#92Noon! 9a Hour 3/3 - Chris Finch/Kevin Gorg

0:00Every small business owner has that one moment that could have broken them, but remarkably, it didn't. Hi, I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business, and on Season 3 of The Unshakeables, my co-host Kathleen Griffith and I are bringing you more incredible stories of overcoming the impossible. We're really proud to share that The Unshakeables is nominated for Best Branded Podcast at the 2022 I Heart Podcast Awards. Listen to The Unshakeables wherever you get your podcasts, and learn more at Chase.com slash podcast. JP Morgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC, Copyright 2026, JP Morgan Chasing Company. Lately, my friends keep asking, what I'm doing to my skin. Honestly, I didn't change my makeup. I changed my skincare. It's called Farmhouse Fresh. This award-winning fresh-grown brand is a 14-year favorite of US Spas and Beauty magazines, and celebrities agree. If you're over 40 and feel like nothing really makes a difference anymore, this does.

1:00My skin looks brighter, smoother, and yes, people notice. Get the Farmhouse Fresh skincare glow. Go to farmhousefreshskingcare.com. Next Monday, our 2026 I Heart Podcast Awards are happening live in South by Southwest. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is... Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. Thank you so much, I Heart Radio. Thank you to all the other nominees, you guys are awesome. Watch live next Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific Free at Veebs.com or The Veebs App. Ego Woda is your host for the 2026 I Heart Podcast Awards live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom, Ego may have a few father related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad? Her podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow SNL alums, comedians, musicians, and more about life and their wonderfully complicated

2:02relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know Ego. Follow Thanks Dad with Ego Woda and start listening on the Free I Heart Radio app today. Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. My latest episode is with Hillary Duff, singer, actress, and multi-platinum artist. You desire in family like this picture, and that's not reality. My sister and I don't speak, it's definitely a very painful part of my life, and I hope it's not forever, but it's for right now. Listen to on-purpose with Jay Chetty on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Edward, switch to some of the left hand to the right, picked up by Hardaway. He's on the logo of Mid-Court, now moves forward, creeps to his right off the Rudy's screen. Dante on the wing, right back to Amphide, the shoot. He's got a hoist, he launches and hits, that's unstoppable. Hardaway was right in his space, and it just drained his third three of the night.

3:04He's got 21. Alan Horton on your home for the Timberwolves FM 100.3, K F A N, that was from Sunday in a victory out in the mile high city. This is nine to noon on a talker Tuesday, and we begin with Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch courtesy of Second Harvest Heartland to harvest.org and prize picks. Hey, Chris, what's going on, coach, how you doing? I'm doing well, P.M. Doing well. Hey, before we get started, I just want to give a big shout out to all the volunteers and all of our partners at Second Harvest, you know, over the last two months. Second Harvest has responded to the community's needs with over 100,000 emergency food boxes put together by people within the organization, of course, and also people out working in our food show. So a big thank you to them, to people really responding to the needs of the community

4:04over the last couple of months. No, no. Covenant claps. Second Harvest Heartland. Yes. Indeed. Thank you. Thank you very much. Nice touch. Now, on the radio, Chris, remember the last time we chatted on the radio, and I brought up what Charles Barkley said about the wolves and stamping out teams. Remember that? I did. Yeah. You guys did that Sunday at Denver, and Anna was impressive. What would you pull from the win? Well, you know, if you can feel our focus sharpening right now, you know, obviously we've got a game tonight. So we're going to continue. The guys are locked in. Our defense is getting better and better, you know, in a lot of areas where we've been inconsistent. I think we've been really good in the last number of games, particularly on this road trip. Certainly our physicality, our attention to detail, our rebounding, our lack of fouling.

5:04We're good without fouling the other day. And I thought offensively, you know, we're doing a good job right now, just kind of playing the game at the front of us. Every now and then, it might be a little bit different. Obviously, teams are trying to zero in on Ant. Denver did a good job of not letting him kind of play down the stretch by putting two on him and I thought he was outstanding getting the ball out and into, you know, the next player stands and we just made the right play. Chris went when the nuggets don't have air in Gordon and they've been without him for two long stretches this year. It just you guys are so much longer than the nuggets, specifically when they don't have Gordon. How much of a difference does that make not having him against those guys? Well, I mean, if he's not outstanding player, he's a perfect fit next to the yoghurt. He gives them a lot of things, you know, give them blank, he gives them strength and toughness around the rim, he's an outstanding multi-position defender, a good rebounder runs

6:08the floor and he's really added the three points shot to his game. So he's becoming a complete player and all around great threat for those guys and, you know, he changes with his newfound success from the three-point line and he really changes the spacing out there makes it really hard. But what I think where they miss the most is defensively, certainly like he's been in a guard, you know, one through five at times and, you know, they'll need that guy and that type of guy next to yoghurt to really maximize their defense. And with you guys, Kyle Anderson reportedly back in the mix, beloved slow-mo. What do you like about that? Yeah, we love it because he gives us, you know, we play him at the point guard here, which is what he grew up playing and we love his decision-making, his high IQ basketball, he's got great lines. He's also a multi-position defender, which you need right now with so many skilled guys

7:12in the league, you got to have multitudes of guys who are comfortable guarding smalls or bigs. But yeah, just the winner, and he was a winning player, he's a winning person and just makes a winning place and it's good to have him back. The Denver Nuggets took Bones, Highland in the first round five years ago, Holy cow, Sundemy. He lit them up for 18, six of seven shooting, just 15 minutes. Is it always special for those guys to have games like that against their former teams? Oh, no doubt about it, it just feels like you see it all the time, you know, and Jim Conley was the one who drafted Bones, Highland and Jim's always been a big believer in Bones and he was, you know, he is the reason that Bones ended up here and we're very glad that he has. He's on a path similar to the one that we saw in the Keele. You know, when the Keele first got here, he didn't play a whole lot.

