The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 25th, 2026 - Hour 3

0:00Hi, this is Pablo Torei from Pablo Torei finds out and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, over value contracts, money tied up in the wrong places, and so on, but those inefficiencies aren't just on a roster, sometimes they're in your own monthly expenses. Boost Mobile says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan can unlock up to $600 in savings a year. That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit BoostMobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds, customers pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile and Limited Plan. Savings claim based on a January 2026 Boost Mobile Survey of 1,000 Americans with single line on limited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the Boost Mobile and Limited Plan. For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. All right, welcome back to the big program, 9-0-5 in Edmonton.

1:05So glad you're with us on a Wednesday morning, the Kevin Kirishows presented by Sports Select. Man, we talked about yesterday and the massive 15 game slate. I didn't even bother asking Duke because I know he would go well over his eight game threshold and not come out successful, but you had some doosies to pick from. And so, hey, a lot of ties, you got the over times, you got the shoot out. So maybe someone cashed a big ticket on Sports Select yesterday. All you got to do is go to sportsselect.com, get the QR code. It's 100% legal. You got to be 18 plus please play responsibly. Hey, it's Wednesday. That means it's nine bells and that means it's one thing and one thing only time to welcome in our co-host for Cougar Paint and Collision, David Schlimco, powered by Cougar Paint and Collision, our family helping your family for over 40 years. Part of the Napa Certified Auto Body Program, check them out at cougarcollision.com. Good morning, Schlemmer. Morning, KK. How you doing, Big fella? I'm well, buddy. How are you?

2:05Oh, you're well. Schlemmer came in here. This is unbelievable. This snow out here. It's crazy. I can't get to the golf course. I've got something like that ahead. Another one, two months in my simulator. One week, buddy. Palm Springs in a week. You're going to Palm in a week? Next Tuesday. Six days. What? Yeah, baby. So you're not here next Wednesday? I'm sorry. Holy cow, Duke. They're just leaving us. We got to eat and that's it left. Right next week? I guess. Oh, boy. We got to figure this out. It's gonna be a light week next week. The co-hosts. Well, Laddy's in check. Well, Laddy's always gone. I know. And then, so Eddie, Monday and Friday. All right, but we'll have to make do. You'll have fun. Oh, great time. The reason I was watching this, we were watching Tiger on the TGL thing. And I don't know. I wasn't watching any of it, but he, oh. I had a bit of it on last night. He just was just a short buddy or in slams. Was it the final they lost last night? I don't know.

3:06I don't know. I don't follow it. I think it was. But he just missed like a two footer and then slammed the carpet or whatever. That's not good for the hydraulics under their tiger. Hey, he's a winner. All of a sudden, we've been talking about Duke Schengprous. I heard that on the way in. Yeah, and I got called dumb from IMAX because I said, well, I would never take beer in a nap sack. I would take a wine skin or a flask. And then I would have a beer. I'm not carrying beer around in an app sack. IMAX says, you're dumb. First, when you hit, you find a tree. You mark that tree, you bury your beer pack. Geez, but you call yourself a flatlander? Duke says he'd never find that bag again, lost in the wilderness. I don't know. Do you ski? Yeah, yeah, I like skiing. I had a long break from it while I was playing. For sure. But I know I love skiing. Yeah, it's a good time. Did you have it in your contract that you couldn't ski? Well, it's not. I know it's the same time of the year. I think it's kind of like the same blanket statement

4:06in every contract saying like, it's not saying you can't ski, but if you do, do something like that and get hurt that they don't technically have to pay you. What about water skiing? Like that's the big, I heard that. I didn't do that growing up. I've never, I feel like I tried to get up on a wakeboard once like a few times, couldn't do it and just never tried again. And now every NHLers got a place in the shoe swaps and Kelowna writes. True, yeah. Everyone's on the lake now. I mean, they might as well just get, if the, if some NHLers decided to get it in the household business, the shoe swaps, I mean, that's all they would need because they're all there anyway. True, yeah. Some good summer skates in Kelowna. That's right, yeah, for sure. So what do you think of the game last night's limmer? I thought it was great. If you're an oiler fan, you know, going back to Inner Out last week, I think one of the questions from Duke was, was this like top to bottom, one of the best games we've seen from the oilers and I didn't agree last week. What was the San Jose game? How's the San Jose game? Didn't agree last week, but, you know,

5:06last night that was a top to bottom, a pretty good effort. I was like, you know that they have the game. We've seen it, but we haven't seen it for longer periods of time. So that's the next step, I guess. I saw a real commitment to defending in the D zone. All right, not cheating for offense, not getting caught with our head, not on a swivel guy jumping by us, boxing out, playing from the inside out, and it all sounds simple, but it did a really good job of it, man. Shot suppression, how many shot blocks did they have? Just by being in good position. Yeah, they had 24 block shots. They had nine in the first period. To me, the first period was totally suffocating. You know, the same got a little crazy there with it. It did, but it's kind of boring, honestly, but I mean, as an oiler fan, that's what we've been asking for all year, man. You know what, I'd be honest with you, Schlimmer. So after the first period,

6:08even before those two goals were scored, I was going like, it's probably, you know, 10 minutes, and I was going, okay, people are going to text in tomorrow and go, man, that was such a boring game last night. I was like, come on, this is what they need. They got to start playing like this and play boring and then pounce on their chances. And then when all those goals happen in a minute, you're like, okay, here we go. We're back to oiler hockey, 43 seconds, three goals. So I was, I talked to spec and I asked him the same question and I brought it up at the start, that the first goal, the Thai Emerson pass out of the corner. That's how it's all starts off of that. And I've been saying that, I've been waiting two years for that, for the kid to make this play up the middle on the break, he's finally got the confidence and man, he's just, he's playing unbelievably well. So normally in that position, run us through, he wasn't getting a lot of pressure but there's bodies around him. There's a guy coming right down the wall on him, right? So I mean, three months ago, Thai Emerson, he doesn't have the confidence to make that play.

