The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 4th, 2026 - Hour 2

0:00Here's how to stay alive longer so you can enjoy Boost Mobile's unlimited plan with the price that never goes up. You're not mistaken, a wasp nest for a piñata. Stay alive and switch now at Boost Mobile. After 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds, customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan. Over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms trust Bill to simplify and secure Bill Pay. That's proven financial infrastructure built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. Visit bill.com slash proven for a special offer. All right, welcome back to the big program 802 in Edmonton and time now for on the mark brought to you by Northgate Chevrolet Buick GMC spring is coming and so are the Corvettes. Come see the vets inside Northgate showroom and get 0% financing Seymour at NorthgateGM.com as we welcome in Mark Spector from Roger sports net good morning spec. What's up partner, how you doing, man, we think of that joke last night.

1:01Well, it's like a kind of like a microcosm of a large part of the season, is it not, you know, it's kind of, you know, that's kind of how I would look at it again. You know, you're, you know, your offense bills, you're a defense out. As I said at the top of the show, you know, until they're still searching and they're searching for the equivalent, the equivalent of so many adjectives of whether it be positional play, whether it be a buy in whether it be will urgency awareness, all these things, they're, they're searching for the equivalency of that in their own end of what we see from them in the offensive end. So that's, that's might take it a nutshell of the team. Yeah, I think that's fair. I guess the only difference between the two ends is the one end is a lot less structured. You know, when you have really good creative players like this, they, you know, I'm not saying they don't have any plan, but there are a lot of what's going on is freelance and making it up as they go and they all know each other so well and it's what, it's a great quality.

2:01You know, you don't draw it up and your defensive zone, it's far more structured. The coaches have a, a plan that needs to be adhered to and, you know, that's probably the difference between the two ends and the part where they have to adhere to the plan is the part they've been struggling with for sure. You know, and I look at it like the offense comes so easy to so many talented guys that they're born with these instincts and things like that. But when you flip it around when the chips are down and we talked about even, for instance, that goal in game six last year, spec with Connor coming back to the play and going to the puck instead of just doing a quick shoulder check on Kachak. Like those are all the tiny little things that if they can do that plus all the offensive gifts that they have instinctually, I mean, they're a deadly team, but it hasn't been together for the better part of this season, I guess. And not this year. I mean, I think that's what gets people, you know, frustrated is because they've proven they can do it. Yeah. Watch, we've watched them go on long stretches where the defensive game is excellent.

3:04They've gone to two cups. You don't do that with a poor defensive game. They walk through Vegas in five and Dallas in five last year to go to the cup. That's not done on poor defense. So if they were a team that's never done it, you know, I'd say, well, I don't believe in this team till they've done it. But these guys have done it numerous times. So that's sort of the frustrating part, not just for us, more so for them. They say the same thing, you know, they know they can do it, but okay, like show me here and they're, you know, they're having a hard time showing themselves so far. For sure, Mark Spector with us in sports 1440. So in your article today, spec, you mentioned Curtis Lazar in a little arm sling. Walmond didn't play the third. I mean, it's good that I guess it's great that we got Connor Murphy coming in at practice today and we'll play on Friday. So, you know, I just kind of was wondering about Lazar with maybe being a little more serious than they're letting on being in a sling though. Yeah. Well, no block set after the game, he's going to be out at least a week.

4:07And I mean, that's without even an examination today. So if he's saying a week last night, you know, that to me sounds like more than a week. So Lazar has got a shoulder issue. I assume it's a shoulder. It's a, he's with a sling. It happened on a body check into the, into the boards kind of a funny awkward play. Wasn't it blow up hit? So hey, listen, everyone has injuries, you know, the, I mean, Curtis Lazar is a good player and he's, he's going to help around here for sure. It has helped, but it's not, he's not a first line player. He's not around your power play. So you're going to have to figure out how to deal with it. It's, it's not going to cripple your team. I don't want to be disrespectful to Curtis because he's an awesome guy and a nice player. But you got to be able to get over injuries. That's just the way it is. Yeah. For sure. And, you know, I was talking about Josh Samansky a little earlier this morning. Didn't play a whole lot last night in, in the sense because they were chasing the game. But I always look at him where he's at on the ice and he's, he knows that if he doesn't

5:09accept defensive responsibility and positional play, it's going to cost him. I don't know where he fits in here, spec. And especially if you think if they're going to go for a 3C and try to get a 3C that maybe bumps him down, it could bump him out of the lineup. You never know. Yeah. But what, what, what, I mean, just even certain things last night, even in the first pretty, it was kind of in the trolley tracks there. If you remember that one play, he almost got wall up to long and kind of close to the bench there. If you remember that one, yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's doing what young players should do. He's gaining the play of his, the trust of his coaching staff. So that, because they're the ones that give out the ice time. So, you know, like having a Lazar that's maybe going to miss a couple of games out of that, gives him an opportunity, probably. And if the coaching staff doesn't trust you, they go, oh, now we've got to play this guy more. We're going to call up someone we trust more. But, you know, they'll play Samaski, no problem, and we'll watch him grow. And it's awesome. He looks like he'll be a player, but I don't expect, you don't expect any production

