Latest / The Armchair GM's Sports Network / 2026 World U17's: Thoughts & Analysis w/ Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff - OHL Overtime

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2026 World U17's: Thoughts & Analysis w/ Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff - OHL Overtime · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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Speaker 2: listening to OHL Overtime, an in-depth interview show highlighting the players, coaches,
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1:01
Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of OHL Overtime right here
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Speaker 1: all of our short reels and content. Got a good
1:33
Speaker 1: one for you here today. Back home from the U17
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Speaker 1: World Challenge in Oakville, Ontario. The preliminary rounds wrapped up yesterday,
1:43
Speaker 1: and the quarterfinals are set to go tomorrow or today,
1:45
Speaker 1: if you're listening to this, on Thursday. And to break
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Speaker 1: it all down for you from the OHL perspective with
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Speaker 1: the Team Canada Red and White, we've got the one
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Speaker 1: and the only associate editor and prospect analyst, of Daily Face-Off.
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Speaker 1: Stephen Ellis here with us. Stephen, appreciate you taking some
2:00
Speaker 1: time tonight. Again, I know it's been a busy week
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Speaker 1: for us here, but weren't able to get this done
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Speaker 1: at the rink with how loud and busy things were,
2:06
Speaker 1: but glad we could quickly get on here for an
2:08
Speaker 1: update on the tournament.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a good week, a good, fun tournament.
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Speaker 3: I'm really happy it's in Oakville.
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Speaker 4: It's where I grew up, so I know they've been
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Speaker 4: working really hard to get this tournament, and can't wait
2:16
Speaker 4: to also watch Kyle Larson win his third NASCAR championship
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Speaker 4: this week.
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Speaker 1: And it's the last race for Brad Keselowski in the
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Speaker 1: sixth car, but we'll see.
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Speaker 3: Maybe his last race ever. Who knows?
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Speaker 1: Save that for the nascar podcast but i know you're
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Speaker 1: you're you've been an advocate for bringing the world junior
2:29
Speaker 1: tournament to poor credit.
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Speaker 4: Yeah i think you know like poor credit ontario it's
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Speaker 4: like only a couple streets long i know it's not
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Speaker 4: really big it's a small part of mississauga but i
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Speaker 4: think there's a reason why they should have the world
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Speaker 4: juniors here and yeah i know i know the ice
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Speaker 4: has melted a few times i know the rink is
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Speaker 4: about a million years old but like think about the
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Speaker 4: possibility of me only needing to walk about 10 minutes
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Speaker 4: to the rink that sounds really awesome so i think
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Speaker 4: that's something they should.
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Speaker 1: I think they have your interest at mind there.
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Speaker 3: I agree.
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Speaker 4: I a hundred percent agree. I, every time I talk
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Speaker 4: to hockey Canada, they're like, well, we'll consider it for
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Speaker 4: next time. So I think the next time to host
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Speaker 4: it will be, I don't know what every year it's
3:00
Speaker 4: going to probably be important.
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Speaker 1: So getting the sarcasm out of the way, like 16
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Speaker 1: mile sports complex. I've been very impressed with the facility.
3:10
Speaker 1: I've been impressed with the crowd, especially for the Canada
3:11
Speaker 1: game so far for both red and white. Luckily they've
3:15
Speaker 1: played at seven 30 and, They've kind of made the
3:17
Speaker 1: schedule so that Canada plays in the primetime game, which
3:19
Speaker 1: makes sense because of the hometown crowd there. What have
3:22
Speaker 1: you thought of just the facility itself? And I know you've,
3:25
Speaker 1: you've grown up in that facility, but having this tournament
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Speaker 1: there and potentially world juniors training camp there next season.
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Speaker 1: What are you thinking of, of how this facility holds
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Speaker 1: a hockey Canada event?
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Speaker 3: It's been great.
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Speaker 4: And yeah, a little biased given on guy basically ran
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Speaker 4: the video board there for close to 10 years, worked
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Speaker 4: for the full blade. So it's definitely my favorite place
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Speaker 4: to be, but, you know, I've seen a lot of
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Speaker 4: games where there's nobody there. I've seen a lot of
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Speaker 4: games that have been full, but I've never seen the
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Speaker 4: enthusiasm like we have throughout this tournament. And I would
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Speaker 4: say the one day that was the most exciting was
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Speaker 4: actually the pre-tournament day where, uh, the first game they had, uh,
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Speaker 4: a bunch of schools. That place was so loud. Then
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Speaker 4: the second game had like five people in the crowd,
4:02
Speaker 4: but then the third game had a live band. And, uh,
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Speaker 4: I think it was just so much excitement for the tournament.
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Speaker 4: So it's been so much fun to see. I know
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Speaker 4: they worked really hard to make this happen. I know
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Speaker 4: hockey Canada, uh, really is happy how 16 miles hosted
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Speaker 4: a lot of events they've done a bunch of the
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Speaker 4: world junior camps already they are the plan is to
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Speaker 4: continue hosting the world junior camps in oakville uh in
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Speaker 4: the years where they aren't playing uh in canada so
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Speaker 4: when they go play in europe uh in particular so
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Speaker 4: uh when they go to finland next year they'll start
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Speaker 4: in canada i think that part's.
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Speaker 1: Really cool absolutely i mean that's uh it's close it's
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Speaker 1: central to a lot of people so it makes a
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Speaker 1: lot of sense to be able to have it there
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Speaker 1: and i think oakville I've been very impressed with the
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Speaker 1: facility and even on the outside, the concourse area, they've
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Speaker 1: got some cool hockey hand of the things set up
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Speaker 1: out there and some stuff for the kids as well.
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Speaker 1: So I think it's, it's been really good from what
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Speaker 1: we've seen so far through the first three or four
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Speaker 1: days or so with the off day today, Steven gives
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Speaker 1: us a chance to kind of regroup and reset here.
4:52
Speaker 1: As we look ahead to the quarterfinals tomorrow or Thursday, again,
4:57
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, if you're listening to this on Thursday,
4:59
Speaker 1: those games are at three 30 and seven 30. on Thursday.
5:03
Speaker 1: But taking a look at what we saw through the
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Speaker 1: first two games for each team, you can see the
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Speaker 1: standings up on the screen. If you're listening in audio,
5:09
Speaker 1: I'll kind of let you know. Finland, Canada Red, and
5:13
Speaker 1: USA are the three there on the one side of
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Speaker 1: the bracket and the other side of the bracket. Czechia,
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Speaker 1: Canada White, and Sweden. And the three points each for Finland,
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Speaker 1: Canada Red, and United States. And then Czechia with the
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Speaker 1: four points, Canada Red three, Sweden three, Steven, in generality,
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Speaker 1: what have you thought of the play so far and
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Speaker 1: who stuck out to you as the dominant team right now?
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Speaker 4: It's been very impressive across the board because, again, every
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Speaker 4: single team has won. I know the standings in Hockey Canada,
5:41
Speaker 4: what they have, they're technically incorrect because the United States
5:44
Speaker 4: actually did come first in that one group there. But
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Speaker 4: I think that shows you just how competitive it was
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Speaker 4: where every team in the one group got three points.
