The Lowdown with Lowetide - Jason Gregor (Sept 8th)

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3:18He had some key passes, and Powell came in and added a little life to the running game, and then Rankin was like, okay, and then he had a big run. If you look at the stats of that game, 181 passing yards, Rankin had a 50-yard touchdown run, and he rushed for 48 yards. It's crazy. There was not a lot of great statistics to match 38 points. I thought that forced fumble, I think it was in the third quarter, it was a big deal, too. Yeah, it turned over a lot. Jack, the Elk's defense, I know they'll look at people say how they gave up points, but they didn't really give up a ton of yards if you look at it. You look at where they inherited some of that field position. Did Calgary. Now you have a chance to sweep out. You can't sweep if you don't win the first one. The sweep at Labor Day, both games, it doesn't happen a ton. You know what? It should be a good crowd. I already got my tickets. My son asked me weeks ago, certain games like, we're going to the rematch game. We're going to the game and I'm looking for it. Do you feel like it felt like if the Elks were going to script the first 10 plays,

4:25they should rescript them. It felt like you were a little bit choreographed and easier to read. I felt like Calgary was in their back pocket. I'm still not in love with the play calling offensively. If there's one underlying issue all year long, I just think it times like, I'm kind of surprised. You finally get close. The one time you decide to have somewhat of a trick play, is it midfield and you're going to throw to Corté? I don't I'm kind of like what? Usually you'll use your offensive lineman in the red zone. When he breaks out because he's got nowhere to run. Even if he catches the ball, what do you think he's going to gain five or six yards? He was like, he was like, I don't know. There hasn't been an admittedly, I know that trick plays don't happen as often, but I really wish they did. I would like to see more razzle dazzle, flea flickers, double reverse, just to keep the opposition on their heels. Well, the double reverse is fine if you've got fleet flea guys, but it's a blast. Yeah, you put Luther in there. No, you put power like, or I know, I know this is a crazy thought. Like,

5:28maybe just maybe try an offensive set with both rank and now power on the field at the same time. No, right? Like, I'll say that about pal man, like, small guy, but whoo, it's got a low center of gravity. And I had said it last week when I first day of practice and I was standing and anytime you get to go to practice and you're right on the sidelines, the speed of the game, you get a much better. Yeah, right. Just like when you sit front row at an order of game, right? You sit right there like ice level, even if you're in row 20, it's a big difference. Oh, yeah. And the first thing I noticed was pals like, God, this guy is fast. And you saw like every kicker turn, I know he made a few adventures early in that game, right? Not catching the ball. But it looked how many times out that it looked like there was nothing he'd still get it. He would. Yeah. So we're talking the new giz. No, there's never going to be another giz, but it would be, it would be nice just to have a threat. Yeah. Because Javon leak this year hasn't been much for that. Now I think he's on the six game. So it's basically done for the regular season. Like he might come back for the final game.

6:31But you need a guy to break even like to put you if you get to the, yeah, if you can get to the 35 yard line, you've done a hell of a good job. Yeah. Like it touchdowns are great, but you want to return guy that can give you 15 yards, 20 yards every now and then 30 yards and all the sudden, because you get a 30 yard return. Your bench is fired right up. Right? The guys blocking her pumped up. The offense comes on the field. They got a little extra swagger. And I know it's had a few times with him that they, you know, I like their, the one thing quietly, like the Elk's punt cover team has not been great. Yeah. They've got some things to work on and they're doing great. They they can they can secure a playoff spot. Yeah, the way we can. I noticed your article about Zach Heimann. You know, I don't know what the top line is going to look like, but I think we've overlooked a little bit the fact that he missed time early last year. And when he did get up to, you know, speed, he was Zach Heimann again. And that's a hell of a player. Well, I think there's way too much premature every year. I get it summertime. Oh, he's older. He's older than I'm like, he's 34.