6:10out of the player. He really is even airing to the defensive side of the game, which is, I'm not saying that's not a good idea at his stage of the game. But I'd like, you know, it'll be nice when he's been around a bit and he's got some games under his belt. And he figures out that age-old, you know, quandary of, I want to be responsible defensively, but I think I got more in me offensively. Yes. And he'll get there, right? He'll get there. Will he get there this season? I mean, I can't tell you that. Exactly. Hey, after the first period of intermission, Connor Murphy had a little meeting with the media. I got a feeling a lot of the media are going to like this guy because he's a pretty damn good interview. That's back. Yeah. And every guy, I got, I watched Twitter and saw all the tributes from the sports writers that hockey people in the Chicago saying how much they enjoyed working with them all those years. He was the longest 10-year Black Hawk. And I got a couple of texts from guys there saying, man, you got a good guy here.

7:12So I'm not telling you, I'm surprised. But he has. He was very, you know, he's engaging. He's well-spoken. He's got a, he's smile looks like he likes to have a laugh. He's obviously been in the game as dad Gord Murphy was, you know, was in the game forever. This kid grew up in the game. So he's pretty easy going and we love guys like that. You love a guy in the dressing room where you can go over and frankly have a laugh once in a while. And, you know, the interviews are good too. It's a long year. It's nice when there's a guy in there that doesn't mind having a laugh or two. Yeah. And his dad played a long time in the NHL and his dad coached a long time in the NHL. He was with, he was with Chris Knoblock and Hartford in the American Hockey League. Yeah, that's right. I didn't, you know, I probably never interviewed his dad even though he played 800 in some games because he was a, he was a sort of a, the same defenseman really, I think, the corner Murphy is. He was a four, five, six guy on the Eastern Conference teams his whole career. Yeah. So, you know, Chad, I've watched him play a hundred bunch of games Gord Murphy and probably

8:15noticed him in a few of those games, but I'll bet you I never ended up at his dressing room stall even one time. Yeah. I, I remember more as a Florida Panther, I would guess. Yeah. You know, I guess he would have been on that playoff run that floored away and on there and then what was it the mid 90s? That's, you know, he started in Philadelphia, you play, as you said, all Eastern Conference teams. So we would barely see him out here, especially sometimes back in the day spec that Eastern Conference, some teams never even came out here. Yeah. Was he on that, that team that went to the cup with the rats and all that stuff? I got to just check he was, it was 95, 96, he played, yes, he was, he played 14 playoff games that year spec. Oh, yeah. So there you go. That's kind of sums him up with that guy, you know, on a, anyway, it'll be, listen, I think, you know, everyone I talk to, I talked to some skulls last night, Connor, Connor Murphy is a, is definitely a viewed in this league as a sort of a four or five defense

9:16movement, which is what I think you are as expected, they're getting, I'll be, I mean, the story today becomes who's he going to play with? Yeah. You know, it was funny because last night we made a lot of noise about these new pairings that knoblocking coffee came up with for the game and by about the six minute mark of the second period, he blew him up. Yeah. You know, and then Walmond didn't play in the third. So we were all going to, we saw lots of Wal, yeah, we saw lots of Walmond Stasney before Walmond left the game to spec. Yeah. So I don't know where it's going. Who knows, man? I mean, I just, I, you know what? I'm not even going to guess who they're going to play, Connor Murphy with. Let's go to practice today. I assume they're going to give the guy two days of practice with whoever is, I would imagine with, with Walmond not playing the third, I would imagine it would be nurse to start. Well, if, if Walmond's going to miss a game and he's had a lot injuries this year, man, you know, if he's sure, then, then we know who the six D are for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

10:16Hey, just got a text in. I got to mention this too because we got two big fans of put Coles and Jay and Victoria and Big Sam. How about some props for put Coles and, and I mean, that was a, that's as clean of a hit that you can get that Ridley Greg hammered Mattias Ekkelm behind the net. I know an, an Ekkelm doesn't, he doesn't need to hit like that too often spec. So no, I don't know if he just kind of got caught with his head down in the sense too. I was listening to, I wanted to listen to the replay and I did that when I got home. I wanted to see if I could hear anything like from Conor Ingram giving him like a heads up. I still didn't hear too much of that either. So I don't know. I don't know. I'm unable to hear those things. Our press boxes in like another time. That's why that's why when I got home, I listen to it. But you know, I love it love. I mean, there's a veteran older guy in a team that gets smoked and pod Coles and didn't waste any time. He went straight to Ridley Greg and the gloves came off and he grabbed the whole and didn't let him go to Greg's gloves came off too. And he got an extra two.