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Speaker 4: uh yeah the checks got four and the other groups
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Speaker 4: canada white three sweden two but that one felt almost
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Speaker 4: a bit more competitive because you look at sweden they
6:00
Speaker 4: looked really good uh you know in the pre-tournament they
6:03
Speaker 4: they played well against the checks and then that game
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Speaker 4: went to overtime the one thing that kind of threw
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Speaker 4: everyone off was how badly they lost to canada white
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Speaker 4: who looked like they had been struggling heading into that
6:13
Speaker 4: game if you count the one pre-tournament game and the
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Speaker 4: one round robin game like so i think the fact
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Speaker 4: is like There's no true clear favorite. I think if
6:20
Speaker 4: I had to pick who I think is going to
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Speaker 4: win at all, I really like what Canada red is
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Speaker 4: doing right now. I feel like that's a tough team.
6:26
Speaker 4: We're a really quick team, but you know, the United
6:28
Speaker 4: States have that ability to just turn things up, flip
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Speaker 4: things on their head. Like we saw that winning against
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Speaker 4: Finland where, yeah, you know, the Americans were definitely the
6:35
Speaker 4: favorite to win that game. 13 to one was a
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Speaker 4: little bit wild. So I think in general, it's, it's
6:41
Speaker 4: something where the fact that so tight should make for
6:44
Speaker 4: a fun final three days.
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Speaker 1: We got to hear Dream On 13 times on Tuesday, Stephen.
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Speaker 1: That was something else.
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Speaker 4: I'll say I'm happy that I didn't have to hear
6:52
Speaker 4: the guitar solo for Freebird. I know it's a fun
6:54
Speaker 4: song to play, but man, if you listen to the
6:56
Speaker 4: Freebird solo, someone who plays guitar, there's like two notes
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Speaker 4: in that solo. And it's just over and over again.
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Speaker 4: And it's like it never ends. And it's kind of boring.
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Speaker 4: So that's a part of the song they choose when
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Speaker 4: they usually would have that as their goal song. I
7:12
Speaker 4: wonder if Dream On will stick with the World Junior Team.
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Speaker 1: We'll see. I'm okay with that. I'd rather that than
7:16
Speaker 1: the Freebird, to be honest with you.
7:17
Speaker 4: For now, for now, until we get sick of hearing
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Speaker 4: that song 245 more times.
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Speaker 1: Especially, yeah, if USA wins another blowout game like they
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Speaker 1: did against Finland. 13-1, were you shocked by that? I
7:27
Speaker 1: know Finland's usually more competitive than that. Do you think
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Speaker 1: it's just because of the team they brought around this time?
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Speaker 4: Well, if you look at how the Finns won that
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Speaker 4: first game, and you'd say like, okay, like, you know, good.
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Speaker 4: They won 5-1 against Canada Red. But I guess the
7:39
Speaker 4: one argument in that one was, they got like Canada
7:43
Speaker 4: got goalied. Like the shots were well in Canada's favor,
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Speaker 4: like significantly better for Canada. And then you look at
7:49
Speaker 4: the fact that they ended up losing that game by
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Speaker 4: a bunch of goals. And we saw Sammy Cinco had
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Speaker 4: an outstanding game in net for the Finns, but you know,
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Speaker 4: that was the team that I kind of struggled with
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Speaker 4: being the worst in this tournament, heading into it. It
7:59
Speaker 4: always feels like they take a bit to really figure
8:02
Speaker 4: things out in their age group. Like we saw, you know,
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Speaker 4: the U18 group that kind of struggled a little bit,
8:07
Speaker 4: all of a sudden challenging for, bronze medal at the
8:10
Speaker 4: world juniors last year. So it does take them a
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Speaker 4: bit to kind of figure out, but 13 to one,
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Speaker 4: I don't think anyone saw that coming regardless. Like I
8:15
Speaker 4: remember this tournament used to be like 10 teams and
8:17
Speaker 4: like that might've not been a crazy thing to think about,
8:20
Speaker 4: but 13 to one with six teams.
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Speaker 3: Is a little bit wild to me.
8:23
Speaker 1: Yeah. The U S wanted that to increase goal differential,
8:26
Speaker 1: I guess. But before we get to Canada, red and
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Speaker 1: Canada way specifically in the OHL or Steven, let's just
8:31
Speaker 1: quickly touch on the player stats in general here. Maddox
8:34
Speaker 1: Schultz leads, leads the pre preliminary round five points. Jack
8:38
Speaker 1: Truppiano with the hat trick. He also has six points.
8:42
Speaker 1: Schultz has seven points. Excuse me. I'm reading it backwards
8:45
Speaker 1: because usually it goes goals, assists, points. But hockey Canada
8:48
Speaker 1: has points, goals, assists, just to mess me up here.
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Speaker 1: So Schultz leads the tournament seven points. Truppiano with the six.
8:53
Speaker 1: Dean Stevens with five, both from the USA. And then
8:56
Speaker 1: Cash Quaggia with four, that highly real goal that he
8:59
Speaker 1: scored the other night. We'll get into that. But does
9:01
Speaker 1: anything stick out to you about the guys leading the
9:03
Speaker 1: way so far?
9:04
Speaker 4: Maddox Schultz was the guy everyone was kind of paying
9:07
Speaker 4: to be the best player in this tournament. And I
9:08
Speaker 4: think he has been 100 percent and not just from
9:10
Speaker 4: an offensive standpoint where, yeah, he is leading the tournament
9:13
Speaker 4: points and he's got a couple of points in both
9:15
Speaker 4: games now. But more importantly, it's the way he dominates
9:18
Speaker 4: the shifts. And, you know, like he had, what, 15
9:21
Speaker 4: shot attempts in last night's game. He was just generating
9:25
Speaker 4: so many quality chances. That was the best play of
9:27
Speaker 4: the tournament so far was the one where he knocked
9:28
Speaker 4: the puck out of the air. Deke to Guy and
9:30
Speaker 4: then pass it to Madame Deneau, who was never going
9:32
Speaker 4: to make a mistake on that one timer. But then
9:34
Speaker 4: you watch his defensive effort. You watch the way he's
9:36
Speaker 4: blocking shots. He's not a big guy, but he's so smart.
9:39
Speaker 4: And I talked to a scout last night who said
9:41
Speaker 4: the best comparable for him at this point is Macklin Celebrini.
9:44
Speaker 4: And I watched a lot of Macklin Celebrini at the
9:45
Speaker 4: same age.
9:46
Speaker 3: I see it. It's legit.
9:47
Speaker 4: Like, I think there's a really good argument for that.
9:49
Speaker 4: That's a lot of pressure given how good Celebrini is.