7:10He's just eating it there. If the guy's coming down the wall, maybe he's trying to like jam it up the wall to the winger, probably to a pinching D. It's just another extended shift in the D zone. That's what they call, that's your problem now and it's not mine anymore. That's exactly, that's the winger's worst nightmare right there, yeah, they're rolling rim in your feet and the D's coming pinching on you. So no, I had that in my notes here, that goal all starts with him, right? And a great job of Wallman too to activate there and doesn't just kick the puck out. He middle drives hard, pushes the D back and they end up getting the goal. I said, for me, on that one play, Wallman reminded me of last year. Yeah, you know, that's your boy. That's my boy last year and I mean, he was my boy last year and I don't like say it like that, but I mean, he played well. Yeah, I mean, it went, it, it's really gone from what the hell was Steve Iserman doing, attaching a draft pick and sending him to San Jose

8:11to this was a steal of a pick, or a steal of a trade with the pick that the Oilers gave the first rounder to this year going, holy cow, now we see what Steve Iserman saw. To now we, where he's got to get back to what old is he? 28. Okay, so he's, he's been around long enough that he should be able to find a consistency to his game. Well, he's had some injuries. Yeah, that's true. But the confidence he's, he's not there with the con, pardon me, he's 30. Checked 30. That's why they're confident, that contract all the way to 2033 raised some eyebrows, right? Yeah, because he's going to be 37. Also thought we should talk about the Oilers third and fourth line. And the third period last night, the Dickinson line and the Henry line were both unbelievable. Nice to see Nobber use him a little bit more too, but I mean, obviously got to earn that ice time. I think having Rico in the four hole gives Nobber the ability to use all those guys a little bit more. I don't think Jarventine Jones maybe see that much ice.

9:13He doesn't trust Rico that much out there, but Dickinson line was great all night too. I thought he has the ability again, like Dickinson's, he's played with a lot of guys since he's got here. Yeah. And it's funny, like the Jones and Henry and even when Frederick was healthy, they were starting to create something like a bit of a identity. That fourth line was getting an identity. Now it's still looking for one, because who knows? Like I said, Jarventine's there on the fourth line. James Hanlon could draw in tomorrow and could do the same thing. He's just not as big as Jarventine, but. And then like Samansky hasn't looked at a place at all. No, he's been good. So I mean, he can roll around. I still like I want to, I still want to get back to where McDavid's playing with Savoy and Hyman. Yeah. I mean, I just would rather have, what's the number one constant here?

10:14For since Zach Hyman's almost basically arrived, they're best two, one, two punch on any line. Take away Conor and Leon and even five on five, they're not that good together. But put Conor and Leon, sort of Conor and Zach Hyman together. And that's always been that one constant. And I think- So was you have Savoy on the left? Yes, I would have Savoy, Hyman and Conor. And then I would, to be honest with you, right now with Leon out, I'd have Ross Levick, Nujan Hopkins and Dickinson. And then figure it out. I liked Samansky and put Coleson in cabinet. And then the fourth line you figured out who's healthy and whatever. Samansky at the middle with Pob Coleson in cabinet? Yeah. I wouldn't mind seeing that. And they were together for a couple of games. So. But I do, I like the way they rolled the four lines last night. Though those, those depth guys did a good job of eating up a bunch of minutes and, and not just eating minutes, but actually having some quality shifts.

11:15Bouchard last night, I mean, some passes again. Oh, crazy. You know what, there was, in the first period he came out in front of the net there. He, because there was a guy on his ass. And he tried to make, he tried to beat a guy right in front, lost the puck, trying to make a play. They were not hemmed up. And they only gave up a questionable shot. But up until then, they had given up nothing in the first period. And I was going, okay, easy, Bouchard. Those are the ones that you don't end up in the back of your net, right? You've given up nothing. Right. And there was just that one play, but other than that, I mean, he was Dino, my GG. Oh, he's just, he's just so good with the puck. I mean, that, that shorthand of goal by Savi. Like, yeah. Like everyone in the building thought he's shooting that puck. Like, his, his deception is pretty second to none. And I mean, Savoy, the, I'll be honest, like I thought that was a bad goal by Vamelka. Cause I mean, it's sort of just snuck through him. He's just desperation stretching back across, right?

12:17Yeah, I got a little lucky on the shot. Yeah, like, like, it's not like, like you call him Savi. He's not picking that spot. He's getting it on net, right? Because it's a, and plus bang, bang. You know, as a, and when you, whatever, if you joined the play, shorthanded, what was your immediate thing? I better get back. I better get back. I don't know if Evan's thinking that though. But if you look at it, he's kind of making, he's kind of like, okay, I'm getting back. I'm not turning it back. Cause this ain't, I'm not part of the offense anymore. Right. Like I was, but now I'm getting back. So, yeah, no, I, I mean, Bush is just a treat to watch with the puck. Let's be honest. I mean, unless it's one of the, the turnovers that end up in the back of the net, 99% of the time, he's making a pretty slick play with the puck. When we come back, we'll check in with our old pal, Matt Larkin from the daily face off. Also, Julian McKenzie from the athletic covers the Ottawa Senators sends a rolling two big wins and basically two nights. They're hot.

13:18Carter, Yakum Chuck scores a big goal. He's kind of, he's a Calgary guy. He played all his minor hockey in Calgary and hit men. Big offensive stuff. He's a big guy. Like, and you know what? Like those, like he's, what, 20? And you see those guys that are still like, I'm betting he's got like a little bit of baby fat on him. You know the whole thing. So you think, you know, once this guy starts to get ripped, I've heard he's like a, like an Evan Bouchard with size. And yeah. So that's scary. Please. I think a six, three, two, 15, two, 20. Yeah. So I mean, Bouch is six, three, two, is he? I think so. Yeah, Bouch is bigger than you think. Maybe six, two, maybe I'm not. I don't think he's six, three. Okay. But we come back, Matt Larkin from the Daily Face Off. It's the Kevin Curie show with David Slamco, the Ducat Delburn Josh Fenwick on sports 1440, AM radio presented by sports select. We're also streaming on YouTube X Facebook, Instagram and Twitch.

