TSN & The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun (3/11/26)

0:00Hey, it's Bob Stoffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now, Add Free, on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Baseball is back, and the first pitch is on Netflix. The New York Yankees, led by seven-time all-star Aaron Judge, head to the San Francisco Bay to take on Raphael Devar's San Francisco Giants. This season kicks off with one exclusive opening night game. Watch MLB, opening night, the New York Yankees versus the San Francisco Giants. Live on Netflix, tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific. Spring starts at the Home Depot, and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300, like the next grill for burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from the Home Depot.

1:00Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot, exclusive supplies at home Depot.com slash price match for details. For 34 in oil country, Richard Texas, just before we go to Pierre LeBron, he says, I really would ludicrous, that Louis DeBroskin, Luke Gasex, thought the Nathan McKinnon penalty on Conor Ingramore, it's only two minutes. What the hell, Morty, you have to do to warrant a five minute penalty. Richard says McKinnon recklessly went directly towards Ingram at top speed, the fact that Nurse collided with him slightly, or that McKinnon put the brakes on a tiny bit at the last second, doesn't change the fact that he made a very bad decision around the net like that. Five minutes, no brainer. Everybody's entitled to their opinion on this, including Louis DeBroskin and Luke Gasex. Secondly, I appreciate the tax, Richard. I too thought it was only going to be a two minute penalty because for the majority of time that I've watched NHL hockey, that has been a two minute penalty, especially given that there was a little bit of a bump with Darnell Nurse.

2:03So appreciate your passion, but others are allowed to have opinions as well on it. Let's do this. We're going to welcome back to the show at 435 in oil country, Pierre LeBron, brought to you by Riverside, Honda and Skrew. It's your dream. Write it at Riverside. Hello Pierre, how you doing? I'm all right. I'm all right. What's going on there, Bob Stopper? Well, I'm in Dallas. They got this football team grossly overrated, by the way, and I am of a few more years of vintage than you are. So my favorite player of all time was Roger Staubach back in the day, so we'll always have that. You know why there's still a whole at the top of the stadium, even in the new stadium. Why is that? So God can watch his team. Well, they make a lot of money that team. I know people think the ointers do pretty well, and they have the last couple of years,

3:04but that team does pretty well. Did you see the McKinnon incident last night? Yeah, I mean, listen, it's not Nathan McKinnon style to do that, although he is a violent skater, but nearly not with a violent result. So I'm flying with the penalty. I know Jared Benar was upset after the game, but I certainly don't make it the major. I mean, honestly, I kind of wondered, Nathan McKinnon was surprised at the end of the day that that's how it ended up. I think he's, if you look at the play, he's looking for the buckle all the time. Yeah, I was surprised. It was me. I'm with you. I thought it was a surprise. It was a major as well. All right. Let's get to it. You pinned a really interesting post trade deadline piece that appeared on the athletic site. They talked about maybe some of the guys that didn't get traded and then some huge core pieces on really good teams that theoretically might be in play. So if I used to say I have received a fair amount of feedback from some of our listeners

4:09and taxiers and frankly, some of my friends said, I was a little broad and I'm like, hey, the guy's entitled to his opinion and he's entitled to break perspectives. So where do you want to start with this? Yeah. Well, let me explain the piece for those who haven't read it, but thank you for those who did, even those who are angry. That means you are subscribers. But the idea that came to me was the trade deadline. We didn't have the kind of fireworks when I'd hoped, although it didn't surprise me, it always kind of felt like that kind of trade deadline this year because of the new CBA rules and no double retention, all kinds of stuff. What I'm lying is what I was trying to write on Monday was that race yourselves perhaps for quite an off-season. And there's a number of reasons. One is the UFA class, which got further depleted today with Nick Smolz resigning in Utah, is one of the worst in many, many years. So July 1st is not your friend if you're trying to add big-time pieces a summer if you're an NHL team. That means the trade market will be a way more alluring prospect for teams out of cap

5:13space and want to add pieces. Number two, there are a number of big-name players that I want them to get into, a lot of whom I think will not move this summer. But I wanted to put on the list just in case there's a long shot scenario that plays out. So I mentioned Brady Kitchock, he's got two more years on his deal. The senators believe he's going to play that out, or at least they have a sense that they continue to sell them on the vision for their team. The earliest that that should come into play is a summer of 27 with Brady Kitchock. But I don't think you can completely discount him getting booed and Alberta last week and all the other stuff. I mean, so I put his name on the list just as a file it away. And yes, I had Austin Matthews and Connor McDavid on there as well. And I Austin Matthews, I think, is a way more tangible situation in the moment because at least, or an 18-wheeler that's gone off the highway here, and as I wrote, I think