9:51
Speaker 4: And Celebrini is also, you know, bigger, stronger at the
9:53
Speaker 4: same age. But I think what you're still seeing from
9:55
Speaker 4: Schultz is a guy that out thinks everybody, out works
9:57
Speaker 4: everybody and he's going to be just a truly, I
10:00
Speaker 4: hate using the word elite, but he will be an
10:02
Speaker 4: elite prospect in the NHL.
10:04
Speaker 5: Yeah.
10:04
Speaker 1: I mean, we're seeing some wild comparisons being thrown around
10:08
Speaker 1: right now. I know Scott Wheeler tweeted yesterday that he
10:09
Speaker 1: talked to a scout and talked about cash quadra and
10:12
Speaker 1: the comparison with Steve Eisenman. So, I mean, like, again,
10:15
Speaker 1: we've got some wild comparisons right now from, scouts out
10:18
Speaker 1: there and who knows you know what those can turn
10:20
Speaker 1: out to be but it's always fun to you know
10:23
Speaker 1: project 16 year olds right because we never know in
10:26
Speaker 1: two years what their draft stock could look like on
10:27
Speaker 1: the 2028 NHL draft that's the fun part about prospect
10:31
Speaker 1: hockey is that we're always looking for those projections.
10:34
Speaker 4: Yeah 100% like you know like every year you always
10:36
Speaker 4: hear like oh the next year's drafts can be really
10:38
Speaker 4: good and I think there's an argument that you know
10:41
Speaker 4: 2028 does have a lot of high-end talent but let's
10:43
Speaker 4: be careful on any of these, like this draft is
10:45
Speaker 4: going to be way better than the last one because
10:46
Speaker 4: we were saying that about 2020, a lot of people
10:48
Speaker 4: are saying about 2027, while it was still the 2026
10:51
Speaker 4: draft year. And I'm going to say there's not a
10:54
Speaker 4: lot of hype for that 2027 draft class right now. So,
10:56
Speaker 4: but in general, yeah, it's, it's something where it's really
10:59
Speaker 4: good to see a lot of these young guys come
11:00
Speaker 4: and shine through. Like I know it's, you know, it's U17.
11:03
Speaker 4: There's still a lot of flaws. All these guys are
11:05
Speaker 4: just playing major junior for the first time. Some of
11:06
Speaker 4: these guys aren't even playing major junior. Some are still
11:08
Speaker 4: playing AAA, but it's still good to see kind of how,
11:12
Speaker 4: players have started to come along already this short of the,
11:14
Speaker 4: of a timeframe.
11:16
Speaker 1: Absolutely. So we'll move forward here. Just taking a look
11:19
Speaker 1: at some of the scores here. First start off with
11:22
Speaker 1: a team Canada red. As you mentioned, Finland came away
11:25
Speaker 1: with that victory five, one in the opener, kind of
11:27
Speaker 1: stunning there on Sunday with both Canada teams, not getting
11:30
Speaker 1: the victory on the opening day was, was pretty shocking,
11:33
Speaker 1: but then they came back on the Monday night, which
11:35
Speaker 1: was a great atmosphere, USA, Canada, Canada comes away with
11:39
Speaker 1: the six, four victory there. and it was an electric atmosphere,
11:43
Speaker 1: and any time USA and Canada go at it in
11:45
Speaker 1: any international hockey, it's something to watch. So what have
11:48
Speaker 1: you thought of Team Canada Red so far as a whole?
11:51
Speaker 3: I think they've been very solid.
11:53
Speaker 4: I know, again, they lost the game to Finland, but
11:55
Speaker 4: it felt like those guys were really starting to show
11:58
Speaker 4: some muscle there. They're a tough team to play against.
12:01
Speaker 4: I believe it was the Czechs that they beat in
12:03
Speaker 4: the pre-tournament, and they looked really good in that game there.
12:05
Speaker 4: So it feels like they've got a lot of speed,
12:07
Speaker 4: a lot of skill, Um, you know, they don't have
12:09
Speaker 4: Maddox Schultz or Madden to know, but what they've got
12:12
Speaker 4: is four lines that could really thrive out there. I
12:14
Speaker 4: think they also got the slightly better defensive group. So
12:16
Speaker 4: you'll be interested to see how that game against Sweden goes.
12:20
Speaker 1: And then going over to team Canada white and their
12:23
Speaker 1: results through two games, they lost their opener as well
12:26
Speaker 1: to check you a six, four on the Sunday, and
12:29
Speaker 1: then came back with a seven, two victory. last night
12:32
Speaker 1: over Sweden which was obviously a dominating performance there with
12:36
Speaker 1: four goals in the opening period for Canada against a
12:39
Speaker 1: usually pretty defensively sound Sweden team what did you think
12:42
Speaker 1: of their bounce back performance last night under head coach
12:46
Speaker 1: Dylan Smoskowitz of the Barry Colts.
12:48
Speaker 4: That was good because when you look at the pre-tournament
12:49
Speaker 4: they looked awful they looked like they didn't know what
12:51
Speaker 4: they were doing out there and I think what they
12:53
Speaker 4: showed against the Czechs where they you know that first
12:56
Speaker 4: half started great then that second period just everything fell
12:59
Speaker 4: apart there. Right. And then I liked how they kind
13:01
Speaker 4: of answered back in that third period. I think that's
13:03
Speaker 4: something that they needed to prove to themselves that they
13:06
Speaker 4: could do that. And then they came up flying last
13:08
Speaker 4: night where if you look at the shots, it was
13:09
Speaker 4: a pretty even game against Sweden, but I think they
13:11
Speaker 4: were still team that was like capitalizing on those chances
13:15
Speaker 4: in tights. They were passing really well. They were looking
13:18
Speaker 4: really good on the power play and taking advantage of
13:20
Speaker 4: Sweden's mistakes there. I feel like that's something where I,
13:23
Speaker 4: I give them a heavy edge over Finland. I feel
13:25
Speaker 4: like just given what we've seen for the Finns, just,
13:27
Speaker 4: not a ton going from them in terms of dangerous
13:30
Speaker 4: shot generation. I think it's something where Canada is in
13:33
Speaker 4: a good spot there.
13:34
Speaker 1: Canada reds going to play Sweden at three 30 tomorrow
13:38
Speaker 1: or today. As I mentioned, if you're listening to this
13:40
Speaker 1: on Thursday, just bear with us there. And then the
13:42
Speaker 1: seven 30 game is going to be Finland and Canada white.
13:46
Speaker 1: So do you see a scenario where Canada loses either
13:49
Speaker 1: of those games or do you think that they're pretty
13:51
Speaker 1: much on the way to the semifinals?
13:53
Speaker 3: I think the one against Sweden is going to be tough.
13:54
Speaker 4: I think the Swedes are going to bounce back a
13:56
Speaker 4: little bit there, but we've also seen with the Swedes,
13:58
Speaker 4: they struggled to kind of put a complete game together.
14:01
Speaker 4: And that's something where I could see, you know, Canada
14:04
Speaker 4: come out flying, pushing them a little harder and maybe challenging,
14:08
Speaker 4: you know, that decor, which is a big decor on Sweden.