11:17I thought it was properly called by the referee. He didn't give him the instigator and a 10 and a five and all stuff. He gave him an extra two, which he deserved. And I got all day for pod Coles and my respect for him was a player just grows every time you, every day. He's as honest a young player as you're ever going to find he doesn't cheat the game one bit and you know, good, good pick up by moment. Yeah, I'll say this spec when I when I went and I said, okay, he's going to get another two here. And I'm Lincoln. We're thinking, okay, we just saw this two plus ten and you're out for basically the whole period. And I just thought the way that was called was just so perfect. Get rid of that other thing like he deserved the two as you said. And he really didn't do much to deserve the two like he grabbed them technically it was an instigator. Completely instigated the fight. Yes, but I'm just so glad he didn't take, you know, they didn't give him another ten and take him out of the game. I agree. I think there's, you know, because like I think there's different instances if if the

12:18other guy isn't willing a willing combatant and he fights him anyway, that's one thing. If it's a giant behemoth guy picking on a little guy and beating him up, that's another thing. You know, Ridley Greggs, he's a willing combatant. He's, I don't know, he's a little smaller in pod Coleson, but pod Coleson isn't an act of fighter in the NHL. You know, so anyway, that's the ref had the right feel for that, the referees had the right feel for that call for them. Well, this next four game stretch, well, even five if you want to count on a back-to-back because it's not an easy travel from Dallas to St. Louis to close out that road trip. But expect these four games here to start, never mind the fifth one. This is just, this show is exactly where, where the orders are, it could show where they are. What, if they could go two and two out of these four games and see what happens in that game, again, St. Louis, would you be happy with that? I mean, probably, you know, Zach Hyman said last night, I asked him about those games and he said, hey, this is, you know, you know, going in those games, if you don't perform,

13:21you might get embarrassed by those teams because they're good teams. So, you know, he says, we like those games, where these games might be something good for them. They're playing really good teams here. It goes Carolina at home and then they go on the road to Vegas and then Denver and then Dallas and then back-to-back St. Louis before they come home again. And those are some tough, tough opponents. Look at Dallas. Dallas went ten in a row. Ten straight. Colorado has been the best team in the West all year long and Vegas isn't going any good at all. But the orders aren't going so great themselves and it's a tough, divisional matchup right in Vegas. Great place to start the trip. That game in Vegas is probably going to set a bit of a tone for this trip for the orders. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's the one thing that we all know is, you know, I thought Hyman's quotes for the best last night. He said, hey, after they got behind 4-2 and 1-5-4, he says, I don't have a big smile on my face about this winning. We're not in here patting each other in the backs. We know that this is in the way we got to win our games here.

14:23Exactly. Well, you got to take the points because you need points. But I'm not sure what they accomplished last night other than getting the two points. You know what I'm saying, Kevin? I don't think they met any of their goals in that game. I'm with you and I thought just because of how what happened on the road trip and what's happened here that it was going to be a conscious effort about tightening up defensively. And that's still a work in progress and it's going to be for a while. I was also talking to some guys yesterday at the Alumni Skate 2. And just saying, well, you know, the message from inside the Oilers from their standpoint. And even with Paul coming in, Paul Coffey, that between Paul Coffey and Connor Murphy, they're not the saviors here, man. These guys aren't coming in and being saviors for this team. They're going to be hopefully part of a solution that can shore things up down the stretch here and then into the playoffs. And that's how they look at it. Listen, one thing all year long, like we know that if you play McDavid 27 minutes and

15:28dry side of the goals off that you could win games, that's not a ever been a question around here. You know, it's, you'd like to win a game where Connor McDavid plays 22 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. 21 minutes. I mean, he was high last night's back. He was in 27. Yeah. And they're going to the whip on Connor. I mean, all those guys, you know, Rashad was asking the question last night and it was a very good one. You know, the toll about the toll it takes on your top players to be trying to come back from down two goals all the time. And the coach just goes to his best guys. I mean, I'll, I'll echo what you're talking about, who shard was, who shard was just like unbelievably good last night and has been for a while. It's been great. And we still have people coming and texting about him to, um, this is the blue shirt. Like, I'll say this, this is the blue shard that makes us all raise our eyebrows when he plays the way he played in October because it's like the, he's a metaphor for the orders. We know how well the orders could play and we know they could play well defensively and

16:28we know how good Bouchard can be. I'm, look, we're all looking at it again right now and we have been for the past three months. So when they're nowhere near that level, that's why everybody says, hey, wait a second, it's got to get better. And looking at how good Bouchard is, I mean, compared to the player he was in October, it's, it's night and day and I'm absolutely with you. I'm not telling you, he wins the Norris hands down. I'm not that guy. I haven't even decided yet, but if he's not in your conversation, you're not paying attention. Good stuff. Speck. Uh, we'll see you down at the ring. Big fella. All right. Sounds good, Kevin. Mark Specter from Rogers Sportsnet on the mark brought to you by power by Northgate Chevrolet Buick GMC. This trucks for you. Check them out at only at Northgate GM dot com. We'll get to a lot of your texts that are rolling in. I want to get to a couple of texts later after we have Paul Sur on from Team Dean and hot salsa. I know you guys are listening and I'm going to address this a bit later in the show. I just don't have the required time to do it right now.