8:13So we found his way into the rotation, then made his mark through defense and, you know, different players for sure. But what Bones offers us, we really need, you know, a speedy guard, somebody even can consistently get to the paint, it makes three, he can create an own three, and that's stuff that we desperately needed. So it was fun to watch him. I thought he was absolutely key to our victory because once he stabilized the game almost all by himself in the second quarter, then we kind of took off. Yeah, people in the crowd at ball arena, I mean, they were astounded, you know, I would hear all around my section. That's Bones Highland, we used to have him, who knew? That's Bones. Most impressive to me with Bones this year is he shooting, I think it's 46 and a half percent. And what's he doing to get the field goal way above his career average? Well, he's getting a lot of transition baskets, easy ones too, without standing finisher. You know, he can get an angle and somebody's quick downhill, he's long, he's deceptively

9:17long and he's got, when he unfolds, he can, you know, he has a nice touch laying it right in off the glass, he's shooting the ball well from three point line too. So that's, you know, certainly helping his average. He doesn't take a shot, you know, I've always said, like, you want to be a good shooter in the, in the league, the first thing to do is get rid of all the bad shots and he just takes really good shots. Chris Feng, head coach of the Minnesota Timber Wolves, they have, they have a game tonight against Memphis more on that momentarily. Is it, with the last two, the Clippers and the Nuggets, is it, is it fair to say the last two you've played that those guys don't want to play racehorse basketball and like Zing up and down the court, kind of a slower pace, especially the Clippers and do you like it that way? Yeah, I mean, the Clippers are definitely a more deliberate team. They're, they're generally slow or they, they actually, their defense invites a slow game and encourages a slow game. And you know, they'll, they'll, they'll run out of their defense with steals and turnovers,

10:19but they're not looking to push the pace at every moment. I would say both themes are opportunistic and transition, you know, to your point, they don't really want to run up and down all the time, but Denver is very good when they can get out and transition. Christian Braun is one of the best wing runners in the league and then you have, you know, Yoke is one of the best passers, but he's also a great full court passer and a great transition passer and hit a head passer. And we were able to mitigate that on Sunday and that's big. They only had six transition points. They're normally more potent than that and transition, but again, it was, it's, it's a lot of it's fueled by, a lot of it's fueled by Gordon. He's a great runner and a lot of it's fueled by Yoke and she's such a great passer. So Memphis tonight at Target Center for the first time without Jared and Jackson after the trade deadline. What, what do you think about tonight? What are some keys tonight? You guys obviously are big favorites. Yeah, I mean, this is one of those games.

11:21It's a mindset game as much as anything else. You know, these guys are, look, look pretty different after the trade and with their current roster, they don't have like a legitimate big on the floor. You know, they don't have Jackson, of course, who's been a problem for us all season. I know they're going to spread you out, you know, they're going to play fast and try to get to the paint, pick it out, shoot a lot of three. They play like high variance basketball, like their style, you know, if they all, if they start hitting shots, then you're going to have, you're going to be it for a headache because, you know, they can really make shots and they play quick and they do a good job of playing for each other in that guard. So we got to slow them down. Got to keep them in front. It's going to be a lot of one-on-one defense. It's going to be important for sure tonight, but you know, it's about our mindset. We got to back up what we did on Sunday with a good performance tonight at home. Could be a, could be a big one for Rudy tonight, right?

12:22I mean, with that size of damage, feed the kiddie and put Rudy on a big game. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, it's, but they're going to, they're, they're very, very custom to put Rudy in some tricky situations, which we'll leave him, you know, exposed in rotation. So it's not just being big at the rim. He's going to have to cover some ground on the perimeter, and which is great because, you know, we're going to see this, this style and the playoff a lot. The teams are going to dare us to try to take Rudy off the floor and, you know, we, we don't generally do that. So it's, but Rudy has to adjust and make the right rotations, you know, rather than just be rooted at the rim where he, where we know he's really good. And, and Toronto's here after that tough customers at times, these, these rafters. When, when, when you came here from the Toronto bench, and, and you were a key assist, assistant for the, for Toronto and, and Chris, for those who don't remember, became head coach, basically middle of the season here, a half decade ago. When, when that went down the way it did, did it surprise you?

13:24Yeah, I mean, it definitely surprised me. I mean, it's kind of unusual to, to leave one team as a coach in the middle of the season. I mean, players do it all time in trade, but they don't have a choice. So the opportunity came and certainly blast and was, was quite unique. But I always will be forever indebted to, to Messiah and Nick Nurse and all the people who are in Toronto and ownership, Larry Tannenbaum at the time. Now those three are all have moved on, but, you know, they, they recognize what a great opportunity was for me and they gracefully let me, let me leave and, and come here, which has, you know, been the highlight of my life professionally, for sure. I don't, I don't, I mean, has anybody else ever done that? I like, I don't recall any examples of a coach leaving a team during the season and becoming a head coach of another team. Yeah, the only one I can remember was Lionel Collins did it. I think he left Milwaukee and went to Memphis, you know, right at the start of the