14:10
Speaker 4: But I feel like, you know, it feels like a
14:13
Speaker 4: very solid chance. We'll see both Canadian teams move on.
14:16
Speaker 4: I feel like they've got the edge in both. I
14:17
Speaker 4: know it's not what the, you know, Finns and Swedish
14:20
Speaker 4: fans paying attention online are kind of wanting to hope for.
14:22
Speaker 4: But I think when you look at this, Canada seems
14:25
Speaker 4: to be really thriving on that energy of that crowd
14:28
Speaker 4: right now. And I think that's something where they make
14:30
Speaker 4: for a pretty interesting semifinal to see another Canada-USA game
14:34
Speaker 4: and the potential of a Canada-Canada final for the third
14:37
Speaker 4: straight year.
14:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll see if that comes to fruition on Saturday night.
14:41
Speaker 1: It will be obviously a packed house. at the 16
14:44
Speaker 1: mile facility there in Oakville, if that is the case,
14:47
Speaker 1: but quickly, Stephen, there's a player that's not on, on
14:50
Speaker 1: a Canadian team that I quickly want to mention because we,
14:52
Speaker 1: we looked into a story a little bit interesting. He
14:56
Speaker 1: is a Ottawa, Ottawa 67th player drafted in the OHL
15:00
Speaker 1: priority selection, but he represents Finland despite being born in Kingston, Ontario.
15:06
Speaker 1: This has been quite the story for this young man.
15:09
Speaker 1: He's got a goal and two assists in the games and,
15:11
Speaker 1: But again, he's not an import CHL import player. He
15:14
Speaker 1: was drafted in the OHL priority selection, but he represents
15:18
Speaker 1: Finland internationally. What can you tell us about him?
15:21
Speaker 5: Yeah.
15:21
Speaker 4: Watching, you know, I heard some really good things about
15:23
Speaker 4: him in summer camp for the last couple of years.
15:26
Speaker 4: And then I got to see him a little bit
15:27
Speaker 4: of that Peterborough peach triple 18 last year. It felt like,
15:30
Speaker 4: you know, very solid group, very solid show in there.
15:34
Speaker 4: I know he really impressed them. Tell us cop, but
15:36
Speaker 4: then watching him score, uh, in the first game for
15:40
Speaker 4: the Finns and the way he celebrated, you would have
15:42
Speaker 4: thought he won the Stanley cup or, or won the score,
15:45
Speaker 4: the gold medal goal. I just forgot to throw his
15:47
Speaker 4: gloves off. Like he was so excited about it. He
15:49
Speaker 4: took the crest of his Jersey and he made sure
15:51
Speaker 4: everyone there saw it. So yeah, he's, you know, pretty
15:54
Speaker 4: Canadian guy, but his family's Finnish. I don't know the backstory.
15:56
Speaker 4: And like when he moved to Canada full time, if
15:59
Speaker 4: he did have, if he had lived in Finland beforehand,
16:01
Speaker 4: but he's been Finland's best player.
16:02
Speaker 3: Like that's the thing.
16:03
Speaker 4: It's kind of funny to watch him, shine against canadian
16:05
Speaker 4: teams looking as good as he did there but uh
16:07
Speaker 4: through those two games i thought he was the best
16:09
Speaker 4: finished player not a lot that i've loved about that
16:11
Speaker 4: finish true but uh it's good he it looks like
16:14
Speaker 4: he's having a fun time and there were a lot
16:15
Speaker 4: of fans in attendance cheering for him it'd be interesting
16:18
Speaker 4: to see kind of if he can go back and
16:20
Speaker 4: play full time with the 67s when this tournament's over
16:23
Speaker 4: he's been really good in the cchl i like to
16:25
Speaker 4: see him get pushed a little harder and i feel
16:27
Speaker 4: like this tournament has to be good for his.
16:29
Speaker 1: Confidence Very interesting dynamic there. And going back to the
16:32
Speaker 1: Ottawa 67s. But again, proud to represent Team Finland here
16:37
Speaker 1: at the World U-17s.
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18:23
Speaker 2: Hi, this is Mike Stubbs, radio voice of the London Knights.
18:26
Speaker 2: You are listening to Brandon Caputo on OHL Overtime.
18:56
Speaker 1: That said, Steven, let's let's get into the meat of
18:58
Speaker 1: it here with some of the top end OHLers that
19:01
Speaker 1: people want to hear about on this show. And from first,
19:05
Speaker 1: we'll start off with Team Red and Cash Quaggia catching
19:09
Speaker 1: people by storm in this tournament, people that maybe are
19:11
Speaker 1: casual players. Watchers of Hockey saw that viral clip of
19:14
Speaker 1: his goal the other night. Just a stunning goal that
19:17
Speaker 1: he scored in Canada Reds victory over Team USA. He's
19:21
Speaker 1: got four points in the two games, two goals, two assists.
19:24
Speaker 1: Sudbury Wolves' fifth overall selection. Highly coveted player. An exciting player.
19:29
Speaker 1: He's interesting to talk to off the ice as well post-game.
19:33
Speaker 1: But what do you like from Cash Quaggia?
19:35
Speaker 4: He's one of the more skilled players in this tournament.
19:37
Speaker 4: You can tell that very quickly the way he moves
19:39
Speaker 4: the puck, the way he makes those decisions. He's really
19:41
Speaker 4: quick and I know he's not the biggest player, but
19:43
Speaker 4: he makes up for it by just, he's got the
19:45
Speaker 4: puck on a stick at all times. And that clip,
19:47
Speaker 4: like you mentioned, just so impressive. uh you know the
19:50
Speaker 4: the moves he could pull off they look so simple
19:52
Speaker 4: and we saw him at the triple a level where
19:54
Speaker 4: he was easily the best player pretty much every single
19:56
Speaker 4: night i know watching the toronto junior canadians there were
19:59
Speaker 4: so many eyes last year on kato o'rourke but for
20:01
Speaker 4: me it was cash that was the guy that it
20:03
Speaker 4: felt like he was the one making the biggest difference
20:04
Speaker 4: every single night and And I really like what he's
20:07
Speaker 4: been able to do in Sudbury this year. Like he
20:09
Speaker 4: feels like a guy who's going to be a high
20:10
Speaker 4: output player and scouts will knock him cause he's not
20:13
Speaker 4: very big, but he's got time to grow, to add
20:15
Speaker 4: some muscle and to be able to go out there
20:17
Speaker 4: and physically dominate players. And I feel like it's, it's
20:20
Speaker 4: a guy that everyone's going to have to keep.
20:22
Speaker 3: A close eye on.
20:23
Speaker 1: And his teammate Tanner Adams, not, not too far behind
20:26
Speaker 1: him playing alongside him on team red as well. He's
20:29
Speaker 1: got two points in the two games, one assist in
20:33
Speaker 1: both a little bit of a quieter tournament for, For him,
20:36
Speaker 1: given his height, but again, doing a lot of things
20:38
Speaker 1: on the defensive side. He's laid a couple of big
20:40
Speaker 1: hits as well, doing whatever it takes to help his
20:43
Speaker 1: team get the victory. He was lower in the lineup. So,
20:47
Speaker 1: I mean, just a little bit in that second game,
20:50
Speaker 1: just maybe trying to switch up the lines for Team
20:53
Speaker 1: Red there. But what have you liked from Tanner Adams?