14:23Hi, this is Pablo Tore from Pablo Tore finds out. And today I want to talk to you about boost mobile, because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, overvalued contracts, money tied up in the wrong places and so on. But those inefficiencies aren't just on a roster. Sometimes they're in your own monthly expenses. Boost mobile says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan can unlock up to $600 in savings a year. That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit boostmobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds, customers pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the boost mobile unlimited plan. Savings claim based on a January 2026 boost mobile survey of 1,000 Americans with single line on limited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the boost mobile unlimited plan. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. Work most fast. Every email, report and proposal counts.

15:24That's where Grammarly comes in. It's your one place to think, write and finish. Grammarly's AI agents help you find natural phrasing. Find Tune Tone and confidently write wherever you work. It's the premier writing tool that 93% of users trust to get more work done. In a world of generic AI, don't sound like everyone else. With Grammarly, you never will. Download Grammarly for free at Grammarly.com. All right, welcome back to the big program, 922 in Edmonton and Time Now for the Game of the Day. Brought to you by Cine Albert Dodge, where the all new 2026 Jeep Gladiator Sport packages are here and they're going fast. Great selection, great colors to pick from. 49,900 gets you behind the wheel. A brand new Jeep Gladiator for under 50K. Check it out at St. Albert Dodge.com. As we welcome back, Matt Larkin from the daily faceup, morning, Matt, you're with Kevin Kerrius in the former NHL or David Schlempkel thinks is always for jumping on sports 1440, really appreciate it.

16:25Kevin, David, good to be back on with your fellas. Hey, I always love when you're ready to call them or an article or whatever and it starts out. Hear me out because of the outside, not outside, the noise that happens with the Pacific Division where that's been happening all season long and everyone out east bitching and whining about it, how bad it is, but they forget about how bad some of their divisions were bad too in recent memory. But the line, hear me out. Are we sleeping on Pacific Division teams as Stanley Cup Threats? Please expand on this, Matt. Well, it's funny. I was doing the research for this article and the original headline just was, are we sleeping on Pacific Division teams as Stanley Cup Threats? And then Conor McDavid uttered the pillow fight line. And I thought, oh, geez, okay, I'm really gonna have to qualify this one. I'm glad that they hear me out. But the point I'm making is, I've been doing a series looking at commonalities in terms of the past 10 Stanley Cup champions,

17:27what traits they had. And one of them was a really strong differential and expected goals. And I was going through the numbers for this year to see which teams had the best expected goal differentials this year. And I was surprised to see, there were four Pacific Division teams in the top 10. And we think, how is this possible? I thought the Pacific is a joke. That's supposedly the narrative. But what we have, when you look at Anaheim LA, Edmonton, Vegas were all in that top 10. They are all teams that, yes, are flawed, obviously. The way the season has gone, they would have to be. But they all are strong in many areas and mainly have a single flaw that's holding them back. So Vegas, for example, in Edmonton, it's goal-tening. They cannot get a save. They're the bottom of the NHL in goal-tening. 30th and 31st, I believe. And the LA Kings are pretty good defensively. They can't finish. The ducks are good offensively. They can't defend. So the reason why it's important to single out is that all of these teams do have a lot of strong traits and their shortcomings could be masked in a small sample size A.K. playoffs series.

18:29That really applies to Edmonton and Vegas. Basically, Edmonton and Vegas, if they can get a save, they can be low-key, pretty dangerous in the playoffs. Especially in Edmonton's case, because since Paul Coffee came back behind the bench, their overall defensive play has been better. So that's why I think it is accurate, actually, to say that we're sleeping on the Pacific version teams because they have struggled in certain areas, but they're not terrible through and through. So it's a good thing the oilers are really nailed down who their number one goalie is, hey? Yeah, is it Tom? I was joking the other day. Did you ever imagine you'd be longing for the days? The glory days of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickner. Right. You know, I look at it too, and I've said this mat for quite a while here, this year, when you look at the oilers, and I'm just speaking on the oilers here. And I know you group these other Pacific division teams in there, but this year, this could be the easiest path that the oilers have had since 2017 to get to the conference finals.

19:29And that's a simple fact. It, I don't 100% agree. It's really gonna depend on how things play out because of the oilers. I mean, it really depends a lot on the LA Kings, and maybe the sharks, but it's mainly the Kings. But if the Kings could catch them, there's still a scenario in which the oilers could drop down into a wild card spot, and then your matchup gets tougher. It's not inconceivable mathematically that they could end up still drawing Colorado, depending on how the next few weeks play out, which would be a hell of a first round series. But as we see things right now, yes, I think that's a fair way to put it. M2 to Vegas, that would be the matchup at the playoff started today, and it would kind of be a mirror match. It would be two teams that do a lot of things well, but can't get a save. So I think we'd get some fire wagon hockey, a lot of six, five games. Yeah, I'm only basing it on if they stay in the Pacific division bracket, Matt. Yeah, that makes sense. And then obviously, there's a scenario in which, even if they dropped out of the bracket, you could also draw Anaheim, which would be a very fascinating first round series, too. Speaking of some of those teams,

20:30let's talk about Anaheim. What's going on with Mason McTavish? Couple health bombs last week. I know he scored last night, but what's going on with him there? Yeah, it really feels like the writing's on the wall, right? For a player who seemed like a trade candidate in the off season, and there being some contentious contract negotiations, and now that spills over into the season, and you have so many different ducts players breaking out, whether it's Cutter Goethe, Leo Carlson, having phenomenal years, and it seems like Mason McTavish has not taken that step forward and found a way to complete his game. At the same time, he has a lot of skills that would really attract other teams, right? He's got that power forward skill set, and he showed a lot of clutch ability as a junior to kind of be a dog on a bone in big games. So I do think it may play out this way repeatedly for the rest of the season, where it's going to be kind of a back and forth with Joel Kwenville, and sort of a not distrust, but an inability to rely on him as one of your go-to guys. But in the off season, to me, he's someone you have to watch really carefully, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a trade.