14:29grit and grind era. Yeah, Lionel Collins. I mean, you know, you make a reference like that. Then we're going to have to reference the big big upper body and he was tough in the key and like he and Adrian dantley kind of played the same way a little bit. Remember that? Oh, yeah, no, I'm a multiple time WM, sorry, multiple time NBA champion once with my six years and once with Portland, I believe, right? Yeah, they're your sixers, but a couple of Sundays ago, they were everybody else's sixers. If you know what I mean. Yeah, no doubt. I didn't feel like a couple of a couple of quickies to close here for Fenty Chris Finch at coach of the T Wolves, I owe and bones together is I mean, they pushed the pace that that adds a little speed to the equation here, doesn't it? Yeah, we love it. It's a good change of pace. You know, for Anthony and Julius, we're a little again, we're a little bit more deliberate there, although that unit with with the first unit, you know, Dante and Jayden do a really

15:34good job of getting out and stretching the floor. But what we love about IO and bones is they can convert quickly. So it's not just playing fast, they get to the bucket and they can finish. So they take opportunities and determine the points and hurry. Well, last one here, it's a two-parter. And I've been a little out of pocket the last few days. Great seeing you guys in Denver Sunday, by the way. But have you, have you, like, have you been asked a lot of questions of late about your relationship with Anthony Edwards off the past the ball, walk off Clippers night? Yeah, I mean, of course, you know, I've had a few. It's not been too too many. I think most people who are in the game understand that these exchanges happen and we move on. I mean, Anthony and I barely discussed it. We just talked about it a little bit kind of last and, you know, we're both fine. And, you know, and there's been no residual issue here. Yeah, you know, I mean, there was a something captured between Luca and JJ Reddick the other day.

16:39I mean, you know, this competitive environment that we work in. And, you know, we're not afraid to share our feelings at the time. And I think it's good when you can have these exchanges and then everything's fine afterwards. I mean, let's everybody know that, you know, we got a healthy relationship because we're be able to move on and, you know, we've had those types of exchanges with multiple people on the team, not just exclusive to Anthony. So to land the plane on this and the conversation, being a coach, and I'm thinking of you and being a coach, a teacher, a dissenting, a dissenting opinion sometimes, a surrogate family member, and all of that to a superstar. I'm guessing working with and befriending Anthony Edwards has absolutely been a highlight of your career. Oh, absolutely. And watching him grow and become the player he has and put the work in and benefit from

17:45it. And obviously, everybody and organizationally, we're benefiting from it. But as anyone will tell you, like, everybody wants to be coached, you know, myself included, like, I want to be back on things that I can do differently or better. And that's just, that comes with a wealth, an environment, a level of accountability. You can't be afraid of your best players, like, you know, you can't be afraid of your best players. I don't think any coach, you know, that's trying to win at the highest levels or create a culture of, you know, coaching and accountability is going to shy away from being, you know, from coaching as best players. I've always thought your only going to be as good as your ability and your willingness to coach your best players. And the great thing for us is our best players are highly coachable. That was excellent. Congratulations on the recent news with Second Harvest Heartland. We thank them for their inclusion each and every week you joined.

18:48Tare it up tonight. We'll talk soon. All right. Thanks so much, P.A. Take care. See you buddy. That is Finchie Finchie. Coach of the Minnesota Timber Wolves courtesy of Second Harvest Heartland to harvest.org and prize picks as part of the Timber Tech What's Undeck set list, which includes the scribe Ben Gesling joining us today about 10 o'clock covers the Vikings for the Star Tribune. He'll be preceded by Kevin Gorg, a lot of hockey taking place in the month of March and certainly locally. And we will get into all that with a KG about 45 make that about 20 minutes from now. And today is Tuesday, which means this is a talk back Tuesday. It's tied to a sponsor. It's tied to a prize and it's tied to mad producer. Good morning. Talker Tuesday is presented by Northern fire grilling in barbecue supplies. So it's a talk back Tuesday indeed with the free I heart radio app hit the microphone. Give us up to your best 30 seconds.

19:49It's a Vikings related talker today. Talk back machine. If I told you the Vikings were going to add Kyler Murray this off season as part of their plan to raise the level of the QB room, what would you say? No wrong answers. And if it happens for some of you, we'll pretend this never took place. If the Vikings add Kyler Murray, how does that hit you? Your name and where you're from, use the talk back machine. One of you is going to get a $25 gift card, the prestigious honor of the tastiest talk back courtesy of Northern fire grilling in barbecue supply in Minnetonka, Northern fire BBQ.com. Lately my friends keep asking what I'm doing to my skin. Honestly, I didn't change my makeup. I changed my skincare. It's called Farmhouse Fresh. This award-winning fresh grown brand is a 14 year favorite of US spas and beauty magazines and celebrities agree.

20:50If you're over 40 and feel like nothing really makes a difference anymore, this does. My skin looks brighter, smoother, and yes, people notice. Get the Farmhouse Fresh Skincare Glow, go to farmhousefreshskincare.com. Next Monday, our 2026 I Heart Podcast Awards are happening live in South by Southwest. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. Thank you so much, I Heart Radio. Thank you to all the other nominees, you guys are awesome. Catch live next Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific free at Veebs.com or the Veebs app. I'm Clayton Nackered and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would.

21:52But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines? It began as a one night stand and ended in a courtroom with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of he said she said and the search for accountability in a honesty of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. AGO WOTA is your host for the 2026 I Heart Podcast Awards live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom, AGO may have a few father related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad?