20:55
Speaker 1: We know traded for 15 picks in the Ontario Hockey
20:58
Speaker 1: League from Brampton to Sudbury. Wanted to play close to
21:00
Speaker 1: home for his hometown team. Him and Kash Khawaja are
21:03
Speaker 1: quite the duo in the OHL. haven't played a lot
21:06
Speaker 1: together in this tournament, but what have you liked from
21:08
Speaker 1: Tanner Adams?
21:09
Speaker 4: I just liked the fact that he creates lanes for
21:11
Speaker 4: everybody and, you know, he's got a good shot, but
21:14
Speaker 4: for me, it's more about that playmaking that I've really
21:15
Speaker 4: enjoyed today. He's physically strong, good around the net. And
21:19
Speaker 4: then you look at those two assists. So, you know,
21:20
Speaker 4: I thought he, he's been very consistent, not necessarily taking
21:23
Speaker 4: over games like cash quadro was able to do, but
21:26
Speaker 4: I feel like you notice him though, especially down the
21:29
Speaker 4: middle of the ice. He's just a tough guy to
21:31
Speaker 4: contain there. And he's not afraid to push guys around there. So,
21:35
Speaker 4: I'm still hoping we can kind of see like maybe
21:37
Speaker 4: one big blowout game for him. I want to see
21:39
Speaker 4: him maybe take over because there's a lot of people
21:41
Speaker 4: consider him to be one of the better players on
21:43
Speaker 4: this Canadian, I guess the two Canadian team. It's still
21:46
Speaker 4: weird saying that even though they've had two teams basically forever. Well,
21:49
Speaker 4: I remember they're like four or five teams, but yeah,
21:52
Speaker 4: I still think Adams has been really fun to watch
21:54
Speaker 4: and he's going to be a guy that's probably going
21:56
Speaker 4: to go in the first round of the NHL draft
21:58
Speaker 4: in 2028.
21:58
Speaker 3: If I had to take a guess.
22:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely a highly touted 16 year old right now, given,
22:04
Speaker 1: the compensation that Sudbury was willing to give to Brampton
22:08
Speaker 1: to get his rights there, the Timmons native playing in Sudbury,
22:11
Speaker 1: but having a good showing so far, Canada Red. We'll
22:14
Speaker 1: move on to the Saginaw Spirit Boys with GM Dave Drinkle,
22:17
Speaker 1: who's part of Team Red's staff. We got Drew Bate here.
22:20
Speaker 1: He had a two-goal game in the opener, or in
22:23
Speaker 1: the second game, excuse me. What have you liked from
22:25
Speaker 1: him so far? And again, a guy that was drafted
22:28
Speaker 1: in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League draft
22:30
Speaker 1: along like Cash Quaggia and Tanner Adams. a little bit
22:34
Speaker 1: later on. But what have you liked from Bate?
22:36
Speaker 4: With Bate, you see the skating and you see the
22:38
Speaker 4: ability to just get in the right spot at the
22:40
Speaker 4: right time. Those two things really excite me because I
22:42
Speaker 4: don't think he's actually got that great of a shot,
22:44
Speaker 4: but he seems to be in those scoring lanes a lot.
22:47
Speaker 4: He's able to pick up the rebounds and win those
22:49
Speaker 4: battles there. And a really smart guy that never seems
22:52
Speaker 4: to be stuck looking for a place to be. He's
22:55
Speaker 4: always kind of in, again, that right spot.
22:58
Speaker 3: I like him more.
22:59
Speaker 4: As a playmaker, we haven't seen him get an assist yet,
23:01
Speaker 4: but I'm not too worried about it. It feels like
23:02
Speaker 4: this is a guy that, um, yeah, he always finds
23:06
Speaker 4: a way to make something happen on any given night.
23:09
Speaker 4: I know scouts want his physicality to improve. They want
23:12
Speaker 4: him to have a bit more of an accurate wrist shot,
23:15
Speaker 4: but I think in general, there's a lot there to
23:17
Speaker 4: like there.
23:18
Speaker 3: And in Saginaw, man, that's a fun group to watch.
23:20
Speaker 5: Yeah.
23:21
Speaker 1: I mean, you're getting Nikita Klepov back, Brady Wasland and
23:23
Speaker 1: Dima Jilkin have been off to a great start. And
23:25
Speaker 1: then you've got, great young players here like drew bait.
23:27
Speaker 1: And then secondly, Kyler louder, second round pick of Saginaw.
23:31
Speaker 1: He scored a goal in one of the games as well.
23:34
Speaker 1: A guy that's playing more bottom six minutes, but again,
23:37
Speaker 1: what do you want to see from louder here? And,
23:39
Speaker 1: and a guy that, you know, obviously it's a second
23:41
Speaker 1: round pick. He's got a lot of promise as well.
23:44
Speaker 5: Yeah.
23:44
Speaker 4: I think, you know, he's a guy that's, he's more
23:46
Speaker 4: of a support player that at least from what I've seen,
23:48
Speaker 4: you know, I know in Saginaw this year, he hasn't
23:49
Speaker 4: had any points, but it feels like he, he's a
23:51
Speaker 4: type of guy that if you want everyone else there
23:53
Speaker 4: to go out there and try and, create offensive chances. Well,
23:56
Speaker 4: he might be the guy who's going out there and
23:58
Speaker 4: playing some strong defensive hockey, using his footwork to try
24:01
Speaker 4: and win those battles there. And I feel like he
24:03
Speaker 4: does a good job of that. He's very quick. One
24:05
Speaker 4: of the quickest players on this Canadian team plays with
24:07
Speaker 4: a lot of energy. He's not necessarily like a super
24:10
Speaker 4: physical guy, but I think in general, he's got a
24:14
Speaker 4: really small frame. I think in general, he works hard
24:16
Speaker 4: enough where he kind of makes up for that a lot. So,
24:20
Speaker 4: you know, I like to see him as a bit more,
24:22
Speaker 4: bit more of a playmaker. I like to see him
24:24
Speaker 4: kind of go out there and create those high quality chances.
24:26
Speaker 4: It feels like more of his passing is simple, short passes,
24:29
Speaker 4: but still a good base to build on.
24:31
Speaker 1: And another great young Barry Colts defenseman, not on Dylan
24:35
Speaker 1: Smoskowitz's team, which will be an interesting dynamic if they
24:37
Speaker 1: were to face off in the finals. That's Lucas Matheson,
24:40
Speaker 1: first rounder of Barry. And we've talked about, you know,
24:44
Speaker 1: in the past, even you've been a big fan of
24:46
Speaker 1: Keishon Aitchison coming out of the Barry program, Brant Clark,
24:48
Speaker 1: just to name a few. They seem to have a
24:51
Speaker 1: great pipeline of developing defenseman Lucas Matheson has, he had
24:56
Speaker 1: a two assist game and then a goal in the
24:58
Speaker 1: first game. What have you liked from him on the backend?
