

32:43Andrew: Yeah.

32:44Justin: Andreev looks like, you know, he's a guy that makes himself available a lot. Like, yeah, yeah, maybe he didn't get quite on the scoresheet this weekend, but, you know, he, he looked like he was out there. Toporowski, you know, He looks like he played pro hockey.

32:57Andrew: Yeah, right.

32:58Justin: He knows how to play hockey. Like, this guy knows how to play hockey. And I think once he starts to get to know his linemates, like, there's going to be stuff that comes up. But, you know, he was already in— like, you know, stuff was happening on the ice. He's out there defending his guys. Like, you know, yeah, he's really— he's really making himself a part of this team. So, yeah, yeah, the new guys. I know there's more new guys than the guys I just mentioned, but I didn't really want to say all their names. So. Well, All good.

33:24Andrew: I'll add to them with our, with our, with our, our, our, with my second star. Yeah, because I'm gonna mention, uh, Jiri Gombar, and I'm gonna mention Logan Massimi. Uh, and I, I just think that the whole defense is my— and Tommy Kut. The whole defense, uh, is my second star because I thought that they did really well, especially in that second game, to take away chances. They did Quite well in the first game, but they were playing shorthanded a lot in the first game. I thought five on five the defense was smothering. Obviously, we don't have Bilecki back right yet, but I'm sure—I mean, I hope for his sake he he just goes off and and you know succeeds. But I'm hoping he's back selfishly because I think that then we'll have this. crazy 2-headed monster of puck-moving defensemen with Alex Forrest and Alexander Bilecki, probably on separate lines because they're such— they've got similar skill set. And then if you have Gombar on another line or a complementary, then you've got— to me, you've got 3 offensive defensemen on every line. And then you've got, of course, you've got, you know, options to slot in big physical guys. who take away the shooting lanes and smother guys along the boards, which they did really well in that second game. So the defense, including a couple more new guys, are my, my 3, my second star.

34:56Justin: Yeah. Nice. Yeah. The D looked really good. MacNiel really feels like he's stepping up into his new role as well as— Yeah, he feels like a captain. He feels— Yeah. All of a sudden it's just like, well, yeah. Yeah, I see it. My second star is, is our town.

35:13Andrew: Our town.

35:14Justin: Yeah. It really showed up to the home opener. It was really great. Lots of clapping and cheering and everything during the banner raising. You know, the merch store, the Rangers Authentics, they were— I almost called them AudPod Authentics.

35:31Andrew: That's what we should have called our store.

35:35Justin: Missed opportunity. We'll change it the next, the next merch run. We'll call it that. Yeah, we, the, like the, the store was obviously lined up around the block. Like the, the doors were lined up at like 6 o'clock. Like it was crazy. Like the people, everybody, like everybody was there at 6 o'clock. Like pictures of it. The pick rolled up at crazy. Yeah. I rolled up at, you know, 10 after 6 and I was like, I think literally everybody's here. Yeah.

36:04Andrew: Yeah. Including, including, Papa and Mama Merrigan, they were there in attendance, which was pretty cool. So shout out to them. I was doing bedtime and they got to be there for the ceremony. So that was cool.

36:19Justin: They were almost sitting in the AudPod press box.

36:22Andrew: Almost. They were so close. They're diehard AudPod listeners. So it's pretty cool that they got to see that. And they got to meet 2 young players who I don't I can't remember. I don't know who was scratched in that, that first game. Yeah, I have no idea who's in the press box.

36:39Justin: They, they also were the, the 2 that they met on the, on the elevator were also making, making goony eyes at the, at the camera during the banner raising because they got announced, but they weren't on the ice and they were like, they were really hamming it up for the, for the camera. So nice. They say whoever they are, I'm sorry, I don't know what your names are, but I, I can't wait to see you around this team.

37:03Andrew: Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah, that's pretty cool.

37:06Justin: Yeah. Okay. Who's your, who's your first star?

37:09Andrew: Yes.

37:09Justin: I bet it's the same as my first star.

37:11Andrew: Yeah, it is. It is the Schabs himself. Jason Schaubel. How can it not be? I mean, that's like, to me, the immense pressure alone to come out and I, let's be honest, if you're going to lose a game as a goalie and the final score is 1-0, That's about as positive of a loss as you could possibly have as a goalie. So I think that to have 2 incredible performances, I was actually amazed by some of the saves he was making in that first game.

37:43Justin: Oh yeah.

37:44Andrew: Like, actually, it actually— I actually stopped and had to think, wow, that's Jason Schaubel out there. And he looks like he has been laying in wait And the time is now and he's ready to step in and be a big-time goaltender and never in doubt.

38:04Justin: Oh, never, man. He's legit. The brick wall himself is back. Yeah. He's going to get to play a lot this weekend too. So we know that he likes to play a lot. That from him, he said from him, he told us a lot. Yeah. He likes playing lots of back-to-back games, so I suspect we'll be seeing him a lot this season. Might even— starting on Friday.