21:31That's interesting, because he was supposed to be a cornerstone of the franchise. That's what I was going to say. He's got a letter in everything, right? That's a big fall off there. Hey, you know, I want to slip out of East now, Matt, and I talked about it off the top here. I don't think that he will get too many votes as coach of the year, but Rick bonus, since he took over in Columbus, I mean, the team was in last place at Christmas, and now they have the potential of hosting a home playoff series to start things off. This is one of the most remarkable turnarounds that we've seen in a long, long time here. Yeah, it's pretty fantastic, and you could say, yes, Jack Greaves has been fantastic and net, and that can often buoy a team, but it's beyond that. Even if you look under the hood, the blue jackets are playing a really good defensive hockey. I think they're just a sneaky deep team, right? You have Charlie Coil on your third line. Right now you have Boone Jenner. You go up the middle. You have Adam Fentilly, Sean Monahan, Charlie Coil and Boone Jenner. That's great depth at center, and you have a lot of heart and soul players.

22:33You added Connor Garland. You traded for Mason Marchiman. I think this team is quite deep, and I think people do sleep on Jack Greaves as a great goalie. He's not a big goalie, but he's really athletic goalie. He's having a fantastic season. So to me, they're one of the more intriguing teams to watch, and I think if they can hold on and make the playoffs, they're going to be a tough out. Yeah, about another team a little bit on fire in the East, the Ottawa Senators. I think they got points in 17 of their last 20, maybe even Travis Green and outside shot at the Jack Adams. What do you think Ottawa's chances of getting in? Are they kind of peaking at the right time? I do think Travis Green is a legitimate Jack Adams can make because the Senators have been the best defensive team. In the league at 505 all year, and just horrific goal-tending, bottom of the league goal-tending had held them back. Also strangely, for such a good defensive team, they've been terrible on the penalty kill. The season right at the bottom of the league there as well. But overall, they have so many good habits that it was going to feel weird to see them not make the playoffs, and now they're finally over that line,

23:33doesn't mean they're going to stay, but I do think their style of play is sustainable, and they're going to be a tough team to beat. They're going to be a pretty difficult draw on round one because even Linus Olmark is not a bad year, but we know he's a Vesonotropi winner, and he could get hot for a short stretch and be great in a single-play-out series. So Senators to me are one of the more intriguing teams. We did a piece on daily face-up, where we all picked which team on the bubble would be the scariest round one opponent. I voted for Columbus, it was last week, but someone else on the staff voted for Ottawa, and I can totally see the lottery. Both good picks. Yeah, Matt Larkin with us from the daily face-off, Kevin Currius, David Schlimco with you. You know, staying out east, do you think the Montreal Canadians are for real? Do they have enough size? I mean, they've got some great young players. For them, it's goal-tending again. That's the big question, Mark, like it was with Ottawa for most of the season here, Matt. Yeah, and I can drop a little spoiler. It's a piece I have coming out next week, and they're Stanley Cup ingredients series, but I'm looking at the correlation between trade deadline deals and Stanley Cups.

24:34And pretty much every team that wins a Stanley Cup in the last decade or in the cap era makes at least one upgrade at the deadline. And if you look at every single contender that was in buyer mode, this past March 6th, the Habs are the only team that didn't make a trade, that didn't add a piece. Yes, you can say they got filled to no in December, but he's playing lower in the lineup. And I do worry, even though the Habs are a really exciting team, their future is unbelievably bright. I think they're set up to win for years to come. I wish they would have gone out and gotten that legitimate second line center. I think the magnesium cadre would have been perfect, but the problem is with the playoff cap rule now, right? You can't do the LTIR loophole. It really held Montreal back from getting the piece they needed, because they couldn't move Patrick line. They've had to get rid of that cap hit. Under the previous rules, they could have just thrown them on LTIR, no big deal. And I do think it cost Montreal the ability to add the piece they needed, whether it was the center, or like you guys said, the gold tender. So I'm still excited for the Habs, but I do think they're missing some key pieces.

25:35So if you look at that Atlantic division, I'm definitely more bullish on Buffalo and Tampa Bay. For sure. Couple top prospects making their NHL debut last night, Carter Yacke and Chuck in Ottawa, and Anton Frontel and Chicago, any feedback on how they did? I'm just very intrigued by both players for different reasons. Carter Yacke and Chuck, to me, is kind of like, I don't know if the answer would be to comparison, but he's someone who has a lot of boon to his game, whether it's on the offensive side of the puck, but also physicality. So he's raw, but obviously the senators, they're so short-handed, having lost Tom Shabbat and Jake Sanders has been banged up too. They need a spark there, and I don't think there's any doubting Yacke and Chuck's tools. So he's in a treating player, but I'm especially excited. And obviously, Frontel looked good, got a point in his first game, Anton Frontel. He has such a pro-ready game that we can look at the draft next year. There's going to be a lot of talk, and I always gather the kind of going to be the call to trophy top candidate, but to me, Anton Frontel is going to be someone

26:36to really watch for the year next year, because he just plays such a man's game, mature game, grown man game, I should say. And he does so many different things well, that I think he's someone who's going to get a lot of ice time right away when he plays his first full season in the NHL next year. What do you think Chicago's going to do here, Matt, because they have probably the best young talent that's NHL ready or playing in the NHL, as far as the amount of 22 and under players call it that. But as there are too many of them, do they got to start bringing in maybe some older guys to nurture these guys? Are they ready to make the playoffs next year? I do think it's time to move. And to me, it's funny, I can give you another spoiler. We have a piece coming out where we're taking which team we think is going to make the playoffs next year that isn't in, and the Black Hawks are my pick. And the reason being, just as you're saying, Kevin, they've reached that critical mass. Their farm system is absolutely overflowing with young talent, right? They have so many players, you can't possibly get

27:37every single one of them onto the roster. So I think you're going to be in a situation like we saw in Buffalo where they sacrifice Matt's avoid to bring in Ryan McLeod, because eventually you just have to say, okay, we have enough kids, we need some veterans, we need to move the clock forward, especially for Connor Bredard. So I would be very disappointed. If I'm a Black Hawks fan, if the Hawks are not really active this off season, and don't try to make some bold moves, I think that would be a failure, because it's time. You got the cap space, you got the prospects, you have Connor Bredard on the precipice of superstardom who's taken a step forward this year. It's time to push forward and break through next year. This might age me a little bit, but it kind of reminds me of the situation where the Hawks were before they won their cups, cane and taste. I like to say they had all these prospects. They traded like Barker, Boughlin and Verstieg, the one summer, right before they started winning all those cups and probably added some vets. Yeah, I think Ken Barker, for sure. I think Boughlin and Verstieg were on the 2010 team, if I remember correctly, they were after.