22:54Our podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny heartfelt conversations with actors including fellow SNL alums, comedians, musicians and more about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know AGO. Follow Thanks Dad with AGO WOTA and start listening on the pre-I Heart Radio app today. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the burden of guilt season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Termaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Termaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth, until a confession changed everything.

23:59I was a monster. Listen to the burden of guilt season 2 on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. KFN welcomes great shows. To the lead champion theater this year, John Mulaney will be their August 22nd. And Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms will be their September 12th. That's sweet. Get the complete details on all the upcoming shows via the concert page, KFN.com and the keyword is calendar. And last segment, P.A., I asked for some talkbacks on a talker Tuesday and simply enough, hey, I told you, Rube Nation, that Kyler Murray was going to be the answer to everyone's question in regard to what is raising the level of the QB Room look like in 2026, while some listeners have already chimed in. Let's check out, oh, here we go.

25:01I'm going to actually play. That would be sweet. I think P.A. Nardo Thomas from Chan Hassan here, if you were to tell me Kyler Murray were to be a Viking, this upcoming season, I would be all on board. I trust K.O.C. I trust this offense. Kyler has the tools, me and my fans football chats. We are all K1 from day one. I think that this is some over there in Arizona wasn't the best fit for him. I think K.O.C. will put him in the bright spots, sure, he had the best fight in and football over there in Arizona, but not the best five receiver number 18, Justin Jefferson. Thank you. Ooh. Thanks, my brother. K1 from day one. So what's the, what's behind the Kyler Murray premise? Well, just kind of is it a, is it a big like, was it a big, big talker after the combine? Alec jumping here and stamp it. What's going on with it? Well, it's been a conversation piece as part of the long list. We played that game last week. You got labor, labor in studio. We're talking about Derek Carr coming out of retirement. There was mention and steam at the combine last week.

26:02Maybe you heard it while you were there. Maybe you didn't. Maybe you have Anthony Richardson being a, an enticing option because of that moment they had a couple years ago on the field where Kevin O'Connell was being very encouraging post game. So those sorts of connections and then Kyler Murray, the idea that, that, you know, the money piece matters except if he's not traded, there's steam that the cardinals would be apt to just release him. So then therefore, you're not fighting the money aspect of it. You're fighting the, does he fit and can we work with this? I also think there's a lot of interest behind the fact that Kyler Murray, I believe, is 28 years old. So he's been in the legal while, but still just 28, where a Kirk cousins, we know that he's in elder states been 37-ish, I believe. There are car 35, you know, Smith in his mid 30s that, you know, you look at reclamation projects, which is potentially what this would be. There's steam behind the idea that Kyler Murray could be among the most raw, talented aspects of the options in front of us.

27:03The only Kyler Murray related conversation I had with somebody off the microphone in Indianapolis, and I really don't like doing this because I'm not going to say the person's name. So we're sourcing here, but it's not an affront or an attack on somebody a source said. Right. I don't like that. Personally speaking, I was told Kyler Murray, now that this is, this is commonplace with quarterbacks and availability, whether they're getting drafted or to a certain extent, they're free agents. Kyler Murray, for whatever the reason, really wants to play here and Kyler Murray, he wants to. Yes, he wants to badly. Oh, yes. Kyler Murray. And I was told that by somebody who 85% would know, and not locally. So that's, you know, I don't need to wrap my mind around Kyler Murray. Well, I'm not. So we'll listen to the talk backs.

28:04We will hear what they have to say about preferences and perhaps I can be sold on Kyler Murray working in this Kevin O'Connell offense because I would have to be sold on it. I would also have to be sold that the man's engagement level or perceive thereof is at a different level than it was previously. But you know, that's, that's a personal opinion. So therefore we're not riding any steam on that or anything, we're not being told who wants Kyler, he's made his money, he doesn't care. So I haven't been told that. But I just would, and this comes also without really being so confused with this situation and at this stage of the equation, not seeking answers, I'm confused. Yeah. I followed the, the Anthony Richards and stuff from the combine over the weekend, surprised

29:04me a little bit. Big no thanks on that. Yeah. It's, it's a no thanks for me too, but I don't want a short change what this staff can do with certain skill sets. So that'd be below Kyler for me, Kyler, Kyler with 87, 87 regular season starts. That's obviously a little different. The way Geno Smith plays the game is different than those two. Then you get the Mac Jones situation that's kind of become called product. You're just not, you're not here and much or, but you know what, when, when things are most silent, sometimes maybe, maybe the, the wheels are ground grinding most loudly. Yeah. When it's most silent, not only here, but other places. So I think that I'm confused. The Mac Jones, the reason I brought up the age is, is, so what is the, what is the, what is the purpose in making the move? If it's Geno Smith, it's a shorter term option. If it's a Kirk Cousin, certainly a shorter term option.

30:05And with, with the lack of faith that many have in, in J.J. McCarthy, kind of the idea is, okay, let's, let's see if number nine can grow. We've only seen 10 games. Yeah. But man, if it goes south, I, I want, I want that competition, whatever that looks like in 2026, we're still all just kind of mentally putting that picture together. Yeah. That's still like in his 20s that Mac Jones could potentially be the answer for five or six or seven years, health and productivity, of course, playing a part of that versus the Geno Smith, love what he did and, and his own reclamation project that took place in Seattle. Mm-hmm. He was just dreadful last season among many issues in Las Vegas. That leaves a certain taste in people's mouths, I think. But but also that is not a, a, as long a term and option potentially as, as maybe these younger cats would be. Jeremy Fowler, the senior reporter for ESPN, when I sat down with him last week and we, and we played the interview back Tuesday, I mean Thursday, but I sat down with him on