17:28So we'll get to those a little bit later. When we come back, Paul Sur from Hoop City will talk about the nicks and raptors last night and everything else, basket ball with the great Paul Sur when we come back on the Kevin Caries show presented by sports select with the Duke Delburn and Josh Fenwick on sports 1440 AM radio. We're streaming on YouTube YouTube X Instagram and Twitch. Hi, this is Pablo Torre from Pablo Torre 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.

18:30Visit 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 unlimited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the boost mobile unlimited plan. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. The hustle doesn't have to hurt. If performance pressure is making it hard to breathe, growth therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, grow therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states.

19:33Provides average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com slash start now to get started. That's growtherapy.com slash start now, growtherapy.com slash start now, availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. All right, welcome back to the big program, a 22 in Edmonton. Time now for the headliner of the day, brought to you by Mr. Rooter, plumbing the plumber to call. When the toilet mysteriously breaks after your Halloween, pepper, pepper, fueled game night with the fellas. That's Mr. Rooter. Doc C.A. as we welcome in, Paul Sir, host of Hoop City, from 10 to 12 every Saturday here on sports 1440. Good morning, Paul. How are you this fine Wednesday morning? I'm doing great, Kevin. How are you? Oh, second best day of my life. That's great. That's great. I'm still waiting for your response on that, Paul. We're going to use it a couple of times. Mine wouldn't be appropriate for radio, so this is how boy had a boy.

20:38Hey, I need you to be smiles and ears here on the Raptors and Nick's game last night, because I was down at the orders watching that game with Ottawa. So what was your take on the Nick's win over the Raptors last night? Raptors not quite good enough. Nick's better. Murray Boyle's is out. He has become, as a rookie, an integral part of the Raptors. And in particular, the Raptors suffer from rebounding woes. And it was very obvious last night, because New York really dominated them on the boards. And in the fourth quarter, it was actually very close until about five minutes to go, Kevin. And then, gradually, the Nick's just pulled away largely because of offensive rebounds. And just a general physical toughness. The Raptors down the stretch, they struggled to find shots. They just didn't have that extra gear that the Nick's had last night. So clearly, it was a Nick's assertion of its will over the Raptors, down the stretch

21:45when it really mattered. The 16-2 run last night, Paul, that does the Raptors in. But we saw it last week again. They had two opportunities to beat two of the very best teams in the league in the Spurs and O.K.C. So what is it about down the stretch where they're not able to raise their level of play? In fact, their level of play decreases, Paul. I think that's the nuance. And I think that's really well stated by you, Kevin, because that's what the Raptors have to figure out. And I think what it boils down to is down the stretch. They still don't have that guy who can take the ball and create a shot later in the shot clock. Last night, you had Jalen Brunson. You also had Carl Anthony Towns, Ingram, who had a fantastic game with 31 disappeared. Now, part of that, I think, is the Raptors not having a clear plan on how to attack

22:51the end of games, situations like that, where the score is close. They still look like they're a democracy. And I think you have to become a monarchy, then, and who's your king? Last night, I would have thought it would have been Ingram. RJ Barrett showed some flashes. He had a nice game as well. Scottie was fairly quiet on offense. But I think the Raptors really have to figure out who they are down the stretch and who their guy is. Last night, they didn't have anybody. They just kind of moved the ball around, took errant shots, and it never, it, it, it, never materialized for them. Paul, share with us on sports 14-4. I'm just looking at a couple stats from the game here, Paul, where I'm just seeing the bench from the Nick's outscored Toronto 26-8. I mean, is that something do you, do you see, would you say that the Nick's have a way better bench? Or was it just one of those nights that was coming off the bench for the Raptors couldn't get it done? It's both. But I think Raptors bench is a concern because now that, you know, when Murray Boyle's comes

23:56back, they become deeper and they become deeper and a way. Having Pertleback is, is, is great, like he's contributing nicely and I think he's a principal reason why down the stretch run, he's going to be integral for their ability to, to compete down, to get playoff seating set. But their bench is a concern. They really don't have somebody that's coming in right now and giving them the lift that they need and that's been somewhat consistent in those losses, too, that you pointed out against the best team. They're going to need the, they're going to need the bench to step up and, and the asterix there is once Murray Boyle's comes back, he's going to give them a lot of energy, a lot of defense, he's going to get rebounds, he's going to be physical. So he'll add a, a level of toughness that they lack without him, but other players on the bench have to step up as well. Well, I'm just absolutely blown away here, Paul, because that's what Josh Fenwick said when I asked him about this earlier in the, in the show and earlier in the morning. He, well, I'm glad Josh read the script and that we're on the same page.

24:57Well, I'm waiting. He doesn't even have his mic ready for his question for you, but I'll have to figure that out as we move along here, Paul. Absolutely. Hey, the game for me that I, you know, when I looked at all the scores when I got home from the Oilers last night, the one that I wanted to see was the pistons and calves. Just been because of how Cleveland, you know, changed their tune at the trade deadline and everyone's trying to catch Detroit. What did you make of that game? It was a, a pretty tight one as well. It was a tight one and I, and I think it's going to be that, if the, if the seeds line up the way we think they could, that definitely could be the Eastern Conference final because you've got two teams, somewhat different styles of play. You've got a great point guard in harden who has, you know, has fit in really well with the calves so far. Detroit still struggles with the three point shooting, but you cannot understate their will to win and their physical toughness. And that overcomes their lack of three point, consistent three point shooting.