38:29Andrew: Might even see him on the pod.

38:30Justin: This weekend, Andrew, we have 3 games. We got back-to-back-to-back games Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Back-to-back. A home and home Friday at home at the Aud against Erie. Saturday in Erie against Erie. 6 PM start. Uh, Sunday back home at the Aud against Kingston, also a 6 PM start. Very weird time. Usually those are afternoon games. We all know they never play there on Saturday, but Sunday's usually an afternooner. So yeah, it is.

39:03Andrew: It's going to be a late travel back.

39:05Justin: Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's, uh, that's what's coming up. I'm not going to start to give you any information about these teams because I don't really know. Erie is on the, the power rankings is all we really have to go on right now. So, um, and those, those are kind of, those are BS. So, um, but if, if we were to follow them, Erie is 16th in the power rankings. Uh, the Rangers fell down to 12th and then Kingston is number 2. Uh, and, uh, the, the green subway machine is is number 1. Guelph been knocked down like 5 spots already. So yeah.

39:45Andrew: Getting outscored 11 to 1 will do that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's so early, it's kind of laughable to even, you know, be worried about this because not even every team is like fully stocked. You know, the cabinets aren't stocked yet. So you win the Memorial Cup, you get to— you, you, you play 96 games. You, you, you have your home opener on the Friday night, then you immediately have a, a travel day and you have to go up to Owen Sound and play another game. And then the next weekend you play a 3-3. So I don't know. I think the schedule makers are like, we'd love, we'd love to see these guys be like 1-6, 1-7 after the first 8 games. So that's what, that's what they're trying to do. But we're already 1-1. So it's not going to happen.

40:33Justin: You know the schedule maker.

40:39Andrew: Personally, like, he or she or they better hope I don't. It's not a threat. It's a promise.

40:48Justin: Don't we also have a 3-3 next weekend? Or maybe not. Maybe over a Tuesday game.

40:53Andrew: No, it's Friday, Sunday, Wednesday. Wednesday. Yeah.

40:57Justin: It's London, I bet. Because I think all of our London's Flint. Flint. Oh, weird. I think all of our London games are like Tuesday night games.

41:04Andrew: Yeah, it is. We don't like— and that's, that's the other thing. Speaking of schedule makers, we don't get the, the Friday night OHL Game of the Night treatment again. That's it. We had it. We're done. All right.

41:18Justin: Buy our merch. Buy our merch. Well, it's on sale until October 5th.

41:22Andrew: Oh, and here's the best part. There's no tax and no shipping. Yeah. The price is the price.

41:28Justin: Yeah, that's just it. If you live in Canada, the shipping is included in the price because we didn't want to figure it out, so we just didn't.

41:37Andrew: Yeah, we just said, here's the price. We'll, we'll take it on the chin for the shipping.

41:41Justin: And if you live in America, the, the, there is a shipping price, but it also includes duties and tariffs and all the other stuff that's happening. So it's, it's shipping and So you don't have any fees when it gets to your door. If you're shipping from the rest of the world, the shipping fee is just for shipping. Good luck to you. I don't know how to— I didn't know how to calculate that. That's brand new to me. Yeah. I have this friend here who works in the mail and we couldn't figure it out.

42:08Andrew: So I literally hand deliver it. I do not do anything else. So, so I am not helpful with the shipping rates because they've already— if they've already made it to me, it's already been paid.

42:20Justin: If you live in Canada, it's free. Free shipping. Free shipping, no tax. Buy the merch. Buy the merch. No tax. Because we don't make any money. So yeah. So literally it is not, it is, yeah, we are covering the cost. Yeah. And then not even— Please help us cover the cost.

42:39Andrew: Please help us cover the cost.

42:40Justin: Yeah. But speaking of the merch, thank you to Papa Born who designed the merch.

42:48Andrew: Yes. Born.

42:51Justin: Director of branding and marketing. Shout out to our prodical producer, Liam.

42:55Andrew: The phenom.

42:56Justin: Thank you to Tim. Tim! How many children did you just wake up with that?

43:06Andrew: Probably at least one.

43:07Justin: Tim! And of course, JJ, for doing the Voiceover at the beginning of our episode. Always thank you.

43:17Andrew: And rocking the hat in the official story of the Rangers. So cool.

43:21Justin: Yes. Shout out to the Hockey Podcast Network for hosting us.

43:28Andrew: Partnering. Partnering with us. Eventually you'll get it. Eventually.

43:33Justin: No, I'm going to say hosting us because they do host our podcast now.

43:37Andrew: They do. They do.

43:40Justin: And Andrew, as always, on Friday night, you can find us at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

43:47Andrew: See ya at the O.