The Jason Gregor Show - September 29, 2026 - Hour 4

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2:04Just after five o'clock, how you doing on a lovely Tuesday? It is the season opener in the national hockey league and get all your action to play Alberta. Dot C.A. We got a little Oswoo specials for you today. Some order action, some golden nights, black hocks as well. I think the the golden nights. Pretty good chance to come away, Victorus in that game tonight. Also we got to MLB playoffs four games today. The first one is already concluded as Atlanta won at home five to three. The white socks are winning five to two in the top of the six. Then you got the Red socks in New York and the cubbies taken on the Padres. Backle tried to be watching that one from his phone in the press box tonight. I'm guessing. And then of course, five slates of games in the national hockey league tonight. The defending champs and Panthers, a little bit of a snooze fest.

3:07How about this? They played 40 minutes. The hurricanes have 10 shots. The Panthers have 14. There's no goals. It has been boring start for that first game. Then you have the Canadians and Maple Leafs at five our time, Rangers Bruins after six. Then the orders and connox just after eight and black hocks and golden nights. So we'll get things going around eight 40 our time tonight. Elks have the the by week in the CFL. And I do have some NFL stats I want to get to. If you're a believer like some eerie numbers when it comes to like identical starts to occur like literally identical. We'll get to that in a sec. And first let's get to the spec report brought you by G S construction. Your underground infrastructure specialist and they're hiring. Go to G S construction.ca slash careers and you'll see super intended. They're looking for a top man. Pipeliers and more. The job for you for a great company with fantastic benefits and they love promoting from within

4:08G S construction is Mark Specter from Roger sports net joins a spec. Good afternoon. How you doing? Pretty good. Pretty good. Beautiful day watching the hockey for the first time. Life's good man. Here we go. It is good. No, that's mean a snooze fast so far between other than other than the tilter and not a lot going on in that Florida Carolina game so far on the orders. Ryan Newgen Hopkins kind of creeps up here and all of a sudden he's out for a few games. Dickinson's out. And I guess that hey, that's a way to force the coach not to play dry subtle McDavid together is like taking Dickinson and Newgen Hopkins out of your line. Season ended last year with four center manager. Yeah, and it starts this year with two injured. Your second and third line center matter both out. And that's those are really important positions man. Those are, you know, those are really important positions. So the others are missing four forwards with Newgen Hopkins, Dickinson, Jan Mark, and

5:09who's my fifth. So our fourth is Savoy. So you know, that's a top line winner and your second and third line center and fourth line winner. That's a lot of guys, man. If you count Freddie Anderson, that's five regulars. It should be in line up the dark. So they got a little bit adversity early and figured out everybody gets it. They just got theirs before everybody else. That's all. Yeah, well, no, it's true. And, you know, obviously they hope that it's not too serious, but now, Emmington, hey, they've got McDavid and Drisle. That's the thing. You can lose some centers. Your top few centers are very good. You know, doc and, and Owen Michaels, people will look and say, well, I'm not sure. But the connox, the connox are going with two guys who aren't regular centers tonight either. So it's, it's not, and I'll take Emmington's top two centers over Vancouver's top two centers all day, every day. And as they like to say, spec twice on Sunday. Yeah, this is one of those games where you think that, I mean, you, you look at your roster and you see we're better than the other team. But if we, if we play the right way and we play it patient, strong game, and we don't

6:10give a bunch of chances, and maybe, maybe because you don't have what you want, and you're line up, said a little bit of a flux, you've got to play the lower event hockey, and you count on your goalies, and you win a game three to one. And it doesn't have to be fancy and have lots of points and lots of goals and lots of fun. And you can be boring, right? No one's going to remember this game, except for who won it and who lost it. And that's where you are. When you get injured, like they always say this, you fall, you got to have something to fall back on. You got to have structure to fall back on. What's kind of early in the season? They're still figuring their structure out here. But this is one of those games, and this is not a time to go out and try to win seven five. No, probably, let's be honest here. I would gladly play a fire wagon hockey with the Knox, because I don't think they have the offense to do it, didn't capture back. Just a couple of years ago, didn't they open against the Knox two and a row, a couple of years ago and losing both. Yeah, but that Knox team had JT Miller and Quinn, he like that, a way better lineup. Yeah, but M.A. It's supposed to walk all over them and they lost them both.

7:12So, you know, don't take them lightly. They're trying to. Yeah, oh, I don't think the orders will take them lightly at all spec. Like I've said, the orders when they get a new coach are very good. Like really good. Jay Woodcroft takes over in February of 2022 and they go 26, nine and three. Yep. Then you go to fast forward 18 months, well, a little bit more than 18 months, 20 months. And Chris Knoblock takes over. The team was 39 and one when he took over in their first 38 games, which was the same as Knoblock. They went 29 and nine. They finished with the best record in the NHL from when Knoblock got hired at 4618 and five. Okay. Like, so I look at Mike Babcock. They better have a good start spec because everybody's raven about all the coaches, what we need, the coaches, what we need. This team is proven and I've said it, they'll respond to the new coach early because they've done it. They didn't come in with a coach with a, you know, a great pedigree of winning in the NHL

8:13or anything like that. No, they had rookie head coaches and they were still kicking ass because they're rosters good. And they will absorb all the information the coach brings. It's new. It's exciting. This is what we want. This is what we want. But they said the same thing about the other coaches. It's to me. Is it long standing? It's not there. It's not the start. It's going to be year two and year three. That's where I'll see if the difference. Well, okay, that's fair. I mean, listen, this is a team that it's about the totally about the right now. It's a funny team. You know, it's thinking about this the other day. Like, let's say Vancouver. There's a hundred things that could happen this year that Vancouver would say, you know, what? We're happy with our season. Like, they could make the playoffs. Oh my God. You know, they can have all their young guys take steps. They could, they could, you know, beat the orders four times. They could, there's, there's all kinds of things that Vancouver or Calgary or numerous teams could have happened. And the season would end.