25:59So I think what you saw last night is what the intriguing chess match is that's unfolding in the Eastern Conference. Now I say that and not to jump off the game last night because it was a very well played hard. It had to play off game feel to it, but the announcement now that it looks like Jason Tatum is going to be coming back on Friday. Now you've got Boston who has been marvelous, exceeded all expectations in the East. With Tatum back, he won't be the same player certainly out of the gate and he probably won't be the rest of this season, but 70% of Jason Tatum, that's a nice addition. That's an awfully nice addition. So now you've got those three teams you'd have to qualify as real heavyweights in the Eastern Conference. So it makes the Eastern Conference a lot more interesting than it's been for a long time. Yeah. Paul sir with us on sports 1440. The Raptors, you know, I think they're picked for five or six, wherever you have them,

27:01if the Sixers can catch them or they stay at five, who's their better opponent that they have a chance of beating in the first round? Is it Cleveland or the Nix? Probably Cleveland because Cleveland's not as physical as the Nix are and the Nix physicality. It's not a word I like, but the physical play of the New York Nix, it really gives the Raptors trouble, but so I would probably favor, favor Cleveland. I don't see Philly catching them though. I mean, maybe they're just in a bit of a funk right now, but boy, are they dreadful? They're just getting shellac the last two, the two games for sure. And they're just showing, they're just showing cracks right now. And again, health is it continues to be the bane of their existence because they can't get their guys to stay healthy consistently. And so with George and Bede and just the carousel of injuries that they have, I don't see them catching the Raptors. The key though is, are the Raptors going to take care of business as they've done so

28:05well all year against the teams that they should and need to beat and then learn how like we were talking before, Kevin, how to handle end of game situations against the elite teams in the league. That really seems to be the formula the Raptors have to work at. We got a great text from Husks that we'll get to momentarily going to bring in your side kick, Josh Fenwick here, I'm sure he's got a plethora of things on his mind. Yeah, I hate Paul. Why look so good? Why look so good? Lephora. We're in the day on Sesame Street. Hey, good word. So last night, the Lakers and the Pelicans they played going into the fourth Lakers were down. Williamson, he's had a very strong season. He played 36 straight games before missing a game on Sunday and coming back. Is Zion finally becoming the player that we all thought he would be when he came out of Duke? He's certainly showing signs of it.

29:08He's like you say, he's playing more minutes, playing more games for those of us who really wanted to see what that unique package that Zion brings to the NBA, what that could evolve into. And when he's been healthy, Zion is one very exciting player to watch. And so hopefully he's able to maintain his health and be maintained consistency in being able to play and game in and game out. If he is Josh, he's going to do, he's going to continue to grow and evolve and become any lead player like I'd say top 25 player in the league. And maybe his ceiling's higher than that, but I wouldn't want to go too far because he has not been able to stay healthy. So I think it's a great development though for the league. And maybe his motivation is he wants to get traded somewhere. So he's getting himself into better shape. He's working harder at being more consistent and available. But the outcome is Pelicans are a lot better with him healthy.

30:10He's playing really, really an exciting brand of basketball. Yeah. And then I jump in around to the east because I know you brought him up already, Jason Tatum and how 70% of him is better than a big addition to this Boston Celtics team. Does it remain Jalen Brown's team down the stretch for the rest of the year because it kind of has been his team through the whole season or does Jason Tatum coming back it automatically goes back to sidestep 3s on the wing for that guy and everything else that Jason Tatum is? I hope not. And I would think that you do not want, if you're the Boston brain trust, you do not want Jason Tatum's come back to be a distraction and a step backward trying to find ways for to build your team around him again. Jalen Brown is an MVP, legit MVP candidate.

31:12He is the guy this year. Tatum's job, when he comes back is to supplement Jalen Brown's efforts on the court and be a bit of a role player, which for a former league MVP is something that you don't really associate with a player of Tatum's a pedigree, but that's what he's got to be. He has got to fit in, he has got to contribute, but not taking anything away from the freedom and creativity that as you correctly state, Josh, this is Jalen Brown's team this year. We'll see where it goes after this year, but Tatum's got to be a net asset, not a negative coming back. Great job, Josh. I just had to compliment Josh is a very young guy. But when you always get impressed with young people when they learn, so that we've evolved from that question from ain't Luke a good, and so I think this is, I have to compliment

32:17you on that, Josh. Yeah. That's good stuff, Paul. Hey, from our text line on our buddy, Husks, KK, wondering what Mr. Sir's thoughts on how good Conk and Nippel can be? I said before that if he stays healthy, could finish with the most threes all time. This stroke is so smooth, no extra movement. He also does so many things. Well, Hornets have a great young core, Mr. Sir, what are your thoughts? I couldn't agree with you more, Husks, the all time three point shooting total leader, we'll see. Steph Curry is going to be tough to catch. I don't think Steph's record is untouchable, say like John Stockton's assist record that I don't think will ever be broken, but but Steph has such a substantial lead and has been so effective over a long, long period of time. People, of course, there's people keep trying to find ways to somehow diminish what Conk and Nippel has done this year. I think everybody's amazed, surprised, impressed, et cetera, but then they say, yeah, but