31:06the Tuesday. A lot, a lot can change at scheme central in Indianapolis from a Tuesday all the way through a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Isn't that bringing it up is because I caught a headline somewhere that Fowler kind of made it sound in an interview, a podcast. I don't think it's a story, but it was something recent, maybe even yesterday or the day before, that like, like McCarthy's time here might be done. It's like it just think about it, you know, if the, if I saw that, yeah, you and I are dating. All right. Now all of a sudden I'm talking about somebody else. Well, you know, it's just launching, you know, we're going to bring somebody else in. It was some kind, some type of like boyfriend, girlfriend, dating or some type of analogy that he used and like the writings on the wall, when you see that they're interested in bringing others in, well, the question would be what type of quarterback would they bring in off what you said, you know, if you could get four, five, six, maybe potentially

32:11a future quarterback. So that, there's that part of the equation too. It's crazy how much it's not really a post-mortem. He's still on the team, but it has been interesting over the course of the off season, where it kind of trickles out, okay, I've seen reporting done. He didn't, we didn't, we were worried about maybe how he would handle having to sit a second year. You, I'm sure you've seen some of that where it's just the, the post-mortem on the 2025 season has been such where there, there was more to what happened last spring with the quarterback spot and moving forward, there are concerns about how he might even handle being the, the leader of a franchise, being QB1 in the NFL. And these are just kind of new things that we haven't talked about before. So if there is worry about that, then, then there is trouble potentially with that spot long term. But in the end, I think Kevin O'Connell sticking to his guns is going to say, I need this room to be better.

33:11And create, and you know what, JJ, you can continue to grow, you got the right to win this job and we're excited for you to do that because we, we took you with the 10th overall pick, but we got to handle what's best for the team and maybe the, what's best for the team means a more competitive environment for all number nine. From the radio station of hockey in the state of hockey, KG joins nine to noon next lately my friends keep asking what I'm doing to my skin, honestly, I didn't change my makeup. I changed my skin care. It's called Farmhouse Fresh. This award-winning fresh-grown brand is a 14 year favorite of U.S. spas and beauty magazines and celebrities agree. If you're over 40 and feel like nothing really makes a difference anymore, this does. My skin looks brighter, smoother, and yes, people notice. Get the Farmhouse Fresh Skincare Glow, go to farmhousefreshskincare.com Big will honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative

34:15talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is... Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. Thank you so much. I heart radio. Thank you to all the other nominees who guys are awesome. Watch live next Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific free at Veebs.com or the Veebs app. I'm Clayton Neckard and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines? It began as a one night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search for it. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before.

35:16I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. This season, an epic battle of he said she said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. I have done nothing to get hurted by the f*** bachelor! Listen to Love Trap on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Ego Woda is your host for the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom, Ego may have a few father related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad? Her podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow SNL alums, comedians, musicians, and more, about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. Get to know Ego. Hello, thanks Dad with Ego Woda and start listening on the pre iHeartRadio app today. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast.

36:17This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Termaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Termaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lies are partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth, until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Welcome to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan.

37:21What up, Gorgi? Joining us in just a couple of seconds, but I did this a year ago, and I'm pumped to do it again. This sports show is back. It's this weekend. In fact, March 5th through the 8th at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It's the latest fishing and outdoor gear, boats and RVs, power sports, really cool stuff that you can see, everything you need for the season. But I'm going to be there this Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. It's a Friday night fish fry at the Northwest Sports Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. So join me. There's some fish and chips, KFN.com, you were calendar. Clearly approaching the National Hockey League post season or off the blues loss. After the Colorado win, clearly you got too much on your mind right now, Spot, and here's what we mean with Kevin Gorg, side-ranked analyst, Fandall, the wild have Tampa Bay this evening, the Fox 9, all right.

38:22So I saw, I saw on social media this morning that you were going to do a Fox 9 hit talking about the wild or whatever tournament, the whole thing, hockey stay tournament, whole thing. So you drove from the west side to the east side and what happened? I walk into Grand Casino Arena and I've been texting with producer guy as recent as last week and walk in. They're not there. And I'm like, this is weird. They're not there. They're not only Saturday. It does. And so I go back to my text chain and I'd written down Tuesday, the third, you know, be there at 815 on the air to 830, look at the text chain. They hit son Thursday. Oh geez. So it was your mistake. 100% mine. Right. All mine. And with the state high school hockey tournament beginning Thursday, a tone, a man named Tony. We're getting tomorrow. Beginning tomorrow. Tony Scott from youth hockey hub. He's going to join 9 to new. Got a little later. It's an annual occurrence. And do you have any preferences in the AA? You know, I think more heads going to be really tough. They, you know, they got the monkey off the city's back last year after what, eight different

39:26runner up times for the spuds. They've had a great year. They've put a great schedule. It's cool that some of the big dogs are in there. I think the most intriguing matchup might be a Friday night showdown with a diner and more head. If they both survive, they'll be favored to do so on Thursday. They played in the state football championship back in November. Idina won an epic game, 4235, that's your guard. More head beat. Idina for the title last year. They beat stillwater. They beat stillwater. Yes. Okay. So did more head beat. Idina the game before that. Might have been them in the quarters. Yes. If they meet here, Idina beat them 4235 in the state championship. Idina's goalie, your guard had six touchdowns and rushed for 320 yards. So it really interesting dynamic. Now I'll be traveling Thursday. I'll be watching via the laptop, but I'm working all four games on Wednesday for Channel 45. I'll be in the booth with Jim Erickson. Super excited about the opportunity. I think George is. Chorsky part of the mix. Sure. He's been there forever. Make the ladies in the mix.