9:13They'd say, you know what? We're pretty happy with our season. Washington is only happy with their season if they win the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Right? There's nothing going even going to the cup and losing isn't enough here. And I get it. Like, I know why I've been around the whole thing the whole ride here. But it's a, it's a tall order, man. When the only way we're going to go into the summer happy is if we're going to a parade. Like, that's, you know, I could see how it's difficult not to look ahead. I can see how it's difficult to stay in the moment. And we've talked about this this morning. We've talked a lot about checking the boxes a little on the way. Don't get too far ahead because it's, it's a unique team. That's all, it's a very unique team. Yeah. No. And hey, I think the orders are good. They got, they got a good roster. Um, you know, they'll play their system well. I don't think they're going to give up a whole bunch. They'll, they'll have some nights like every team does. But overall, I think they're going to be good spec. Um, I look at with Newgen Hopkins out. Like, in whatever form that they do, the top six forwards tonight are going to be

10:16me. David Drys, I'll Howard, Hyman, Pod Coles and Captain, right? Like, they're not going to shock us and play Fredric at center. Are they? Uh, I wouldn't, I mean, that would mean they'd leave, they'd leave Howard on the third line, which I, like, someone's coming up. Let's start there. Someone's coming up for the bottom six to the top six. Yes. And Jones is going to go into the bottom six. So who's coming up? I agree with you. I think that's the guy that comes up for sure. Where does he play? I mean, you know, it's, it's, this was not blocks team. I could tell you what his lines are going to be tonight. I don't know what that Cox couldn't do. I've never seen him in the situation, right? We don't know what he, you know, it's brand new. So I got Howard on the left side with McDavid and Hyman and I got Pod Colesman back down with dry settle and Captain. That's my top six tonight. But, you know, I'm, I'm 80% on it, but I'm sure he'll have 100%. What about you? Well, I, I just don't see how like it's just too easy. I put dry settle, McDavid as my center dry settles got two guys.

11:17He's very come to with Pod Colesman and Captain Hyman and McDavid have played a ton together for the last five years. They're very good together. I can put I coward there and away we go. Um, I'm pretty caught like we, we, we had to stand both when talking about the things he's really liked about I coward is his competitiveness and how fast he isn't get, well, perfect. And now he's a guy that can still score and shoot when he gets a chance. Well, if you play it, McDavid, you know what? You don't have to worry about making plays. You just have to worry about finishing some plays and getting open. And I think he can do that. So that's why I would do it. And then, you know, I put Max Jones with Frederick and, uh, and Owen Michaels and I keep the doc line together in a way or role. That's what I would do. I'm this exactly the same as you. And I feel like the, the Frederick, uh, Owen Michaels, uh, Max Jones line is probably going to play about eight minutes. No, they're going to be the, they're going to be the fourth line of my opinion. Yeah. But I bet you they'd be the other guys. He likes his line with doc. He likes docs line. They're going to kill penalties. They're going to play more. I suspect that Owen Michaels line, especially if it's a close game. We'll, we'll get the least ice time of the four lines.

12:19That fair? Yeah, possibly. Um, but I think there's, he's talked all, all, all pre-season was about guys feeling like they play a role. I don't think there's any chance he has a forward play less than 10 minutes unless there's like a fight or something and he gets stuck in the penalty box for a long time. Okay. That's how I view it. I just don't think he's going to want to start there for. And I think the order is going to have a lead in the third period. So you're not going to have to just run three lines. That would be my other reason. Well, let's see, you know, I suck at the max Jones the other day. I always like max Jones. He's a really good, good cat. You know, he's, and listen, he's a bit of a tweener on a good team. He's a tweener. I think on a bad team, he's a fourth line player all day. But the orders are hard team to make and he has a hard time. She, you know, he's up, he's down, he's up, he's down. But he said bad cock sat with him the other day after a preseason gave me play. This came over to me the next morning. So I would be for five minutes and just told me about how well I played and what I did well that he liked. He says, man, like talk about confidence. He says he gave me just a ton of confidence and belief and he was feeling great about himself. And you know what?

13:20I don't care who the coach is. Gapcock, knoblock, who cares? Right? You sit down with a player that's on the bubble like that. The needs a little bit of belief. Like max Jones could use a shot in the arm here, right? Oh, yeah. And the coach gives it to him and he's feeling good. And boom, now all of a sudden, he's playing tonight. They didn't think he was going to play now he's playing. Well, guess what? You got a guy that's got some belief that's got some confidence. He knows the coach believes in him. So there you go. Right? You set max Jones up for for success. All of a sudden you got to use him. Let's see how he plays tonight. Yeah. And the thing was like Max Jones last year, I thought played pretty well. Right? I had no issue with him. He last year seemed to be the time where because I've seen him play well to start and then he fades. Last year, I don't think you faded. Well, when he, when he got in and that, you know, it might take him a lot longer to figure it out. But if he can figure that out because Max Jones can skate the NHL level, there's no debate about that. He's really good skater for a big man. Sure. You know, he can be physical. So, you know, what for a fort line guy, if you get your 10 11 minutes and, you know, like Vancouver doesn't really have a lot of grit in their bottom.