33:18you know, he's not that athletic, you know, I really, there might be a ceiling there. No. The guy, he's an incredibly hard worker with the, then the right NBA skill set for the modern game, incredible basketball IQ. As Husks said, they have a real exciting young core in Charlotte. That used to be an oxymoron to talk about that, but the Charlotte Hornets, they have a great, they have a great one in Conk and Nippel that has to be their franchise player that they build around. And I see him in a couple of years, a 25 to 28 point a game score. He's just that good. I just think he's that good and he shoots the ball incredibly, incredibly well as Husks points out. So I just think not only is he a gem for the Hornets, he's great for the league because there's another player, young players can look at and say, you know what, I can play like

34:22that guy because so much of what Conk and Nippel does isn't above the rim. It's between his ears and it's horizontal and it's his ability to, to, it's his ability to read the game and make impact plays with his head and his, as well as his hands. But the other thing that he brings is an unqualified motor and level of intensity that he always brings every night. A lot of players take nights off, Conk and Nippel doesn't. And if there's ever a quality that young players should emulate in any, in any way that they play no matter what their game looks like, it's unqualified effort. And I hope people take that from Conk and the way he plays the game. Good stuff Paul. I mean, local basketball is kind of winding down. Stingers will be winding up here, match, March madness just around the corner here. So I guess we'll be talking about March madness with you here in the upcoming weeks. But it's that kind of time of the year when, you know, we were talking about bears and

35:22pandas and even AC AC where, you know, that just kind of didn't work out with some teams here. But March madness right around the corner here, Paul. You know, the, the, the sun's going to be shining brighter. Birds are going to be singing louder because March madness is here. Most wonderful time of the year. It's Catholics going to the Vatican from we go there with, with March madness. It's, it's going to be, it's just, and this is going to be a year. My goodness. Is this going to be a, a, a, a March madness extravaganza? Great basketball teams. I, I, I, I, I, and you say that, Paul, just because you think it's, there's so much parody or what, what's your reasoning behind it? Well, it's quality first in your upper echelon teams. The top 20 teams are incredible. The top 10 are out of sight. The top five are as good as I've ever seen in terms of parody. So the, the, yeah, the level of play, the combination of skill, physical play, style of play.

36:28One of the reasons I love the NCAA so much is you still see varying styles of play as opposed to formulaic play, which oftentimes in the NBA, Euroleague is pretty similar. Everybody kind of plays the same way. NCAA isn't like that. So I love that. But I think the quality of talent, individual personnel, combinations of personnel on, on elite teams. And of course, you're looking for the Cinderella's to step in and pull those big upsets in the first weekend. Yeah. I steal the, the first weekend, still my favorite. But it's, yeah, it's just going to be a fantastic March madness season. I just love to, Paul, like, you know, the, the 10, 30 or 10, 40 games in the morning. I love those games too. Oh my God. Yeah. You can't eat it. Bands playing cheerleaders jumping. It's 10th, 30 in the morning, barely out of your underwear or out of your jammies. And so you're, you're, yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's a fantastic time of the year. Good stuff as always, Paul. Well, we'll talk about March madness and that a little bit more next week when you have,

37:31when we have you on as always, appreciate it and have a great show on, on Saturday with Hoop City. All right. Thanks so much, Kevin. You have a great day as well. That's Paul, sir, our headliner the day for Mr. Rooter, the number one overall pick in your fantasy plumbing pool. That's Mr. Rooter dot CA. And again, Paul, sir, with our Josh Fenwick on Saturday mornings from 10th to 12 right here on sports 1440 when we come back. We'll get to some of your texts, a couple of people asking about Jake Wallman, etc. Maybe we'll hear from Zach Hyman. That's all straight ahead on the Kevin Carrier show presented by sports. We select we're streaming on YouTube X Facebook Instagram and Twitch. The hustle doesn't have to hurt. If performance pressure is making it hard to breathe, growth therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries and actually feel like yourself again, whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability

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39:37Explore Tina Counts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash Tina Counts. All right, welcome back to the big program, 846 in Edmonton. That's always just one of the, that's just a solid song. That's a great dancing song, Duke. Can you keep up to that, though? Oh, yeah, it's gonna get the feet scooting. What do you do? What do you call them? The dips know the, what do you call them? Yeah, your dips. Dip them nice and low, spin them around. I don't know, Duke, I gotta see this in action. When's the last time you two stepped or did something with like a real quick dance? I'm not talking like it's slower. Well, yeah, yeah, well, any, whatever, I'll probably last wedding I would have been at. Really? I'm not exactly heading to Cook County every Friday night anymore. It should be. At this phase of my life. It should be. If you were smart, if you say so, Kev. If you were smart, Duke, that's like that is a target rich environment.