25:01
Speaker 4: His skating is amazing. And it's not exactly a surprise
25:03
Speaker 4: when you look at who his dad is, Paul Matheson,
25:05
Speaker 4: who is the Barry Colts skating coach and used to
25:08
Speaker 4: be the Maple Leafs skating coach. So that's something where
25:11
Speaker 4: it's really interesting to see kind of like what he
25:14
Speaker 4: brings to the table there with that's the mobility really
25:17
Speaker 4: good playmaker. He had that one really nice goal, I
25:20
Speaker 4: believe in the power play. puts a lot of power
25:23
Speaker 4: behind a shot for a guy that's not necessarily big.
25:25
Speaker 4: And it's interesting because, you know, it is hard to
25:27
Speaker 4: score goals as a defenseman, and he hasn't scored one
25:29
Speaker 4: in the OHL this year. But, like, this is a
25:31
Speaker 4: guy that AAA last year had 30 goals. Like, this
25:34
Speaker 4: is a guy that clearly knows what he can do
25:36
Speaker 4: with the puck, and it feels like it's only a
25:37
Speaker 4: matter of time until that confidence really starts to shine
25:40
Speaker 4: through in the OHL. And as long as he keeps growing, which,
25:42
Speaker 4: you know, not a big guy right now, 5'10, if
25:45
Speaker 4: he keeps growing, he keeps getting stronger. I think it's
25:47
Speaker 4: going to be really hard to ignore his game because
25:49
Speaker 4: he is so fascinating with the puck and he's been
25:51
Speaker 4: very consistent so far through this tournament. So in general,
25:55
Speaker 4: really happy with his performance and definitely one of my
25:57
Speaker 4: favorite players.
25:58
Speaker 1: Before we move on to Team White's players, what have
26:01
Speaker 1: you thought of Dylan Smoskowitz as the coach of Team White? Again,
26:04
Speaker 1: went on a good run with the Barry Colts last
26:06
Speaker 1: year as a first year head coach, taking over for
26:08
Speaker 1: Marty Williamson, who's filled in for Dylan while he's been away,
26:12
Speaker 1: which has been Pretty funny. We talked to Dylan about
26:14
Speaker 1: that post game that Marty's keeping his chair too warm
26:16
Speaker 1: because he's winning too many games while Dylan's been away
26:19
Speaker 1: at this tournament. What have you thought of his coaching
26:20
Speaker 1: style so far?
26:22
Speaker 4: Well, it feels like, you know, he he's leaned a
26:24
Speaker 4: lot on those top guys like to know and Schultz,
26:27
Speaker 4: but he's been willing to try different things. Like we've
26:29
Speaker 4: seen Jace Fortman kind of bounce around the lineup. We
26:31
Speaker 4: saw King Cloutier. He, I think it's, he was on
26:34
Speaker 4: that top line for the first of the preterm game
26:36
Speaker 4: and they, they moved around a little bit. It feels
26:38
Speaker 4: like he was really comfortable with that two game or
26:40
Speaker 4: two goal performance there. So, I feel like in general,
26:43
Speaker 4: the fact he's been pretty aggressive in this short tournament,
26:45
Speaker 4: knowing like, hey, you know, there's no real room for
26:48
Speaker 4: bad games. You got to have to come up with
26:50
Speaker 4: big plays on the fly. Feels like he's done a
26:53
Speaker 4: good job as the coach there.
26:54
Speaker 1: Speaking of Kane Cloutier, first overall pick in the Ontario
26:57
Speaker 1: Hockey League draft by the Oshawa Generals. You mentioned the
26:59
Speaker 1: two goal game he had last night. It was an
27:01
Speaker 1: electric performance for him getting on the board there and
27:04
Speaker 1: just starting to gain some confidence on this team. Second
27:07
Speaker 1: line center role yesterday seemed like it played well for him.
27:10
Speaker 1: what have you liked from a guy that's, you know, obviously,
27:12
Speaker 1: you know, it was the first pick of the OHL
27:14
Speaker 1: draft for a reason.
27:15
Speaker 4: Well, he tried to murder somebody yesterday. I don't remember
27:18
Speaker 4: that clip where he went by, he completely missed somebody,
27:21
Speaker 4: but it looked like he was trying to take their
27:22
Speaker 4: head off right after getting a penalty.
27:24
Speaker 3: And it's like, Oh geez, this looks a little weird.
27:26
Speaker 4: And then he scores twice and it's like, okay, well
27:28
Speaker 4: he took over in this game. So really happy to
27:30
Speaker 4: see that, you know, that's a guy that's the local guy, Oakville, Ontario.
27:34
Speaker 4: A lot of people are really excited to see what
27:35
Speaker 4: he's able to do up close and good shot. really
27:39
Speaker 4: good on the power play, skates well, takes control of
27:42
Speaker 4: that open ice. I like to see a bit more
27:44
Speaker 4: of that shift-to-shift consistency, but at his best last night,
27:47
Speaker 4: I do think he was one of the best players.
27:50
Speaker 1: Another player with OHL ties here that you quickly mentioned there,
27:53
Speaker 1: Jace Vortman with a three-point night, a guy that hasn't
27:56
Speaker 1: been playing top six minutes, a guy that's getting his
27:59
Speaker 1: feet wet in the OHL with the Owen Sound attack
28:01
Speaker 1: in more of a depth role as a 16-year-old. He
28:04
Speaker 1: talked about his leadership being something that he's really trying
28:07
Speaker 1: to bring to that team and even bring to this
28:09
Speaker 1: team as well but he's got quietly five points in
28:12
Speaker 1: the two games what have you thought from the Thunder
28:14
Speaker 1: Bay Ontario native.
28:15
Speaker 4: He's been one of my favorite players like I'm going
28:17
Speaker 4: to be doing an article at the end of the
28:18
Speaker 4: tournament of the my favorite players and I feel like
28:20
Speaker 4: he's probably going to be on there because it feels
28:22
Speaker 4: like you really good passes always can the puck where
28:24
Speaker 4: it needs to be but he's battling hard he's in
28:26
Speaker 4: front of the net creating havoc like I have a
28:28
Speaker 4: lot of pictures from this tournament so far him standing
28:31
Speaker 4: in front of the net and being annoying and I
28:33
Speaker 4: think that's something where That kind of suits him well.
28:35
Speaker 4: He's a guy that is willing to take that punishment.
28:38
Speaker 4: You know, he's not the biggest, strongest guy, but he's planted.
28:42
Speaker 4: He won't let himself get pushed around too easily. And
28:45
Speaker 4: I love guys like that are just kind of like,
28:47
Speaker 4: you know, I'm going to do whatever it takes to
28:48
Speaker 4: win a shift. And that's what he does very well.