14:20Like Jones and Fredericks should be running around, you know, and docking. They should be the initiators. Yeah, I absolutely agree. It's a young Vancouver team with not a lot of heavy physical guys in there in their forward, you know, the bottom six. And that's where it's a night like this where a guy like Frederick needs to exert himself where he needs to take some pucks from people, put some people on their backside, knock some pucks loose. Those guys should be able to run around, man. Those bigger guys like dock, they should be able to run around a little bit tonight because Vancouver is not, you know, especially you get out there against, against LeCarramaki and those guys, they're not doing anything about it. This is where you flex your muscles a little bit for sure if you're those guys. Yeah. Speck, we will see you down at the rink tonight. Gonna have Cump's game on the scoreboard. I heard, well, the game's on. Did you hear that? Yeah. Yeah.

15:20Yeah. We all over. Although, hey, PCA, man, I put them on. There's pretty entertaining. I'd watch. I'm trying to decide whether to keep an eye on it or is it even possible to just record it at home and watch it when I get home. Like, is there any way I get home from that rink and not know who won? Well, if you don't stand, I think up in the press box in front of the TVs and intermission, I think you've brought it away with it. Just tell the two guys sitting on either side of you. Don't tell me the Cubs score. And maybe no, they're very good to wait. Could be some homeless guy. Y'all I'd be expect your Cubs got smoked. I went over the rink. Thanks, buddy. There you go. Well, then you know, then he saves you watching it. That's good. All right. Take a good one. That's Mark's back to the spectra port brought to you by GS construction. Now I want to talk about some, some identical stats. So on the weekend, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs improved to three and a and Patrick Mahomes is now 115 wins, 35 losses in his career.

16:30So that's through his first 150 games. That includes the playoffs. Okay. Tom Brady's record through his first 150 games was an identical 115 and 35. But here's where it gets a little bit weird. In the regular season, they were both 98 and 31 and both 17 and four in the playoffs. They both went five and two in their first seven AFC championships and three and two in their first five Super Bulls and they both tore their ACL and missed the playoffs in their ninth season. Freakish stuff. So now it'll be harder from a homes to a to match the next 150 games. But it is, it's weird to think that it's identical in everything. Wins losses, regular season playoffs, AFC championships, Super Bulls, ACLs blown, missing the playoffs ninth year like it is a wild stuff, cons wild stuff.

17:30So we'll see if he can, can the chiefs get bad. I have to look and see when I can't so Brady's, you know, he'd been to five already. Then when did he win his, when did one anyone is fourth? That's when I have many years later was it. So enough to I don't know what off top my head. So mostly now does that mean that he's going to leave the chiefs at some point and go in a Super Bulls somewhere else? Maybe. Maybe. But a little fun numerology for you on a Tuesday afternoon. Fourth was the Seahawks one. Seahawks one. Okay. Oh God. That's when they did. I'm involved with March on Lynch. Oh, my God. I'm about to learn. Sorry, Brad. Sorry, Brad. Could you imagine the chiefs beat the Seahawks in the similar fashion? Well, God, it'll be amazing. Like I don't know if a team would ever do that. Hey, speaking of runs, we were talking about it during the commercial break. Anybody watched that? Well, some of you watched the Bears Eagles game or maybe you just saw the highlights. Case Keena. Case Keena has a great game. You know, really excited afterwards of this kids talking to his team in the locker room. It's fantastic stuff. But they showed where he had a quarterback sneak from the one yard line.

18:32But it's not that he had a quarterback sneak. It's the had a quarterback sneak and both guards. They had both guards pull and then he just went straight forward with no one in front of him and like the defensive guys both bid on it and spread out and he just had the white. It was an unbelievable. When you watch that play call again, you're like, oh my God. This guy is a genius. And I'm telling you the Detroit Lions desperately miss him offensively. This guy, I love the creativity. I love it. You're thinking about different plays all the time. It's fantastic stuff. And I wish I wish more because I think there's still too much conservative play calling amongst a lot of those. That's what kills you. Conservative play calling kills you when you got guys who can make and come up with a play like that. It's case Keena. It's your third string quarterback. But they had the faith to call it. Fantastic call. Quick break will come back. It's Greg or show presented by play Alberta. Dotsie. 523. No goals through 45 minutes of play in Carolina.

19:36But the Maple Leaf score 48 seconds in to their home opener. William Neelander. The. Did the Habs bubble just burst? Did you see that? Nick Suzuki got walked with the blue line. Dolby Schitt's beat from distance. It's over. It's over. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But you know, that's at least fans would be saying Habs fans right now. Oh, yeah. Oh, man, there should be more chirping. You have a little fun and hockey. Everybody takes it. So damn serious. Don't you see that guy? Oh, come on. It's like, did you see that video? There's two dogs and these two dogs are friends and they come and see each other and they run through this office place and then they go around the corner and there's an open door and one dog goes through the doorway. The other dog stays on this side and then there's this long glass tunnel and the two dogs just go and yapping each other through the glass where they don't have to touch each other. And that's that's really what a lot of people do on Twitter and people fall for. It's comical. But it is easy. You want to fire people? I think I go on there right now and just say Habs season over.