28:38Yeah, when the cap casualties began, where they had to take apart the team every year, maybe it was in Andrew Ladd that I think they had to move. Yeah, that's the one. That's the one. Yeah, that's right, but I think you're right, and they made their coaching james. They brought in Joel Crenville at the time, right? They got rid of Danny Savard, sort of pushed the kids forward and they realized, okay, we need to make a push. Yeah, so I do see how history could be repeating itself with the Hawks and it's just time. You reach that point where you need to push forward and I do look at Conberdard's career trajectory, kind of like Nathan McKinnon, and year four was then McKinnon took the massive leap right when he was 22. So I think it's going to be fascinating to see if that happens with Barthand and Chicago next year. Yeah, and they get a couple guys, and you know, they got the Russian over there. Let's shoot off. Yes, I mean, who? So they got some pieces for sure. So if Chicago's one of those teams in the West for you, Matt, are the Maple Leafs, the team that you think will make the playoffs next year out east. It's a quick turnaround. Yeah, I don't know. I don't feel very optimistic.

29:39It's hard because they're just a franchise in such transition right now. My answer could be different in a month. It's going to depend a lot on whether they get that first round pick, whether it goes to Boston. People have to remember, yes, the Leafs could finish outside the bottom five, but they're still in the lottery. If they win the pick, then they keep the pick this year, right? So if the Leafs win the lottery, and they pick, you know, Gavin McKinnon or Eva Arstenberg, that's going to change their trajectory, of course. Also, what they do with their front office, it's Bad Tree Living still the general manager. He has sort of brought in a doctrine of bigger, older, slower, it worked last year in the playoffs, but overall, it's brought the team down. They don't win nearly as many regular season games, and they're just a lot less talented now than they were at the end of the Kyle Dubas Air, right? So I don't know. I think the window is closing or has closed, unless they get really lucky with those ping pong balls. What's the worst case scenario? Do you win the six hole? So yeah, and that makes last night, so do you call it a winner loss? Yeah.

30:40Winner the loser against Boston? Yeah. I think that would be the ultimate kick in the pants, for sure, which would be very leaves. Would that be something? Matt, as always, thanks for your time. Really appreciate it. We'll be looking forward to those a couple of articles that you have coming out on the daily face-off. As always, appreciate you coming on. Thank you, guys. That's Matt Larkin from the daily face-off. Game of the day brought to you by St. Albert Dodge, where the 2026 Jeep Gladiator Sport packages are going fast. Check it out at St. Albert Dodge.com. You know, Schlemmer, I like it. When he talks about the Pacific, but hear me out, you know, and he's talking about stats and everything like that. I look at, and yes, the odors aren't playing like they were last year. No. Yeah. That's right. But the pieces are there. The goal-tending is needs to up its game. The goal-tending at this stage of the season compared to this year to last year was better last year. It was, but it wasn't great, right?

31:41The others have never had great goal-tending. They don't need great goal-tending to win. So, hear me out again here. If I get through the Pacific or whatever, let's just say, if you were, say, your Colorado or Dallas, or even Minnesota, I mean, let's use Colorado and Dallas. If they somehow were to play the odors in the first round, I don't think they'd be tickled pink here. No, you know, just like the matchup they're looking for. Let's pretend Florida was a little bit better, and we're challenging to get into a number one or two wildcard seed. Do you think those teams that are winning those divisions are going, all right, we got wildcard number two, but it's Florida, no. Absolutely not. That's why this is almost the way the others are flying under the radar right now. The way the Pacific division is flying under the radar, I think it's going to be a good thing. Yeah, I don't disagree. I think it's the easiest path that they have to the Western conference final in a long time. Since 20, I mean, in 2017, when they were a Ryan Kessler,

32:44golden or interference away from going, clean play. Yeah, you know, from going to the Stanley Cup semi finals, and then you think about the route that they had to take. I mean, LA's been tough on them. They could have easily beat the odors last year. Yep. Vegas, incredibly tough. You know, they beat them and go on to win the Stanley Cup. Yeah, I mean, they get, they get hot and playing the right way. Like they could easily take care of the first two rounds. Yeah, I mean, you can't look past it. No, you still get a build on and get the process, continue that process to get there. But if you were to say, this is how it's looking for you to get to the conference final, you know. The road's got a few less potholes this year. No. Hey, speaking of, like, you know, I'll tell you what, for all our listeners, if you got nothing to do today, come down to the sports 1440 studios here at West Edmonton Mall. But take 87th Avenue. Take 87th Avenue to where, like, where the LRT's being built. And if you can, like, if you can go probably

33:47from like 156th Street to 178th, just please come on down and see us. If you make it here, it's all your tires intact. If you have your rims left. If you have your undercarriage left. Is that bad, eh? It is, like, it is, oh. There are roads, like, whatever's going on in Iran and Afghanistan that get bombed. The roads are better there than what we have on 87th Avenue right now. When we come back, we'll go in and out. I don't know if that'll be an in and out question for going to five. I could just imagine. It's the Kevin Carishow with David Schlimco. He said potholes. Schlimmer, man. Duke Adeleburn, Josh Fenwick on sports 1440 AM radio, presented by Sports Select. Hey, we're also streaming on YouTube X Facebook Instagram and Twitch. AI is transforming customer service. It's real and it works. And with Finn, we've built a number one AI agent for customer service. We're seeing lots of cases where it's

34:48solving up to 90% of real queries for real businesses. This includes the real world, complex stuff, like issuing a refund or canceling an order. And we also see it when Finn goes up against competitors. It's top of all the performance benchmarks, top of the G2 leaderboard. And if you're not happy, we'll refund you up to $1,000,000, which I think says it all. Check it out for yourself at fan.ai. Wootam Clan, the final chamber comes back home and on core kilobies, swarming on new locations with special guests, bone thugs in harmony. Get tickets this Friday at the Wootam Clan.com. Work moves fast. Every email, report, and proposal counts. That's where Grammarly comes in. It's your one place to think, write, and finish. Grammarly's AI agents help you find natural phrasing, fine-tuned tone, and confidently write wherever you work. It's the premier writing tool that 93% of users trust to get more work done. In a world of generic AI, don't sound like everyone else.