7:33And he came off of wrist surgery last year. Yeah. Even when he played, he still played with the brace on his wrist because and I talked to Zach. He's like, you know what? By the end of the year was finally, you know, good because that's about 12 months now. You can play. But so he came back. He missed the first 19 games basically the first quarter of the season. Then he played eight games and it was knocking off the rust from December 3rd. Hi, it's Brook to Vard host of Naked Beauty. And I want to talk about how I upgrade my hosting experience. There's a moment just before guests arrive when my home stops feeling like a series of rooms and it becomes an atmosphere. The light settles the airships. And then the beautiful scent of Jasmine Rosenfig filled the air. It feels warm and considered. That's what Pura does. It turns fragrance into environment. A collection of beautiful clean fragrances all controlled from your phone. Choose your sense of place at Pura.com. Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster full of ups, downs and being thrown for loops.

8:33Like when someone brings donuts into the office or your kids dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's no. They combine GLP ones to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet. Even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride helping you understand what drives you. So you can build better habits to not just lose weight but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. Till the end of the year his final 50 games of the season. He scored 30 goals. Yeah. In for the whole NHL, McDavid and Caulfield led the NHL with 37 in that time. All right. Conor McDavid's goal scoring went up. Yes. When Zach Hyman came in the line. Like Zach Hyman. It's not just the goals he scores. It's his style of game really compliments Conor McDavid because he opens up and creates space. He's really good on the wall. He allows you to have more

9:35offensive zone time. It's no different than pod Coleson for dry sun. Like to me, pod Coleson dry subtle Hyman McDavid. Those are my two duos. I will work around the other pieces you want to try Howard. Savoy when he's healthy. Cap and I don't care. Pick your guy. New gin Hopkins doesn't matter to me, but those are the ones. Now if you want to play dry subtle McDavid sometimes at home, sure knock your socks off. I thought DJ Smith, a guy who coached against it. Right. Outline why I would do it at home sometimes, but I wouldn't do it on the road. So if the coach who coached against him says, Hey, as an opposing coach, they would come into LA or Ottawa and they're on the same line. He's like, great. I know I can get my one line combination out there against him and I'll live with it because I'm going to put copatarn. I'm going to put down your pick your team. Yeah. But when there's split up, now it's way harder. And when you're on the road, I home for Emton, you could do it. But like I just I don't love the idea. And the numbers back it up. The numbers back it up at Emton overall is a better team when the majority of the time, you can still play them.

10:36Sure. Yeah. Yeah. But when the majority of the time, they're right in their own line, it's 70 to 75% five on five separate, your team is bad. Do you, you know, when I look at this team and I, and I, you know, imagine it, if it's going to be those pairs, I wonder with Savoy out, do you, you know, you've got new, you've got I powered who you could play up there. You know, we mentioned pod calls and cast very cap and it's been very effective on the dry side of line. Like I mean, really effective. Do you have like when you got those two pairings that you mentioned, are there players that you would prefer over others and with Savoy out, maybe, maybe elevate? Well, I think it's going to rotate, right? Like I'm, I'm not naive enough to think that it's going to be three sums all the time, right? Like we don't see like, you know, the triple crown line doesn't happen very often now. Like I, I'd like to know, and I got to try to dig it up, which trio played the most minutes five on five together in the NHL last year. That's right. Like I'd love to know how many actual trios are there might be two or three where

11:38you'd say the majority of their time together, you know what? And when I say the majority, like 80% plus of all the rice time was spent with each other, right? Like it, it's right. Even in Colorado, like you had, you had natious with McKinnon, right? Yeah. And they're pretty good. Um, so you're not going to get, like it would be great, but the truth of the matter, somebody's, and when the orders were great, that's the thing I always laugh about. Everyone's like, oh, you know what, cheese, you got to get the other guys involved. That's the new thing. And I'm like, I've talked to depth role players of the orders. The thing was time on ice wasn't tracked. If you know, when he managed Gratsky plate, he wasn't playing 21 minutes. Gratsky was playing 27. He's playing 20 years on the panel again. He's on the power play. He's on five on five. Four on four was a big factor back then. The difference was they had duos until Craig Simpson came along. And then for a few years, it was Simpson, Messy and Anderson, right? But and you had teak it in for a bit. But for the first four or five years, how it was Korean Gratsky and you'd rotate guys in, oh, Lumbly, you get to, okay, you're going to set the franchise record. Now, Dave Hunter, you're going to play their old Pat Hughes. You're going to play. And that's how you kept