20:38Dolby Schitt's beat from distance to Zuki sucks defensively and people would freak out. Now, if I was a troll, I'd do it, but I'm going to be fun. There would be now a 3 3 4 1 14 48 3 3 4 1 14 40. That's where you can text us. It is the the Gregor Show presented by play Alberta dot C a 65 million dollars up for grabs tonight in Lotto Max. Woohoo. Get your tickets play Alberta dot C a Jason Gregger Connor. Howling with you as we're going to go get to our game day preview brought to you by legacy heating and cooling. Whether rates number change over time charges that's how you build a legacy. I'd legacy heating dot C a as we welcome in Derek Van Deest from NHL.com DVD. How you doing? I'm a man.

21:39You got Jason. Party today. Hey, I am I'm pretty good. We are we got baseball playoffs going on. We got the NHL going first goal of the season happens in the game that started two hours later than the first game. So that's kind of a lot, but nonetheless, hey, it's fun times. I don't know if the owners are going to score in the first minute of the game, but. You know, even without Ryan Newgen Hopkins, you know, this is a game. The owners should take care of business. Who do you think gets promoted into the top six with Newgen Hopkins out? Yeah, that's a good question. I actually think a captain probably move up there and I'm playing that top six. Well, he was already I already had him in, right? Because he was captain, pod Coleson dry, Cidal, um, highman David, right? Because captain was on that line already with, uh, with highman and Newgen Hopkins. So yeah, sorry. So he asked me who's moving into the top six for for new because he's out. So somebody from your bottom six is coming in. There's pod calls captain in dry, Cidal Mac. Yeah. I think pod Coleson does.

22:39Like, yeah. Um, well, I think my, I think Isaac Howard would probably move up. Yeah. Play on a top line. Okay. On top six role. Uh, so I think they're obviously going to have to split up McDavid and dry side. Oh, he kept the care of their own line. Um, and so I would see Isaac Howard getting in that opportunity on that top line. And it's going to be a good opportunity for him. He's going to, you know, get a get some time playing with the economy. David is that kind of thing on the top line? And maybe, uh, you know, they can, he can show what he can do offensively. So, um, I thought to me, he's, he looked pretty good in preseason. Like he was all over the pocket. He was all around it. I thought he was getting up and up and down the ice pretty well. So to me, if that's what the way they go, obviously my bad clock wouldn't really. But that's the way they go. Um, I think I cowardly at that opportunity. Yeah. No, that would make sense. And I'm just kind of curious. Is he going to play with McDavid? Is he going to play with dry side? Well, the McDavid, Hyman Howard one makes sense to me because that means you have put colds and dry side on the cap and who played together. Last year they got, they know how to play with each other. It's kind of it's the least, uh, destructive.

23:40But you've got some guys, you got on Michaels who, uh, has come in and I think being the biggest surprise in camp for sure. He'll play as a, is NHL debut tonight with Fredric and Jones, I would think. And then you've got that doc, formantin, Joseph line together, which are, you know, two new, well, bait like docs played eight games for the orders in the, in the, in the regular season and Joseph and formantin have played none. It's almost like a brand new line for this team. So when you look at a Joseph or formantin, who do you think has a bigger impact this season? Uh, I think forming. And I just, I just, he was impressive the way he's skated. I think are you swething? A lot of us were surprised at how, how good of a skater he is. And, uh, you know, you're kind of joking because he's getting a lot of breakaways in the preseason. It wasn't converting a lot of him. Remind us of, you reminded us of Todd Mark Shant to use the back care and get all those breakaways and never score. But I think he has the ability to obviously, uh, have a big season, have an impact here. Obviously he's got a lot to prove with everything that's gone on with him.

24:42And so he's got a lot to prove to a lot of people. Uh, and I think he's going to try to make most of the second opportunity. So, uh, I think he'll, he'll come in. He'll be fired up and, and we'll see what happens. But so far, so good. Like in preseason, he's looked pretty good. So, um, I think, yeah, he'll make more of an impact than Joseph will. The, the ointers overall, uh, DVD, uh, like it is a cup or buster to get the sense that, that it's not so much because I think at times last year was all, okay, we'll just, you know, we'll get to the playoffs again and then we'll go on a run this. This year, they're more about foundation first. And then we'll worry about the playoffs. Yeah, I think so. I think it, well, you know, I think it has been a couple of bussier for the last couple years. But I think if you look around the league and how you go and win the stand, a couple of things, all have to fall in a place for you to win the cup. You look at Carolina. How long were they banging on the door before they finally broke through? You look at the Colorado, um, you know, um, obviously Vegas was, was banging on the door

25:42since their inception. So I think, you know, Ken Holland said it, brass is like, you just got to get in and, and just be competitive and hope things fall your way. Hope you don't get injured in the playoffs. Hope you get the breaks. And I think that's what the owners are doing is like, they're looking at it as, okay, you know, we can't look past the regular season and just say, we're going to flip the switch to the playoffs. It doesn't work that way. So we have to build foundations. We have to build, you know, small increments, you take everything, game, mind game and work our way up to that. And so by the time you're in the playoffs, hopefully your game has structure and you're able to kind of play the way that you've wanted to play all season and, and then go from there. So I think they're looking at it that way. Uh, I think in the last three or four years, they may have been guilty of saying, they just get through the regular season and focus on the playoffs. But I think now I think the goal is to win the Pacific Division. I think that's a real, real goal for them. And I think that's, that's where they start having a really good regular season and then trying to build through that into the playoffs.