40:26I know parish and climber will both be up there. Of course, Chris Long at the desk and Jimmy Erickson does an awesome job on the play by play side. I don't know how he does it. P.A. You've done the gig on the hockey side to memorize all those names and numbers and do all those games. Four on Wednesday, four on Thursday and obviously the weekends busy. He is a machine. Got is he good? Now, somebody I was chatting with somebody last week about the state high school hockey tournament. Yeah. So Joey Collin, Matt's kid, okay, I think it's a sophomore. Yep. All right. Somebody said to me last week that he there's a good chance he'll be the first overall pick in the NHL draft like whenever whenever he's eligible to be drafted. That's that's high praise. That's saying a lot, right? I could it's still a year or two away, but man, you know, it doesn't surprise me. If you, you know, we both got to know Matt Collin when he played for the wild and played pro forever. The work ethic, the hockey knowledge, the hockey skill, it feels like it's been passed

41:28on to all his kids because when you watch his kids play, there are many Matt Collin. So I think NHL teams see that and say, you know, sometimes it might just be in the bloodlines and they're, they're unbelievable players. More has got to just such a stacked lineup. It's going to be fun to watch Tampa Bay tonight. Where do you, Kutcheroff? What where do you slot Kutcheroff among the best in show these days? Could you like never hear his name in the conversations, but then all he does is put a that numbers every single year. We've just had this conversation coming off the winter Olympics because it was a minor upset that the team USA beat Canada and that gold medal game. And on paper, we argued, at least I argued that the best four players on the planet right now are named McKinnon, McDavid, McCarr and Celebrini. So if those are your four best, I think Kutcheroff has to be considered next in line, right? I think he's top five. If you look at his consistent production, if you look at the Cupcred, one a couple of Stanley

42:32cups, he's got to be right in that mix for top five. I will argue that those four are clearly the best four. The next five or six include Kutcheroff. They include Quinn Hughes and boy, the way map all these planes, he's making quite the push. He's top 20 for sure, top 10, maybe on the horizon for number 12. And then so if you get to the next five and like casting the gaze the way a year or two down the road, Lucas Raymond, Logan Cooley, I mean, names like that are part of the equation because they're coming at, they're coming at these players hard. We just saw Logan, you know, Cooley and you know, you look at the young talent in this league and you look at some of the, the up and com or Celebrini, still a teenager. You look at Conor Bedard and Chicago, who the wild are going to see twice here later in March. It's unbelievable. What a great place the NHL is in right now. And you look at some of the drama around Bill Garen when he picked that roster. I mean, Colt Caughfield's an unbelievable player. He's electric. He's watching.

43:32He's incredible. But I mean, you know, and Billy clearly made the right picks. My point is though there is talent all over this league and a lot of these players are under the age of 25. And so yeah, the league, the league right now is at a very good place off that Olympic push. I think you're getting more people to watch these games and when we get to play off hockey here in six weeks, boys, it's going to be, you know, get your popcorn ready. Must see TV marathoning with Kevin Gorg Ed Gorgramatic to one via X. Steve's appliances. Thank you very much for the marathon segments. The 50th anniversary sale is in play right now up to 50% off, select appliances, take advantage at Steve's appliances.com. So whether it's with the wild or what you've seen around the league after the Olympics, then they're there. A lot of them coming off layoffs, the celebrations and and winning at Denver for this team. That that St. Louis game look, I mean, it looked like the trap of all traps ever to trap and did it play out that way?

44:33Did it surprise you at all? It did surprise me just because the wild at a hard time consistently generating good looks, which even when they've had tough nights and I look at the game in Utah off that emotional winning Denver, wasn't a total shock to any of us that they struggled, but they still got a bunch of grade A chances in that hockey game and bold in a couple break away. So I've had a couple of good looks. What surprised me the most about the St. Louis game is how well St. Louis checked Minnesota they kept Minnesota of the outside outside of a couple really good looks. I know Tara Senka with the goalie pulled had that amazing chance on hope for Minnesota didn't have a lot of great look. So I think that was something that that's certainly John Hines and the coaching staff looked at and said, okay, we got to hit the reset button and that's going to happen in the course of the season. The wild PA are in a really weird spot right now because you're not catching Colorado and no one behind you can catch you. So you pretty much know six weeks ahead of time, you're getting ready to play Dallas in that first round. That's going to be a hell of a series.

45:33But in the meantime, we've got six weeks of hockey here. We've got 21 games left to play. So they've got to stay focused. They've got to keep playing their game. It wasn't one of their better games against the Blues. I thought St. Louis played great. I thought their goalie was solid, but I would expect a good bounce back tonight against the team in Tampa Bay that is really good. No, no chance to catch the abs in the division right there. Nine up with two games at hand. It's not happening. So abs minus 3,000 to win the division. Shane Lowry was minus 3,000 on the 16 team, which not get into that because you never know, I guess wild plus 10,000. So we'll cross out that, that divisional spotty for spotty. But off the off the way I asked you that last question, off the Olympics layoff celebrations all thing, the I would guess I would bet that the wild will have big time pep in their step tonight. For sure, because I mean, you know more than me, man, do you think there's a transition for the USA Olympians to go from that frenetic pace in the Olympics back to regular season