35:49With Grammarly, you never will. Download Grammarly for free at Grammarly.com. All right, welcome back to the big program, 945, and Edmonton, tech, say 3, 3, 4, 0, 1, and 14, 40. Just before you get to interrupt, B.C. Orders says, yeah, I was glad I was driving a rental car down on 87th Avenue. Guys, as I drove it last week, I did think that the bombs did fall. Tiger, I think the city lets us down by allowing contractors to give us very poor, temporary roads that in reality, we drive on for two years. Correct. Bang on, some mess. Jay and Victoria says, Kev, I'm trying to convince my wife to move back to Alberta or to Alberta. I think she's from out there, if I'm not mistaken, Jay. You're not helping with the road reports, aha, aha. It's not fun down here, fellas. It's not not a lot of fun. Yeah, if you looked up my window this morning, you wouldn't be moving from Victoria. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Time now for your inner out, brought to you by Pro Solutions. If you need fast AC service, Pro Solutions offers expert repairs,

36:52tune-ups, installs with flexible financing. Book your appointment now at ProSolutionsInk.ca. OK, OK, you know what, moving to fast. Bottom line, are you in or are you out? You know how to what, no type of questions, just actions, games, or hours. Well, then I'm out. I'm sorry, Jet, actually, you're already in. Are you in or are you out? On sports, 1440. As I thought you would go, I'm in, Bob. We would have had a really cool moment, but you kind of ruined the whole thing. All right, Duke, lettermark. And if you don't, just picking up a big two points last night in Utah, Matt Savoy. Just going to shorthand a goal and an impressive individual effort on the PK. Moving down the stretch of the season, Leon Dreyse had a not expected return of the lineup. I think Matt Savoy has earned the right to be riding shock on economic David the rest of the way. Well, I'm in, but I with the caveat that I need to see Zach Hyman there, too. You're only allowed to be there of Zach Hyman's also there.

37:53Oh, I just think that that's a line that has something there. Something there. I mean, Savoy's continually improving on at all, all areas of his game. Defensively, man, we talked about it last week, Schlimmer. Like, he might not win every puck battle that's in a corner along the boards, but it's almost like he's going to get 50-50. That's second effort, man. Yeah, he's a dog on the puck. What's the question? He's like, okay, full time down the stretch. I don't know if I'm in for full time down the stretch. He's got to keep earning it, but the way he's played lately, he has every right to be there. I think whoever McDavid wants to play with, he's going to be there as well. So as long as he keeps playing the way he is, he'll be there. Yeah, I just think like, and we had a couple of textures even earlier with put colds and being there. And he's, he's had a great season. I just think that his fit is better tuned with other players, including Leon, or whether it's Kaapunin and Simansky or whatever it is. Or more like that power game hang on to Pax,

38:55where like McDavid and Savi, they're just electric out there. Well, we talked about this too. I mean, when Jack Roslovic played with Connor and or Leon at times, he would be one of the few guys that didn't give them the puck immediately. Yeah. Would try to make a play and hold on to the puck a little bit more. And you're still, and you know, and that's what I see from. You're starting to see that with Savi, right? That's right. Like last night that, I think it was like the first period, but he got a pass from at home right at the blue line there in the middle, and he took a couple steps over and just ripped a shot. Yeah, all right? Like you would have never seen that a couple months ago if he's on McDavid's line. He's not shooting that puck from distance. He's looking to kick it out, find him wherever he is. Because you go to the bench, and what happens? The guy, Connor Leon, look at you, and they're going, give me the puck. Feed me, you know, and as a young guy, what do you do? You don't want to piss him off. You feed him. Yeah. Yeah, I just with without Leon in the lineup, I think it becomes pretty critical that Ryan Newgen Hopkins is playing on a different line just to try and balance the lineup a little

39:57bit further and give those bottom two lines. Some more character as you kind of alluded to earlier, Slammer. And as a result, if he's not the one writing shotgun, I'm right there with you, Kevin. I think Zach Hyman is the obvious, and crucial fit to what makes that top line maybe the best in hockey. And yeah, Matt Savoy isn't Ryan Newgen Hopkins, but he kind of profiles out as a similar type player in his two-way game. The ability to be like a heady player, smart being the right place the right time. So I like to fit. I like it a lot. And if you're looking ahead to the playoffs, assuming the others do, in fact, hold on to one of these spots, then you're going to need contributions from him, even when Leon's back in. So why not keep the opportunity and the confidence going play in a long alongside the world's very best? Tristan Jarrett, one is first game in a start since January 26 last night. And what I would describe as a solid, if unspectacular effort last night, I don't think it's enough to take the crease away. I'm looking back at Conor Ingram for as a schedule start, scheduled start for both of the next two against Vegas and Anaheim.

40:57See, I'm out on this one, Duke. And I said this earlier with the texture. I don't know where you are with this one. I see a split here. And a lot of that has to do with an afternoon game on Saturday. Maybe that comes into play because you're traveling back from Vegas. I don't know what kind of practice schedule would be on Friday. Who knows? There's nothing on Saturday for sure. But I see a split in these two. I don't know how I would go about it. But if you had the confidence, it's not like you were running. Like you weren't running Ingram into the ground here, were you? No. Played five in a row. Exactly, but he has... So he shouldn't be worn out? That's what I'm saying. But you had confidence to put Jari in a game that you had to win last night. Like for me, what's happening right now is they're just waiting for one of these guys to grab a hold of this thing and take it. Right. And then you're going to ride the hot hand. It could be a split. Maybe Ingram gets both. For me, like Jari just doesn't instill a lot of confidence.