12:41Dave. So that's how you kept them happy. So, uh, and kept guys engaged in a third period. Hey, you're up six to one. Hey, you know, Lumbly, so Manko, you guys get up and they would love it. Yeah. Right. And so I just think it's a little misguided. Sometimes there was like, well, you got to play McDavid way less minutes so we can get the fourth line involved. Get the hell out of here. You're right. Exactly. The fourth line is not as good. Yeah. Play your best. Yeah. Exactly. By the way, the the most used even strength line were the Oilers. I was McDavid Heimann, Nougat played 404 and had a 29, 25 edge plus four edge in goals. So only 400. And that's because Heimann did miss like he only played 58 games. Yeah. Obviously going to be a factor in it. But I just be curious in the NHL. I can just we don't see Trio's a ton of time because McDavid played what 1365 minutes. So you're basically taking 33% of his time. Get it? Not even. Yeah, just looking at Boston, Zaka, Middle-Stat, Arvinson were 600 minutes. So that that's a point. Maybe it's 50%

13:45even, right? Even so that's like people get way too caught up in Emton the Boat line combinations because they're going to change all the time. Well, and what I'm hoping to see is some of these players emerge, you know, they sign some guys that made trades. I feel like correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the defense, it's not set, but they've got some really good candidates. Losing Anderson in net might be a blessing because maybe Levi takes over. Maybe Dari gets his confidence. But upfront, there's more pieces because we, you know, Jan Marks hurt. So probably Joseph takes his job. The fourth line center might be Samansky, but it might not. We don't, we're not sure. When we get the training camp list, we'll know a little bit more. Fair. No, I think the I actually wrote it in my article today at the bottom of the Heimann article for the preseason games. I kind of outlined because you're only allowed two games for veterans, right? I had Hudson and I had Howard and I had mock Maduille and those guys are going to play three. That's what I had because they're able to plus there's only so many games, right? For, and you want your vets to play too, the big guys are probably playing the home games on

14:48the Saturdays, right? Because usually they don't travel. They don't like the travel day of games for the most part of the preseason. And the Winnipeg game is the one where the, the, the the work is played, right? Like the Winnipeg and Winnipeg and in Vancouver. Well, but you still have to dress eight veterans. So I have it Dickinson, Doc, Frederick, like, you know, hey, some of those, some guys down the line up have to go. That's how it works. Yeah. Now, Stashtney, Emberson, like I would think Bouchard and Ekholm and Walman, you know, maybe one of Shay, one of them will play at home, but they got because Josh Brown is considered a veteran. So he'll be on that role game. Yeah. Stillman's considered a veteran. He'd be on that road game in Winnipeg. I would think maybe both of the road games, right? Because so I, so I kind of chunked it out there and I, I guessed on a few of the young defense when will they get a game, maybe two games like a bowakey, like at some point, he was hurt all last year. So I, I gave him two preseason games just because maybe they want to see not not saying he's going to make the team by any stretch, but this is a real big year for him. He's got to stay healthy. But as for the forwards go, I think there's, you know, with, with Yan Mark and Savoy out, there's 13 forwards