26:43Derek Van Dees to join us. Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a long season. Obviously the longest one, even then last year because there's two extra games. And, um, you know, the, the orders, I think this year, not only the team, and I think the fans and everybody has to look at and, and celebrate some of the successes. Cause I think at times like, there never seems to be any enjoyment or fun along the way. It's like, cup or bus, nothing matters. We're not allowed to smile. We can never joke around. We always got to be on it. I don't think that's the, uh, the best approach. No, I agree with you. Like this game is supposed to be fun and, and you know, fans are so critical here. The team gets to game seven, the Stanley Cup final. They get to the final the following year, losing six games and, and everything all blow it up, started all over again. Like the core pieces of a championship team are still here. And it's just you got to find the extra pieces, the other added pieces that kind of can get you over the top. Now we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens with Mike Bapcrock. What kind of structure he puts into the, into the game.

27:43But I think the owners really are looking for in game management. If something's not working in game, they want to see how Bapcrock and his staff is able to react to that and kind of change things up if they had to. And I think that was maybe one of the criticisms they had, uh, Chris Naublock is that he, he wasn't able to kind of go and work things on the fly. So much that he would stick to whatever game plan they had. So it'll be interesting to see if something's not working, whether or not Mike Bapcrock is able to, to kind of change things. And he himself was critical of himself when he was talking about the other day about missing something and then seeing it on film and not being sharp. So I think he's going to take him some time to kind of get sharp, get back on the bench there and kind of start reading the game and noticing things that need to be changed or players that need to be moved around. Derek Van Dista joins us. Um, when you, I know DVD cover the whole NHL. Um, I don't think the jets are going to do without hella buck. Well, it's going to be a lot's going to fall into it's skinner.

28:44Obviously, Kansas to her skinner kind of have a better year than maybe he had here. I can't get his, his goals as a save percentage above 900. Like if he has a same percentage of over 900, I think the jets are still a pretty good team. I think they still got the offense and Morrissey and Shitefli and Connor and those guys. And I think they have some good young players coming up as well. So I think the core of that team that finished first overall two seasons go is still there. I know they are, they're missing some, I think Eelers was obviously a big loss last year when he went to Carolina, but I do think that that team is still believes that they're a very good hockey team. Now, you know, how much they rely on skinner like they went out and said, you know, Stewart Skinner, he went to two cup finals and the pretty good goalie and he's kind of approaching that goalie's kind of approached their peak a little later. Stewart Skinner's kind of getting there and either pretty experienced guy, you know, just come in and fear for Halibut. They can have to do something about that. I think they can wait and see what happens around the league because you never know. A team might be desperate for a goalie right away and then you might be able to get a little bit more out of them

29:49than you want, but I think they're looking at that piece. They're going to have to trade car Halibut, but they can, I want to trade for something that can help them and they can plug in right there right away and help the scene. But I do like the jets. I like their structure. I like their coaching staff. And I just think that last year they struggled a bit, they struggled offensively. I think they never really kind of got those numbers that either is left. They never were able to replace that, but now they're counting on some younger players to be able to kind of fill that gap and fill those minutes and score those points. And I think those guys haven't been another year older. I think they might be able to do that. DVD. Enjoy the game tonight, my man. We will see you down at the rink and we'll see if the orders can end their three-year drought of losing their season opener. Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for having me on. Here you go. That's Derek Van Deast. Five thirty four. We'll take a quick break. We'll come back. We got Cam Tate. We got lots more on the Emerson Euler's.

30:51I'll hear from Mike Babcock and more. It's a Greg or show presented by play Alberta. That's it. It is the final countdown. How you doing, Jason Greger? Connor Halle, Declan Krueger with you. It is of course the home opener tonight at six o'clock. The return of the pregame show here on sports 1440 Andrew Walker, Donovan Paulson. Oh, we'll take you through the rest of you hours to get you set for puck drop tonight. And they'll update you on the out of town scoreboard as a stillmost score hurricanes and panthers. They've combined for 31 shots in 54 minutes of hockey. Oh, Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, I leave the Canadians one nothing 10 minutes into the first. Willie Neelander scored 48 seconds in. And Marchenko did get his first assist, although he didn't really do much on the play. It was all Neelander is the, uh, boo by Nick Suzuki. Just tells you early on, maybe advantage offense as guys maybe aren't up to snuff defensively.

31:52We'll see. Uh, let's get to Camtates. Two minute warning brought you by legacy heating and cool and weather rates never change. Nor time charges. That's how you build a legacy at legacy heating dot C a. Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what growth therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works covered by insurance. Sessions average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high quality licensed therapists across the US offering

32:53both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48 day average. See if you could pay as little as $0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash start now. Growtherapy.com slash start now availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. I'm ready to go. Come on, you're going to jump. Hey, Ghanicos, you already have a plan to vote? I already have. Hi, I'm ready. I don't know if I'm registered. Hi, Juliana. Check out the vote. 4-1-1. Put your address and you get everything. Your register, your ticket. How and where to vote. Okay. That's it, son. Don't leave it for later. For tomorrow or today. The vote is ours. Only 5 minutes. Visit vote4-1-1.org diagonal.se, paid for the education of League of Women Voters.

33:57Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you. It just disappears into your call log. And 9 times out of 10, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo. Spelled Q-U-O. The business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. All your calls, texts and voice mails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more. Wait, who talked to this customer last? And if you're worried about after hours lead slipping through, Quo's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. That's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90,000 businesses already trusted to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash tech.