28:51
Speaker 1: Highly touted defenseman from the Sarnia Sting, a top five pick,
28:54
Speaker 1: Adrian Skro. He's been physical as well in this tournament,
28:59
Speaker 1: wants to bring a solid two-way game and go back
29:01
Speaker 1: to Sarnia with some confidence. Four points in the two
29:04
Speaker 1: games for the Alliston, Ontario native. What have you liked
29:07
Speaker 1: from the Sarnia Stings coveted defender?
29:09
Speaker 3: He's been good.
29:10
Speaker 4: I think he's been maybe Canada's best defenseman between the
29:12
Speaker 4: two teams. You know, the two-point performance in that first
29:15
Speaker 4: game followed up with another two assists. He's making smart decisions.
29:17
Speaker 4: He's got a good shot. He can run the power play.
29:20
Speaker 4: He's not getting, you know, pushed around under pressure. So
29:23
Speaker 4: it feels like this is a guy that at his
29:26
Speaker 4: best can be the best player or the best defenseman
29:29
Speaker 4: in this tournament. So Another guy that I feel like
29:31
Speaker 4: of Canada's blue line, not a lot of size, but
29:34
Speaker 4: he's one of the stronger guys physically. He took a
29:36
Speaker 4: big hit earlier in the tournament, but he was able
29:38
Speaker 4: to shrug that off and kind of got back. into
29:41
Speaker 4: a good spot there. And so yeah, very happy with
29:43
Speaker 4: his game. I know he's had a lot of fans
29:45
Speaker 4: show up. I don't know if it's his grandma showing
29:47
Speaker 4: up there in the Sarnia sting Jersey, but she's been
29:49
Speaker 4: there the whole time.
29:49
Speaker 3: So that's been pretty fun.
29:51
Speaker 5: Yeah.
29:51
Speaker 1: He had a, an awkward crash into the boards and
29:53
Speaker 1: was slow to get up in that first game, but
29:55
Speaker 1: luckily he was able to shake it off. That would
29:58
Speaker 1: obviously been a, been a big loss for, Canada white,
30:00
Speaker 1: but also just the, the certain thing in general. So
30:03
Speaker 1: luckily he's been okay. And he's been playing great. The
30:05
Speaker 1: last OHL or skater that we're going to talk about
30:08
Speaker 1: Declan McNally, you know, no points on the tournament playing
30:11
Speaker 1: more of a depth role here again for 14 Canada.
30:15
Speaker 1: What have you thought of, of the Barry Colts, other
30:18
Speaker 1: coveted defense?
30:19
Speaker 3: He's massive. You know, he's huge.
30:22
Speaker 4: So, you know, and he's got ties to Canada, or Doakville, too,
30:26
Speaker 4: because I believe he's cousins of Cal Richie, which is
30:28
Speaker 4: kind of cool. But he's also, I think it's his
30:30
Speaker 4: father that's American. Either way, you know, last year watching
30:33
Speaker 4: with Don Mills, like, you could tell this dude was
30:35
Speaker 4: just terrifying dude to be around. Like, he just wanted
30:37
Speaker 4: to go out there and just block shots, throw his
30:39
Speaker 4: body around. Like, you did not mess with him. And
30:41
Speaker 4: he's played such a mature game already. He's not going
30:44
Speaker 4: to be an offensive demon. Like, he's got two points
30:47
Speaker 4: already in the OHL this year.
30:48
Speaker 3: He's not exactly.
30:49
Speaker 4: ripping it up offensively, but he's going out there and,
30:52
Speaker 4: and he's just making himself tough to play against.
30:55
Speaker 3: And that's what you need.
30:55
Speaker 4: You need a guy who could play on the penalty
30:57
Speaker 4: kill and push guys around. And that's what he does
30:59
Speaker 4: really well.
31:00
Speaker 1: Marty Williamson, when inquired him from the Guelph storm, Guelph,
31:03
Speaker 1: obviously loading up with more draft picks, treading away a
31:05
Speaker 1: good young player here, but, If you're Barry in a
31:08
Speaker 1: rebuild year with Matheson and McNally, you got to be
31:10
Speaker 1: pretty happy with what your blue line could look like
31:12
Speaker 1: going forward.
31:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, and they got different skill sets. Like you look
31:14
Speaker 4: at McNally, he's got that size and physicality. And then
31:16
Speaker 4: you look at Matheson, it's more about that playmaking and speed.
31:19
Speaker 4: And I think that's a good one-two combo, one-two punch.
31:22
Speaker 4: You could say that it's going to be really fun
31:24
Speaker 4: to see how they're integrating team Canada's plans.
31:27
Speaker 3: Over the next few years.
31:28
Speaker 1: And then the last player with OHL ties is goaltender
31:31
Speaker 1: Owen Loftus. I know it was in the performance that
31:33
Speaker 1: the team would want in general, but what did you
31:35
Speaker 1: think of the North Bay battalion's first round goaltender?
31:38
Speaker 3: So I didn't actually see that game.
31:39
Speaker 4: So I, that's the one I missed, but I, you know,
31:41
Speaker 4: from talking to people who were at least there, didn't
31:43
Speaker 4: ask you about it.
31:43
Speaker 5: Sorry.
31:44
Speaker 4: But the one thing that you're still, the fundamentals are there.
31:47
Speaker 4: Like he's got the good glove hand. He's got a
31:48
Speaker 4: good blocker. He's very aggressive at the top of the crease.
31:51
Speaker 4: He's very athletic. I thought he was probably the best
31:53
Speaker 4: goalie during that summer camp they had. And you know, it's,
31:57
Speaker 4: it's tough for goalies at a tournament like this, where
31:59
Speaker 4: it's a showcase event. don't have a lot of room
32:01
Speaker 4: for error but i feel like in general like he's
32:04
Speaker 4: a guy that's going to have a decent.
32:05
Speaker 1: Career so we've got again we got through all the
32:09
Speaker 1: players there steven appreciate you giving us some analysis on
32:12
Speaker 1: all those ohlers that are playing here in the tournament
32:15
Speaker 1: uh for canada red canada white what is going to
32:18
Speaker 1: be your i guess hope and prediction for what we
32:20
Speaker 1: see in the quarters tonight the semis tomorrow and then
32:23
Speaker 1: the gold medal and bronze medal game on saturday.
32:26
Speaker 4: Well, at least one goalie fight per game. Although we
32:29
Speaker 4: did get that, the Czech goalie who tried to go
32:30
Speaker 4: for the empty netter.
32:31
Speaker 3: That was pretty cool.
32:32
Speaker 4: But you know, I, I want these games to be
32:34
Speaker 4: super competitive. I know it's a really basic answer, but
32:36
Speaker 4: you know, you see some of these scorers and you see,
32:38
Speaker 4: you know, seven, two and 13 to one, he'd say,
32:41
Speaker 4: Oh no, it's not that great.
32:42
Speaker 3: But the hockey has been fun.