6:18it's a 50-50 situation with them that Jim and his agent, John Moldaver, will want to have a heart to heart with police management after the season and figure out, where is this going? And they very well be that they hear what they want to hear in terms of their big plans to bounce back and add big pieces on the old-state put. But I'm not ready to say it's 100% that these days put. So that's why he wasn't it. And finally, 97, and I think you agree, Bob, when Connor McDavid signed his two-year extension, I think that immediately everyone who's around the business understood it wasn't necessarily a guarantee that he was playing through that 27-28 year on the second year of that extension. It occurred very well up to you. You can very well sign an extension for life with the oilers. But the first implementation, you know, the first indication of that extension, if you followed the business, you know that the summer of 27 was huge. One year out, let's get back together again and see how things have gone, or, you know,

7:23are there still a couple of contenders. Summer of 27 was always going to be a normal window for everyone that huddled back together again like they did on summer. What I wrote is that if the oilers get rocked in the first round, that I can't discount even though it's probably a long shot, I can't discount it. What may happen with the emotions of that and how economy, David, made you the fortunes of that team. Again, I think he's with the oilers at least for another year, not longer. I'm just saying, I'm trying to cover all the bases, and so that's what that's the point I tried making is I thought you explained it in a fashion which presented lots of different options. It's a combat upon the organization and I work for the club to be exhaustive in finding players.

8:23And if you're going to move draft capital to make additions and you don't have to agree with all the trades and you can debate the merits of the wins and the losses, the silly put Coleson, forthrown pick, massive win. To this point, the trust in Jerry trade hasn't turned out to be the upgrade the oilers were hoping for. On Stu Skinner, I want to be careful here because I like Stu Skinner. I know people in his family. He's from here. I thought he was a decent gold tender. Some of the listeners to the show wanted him gone. Others loved him. I genuinely, generally believe that Tristan Jerry was physically, and certainly better Pac-Heller, better glove hand, was probably at a higher ceiling than Stu Skinner. Unfortunately, Jerry got hurt and the numbers haven't been great. He had a solid performance last night, but there's one more great, right? One thing about you're hoping with each acquisition to improve your team, and that's why the

9:27oilers have to be relentless in the European and the NCAA for Asian market because they're going to have to replace the lost draft picks. Then you're making bets on 22, 23, and 24-year-olds like Sabansky instead of the bet on an extra third round pick that isn't going to help you for six or seven years. I thought what you wrote was fair, and I didn't see it as, well, you're, in fact, if anything, you left him for last, right, in the peace? Yeah, which is the least likely of all the scenarios, exactly. There you go. I led with the guy that I thought was the most likely to move in the offseason. That's 22-year-old second-over-all picks. I'm a nemat from New Jersey, but again, I think the reason I get why oilers fans are sensitive because last offseason had a dramatic and emotional for oilers fans, so if my doubt, if Connor was going to sign an extension, and I also get, so I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, so that's my fandom as the NFL and Cowboys, and I get upset when certain things are

10:33set about that Prescott or whatever. I get where oilers fans don't really appreciate when a national guy like me pokes his nose and says something about Nick David, but that's my job. I get it if you're an oilers fan, when you saw that to your extension, you just wanted to be no noise on that front for three years to hold this year and two more years. That's not the business, and that's especially not what everyone understands, but this is about here. That's pretty close situation. So, again, I think it's 99 percent of the very least he's an oiler through next year, and then we'll see. You've been there, settling in for an evening of TV only to waste half the night scrolling. Enter Fire TV, entertainment with zero effort required. Fire TV serves up personalized recommendations from across all your apps. Not sure what to watch? Just tell Alexa Plus what you're in the mood for and she'll pull up the perfect recommendation. Problem solved.