34:59That's Q-U-O.com slash tech. Mike Babcock could very well make a hell of a newspaper reporter. The man does not bury the lead. Not even a little. Most coaches, you get 10 minutes of throat clearing, three cliches about compete level, and maybe an existential stare. Not Mike. He steps up to look the press corps dead in the eye and drops it. Just to let you know, Nouges isn't available tonight. What do you got? Right there. On the table before half the reporters in the room have even found their pens. One new season, square off against the Vancouver Connucks, and already the oiler's narrative machine is running at full throttle. And now, no Noug. You take number 93 out of that room, and the blender is instantly set to high. The forward lines are scrambled. Rolls are shifting. We won't know what that mix looks like until the skates touch the ice in just a few hours.

36:00You could look at that and ring your hands. Or hear me out, you see an open door. Missing a cornerstone isn't just a setback. It's an audition. It's 20 minutes of high leverage ice time up for grabs. That's how real teams find out what they're made of. When a reliable piece goes down, somebody else gets the green light to raise their game, take the wheel, and make themselves undeniable. When the horn sounds tonight, Mike Babcock will step right back up to the podium. And who knows, if the hockey gods are paying attention, his next headline won't be about who was missing. They'll be about whoever stepped in to make the difference. I'm Cam Tate. And this, this is the two minute warning, sports 1440. There we go. And I guess no Ryan Newgen Hopkins, if you missed it, so there you have it. Hey, Gregs, I just finished your article in the nation. I've read this one every year and every year I take your advice connected by father.

37:04I love how you write and do a great job expression. Love you had had with your father. Last Monday, I got the call to my father passed away in his sleep. It's been very hard and I feel lost without him. He's my best friend. I wanted to send my gratitude to you for the way you speak about the relationship between father and son and tell you thanks for the article. I didn't think I could cry anymore from God. Well, God, first of all, deepest condolences to to you and your family. I'm losing a father at any age is difficult. I can only manage. And it's just it's difficult for different reasons. You know, I think sometimes we, you know, if your dad dies in his 80s or 97, oh, yeah, but he lived a great life. Yes, that's true. But he also then got to live and experience. You have more experiences with him, hopefully. And so maybe there's there's more reminders. I lost my dad at 27. So there's lots of things that, you know, I had a lot of great memories with him, but I also, like he never met my wife. He never met my son. He never, you know, he only met two of his, his, his eight, seven grandchildren.

38:06So I don't have memories like when I see my wife or my son, I don't feel like, oh, they're missing out. Like I wish you would have met him, but it's just different, right? It's different. Um, my father-in-law passed away. I just shy of 81 last year. And you know what? Um, yeah, still hard though. I watch my wife like it's difficult. Right? I had a great, which I would recommend anyone, by the way. And because he had a terminal cancer and they, they were able to have wonderful, uh, good buys. It was awesome, but it still didn't make it easier when he finally had to go, right? But for him, it was good. Now, Pat, a few, uh, requests and yeah, I don't know. Well, we'll see. I'll ask Khan's what he thinks because I'm not overly great on self promotion, but, um, I had Bob asked me this earlier. Hey, Jason, um, I was, I know this might be an odd request, but a lot of people have said, your article and your fathers are great, but, uh, I'm blind and, uh, I've never read

39:10one. Would you ever be open to reading it on the air? And I did respond to Bob and I said, if I did, I would do it in the final segment. So, um, the only problem is it's, well, it's not as long as it is some years, but it's kind of long, but, um, I don't know. That's, that's a cons. What do you think? Yeah. I, I read it. I think you should. And, you know, I liked towards the end. You added some things from previous years that, you know, Campeke, it's brought up and mentioned in it. Uh, yeah, we got the time to do it. So I'm on board. I honestly had a great, great, great letter. It's such a great reminder for those of us who have our dads around to, you know, reach out, contact, see them. I'm blessed. I've seen my dad a couple of times a week, and he'll have three days dropping Benioff and then going there. So, yeah, I think it's a good idea. All right. Okay. So, this is a, and this, this started if anybody's just listening for the first time. Um, when my father passed away, he was unexpectedly at Massive Hardback. I was 27. And the morning of his funeral, I really know what to do.

40:12Um, and my siblings and I decided we were all going to speak. So I was trying to jot down some words and I ended up writing just an email to some of my closest friends because just kind of, you know, reached out. You're trying to express yourself and it's such a confusing time when your father dies and unexpectedly. And so I wrote an email and he just asked me, say, hey, if you could do me a favor, I'd like it to reach out to your dad yourself, give him a hug. Maybe my dad will know that, you know, because I didn't get to say goodbye, even though we had a great relationship, but when he dies suddenly, he never gets to say goodbye. So you're always not that necessarily saying goodbye would have been better, but my wife did get to say goodbye to her father and she said it was very nice in that way. So every, every situation is different. So anyway, that kind of spurred this on and then many years ago, um, one of the guys of the orders and they said who had sent my annual email to because I just used to send to my friends because I was like, well, I don't think anyone else cares. Um, and they're like, no, no, you should post this publicly. And I was pretty, it was pretty hesitant to be honest because I don't know. I just didn't think that that was something people would want to read, but we get a lot of good responses from it every year. So, um, so sure.