46:36games, human nature is, as we say, gets to win too occasionally, but they, and then so you get that Colorado game and then you get to St. Louis game. Well, now we're all back to normal tonight's going to be the bomb tonight should be great because it's national TV. It's a late night puck drop. I think it's like 8.45 pm and Minnesota, the wild had a way of evaluating their game against the leagues elite and we've seen them beat Colorado now two out of three matchups. We've seen them the last couple of years beat this Tampa team beat the Florida Panthers with all their cup cred. So I would expect Minnesota tonight to bring their A game for sure. It's going to be a great atmosphere at Grand Casino arena. And then I think for all those USA guys specifically now to get back into the rhythm of the season. And I know Quinn uses done the little mediator and that's been really cool to watch. But now you can settle back in and John Hines talked about this after tonight, they've got a couple of good days to just catch their breath, have a practice day. And then you go back on the road, you play Vegas on Friday, you go back to Denver for

47:39a Sunday matinee. Think about this week Tampa, Vegas, Colorado, I think that'll bring out the best in the wild as they kind of sit in this weird spot on the schedule where they know who they're going to play in the playoffs. They really do. But they've got to still play some great hockey and create some momentum and trade deadline Friday. Friday. So minds, you know, minds drifting. It just happens with everybody everywhere this time of the year. What Robby, Fabry, Robby Fabry, wild claimed him off waivers. What do we know about him? He's want to Stanley Cup. So I think the cup cred is always a good thing to have in the locker room and he's a perfect addition for your bottom six, your third and fourth line. You look at players like Ben Jones and Tyler Pitlick, they've been just fine. This guy brings a little more offensive potential, a little more flexibility in the lineup. And with that, you know, again, the experiences that he's had, he's never going to be guy's going to light the world on fire. But you go back a couple of years and he scored 15, 16, 17 goals. So this guy can produce and he can be a nice debt player for you.

48:41And I think, you know, you look at this week for Minnesota, they're probably just fine. The way they are right now, ready to make a run. It just feels like in listening to Bill Gehran, he had that afternoon press conference before we did the broadcast against the blues. They're really pushing hard for a center and reading the tea leaves PA. They're really pushing hard for, for Joe check on the Rangers. Yeah. It's, and I picked this up from the athletic this morning, might have been a Russo radio story. And or with Joe Smith, Ranger Center, Vincent Tro check. He had a quote from the athletic. You've seen a quote, if I'm, if I'm, if I'm going to get traded to a team that's in the same situation as us, the Rangers, then I don't want to move. That sounds miserable in a new, to be in a new city. I'm 32 years old. I would like to win a Stanley Cup. So if I'm going to get traded, I'd like to go to a team that's winning or as a chance to win. So that, I mean, clearly he's open to getting traded. He has a 12 team, no trade, wild, not unsaid list.

49:44We are a winning team that's your Minnesota wild. Clearly they, they, they covet Tro check and he doesn't mind leaving. What do you think of all this? I think he wants to come here. And I think part of the tell might be when they were doing the different pictures throughout the lead up to the start of the Olympic hockey, they did a picture with the three wild players. And he photobombed. Oh wow. Well, players as kind of a prank and he's got a great relationship with Billy Garen. He's clearly tight with those three guys, right? With Faber and Boldy and Quinn. So and you got John Hines, right behind the bench and he was a huge part of that penalty kill that John Hines ran during the winter Olympics that went 18 for 18. So the Rangers kind of have the wild in a weird spot because the Rangers know how much the wild want them. The beauty of Bill Garen is and and Russel reported that in the article that you're, that you read, he gives you his offer and this is his offer and he did the same thing with Vancouver when the wild were able to get Quinn used. So the offers on the table from everything we've been told and now we'll see what the

50:46Rangers do. What is Robert Thomas's name still in the Asian? I mean, he kind of tore us up on Sunday, didn't he? Yeah, decent game ahead that empty net goal and he's a younger version of Tro check, right? He's a guy that can win your face off. He's a right handed shot guy. You could use them on the power play. You can use them in all different areas. He's a really solid player. The difference in looking at a Tro check move compared to a move for Thomas is you're going to probably have to give up a lot more capital to get Thomas because he's six years younger. And I think that, that might include some bigger pieces. So I think Billy is looking at Tro check is the perfect fit for right now. And I think if you're handicapping this, it makes more sense. So Marcus Felino. So with beloved moose being out and unspecified amount of time with a lower body injury and it being trade deadline week and he got a bunch of monsters on the horizon beginning tonight with the lightning like you said, these are tenuous times. I mean, I just wonder if the trading part of the equation, if anything changes with moose

51:50being out for a little while. Well, we asked Bill Garin that direct question PA and that presser on Sunday and he said players like Marcus Felino are not easy to find. And so what I read from, from his commentary to us is they're hopeful that if you can get him a little time now and when I say a little time, it might be you get this guy right, maybe in time for the playoffs because I look at Marcus Felino's game and how the rink absolutely does shrink during the playoffs and how much more physical it is and how much more you need players like Felino. The red flag for me is we just had three weeks off and he's still got something going on here. They've got to get him right. And so the timing might be okay to say, all right, we believe we can get him back and are ready to go in time for April 18th when the playoffs start. In the meantime, let's fix this center position. Let's go get tro check. But it's a huge concern because Felino's great every night and you felt being around the guys even on that afternoon day when they played saying Lewis that something was missing.