11:33Stop the scroll, start the show. Find what you're looking for with Fire TV. Subscriptions may be required. We all have that dream trip. We've been wishing we could go on, but too often life or usually price gets on the way. That's why price line is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60 percent off hotels and up to 50 percent off flights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure. Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with price line. Download the price line app or visit priceline.com and book your next trip today. Go to your happy price, price line. You know, you mentioned 99. I'm going to take you back to Darryl Gates's pursuit of the image of orders during the 2000s and 2008 season and 99 came on. My show at that time, which was with Mark Spector, but it was total sports and the old, you know, Tia 1260 before they were Tia 1260. And Wayne came on the show and I asked him a very specific question. And you mentioned why fans in Edmonton would be nervous. And the reason

12:38they'd be nervous is kind of arguably the most electrified and exciting team in NHL history with the, you know, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier sales respectively to Los Angeles and New York. Those were not trades. They were sales. And second question in, I asked Wayne Point blank, fans are nervous about one individual owner as opposed to a collective group that Cal Nichols had brought forward with the Edmonton investors group. And Wayne cut me off right away and said, had Darryl Gates own the team when I played, I would have finished my career in Edmonton. And I'm telling you right now that it was at that moment that any debate as to for maybe people question things kind of, you know, completely, I believe Darryl actually had already, I don't know this 100% but I might have a bit of an idea. I thought he probably had the shares of him needed at that point, but you wanted all the team. And any public concern over one individual owner was taken away when Wayne says, he basically, and he said he's going to do whatever is possible

13:40to sign all of his players long term. And the orders is best. And the orders have done that. And they've done that. And yeah, not only as you say that they have, you know, a wealthy owner who cares about the team. And so none of this would ever be financial. That's the economic day that I relapsed. I would purely be about hockey and chasing the cup. And number two, you know, the difference from the pre-seller cap NHL, the post-seller cap NHL are also a player in terms of the orders being ingrained forward, but. Well, Edmontons in Edmontons in an awesome spot, right? They are. I mean, this is, this is a market that can take on some of the biggest events if need be, right? Like it's just, it's not that we're going to have, we got the, on a smaller level, a hlink, I don't mean to disparage the hlink, a gratsky peer, but we have that here in August. We have the world juniors here. You know, who knows? You know, it's, it's, that's coming here this year as well. The team's been on the final last couple of years. We've got amazing fans. And but, but got to make sure we're good.

14:43And that means you got to spend money to be good. And you got to win the majority of your moves. Now, I want to talk to you about British, British Chuck and Austin Matthews. And I'm going to look to Vancouver because, you know, my, my, my wife and kids are out of Vancouver. They've had, it's crazy to think of where the concocts were two years ago to right now. That a lot of American stars, a lot of American stars, right? Two of them are gone. Two pretty big, well, three, three of them are gone. It's from that team. First JT Miller got traded. Then Queen Hughes got traded and Conor Garland got traded. So like a Demko and Besser left. And I think Canadians, I think they have to have a little bit thicker skin when it comes to U.S. You know, and I just, I look at, I'm good, good for the fans of Toronto. They cheered Matthews for winning the gold medal. Did they recognize Brady could chuck an Ottawa, by the way, for winning the gold at their own game? Trying to recall. Yeah, I think so. And I think it went fine.

15:44I think it went fine. It's on the road that, obviously, you could do it. And I will tell you, I was watching, yeah, go ahead. Go for it. No, go ahead. I was in the stands last night with my son as a fan for Montreal, Toronto at the Delta Center, Montreal. And, and there were, there were some booze every time. Awesome. Matthews, touch a bucket was allowed. I don't even know it was picked up on television. But, but I was in the stands so I could hear it around me and in a fan near me made a comment about the White House visit. So, I mean, that stuff is out there. And, and listen, I don't want to get into a big political conversation because I'm not equipped to, to be in one, I'm a, I'm a hockey writer, but you understand why Canadians at large are upset with all this. I mean, I mean, yes, they're, you know, you, you have a president that's made comments about the sovereignty of our nation. So, so that's the base. The base is, how do you think Canadians are going to react? But, you know, now when it,

16:48Dixon to hockey, you know, it'd be concerning to me if I was one of the, any of the seven Canadian teams, if this goes on forever in terms of the booing of some of the team USA guys, because you want, a lot of these dice under your, you're trying to win. You just, so it's, I want to get the best players were ever. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, it's hard enough with the Canadians act situation and, and the weather and, I mean, the Canadian teams are already up against it, but I think everyone is paying very close attention to this, hoping that it's, hey, the Olympics were just a couple of weeks ago, and that hopefully it, I think, from a Canadian team perspective, it, it dies off. And that's where I listen. I had to mention that on my Brady Kitchuck mentioned in my article, because I, you can't have your head in the sand, and pretend it's not happening that he wasn't booed in Vancouver, and sorry, and I meant to thank Calgary last week, he was. And that's the province, it's not the most, the highest percentage of Americans. There's