41:12We'll read it once and we'll see how it goes. So here we go. It took less than two seconds to say the forward phrase, but the moment the words exited my mouth, I regretted it. I heard the uncomfortable pause in the other end of the line. I knew exactly how he felt. Life is full of small errors. And I had to laugh internally because the words weren't uttered out of ignorance or a lack of empathy. It was out of habit, a natural greeting that is used hundreds of times between friends. How often when you see someone or call them on the phone, do you open with their name followed by how are you? Or how you doing? It's quite normal for me, but my goodness did I laugh thinking how badly I botched that this past Friday morning. The moment I hung up the phone, the memories which can invade my brain at the most unexpected times came flooding in. I heard his laugh. I could see his body hunched over. He'd be up and down when he would have one of his patented laughing fits. It made me smile. It made me laugh. I needed it. I always needed love never stops. It falls and rises at different times, and even 26 years later, it can fill my heart when

42:14I need it most. 26 years ago, today, my father, William Arthur Greger passed away suddenly at the age of 56. He had a massive heart attack on his car to red light. Dad lived a pretty healthy life. He'd quit smoking a few years earlier, rarely drank. He was active running the farm, but I guess it was his time. I remember vividly where I was in the morning of his funeral. I was sitting in the study of our farmhouse, staring at the wall, struggling to process my emotions. The day he died was a shock, a blur, but the funeral is where it became final. Two and a half decades later, many moments from that day are still very clear. I remember sitting in the study trying to prepare for the day. His four or five hours before his funeral. A brother and sister decided we would each say a few words about dad, and I was trying to jot down something coherent. I ended up writing up bullet points hoping it would keep me in line. This past Friday, I called my friend Ken. Four hours before his father's celebration of life was going to start. I called because I wouldn't have been able to make it due to having a live and location broadcast and I wanted to offer my condolences. My father had died on a Friday.

43:16So weird connection. Ken answered the phone. Hi, Jason. And then I blurted out far too enthusiastically. Ken, how are you? My goodness, it was terrible. Sorry, Ken. Thankfully, it didn't hang up and we had a good chat. But the odd thing was until I called Ken to offer condolences about his father, the amazing Cal Nichols, I hadn't had many of my usual dad memories. Normally in the weeks, leaving up to his anniversary of his passing, he enters my dreams or my thoughts during the day. I realized the moment after I hung up with Ken, the anniversary of his passing was in four days. It snuck up on me mainly because I hadn't seen the signs. The past two weeks, a slept like junk waking up at three in the morning and staring at the ceiling for hours. It happens annually and the day is leading up to his anniversary. And I really don't know why. I started writing this year's email on Saturday morning at 5.50am after trying to go back to sleep. Our subconscious is extremely powerful. But even though I believe I'm aware of it, I still miss the signs sometimes when our body and mind are trying to tell us something. I can't explain why I don't sleep well in the days leading up to it sometimes weeks

44:17in September. But I've read about anniversary reactions where our bodies remember past traumatic events. My father and I had a great relationship. We spent thousands of hours working together on the farm driving to and from hockey listening to music or to John Shorten the radio. On the morning of his funeral, ask my friends for a favor and today I'll ask you the same one. When you're done reading or in this case, listening, take a moment to connect with your dad. If you're lucky enough to see him today or this week, give him a hug or just spend some time together at the very least column and ask how he's doing. Your call or time will make him smile. If your father is gone, my condolences and maybe your mom or maybe call your mom and share a story about him. I hope that through your actions, my dad will see what a wonderful impression you made in my life and heart and that our family misses him dearly. Thanks in advance. There's no shortage of positive memories of dad that fill my the void in my heart. I'm forever grateful for our relationship and unending love he showed me, not always with words, but with actions. Fathers make sure your children know you love them. Show up.

45:18Support them. And as they grow and spread their wings, that unconditional love will last long after you are gone. Don't underestimate your importance as a dad. Well I butchered the opening line of my conversation with Ken. We did have a great talk about fathers. Cal Nichols was 84 when he passed. He and his wife Edna were married for 59 years. They had two children, Ken and Christine. They have five grandchildren, an amazing life. I find it times when a parent passes away in their 80s or 90s, we in society think that maybe it's different. It's easier. It's harder because they had a great life. Well it was devastating for me when I lost my father, but I think about some kids, my son's age, eight, 10, 12 who have lost their dad. Different than mine. Last year my father and I on Doug passed away. He was just shy of 81. My wife's sadness wasn't much different than mine 25 years earlier. In some ways it might be harder because you have memories in different levels of love and shared experiences together. My father never saw me get married or become a dad. It pains me and never met my wife and son, but I also have an experience seeing him interact with my family and then suddenly being gone.

46:18I believe death hurts regardless of when it comes. I realized that the urge to pick up the phone and call Ken, likely stem from how I felt so many Fridays ago. I also know how nice it is to have people talk to me about my father when he passed 15 years after his death. My mom and I sat down at the kitchen table and went through hundreds of condolences cards, friends, family and acquaintances. My dad had dropped off at his funeral. My mom had kept them all. She had never read many of them. It was too difficult for her. But one day she was ready and we sat in the table and opened it. It was amazing to hear the kind of words people wrote and always reminded me of who showed up that day. I was unable to attend Cal celebration of life, but I want to know I was thinking about him and his family. Some people are uncomfortable reaching out because we don't want to say, well, even if you have a terrible opener like I did, your action of reaching out means more than people realize. If someone you know loses a loved one, don't be scared to send a personal note or better yet call them. I'm old school. I still prefer the phone over text message is more personal, but that's just me. Reach out however you feel comfortable. And this last Friday, the camp date and two minute warning.

47:19He sent it to me. Taters now likes to be funny and lots of times he'll show up and send it to me right before I go on air so I don't get to pre read it. He's an asked that way and often we'll toss in a few words. He hopes I trip over. It's a running joke now and it makes me laugh. So this Friday opened the email and as I read it, I realized it was an amazing tribute to Cal Nichols. Reminding me my father made me smile and here are cams words. These are cams now. Let me ask you something. Close your eyes for just a heartbeat. Think of someone someone you love, someone who's quiet, grace and unspoken fire make you stop and say to yourself, if the world only gave them a chance, look how high they could fly. Now let me ask you, would you walk up their steps? Would you lift your hands, strike your knuckles against their front door and hand them the sky? Earlier this afternoon, beneath the cathedral of glass at the enjoy center in San Albert, the air was thick with memory and tears and the kind of sacred silence that only visits when a giant goes home to rest. Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments.