40:37Well, no one ever accused me of being smart. No, no, Duke, that's the place you gotta be. I've been there, I've already been there enough for several lifetimes. Remember, Duke, I had invited you to the oil king's draft, which now is on the Friday. Well, it's always been on Friday, but I got in another event to do on the Friday, so I can't make it. But it was, or it is at Cook County. And I was telling about Gordon Dick and Jack Hughes and all that and all his great selections. But could you imagine that Duke on a Friday, the draft at Cook County in some, you know, backroom, rupsters, wherever they would have it? And then zipping around and like, do you think I've never been to a bar before Kevin? Like, what do you mean? Could I imagine that? Forget it. I lived it. I, you go sit somewhere and just shoot the, shoot the BS for a couple of hours and having a few beers. All of a sudden, you're pretty lubricated and primed to go for a net on the town. Were you aware of this Kenneth Texans as Cook is now an 18 to 22 year old bar now, Kevin?

41:42Is that true? It definitely got a lot younger because basically right at the end of my big bar scene days, other places close, Knoxville's downtown, formerly oil city, ranch, over on Calgary Trail, close. It's now more of a concert venue. So when those play, when those places close, that was where more of the young people went to hear some country music. Cook was the only place left. So it got the older crowd, which it had a reputation for being during my time going. That was no longer the case, but I will say there's another place that opened on White Avenue a couple of years ago now called daisies. I think it's what used to be billiards. The bill, like the billiard club in the corner there? Yeah, like above cantees, the upstairs. Yeah. That's a country bar called daisies now. I believe that a lot of the youth have flooded to there and I haven't been to Cook. And maybe since like the big sable is seventh birthday a couple of years ago, is there any like, is there a country bar in town, Duke, where I could go and have a beer and it

42:46would be okay for me to do that? Well, well, you could go to cook, but keep in mind, even when cook, like Mickey Gilly, even even when cook was an older crowd, it was still very loud. It was always very busy on the weekends. It did get a lot busier in those intermittent years as I mentioned where the couple of times don't you, you couldn't even move on the dance floor, forget it, let alone shuffling around trying to get to the bar for a drink. It was so packed, like I said, I haven't been for quite a while now, so I'm not sure if it is regressed at all back to its more previous crowd and we go to Barry would let us in the side door. Wow. Years ago. VIP. That was that was similar thing at the Garnopub because our house was behind it, like over more towards campus in the Garno area and so we would just had a free pass to come in the back door whenever we wanted, which was great, not exactly like there was ever a line up out the door at the Garnop, but still a nice little treat, makes you feel a little special when you're, you know, 18 to 22 years old.

43:48Well, that's where Kenneth says it is now, not Fred Texan says, Cook County, it's for all ages, Kevin, even your age, I find that hard to believe. Hey, Kevin, I don't think they're turning people away like age discrimination or something here. What's the movie, Duke, with, it's like the country, it's not pure country, but there's another movie that came out about 10 years ago. It's got that real, oh, no, no, no, no, I got to think about it, but at the very beginning there, the camera goes into the bar and they're playing silver wings and the dancing's nice and slow and it's like, it's almost not rain of L for me. I'll figure that out, Duke, when we, we got to get to this interview first with Connor Murphy and again, Connor Murphy will have his first practice for the Oilers today. The Oilers are going to be on the ice at 12. I'm sure it's going to be an optional for some, the Connor McDavid could use a day off. I mean, Moushard could use a day off. There's a couple other guys that probably could use a day off too, but I would imagine

44:50Connor Murphy's going to take to the ice and it'll be his first practice with his teammates. In the first period of intermission, he came up to the press box and addressed the media and here are some of those comments. So maybe just take us through when you found out about the deal and kind of what your immediate instincts were and coming to be an honor. They were in Winnipeg for an off day and we had a team thermia spa day. We did saunas and coltubs and then we got back to hotel and my agent just said that there was some toxic amount of stand and didn't know, it hasn't never happened to be in season so I didn't know how long that could take or what that could lead to and then about an hour later it was done and it was just like whirlwind of emotions, a lot of excitement and Edmonton has been a top team that had my sights set on when I knew something might happen and just to be here is definitely surreal and definitely a lot of excitement to get started. So this team was to prevent goals 5 out of 5 and on the pk are you ready to embrace that as I let you look at your goals? That's kind of all I've done. Yeah, it's my career has been a lot of yeah, penalty killing and defensive zone time,

45:53not intentionally being a d-zone a lot but sometimes we were in Chicago and just where I'm comfortable honestly is more of my defending and using my instincts that way and I've settled into that role for a few years now and been really comfortable doing it and I think that's any team's goal is to defend hard and it's a team game to check and to give that mentality on your own end but it's definitely something I take pride in. So this is I mean it's a pretty hockey crazy market and expectations of high pressures high. How much you know from where you're coming from are you kind of embracing that idea and play off hockey is the expectation and performances? And it is for me too. I think that's something at this point in my career winning is the top priority and I've had a lot of opportunity given to me being on maybe losing teams in the past when I came up with Arizona in a few years in Chicago getting more ice time that way and feel comfortable with my role now and want to really just play meaningful games in winning hockey and with that comes pressure and I think that that's what is a privilege to have on your shoulders and to be able to kind of come together with a group and feel that and feel the emotions