15:52who all played 20 games in each other last year. Yeah. So I would say those 13 can Quinn Hudson maybe push into that other role possibly? And then because of their schedule, they might only carry 22 players that are healthy, right? Just to accrue some cap space. See the problem I have for Quinn Hudson, like Max Jones played better in the NHL than it did in the NHL last year. And I think he is, he could be Babcock's kind of player. He's aggressive. He can hit. I'm not saying he's doctor-fredric, but he can do some things. I, I feel like Hudson's really got to show well quickly. Well, Hudson, the challenge I have with Hudson is, is he strong enough and intense enough to be in NHL? And fast enough, right? Like that. I think his foot speed's good enough. Like, you know, he's not like a burner, but he's not slow by any stretch. But you mentioned Jones, like the thing about Max Jones is like former first round pick. Max Jones has all the tools in the toolbox. He just doesn't open the toolbox often enough. Last year, he finally looked like he kind of figured out that I've learned how to be consistent in my role most games because I talked to goats in Anaheim and people in Anaheim about him, like, man,

16:56like Max Jones, he would show you these days when you'd be like, God, this guy's a player. Okay, it's a top nine Ford. I'm not even have to think twice. And then all of a sudden, for a month, he'd be like, where, oh, there's that Mel Carton, Max Jones is on it. So, and that's, and that's for a lot of players. The difference between being a regular and not a regular is to find in that consistency and that, and that, that's the right things that help you. Yeah. So I think Jones, you know what? And he started the year hurt, right? Like, he probably would have been on the opening day roster if he wasn't hurt. So I, I think Jones is here to, I'd be pretty confident to say my 13 fours right now, with with, with Yan Mark and Savoy out. And then they go, now the interesting one, could they go 13 and eight and two? They might. And if they're worried about waivers on say stash, they may be they, yeah, they might, right? Like, if you want to protect him, I just, I have my own personal one, what like, stashing to me is, he's a jagged. He's, he's a little bit, he's just another guy who you could replace him. And, and I don't, I don't think you'd get you'd have much of it. Like, Riley Stillman could play a few games. Yeah. If there's an injury and, and the difference between him and stashney is very larger. Really quickly, the,

18:03the J showed up at a Monolith Park in Sacramento and played like a Monolith team yesterday. That's a rare one for Varlin, right? Like they tie it up on the top of the ninth and like Dylan Seas, you know, you're wondering now like his velocity. Uh oh, that, that's not going to be good. If, if all of a sudden, if he, if he down the stretches his arms tiring. So that's a concern. His last two starts, you didn't really see him get, didn't even get over 95 yesterday. I'm not sure. But yeah, for, for Varlin to have a ninth inning like he had. No, but it wasn't a safe situation, right? Like they tied the game. Yeah. And then you bring him in for the bottom of the ninth to, and I get why? Hey, you know what? You bring him in, but I'm kind of like, and it's hindsight. It's always it. But the problem was like use a lot of your in key, key leverage pictures and you lose the game. So they'll need Soriano here to have himself at least a really solid six innings. Maybe seven. So that's a wicked park tonight. Yeah. Yeah. It's a crazy park. But hey, the J's good news is Cleveland loss. So it's they didn't get one game down. You didn't lose any ground, but it's, so what is there? 20 games left for them, something like that. So everything comes. It'll be a fun

19:03stretch run. It's like it's it's a turtle derby right now, but it's it'll be a fun race to watch. What's coming up on the show? Woodley will be by. So we're we're going to get in the essential division rankings for all the gold tenders. And we have a Rick Walters usually joins us right after the weekend. Lots of CFL and NFL football to talk with Rick. And then we got spec. And I think we're going to like Fraser Mitten contractors is definitely one to talk about like it's like anything. You got to readjust when you see some of the salaries and and the numbers of players. Now it's just like, Hey, you got you got a lot of guys that are pretty good contracts like in Edmonton. I think they have a bad contract like even Trent Frederick at 3.9 million now. It's like what and I even said that I said when the camp goes up Trent Frederick, if all he is as a fourth liner, that's probably what lots of them are going to be making. So I'm a doc and that's a great fourth line. Get a good center. Jason look forward to the show. Thank you, man. I'll have a great day. Hi, it's Brook to Vard host of Naked Beauty and I want to talk about how I upgrade my hosting experience. There's a moment just before guests arrive when my home stops feeling like a

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