48:20You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like and that's exactly what growth therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works covered by insurance. This average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments, you just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high quality licensed therapists across the US, offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity or availability, and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48 day average. See if you could pay as little as $0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com-startnow.

49:22That's growtherapy.com-startnow. Growtherapy.com-startnow. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Blood donation is now more inclusive. More LGBTQ plus individuals are able to donate blood with the American Red Cross due to FDA guidelines that eliminate eligibility questions based on sexual orientation. The Red Cross celebrates this historic change and welcomes those who may be newly eligible to donate blood. There's a place for everyone in the mission of the Red Cross, including you. The Red Cross is committed to achieving a blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect while maintaining the safety of the blood supply. Join us and help save lives. To learn more and make your appointment to donate blood, visit redcrossblood.org-LGBB. That's redcrossblood.org-LGBTQ. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you.

50:24It just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of ten, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O. The business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. Call your calls, texts, and voicemails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, wait, who talked to this customer last? And if you're worried about after hours lead slipping through, Quo's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. It's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90,000 businesses already trusted to stay reachable. Money is on the line. So always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to Quo.com slash tech. That's q-u-o.com slash tech. We gathered to say our goodbyes and our thanks to Cal Nichols.

51:26We all know the legend, don't we? The history books will tell our children that Cal is the night in shining armor who held the line. The prairie man who's grit kept the eminence and orders from being torn from the River Valley. He saved our team. He saved a piece of our identity. Seven voices stood up at the microphone today and they didn't speak of contracts or corporate ledgers. They spoke of a soul and the importance of relationships. Kevin Low took the pulpit and when he spoke, you could hear 26 years of reverence trembling in his voice. He took us back to June of 2000, a soft summer evening in Luria Heights, a quiet knock at Kevin's door. Kevin Openet standing on the porch was Cal alongside another gentleman asking if they could come inside for a moment. They sat in the living room and Cal looked into Kevin's eyes. No games, no pretense. The pure unvarnished weight of a man offering his whole faith. Cal told Kevin, I want you to be the next GM of the Emton orders. Kevin said that offer took his breath away, but it wasn't the title. It was the prestige. It was the sudden, overwhelming realization of what Cal was really offering unconditional belief, a hand outstretched in the dark saying you can do this and I will walk every single

52:29step of the way with you. Kevin called it one of the most sacred, important friendships of the entire life. You see, Cal didn't just save a hockey team. He saved people. He built bridges with the timber of his own loyalty. So tonight let's honor Cal Nichols, not just with applause with action, looking to your own life. Whose door are you ready to knock on? Whose fear can you silence with your belief? Go to them, knock on the door, give them a chance and give them the rarest, most beautiful thing a human being can offer, a true friend to walk with to the very end, just like Cal Nichols. That was great stuff, Cam. So it was a beautiful tribute, but I thought a better message. Who can you support? Who will you left? So deeply that they will soar even when you're gone. Cal did that to Kevin and to his family and I can proudly say my father did that to me. Men try to do that to your children, family and friends. I feel lucky to have had a strong relationship with my dad. There were never any regrets after he passed, not once that I wish you told me love me or wish we would have been on better terms. For those who are struggling with their father or anyone special in their life, I urge you to take the first step, try to mend that fence. It takes courage and strength to extend the olive branch, but it is amazing how the

53:31love and acceptance of our fathers can impact our lives positively. My father has been gone so long. He missed my entire 25 year broadcasting career. He passed in September 2000. My first time on air was January of 2001 with John Short. And I got my first on air gig with John after the show I drove home, south, out on the then capillano freeway, now Wayne Gresky Drive and I had to pull over after crossing the river. I was overcome with the motion thinking about my dad. We'd spent hours in the dark driving home listening to John. I called in a few times and afterwards dad always said I did great. I have no idea if I did. I was a kid, but it made me feel like I did unconditional support. I sat on the side of the road, tear streaming down my face long to speak to my dad to hear what he thought, not just on my career, but life in general. I respected him greatly and think like any father or son or daughter who has lost their father, you'd give anything to speak with him. The void never goes away even 26 years later. The yearning to speak to someone you loved and who you loved back, the heartache reminds me of how much love we had and I chose to see that as a positive.

54:34So once again, thanks in advance of those who fall through in my request. It means a lot to me and I offer my condolences to all who have lost their father this past year. I hope his memories warm your heart. I extend special thoughts to the Nichols family and my cousins and Dr. and Carl who lost their antrecious to my friend Shona and anyone reading this who has lost their father and the mercurities of course and to all who have read this. If your father is gone, make sure you call your mom because the void in her heart might be deeper than yours. But I miss you and I love you. Please watch over our family and friends. My lovely tracing, especially your soulmate, mom. So yeah, there he goes, fairly emotional, but do me a favor, hug your dad, call your dad. Trust me. He will, he will appreciate it more than you think. Let's get now to the con man and sports 1440 update brought to you by higher good professional property services. You can feel good about get higher good site cleanup to be removal seasonal maintenance and more. Check out higher good dot CA stable jobs. Stabilize here's Connor Halley and we got the pre game show coming up next.

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