46:54the highs and lows is kind of what it's all about and that's something that I really have set my sights set on and that's honestly a big reason why Edmonton has been a top priority that I was hoping to come here too. Do you know anyone in that room or are you thought of there? Jack Rossvix from Columbus my hometown so I know him well and other guys just in passing but not personally yet so I'm excited to get to know guys and honestly you've heard a lot of great things of former teammates that have played with a lot of guys here in played here in general and just it's nothing but good things honestly from each guy so I'm not surprised to hear that I'm not excited to get to know the guys. This is super premature but I mean you want to be in an hockey market like is this potentially more than just a rental situation you view in us? I mean it's been 24 not even 24 hours so I'm not honestly my mind has just been on trying to get in here and play and if that happens that would be amazing but it's more so just this year in general and coming into the situation I just want to focus on my game and providing what I can and playing my best and then that stuff's just kind of outside business that that happens how it happens but more so is really just trying to fit in offer what

47:55I can and to be an impactful player in my own way and then fit with these guys. You see it's on the left side here in defense and you know where you can slot in. What have you noticed and what do you think moving forward here? I noticed the talent honestly like the decor specifically I like a lot of the players with whether it's their skating or even the defensive players you would at Comkin bring and then would Walman and Nurse have in there getting with the ability to be two way players I think is really good and just what's nice is a demon coming in is knowing that whatever part you have partner you have the capabilities that they have to make you look good I feel like those guys are good players in their own rights and how to feel to fit in is a lot easier when they have that experience in that talent that they bring. How do you? I have a spa. And spa is my pick? Yeah you didn't think they would? Okay, Thermia, Thermia spa was a good one, we had the whole team there and it could sweat. What do you feel about doing a way more of this potentially? That's fine, we're in Chicago is a bigger market and we do plenty of media and availability so it's nothing changes that way and it's a part of the NHL and I don't see any problem

48:57with every answer your questions. That's Conor Murphy here and I mean really good interview, he gets thrown right in there they brought a backdrop in the press box and there was probably a number of guys. You know what was funny yesterday Duke in the press box after the first period everyone's waiting for him around there in this area and it's probably 25 yards from where the pizzas handed out so the lady Michelle that does the pizza there wasn't the lineup in front of her because everyone's waiting for Conor Murphy and now like there's more pizza left for some other pigs that are going in for seconds and stuff like that. Like you. I've never had any. I don't believe that first I do you can ask Michelle she asked me every time she goes boy you're you're not you're being pretty good this year so I've you've been you've been dialing it back. Well is this all in the same effort of you're not drinking the French Vanille's here anymore you're trying to cut back on some of your Duke I'm trying to get into top physical condition right okay you know I've got a long ways to go all the power to I got a long ways to go

49:58it's all part of a master plan moving forward Duke for the next call it 16 to 18 months. Okay are you like plan on like trying to run a marathon or something no no no nothing like that but you know there's a few irons in the fire as you folks down in Delbert call it what that's I think that's a pretty universal expression I don't like that's the specific to Delbert irons in the fire yeah you know I got a few irons in the fire I wouldn't say irons in the fire I'd say I got a few irons in the branding pot yeah David Whitetail our buddy Dave says yeah it's a country strong that was the movie yes country strong there's one I was saying Garrett headlands in it Tim McGraw when with Paltrow it's a fabulous movie and the scene at the very beginning they go into the bar and Garrett headlands playing headlands playing on the stage and he's singing Merle Haggard's silver wings you can't get any

51:01better than that what's the matter dude this text that's too little just sending it's a gift of mandal bomb talking to Jerry Seinfeld and he says Kevin 2026 yeah mandal bomb mandal bomb yeah what is the sausage factory you gonna work like a dog if you're gonna eat like a dog good stuff so great conversation there with Conor Murphy and again if you missed it off the top Conor Murphy played with David Schlemkel in Arizona and Schlemmers entering the building at the top of the hour our co-host from 9 to 11 before that time now for a sports 1440 update brought to you by a WS welding supplies and NISQ products sales servicing calibrating free same day delivery of in stock items to the Duke NISQ and South Edmonton your one-stop shop for all things welding

52:03a WS welding dot c a here is the Duke dreaming of getting the all new iPhone 17 pro designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever been staying bad and let a boost mobile expert deliver and set it up for you actually they will have to get up and open the door oh right delivery available for slick devices purchase that boost mobile dot com terms apply here's how to stay alive longer so you can enjoy boost mobile's unlimited plan with the price that never goes up you're not mistake a wasp nest for a piñata stay alive and switch now at boost mobile after 30 gigs customers may experience lower speeds customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the boost mobile unlimited plan with almost half a million customers and over a trillion dollars of secure payments bill isn't new to intelligent finance it's the proven way to simplify bill pay and maximize cash flow wants to learn more visit bill dot com slash proven for a special offer