41:57He's just a blocker. I mean, besides that one double pad stack, he made that one game like that's the only reactionary save I've seen him make since he got here. He's very well structured, well positioned. He's going to hit his butterfly. If the puck hits him, it hits him. If it doesn't, it's going in. This is kind of what I see. I said earlier, I think right now his legs and pads aren't quiet enough. They're all over the map for me. Okay. I get it. I get where you're saying you're not confident in them, but I see this as a split. These two games. I'm not saying I'm super confident in Ingram either. It's fair. I just go back to, and yeah, we're... What are we a week? Two weeks since Chris Nolux said, like he said, Connor Ingram is the team starting goalie right now. And down the stretch of the season, like Jari had put in an effort last night, where the first goal, nothing you can do about it. I mean, it's a couple of terrible bounces, but Kevin, we've talked about it, and we had a few textures pushed back. I think that power play goal is 100% on him, like that is a play. It's a bit of a tough angle the way it comes in towards the side of the net,

42:58but as a goalie, you have to make a play on that puck to keep it below the goal line and not right out into between the hash marks for as easy of a goal as a team will score on the power play. So it's a little bit of a tough break, and he made a few good stops last night, but keep in mind that the effort the goalers put it in front of him was probably the best he has seen since becoming an Emmett and all or so. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to immediately say one win under his belt is enough to all of a sudden start handing him every second game again. I still think it's Ingram's net to lose. And while he hasn't run away with it, he hasn't done anything to necessarily give it back to Trish and Jari in my eyes, necessarily at this point, but moving around to the rest of the NHL. It's that time of year. We see several college and your old players make their NHL debut signing some entry level contracts and Tom Frandell last night James Haggins is currently on a NHL PTO with the Providence Bruins, Cole Hudson, already debuting for the Washington capitals, coal isermen signing in New York with the islanders as well. They are all the headliners so far.

44:00And next up, I think the most anticipated we will see fall away Michigan states, either departure or run all the way through the NCAA playoff's is Mortar Marton with the Philadelphia Flyers. Is Haggins going to make his NHL debut? Well, he's going to sign first. I'll be honest, I was trying everything in my heart to get a Bruins, be a reporter on this at 10, 20 day, but they were playing last night and couldn't connect with anybody until too late, because I wanted to hear on that the report are that he's going to Providence and it's going to play. And then at that point, they'll decide if he's going to sign like Charlie McAvoy. So exactly. It's what they do with McAvoy who made his NHL debut in a playoff game. So why do they do that? Why do they just do the PTO first? I don't understand that, but is it because he's already property of the team? Oh, I know what I mean. Like, is a draft pick a PTO to me is like, those are the guys that you can't pick up. If you're either your first round pick, like you're going to sign them, no, I don't just sign them. Is it because of a year that they might have contract? Oh, maybe, maybe that has something to do with it burning a year or something.

45:00Yeah, that would make sense. Yeah, you like Porter Marton, huh? I do. This was a guy that I really fell in love with the leading up to the draft. Last year, I thought, I thought the flyers got him as a steal of a player kind of profiles. That is that broad street bully type guy. He's got a man's body already one year of NCAA under his belt. I think this is a prime target to jump in and help the flyers for whatever redeems of a late playoff push or just get a couple games in an NHL experience before coming full-time next year. Yeah, I'm really interested to see how he does. I think should fit in with the Philly style perfectly, like you say. Is it a guy that just screams Rick Tauke? Exactly. All over him, right? I didn't love him at the World Junior, so I'm interested to see how his foot speed and his pace work out at the pro game. But yeah, we'll see. He's got a lot of talent. Yeah. I'm into Duke. Again, World Junior's little taste and to see him at this level.

46:01The other thing too, if you think all these, I guess with the exception of what are we looking at? Like Hagen's Boston still sniffing around here. Bundel, you know, they've got an opportunity to give him some ride. I really think Cole Iserman might get some serious look here with the Islanders. Like this is a guy that scores. He's a goal scorer, man. They could use that. Yeah. And they're a team that can always use a little bit more of that. Now they made pretty good efforts at the deadline and before that to shore up, depth and things. So who does he push out of the lineup to try and get into a role to be determined as opposed. But yeah, I'm excited to see a lot of these guys make the debut. And we already saw Frontel Hudson both getting points in their first games. Hudson was good. And here's an interesting one that I think it'll Michigan's the top ranked team in the country. They could be going all the way to the national championship. But Michael Hage, Montreal, Canadians, top prospect. We just finished talking with Matt Larkin about the Habs. They didn't really go and add, say, a legitimate second line center. That's a lot of pressure to put on this guy coming out of his college time to step in and

47:01try and help a playoff team in your top six. This is another guy that's he's not small. He's not slow. He does a lot of things really well that maybe he can have an impact at the NHL level. He was like, I thought one of the top forwards at the world. I would agree for sure. And he was he's, I don't know if he finishes a Hobie Baker finalist or just outside of it, but he was excellent, of course, for like I said, the top ranked Wolverines and NCAA this season. Switching over to the major leagues of baseball. It's technically opening day with just one game tonight. It's on Netflix actually in case that tickles your fancy in any way shape or form. Does, like, you know, how we have games on Netflix and prime and all that stuff and TSN grabs them too. Yeah, but most of the times these streaming games, like Monday night hockey on prime, you cannot watch anywhere else. The Netflix NFL games, you cannot watch anywhere else. I'm pretty sure that it will be the only place to see this game tonight. Don't quote me on that, but that's just a guess. It is the Yankees and the Giants from San Francisco. Let's just look ahead season long prediction time.

48:02We're going to talk some more baseball, of course, the next few days, Jays debuting on Friday. But I think we're going to have a fall classic rematch. The powerhouse Dodgers back again, they seemingly cannot be stopped. Just get better and better at each year. And I think the blue Jays have a good chance as anybody in the American League to find their way back to the world series. I like it, Duke. I mean, it's hard to count out the Dodgers. Obviously, yeah. Yeah, I want anybody but the Dodgers. Of course, yeah, we could say the same thing about the Yankees, but maybe I mean, the Mets made a lot of moves here, Duke. The Mets have, they also lost a lot of players. They've got enough there. The Phillies always, I mean, they got the pitching and if Wheeler can come back and Nolan can get back, the Phillies have enough power to get there. Dodgers are obviously number one favorite. So, so do the Jays have what it takes to make your back there? I don't, I, you know, who I think is going to get there this year? Don't say the Yankees. Well, no, I'm not, I mean, no one knows I'm a Yankee fan.