52:51The emotion he brings, the energy he brings, it's a different team without him. And so they've got to get him right in time for the postseason, no doubt. Steven Stamcos is obviously hockey immortality might be available, right? And Nashville's kind of teetering on playoff contention, but you're right. Well, so I read that in the same athletic story this morning for Stamcos, 29 goals for the preads. They lose to the wings last night and he's a right handed shot who always has had high end left circle snipe to him on power plays, he's still strong on face offs as I read. In fact, he won five of eight face offs last night against the wings. So like if it comes to Stamcos, I think he's like 36, 37 or whatever we think. I wouldn't say no. I mean, watching him up close a few weeks ago in Nashville, this guy still brings the juice. Really? Oh, yeah, he can still play, man. And think about what he would, okay, specifically on the powercoise and Martin's San Luis that that's and like have a liet.

53:54Oh, yeah, that's like 20 years. Well, I mean, this guy younger than those two, but here's what I'll tell you. If you envision the wild in the postseason with Quinn Hughes at the top of the power play, and you've got boldly on one side, you've got Stamcos on the other. You've got Eck in front. You've got Capri Sov roving around, so you got Stamcos in the OV circle on the power play. Correct. Well, that's the bomb. Yeah. And that's what that's what's missing. Like Minnesota does not have a ton of right shot options for that half wall position that can do what a guy like Stamcos could do. So I wouldn't count that out. The speaking of the red wings, the red wings, 50 to one to win the cup. Does that have some spot up to you or are they not ready? It's higher than I thought it would be me too, because they've been really good all year. They've got a ton of offense. I've got enough star power up front. You know, you look at what a dynamic player Dylan Larkin is. Yep. I wonder about their goal tending, you know, trying to win four consecutive series, but at 50 to one, I mean, they feel like a team that should be in that 20 to 25 to one range,

55:00like Minnesota is Minnesota is around 20. 18. Yeah. And so that does seem high as I look at those numbers. Yeah. That might be a team worth a little $10 spotty. All right. First time cup winner. What do you think of this? You get all these teams for plus 600 San Jose, Seattle Nashville Columbus, the wild Utah Winnipeg Buffalo and Ottawa at plus 600, which is so you get the feel there of the non cup winners of plus 600. Well, I'd rather just bet two teams on that list, Minnesota and Buffalo, because to me, they're the two best teams on that list. You just rattled off and how cool would it be? I mean, obviously for us, Minnesota is an old brainer, but Buffalo, man. They are turning some heads. They are, they are playing some unbelievable hockey. And it's a great story. You know, we know how good tap is. We're going to watch them tonight. Buffalo's like three or four points behind them for the division lead. So the sabers to me are one of the great stories this year. Yeah. Well, remember the Saturday matinee you had out there? Yes.

56:00The day of or day before Buffalo Denver and football. Yeah. I mean, that's like the first time that I really sat down in my life and honed in on win use. And I would because it's very early in his run here. And I'm a holy stage tops and that big who knew? Oh, look at our guy. It was a game too. That was phenomenal. All right. What about this? All Canadian teams missing the playoffs. All right. It's plus 2700. It should be Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa. See the problem you're going to run into here is it's going to be really hard for a couple of those teams to miss Edmonton. Right. And Montreal to me seem like almost locks, but the rest of a moral, I mean, Vancouver, what a disaster. That's turned out to be hoof to save travels this week. Thanks for the time on the radio. Enjoy the high school hockey tournament. We'll be watching you and go wild tonight. Thanks PA. Thanks, brother. Kevin Gorgson, your spotty on the world of hockey on the radio station for hockey in

57:01the state of hockey, Minnesota state of hockey, 958. We moved to football with the scribe around the corner on KFA. Next Monday, our 2026 iHard podcast awards are happening live in South by Southwest. This is the biggest night in podcasting. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. Thank you so much. I heart radio. Thank you to all the other nominees. You guys are awesome. Watch live next Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific free at Veepes.com or the Veepes app. Ego Woda is your host for the 2026 iHard podcast awards live at South by Southwest. Hello, is anybody there? Raised by a single mom, Ego may have a few father related issues. Are we supposed to talk about your dad? Her podcast, Thanks Dad, is full of funny heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow SNL alums, comedians, musicians, and more about life and their wonderfully complicated

58:01relationships with their fathers. I think and hope that's a good thing. To know Ego, follow Thanks Dad with Ego Woda and start listening on the free iHard Radio app today. Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. My latest episode is with Hilary Duff, singer, actress, and multi-platinum artist. You desire in family like this picture and that's not reality. My sister and I don't speak, it's definitely a very painful part of my life and I hope it's not forever, but it's for right now. Welcome to on-purpose with Jay Chetty on the iHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Peace to the planet, Shalameen to God here and listen, we are back. The Black Effect podcast festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yacht. Yeah. And the full lineup is nuts. We got the Gripson Age podcast, The Auntie Kyle, and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 5, 20 with Jeff Teague in the gang. Yeah, yeah. Don't call me white girl.

59:01Keep it positive, sweetie with Chris Thlewer, Nate. We got reality with the King, with Carlos King. Drink champ for being the building. Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests. So, you need to join us and we got the Black Effect marketplace, the picture podcasts, and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Tickles are on tail right now, go get your That BlackEffect.com slash Podcast Festival, don't play yourself, okay? Pull up. I heard in TikTok have come together to create something new. I love it. Where the world of TikTok meets your playlist. Three words that will change your life. I hear TikTok radio. The biggest hits across I hear radio. What's trending for you on TikTok? Tell me a sound that's better than this. Plus TikTok's most influential creators all in one place. Don't miss the debut of I hear TikTok radio. Tonight at 10. Right here on your radio. And on the free iHeart app.

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