32:44
Speaker 4: Like we haven't felt like there's been a lot of
32:46
Speaker 4: terrible hockey at this tournament, the USA Finland game. There's
32:50
Speaker 4: no sugar coat in that one. That was a tough watch,
32:52
Speaker 4: but yeah, Unless you really like watching Wyatt Cullen and
32:54
Speaker 4: Jack Tupiano, then you probably are really thrilled. But I just,
32:58
Speaker 4: I want these games to be really tight because it's
33:00
Speaker 4: been a lot of fun. The crowds have been good.
33:01
Speaker 4: And I want more people to pay attention to events
33:04
Speaker 4: like this because this is like the start of the
33:06
Speaker 4: national team journey for so many of these players. And
33:08
Speaker 4: it's cool to see these guys, you know, two or
33:10
Speaker 4: three years before they play at the World Juniors.
33:12
Speaker 1: How, I guess, vital or important do you think a
33:15
Speaker 1: tournament like this is for the development of them getting
33:18
Speaker 1: to the Gretzky-Helinka, the World Juniors, and again, continuing to
33:21
Speaker 1: develop as they get into their draft year next season,
33:23
Speaker 1: like how much stock do you put in into the
33:26
Speaker 1: U 17 tournament?
33:27
Speaker 4: A little, like I think with hockey Canada, like their guys,
33:31
Speaker 4: and if you're in their system and you've played well
33:33
Speaker 4: in a tournament, they'll, they'll give you the benefit of
33:35
Speaker 4: the doubt if they have to choose between two guys,
33:36
Speaker 4: but it is a small sample size. Like we're talking about,
33:39
Speaker 4: like if either Canadian team gets knocked out, they will
33:42
Speaker 4: play three games total in this tournament. So it's a
33:44
Speaker 4: really small sample size compared to you say a 68 game,
33:47
Speaker 4: always a regular season. So I think in general, it's
33:50
Speaker 4: something where, you still want to impress and you're still
33:53
Speaker 4: playing for a country and you still want to have
33:54
Speaker 4: a chance to win gold. And you know, if you
33:56
Speaker 4: are one of those Canadian teams, you also want to
33:58
Speaker 4: have the breaking rights over the other Canadian team. And
34:01
Speaker 4: that's something you could hold on forever. You don't really,
34:03
Speaker 4: you know, Matt and Danone can come back next year.
34:06
Speaker 4: And we saw that Liam Pugh and Malik Schultz came
34:08
Speaker 4: back this year, but most players only ever get one
34:09
Speaker 4: chance at this tournament. So you want to go out
34:11
Speaker 4: there and impress people.
34:12
Speaker 1: Do you like the timing of it being in November?
34:15
Speaker 3: I do a hundred percent.
34:16
Speaker 4: It's before, you know, we get into the world juniors. Uh,
34:18
Speaker 4: it works out with the, um, the international break with
34:21
Speaker 4: all the other events like there's a u20 tournament u18
34:23
Speaker 4: tournament's going on over in europe right now i love
34:26
Speaker 4: that uh they you know timing wise you watch those
34:28
Speaker 4: games in the morning and then you watch these games
34:30
Speaker 4: at night it all kind of works out but uh
34:32
Speaker 4: yeah it's good to see kind of where these guys
34:33
Speaker 4: are compared to the last time i saw them play
34:36
Speaker 4: or a lot of these ohl guys play uh any
34:39
Speaker 4: meaningful competition which was the ohl cup and seeing how
34:42
Speaker 4: these guys have grown and developed since then it's fun
34:44
Speaker 4: to watch and i just sometimes wish they could just
34:47
Speaker 4: be allowed to wear visors. I talked to a few
34:48
Speaker 4: of the players. You're like, man, we can wear visors
34:50
Speaker 4: back home. And then we come here and you got
34:52
Speaker 4: to wear cages again.
34:53
Speaker 5: Yeah.
34:53
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. The cages are something to watch. So last
34:55
Speaker 1: question for you. What is your prediction? Who takes home
34:58
Speaker 1: gold this year?
35:00
Speaker 3: I'm going to go Canada red.
35:01
Speaker 4: I feel like that's just a team that's just really
35:03
Speaker 4: quick and got four lines that are just really tough
35:05
Speaker 4: to contain. I think they got slightly better defense and just,
35:08
Speaker 4: you know, the big question mark is.
35:09
Speaker 3: Goaltending, I guess.
35:11
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Associate editor and prospect analyst of Daily Faceoff, the
35:14
Speaker 1: one and the only Stephen Ellis. Stephen, appreciate you taking
35:16
Speaker 1: a quick moment here to chat with us about the
35:19
Speaker 1: OHLers here at this tournament. And just it's been fun
35:21
Speaker 1: to cover a Hockey Canada event, especially around Remembrance Day.
35:23
Speaker 1: It's always special to see the Canada flags and the
35:27
Speaker 1: poppies and hear the Canadian national anthem. It's a great
35:30
Speaker 1: tournament and the other teams as well getting involved. It's
35:33
Speaker 1: been fun. And I'll pre-congratulate your boy Kyle Larson on
35:36
Speaker 1: winning his third NASCAR championship on Sunday. Cause I don't
35:39
Speaker 1: think there's any chance he doesn't, but again, appreciate the time.
35:41
Speaker 1: And we'll see you again for the bronze and the
35:44
Speaker 1: gold medal on Saturday.
35:46
Speaker 4: I was going to say, I hope you have a
35:47
Speaker 4: chance to see Brad Keselowski win a championship again, but like,
35:50
Speaker 4: unless he's going to like the cars tour, I'm not,
35:52
Speaker 4: not really confident about that.
35:53
Speaker 3: So you will never know the ceiling again.
35:56
Speaker 1: The truck championship, but I still have 2012 to hang
35:58
Speaker 1: my hat on. But regardless of that, it's going to
36:00
Speaker 1: wrap it up for another episode of OHL overtime right
36:03
Speaker 1: here on the armchair GM sports network. Again, Make sure
36:05
Speaker 1: to give us a follow on X at Armchair GM Pod,
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Speaker 1: as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for all
36:09
Speaker 1: of our short reels and content. Tune in today on
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Speaker 1: the video version on YouTube. Hit like, hit subscribe, smash
36:13
Speaker 1: that bell. And thank you to those listening on your
36:15
Speaker 1: favorite on-demand audio podcast platform. Make sure to give us
36:18
Speaker 1: a five-star rating on whatever one you've chosen to listen
36:20
Speaker 1: to us on. So for Stephen Ellis of Daily Faceoff,
36:22
Speaker 1: my name is Brandon Kudlow. That's going to be it.
36:24
Speaker 1: for our U17 World Challenge Hockey Canada preliminary round thoughts
36:29
Speaker 1: going into the rest of the tournament. Enjoy the gold
36:31
Speaker 1: medal game on Saturday, and we'll talk to you again
36:34
Speaker 1: very soon here for another key prospect event involving the CHL, OHL,
36:38
Speaker 1: and Hockey Canada. Talk to you soon. This is the
36:45
Speaker 1: Armchair GM Sports Network.