49:05The Red Sox. No, I think it's Seattle, Duke. I think Seattle. I think Seattle's pitching, who is going to turn into like a Sai Young, you know, behind school bull and crochet. I think who's probably the best pitch outside those two lefties? Really? Yeah, he's that good. You know, they've got enough, you know, with Raleigh and if they can get a better start from Rodriguez, because he's always a slow starter, they have the bullpen. They've got enough and, you know, with a full season of, of Nailer there. They've got enough there that they can get out of the American league. I heard it here first. Seattle and the rig, our buddy rig. He texted and he said, oh, and I'm just, yeah, it is actually on sports nets. So color me wrong. Far from the first time, even further from the last. So you can, in fact, to watch the game on your sports net or sports net plus subscriptions. Finally, today, this Wednesday falls right in the middle of National Cleaning Week.

50:07Spring cleaning doesn't really feel like it outside, of course, with a snow, but maybe you're shaking out some rugs getting things freshly cleaned up to start the summer of fresh. The worst room in the house in the home to clean. I think this is very unpopular. I'm going, I'm going with the bedroom over, say, maybe the bathroom has the more popular choice. So, Duke, you're seeing a, if Lattie were here, you, he would say, Duke, you're talking about a room that gets no use in your house wrong, sleeping at every night. I got to be out on this one. Oh, I think the bathroom is way worse than the bedroom. I don't know, like explain that to me. All right, hear me out. Let's hear it. Hear me out, the bathroom, you can essentially just like throw water everywhere. The sink, the tub, the shower, there's, it's, what the toilet? Well, the toilet, you scrub the toilet. Who cares if you drop some cleaning product in there? And I don't know, I find if you, if you have that bad of a, a day or a morning, and you just take care of it immediately after the fact, it's a little bit easier than having to circle back

51:10once a year to clean your crapper. What's a year? That's the Kevin, that's the Kevin carries. Like that's what I'm saying. I don't do that. I think you got to talk to Eddie Steele here. Yeah, Eddie would be, Eddie would be the, the authority on this specific topic as our in-house dump expert, but, um, and like in the bedroom, because the bed is in the way. So if you're trying to like vacuum underneath and clean up and get like a thorough clean on the baseboards and walls, the night stands, the, uh, dressers, there's so much furniture in what is usually a smaller space than say the living room or something. I think it's just more inconvenient as opposed to in the bathroom. You mop, you scrub the surfaces, you give it all a nice hose down, essentially going there with a pressure washer and you're good. Oh, wait, Duke. Well, now that I know you only clean your bathroom once a year, I understand. No, no, no, no, that's not what I said. I said, if you're only doing it once a year, which I do not. Okay, buddy. Who's your house cleaner, Duke? You're looking at him.

52:12Um, oh, that, oh, I'm in my room, but my, actually, it's not a room. It's a shark. It's a shark. I wrote a bot that I named Bryce. Bryce. That's my buddy. So that's the, like that distance. Yeah, like you can, you can name it, like because you have an app that you control it with. So you name it and I'll get notification saying Bryce is stuck or Bryce is high centered. And it's nothing but a shot at my buddy saying that he's my maid, essentially. And the old piglet bought a brand new one of those for our place. Yeah. And, uh, but it's a pretty high end thing, I think. Is it one that mobs to? Yeah. Yeah. See, I'd, I'd fix the cleaning. I'm not quite in that tax bracket. So I can't, uh, can't afford that one. Tax bracket. I'm not gonna have that Kevin Carrier's generation. BC Oilers is Duke. What the hell are you doing in that bedroom? Nothing. Living. Okay. Sleeping. First of all, my personal life is of no one's concern. Here we go. I can't exist. I can't, I just can't exist no matter what I do. Uh, are we gonna have Lattie on to talk about this tomorrow, too? I have to.

53:12I need to drop Lattie a message. Maybe he'll get back to me very late tonight again. MTR says take a black light in there. It'll be a horde show. I don't know. Yeah, it's your bathroom to Shlamer, but you know, you're not doing any cleaning at the house. Are you? Oh, no. I'm pretty lucky. Like my wife cleans a bathroom since the laundry. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very appreciative. What's so bad about cleaning the bathroom? It's disgusting. As opposed to anything else, everything's disgusting. Yeah, like I just, I don't like cleaning. Honestly, it kind of grosses me out. I don't like cleaning the bad. I don't like cleaning the dishes. I do all the cooking in the house. I have no problem doing all the cooking. I just don't like cleaning. Yeah, I'm kind of with you. I do a little bit, but no, you don't. I do actually do. Like a little help like throw a, you know, sweep a vacuum through quick once in a while. Make it look like you're doing so. Dukes by and comment by the case for his bathroom and then a pressure washer and everything. Yeah. Man, it's cleans up in no time at all. Just quick little hose down.

54:15Good stuff, Duke. When we come back, we'll get to some of your texts at 1020 Julian McKenzie from the athletic author of a new book called Black Aces as well. Lots to talk about with the sense really on a good, good run right now. Carter Yakumchuck, we just mentioned him a little bit earlier. He gets his first goal and an assist. I guess last night, one, so big, what a, what a debut. Man, parents were in the stands. Mom's crying a little bit. So that's a straight ahead before that time. Now for a sports 1440 update brought to you by all star construction. The they shape and build Edmonton communities, specializing, specializing part. Me an underground utilities like power, gas, telecommunications and street lighting. That's all star construction. Here is the Duke. Hi, this is Pablo Tore from Pablo Tore finds out. And today I want to talk to you about boost mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, overvalued contracts, money tied up in the wrong places and so on.

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56:16It's the premiere writing tool that 93% of users trust to get more work done. In a world of generic AI, don't sound like everyone else. With Grammarly, you never will. Download Grammarly for free at Grammarly.com.