17:5070 to 100,000 Americans in Calgary at any time. Yeah. So it's crazy. And listen, you know, you know that Matthew Kitchuck's in his brother's ear, for sure, of playing together one day, and that's a natural thing. So it's already, I mean, listen, I know that the senators feel strongly that every time they communicate their vision, the Brady Kitchuck, that he understands where they're headed, and I actually think they might make the playoffs. I think they're on a run here. So that in itself could be important, right? I mean, knowing that you're on a good team, but in a way, it's worth monitoring, it was the point of it all. Awesome stuff, Pierre. Enjoy your son's games tonight. Right on, right on, Bob. I always love coming on. Thanks, bud. Thanks. We'll take a four minute time out. You're listening to itters now.

18:57This episode is brought to you by Venmo. With the Venmo debit card, a taco in one hand, an ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking your rewards. Nice. Get up to 5% cashback with Venmo stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo debit card. Pick a bundle with your go-to's and start earning cashback. Do more stash. Get more cash. Visit Venmo.com to learn more. Venmo stash bundle terms and exclusion supply see terms at Venmo.me slash stash terms max $100 cashback per month. 454 in oil country. This text comes in. Bob, if I boo Brady, it's not because he's American. It's because he went to the White House. It's because he plays for the other team and he sucks. I'm going to paraphrase him and say, golly darn, what are we doing here? That text is about 780 451 8800 Yakishev says, Emerton does have to be concerned about David signing again, but Toronto doesn't have to worry about signing Matthews. He's going to be gone as

20:00soon as his contract is up. Well, this is the thing like these things change. You know, you look at Buffalo and 35 games ago, you're wondering, are they going to have to, you know, are they going to move talk or they're going to end up moving talk or what about Dalline who's really good. Well, now they're 29, 5 and 2 in their last 36 games and they're on the right of their life right now. So these things can change. I'll give you another illustration of things changing. How many of you thought the silly put Coleson when he was acquired for fourth runner? That trade was made August the 18th. The orders had to make their decision on Holloway on the 20th and they were kind of connected because basically put Coleson was the bet to replace Holloway if they didn't match. How many of you thought he'd be this effective of a player? Pierre the run by the way is our orders now. Headliner brought to you by Wilhock Beef jerky. Others can turn him a tape. Nobody can duplicate the great flavor. Wilhock beef jerky

21:01only available in Duke. I know Trent at Wilhock beef jerky. He loves the silly put Coleson because the silly put Coleson grinds. He works every day and you see it down on the practice days. He's out there early taking shots and the last couple of games. I mean he has he's gaining his dramatically improved. He's had a coming. He split the D against Vegas and scored a goal last night. He walked two Colorado players and nearly set up settle. Evidence scored on the power play opportunity right after. But Coleson is becoming a player right in front of our eyes. Pierre as I mentioned was our orders now. Headliner for Wilhock beef jerky gets in the show. Receive gets certificates to Japanese village. It's a true celebration for the census quality ingredients and unmatched grill side experience book. You're seated to JV Emmington dot C8. We go to NHL today for elite promotional marketing. Your local branded merchandise specialist

22:01head to elite promo marketing dot com. And here's Aidan Ganna. Well, we had a massive signing today. The Utah mammoth signing forward Nick Schmaltz to an eight year 64 million dollar contract. He has 24 goals and 59 points in 65 games played. Only two games on the NHL slate tonight. The Montreal canadian's play the senators in Ottawa and the Washington capitals have the flyers in Philly. Bigger field condors continuing a nice little break in between games here. They get back to it on Friday in Texas for the stars. And the Emmington King's dominated in today's hockey hockey game. Smacking the one at you wild six to one in Rogers place. There you go. If you're ready for your next adventure, trust new S travel. Albert is family owned and operated travel experts since 1979 from European river cruises and all inclusive occasions to corporate incentive groups and luxury escapes. There are travel experts take care of every detail, making every trip stress free and personalized visit newest travel.com your local travel experts for every journey. Thomas Dias has a five o'clock 880 news whether

23:02traffic update still to come on today's show or inside the game analysts from orders broadcast Rob Brown and we'll also hook up with John Shannon and more of your texts on the Ashley fine florist text line. You're listening to orders now. Welcome to survivor 50 Wednesdays on global. We chose you to represent 25 years of the greatest adventure on television and all we want is everything. This is the survivor Coliseum is do or die. White your torch and be a part of history. Survivor all new Wednesdays at 80's turn on global stream on stack TV.