Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / WRHU Alum and Hockey Enthusiast Grant Francis Joins OneLegUpAlex Media (recorded 4-17-26)

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WRHU Alum and Hockey Enthusiast Grant Francis Joins OneLegUpAlex Media (recorded 4-17-26) · OneLegUpAlex Media

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Well, you hear about Ryan Pagano, my colleague, my buddy,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: well another colleague of mine who just joined us here
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: at Settle Media, uh is joining my podcast one like
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a with Alex Garrett. Mister Grant Francis. You might have
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: heard him producing Islander games WRCHU or even in latest
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: form of Blues hockey because he's the Saint Louis guy
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: at heart. Uh, Graham Francis, I know you're a hockey guy.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: You want to weigh in so badly about the NHL playoffs.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Welcome aboard.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I've been waiting. It's the best time of the year,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: in my opinion, for sports, anytime you get the NHL playoffs,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: in my opinion, which is the best playoffs in all
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: of sports, the most entertaining at least.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Oh man, that one goal could change everything everything.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: That every moment is important. There's always action. I mean,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: when you're watching playoff hockey, you are locked in. It
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: really is not stop action. And unfortunately the Blues nor
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: the Islanders are in it this year. But either way,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you don't even have to be a fan of a
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: team that's you know, if they're not playing, it's still
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: entertaining to watch NHL playoffs.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you about Jordan Bennting. I know we're
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: gonna have a playoffs, but this guy, you know, his
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: season was a little off here and there a couple
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: of years, but when he gets to the Olympics, it
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: just turns a different gear, doesn't it. And the Four
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Nations Cup last year as well.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: It's really strange, honestly, like the way Jordan Bennington as
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: the and the Blues as a whole, and not not
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: just Jordan Bennington. It's been the last two seasons now
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: that this has happened. Last year they were able to
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: get to the playoffs with a twelve game win streak
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: after the Four Nations break. This year, they weren't able
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: to quite string that run together. They played really well,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: one of the best teams in the NHL after the Olympics,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: but they weren't able to get into the playoffs despite
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the Western Conference kind of being a pilot garbage this year,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: especially towards the wild card teams. But you know, early
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: in the season, both Jordan Bennington and Joel Hofer struggled
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: big time in net. They couldn't stop a beach ball
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: like it was. It was rough early on. I even
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: going back to Game one like and the difference between
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: last year and this year is going into last year,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: I don't think expectations were very high for the Blues.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: They were sort of in what Doug Armstrong called a retool,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: not necessarily a rebuild, but a retool. But once they
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: were able to make the playoffs and go up against
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the President's Trophy winning Jets take them to double overtime
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Game seven. Of course ended up losing, but they were
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: right there. That forced a lot of expectations upon the
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: team coming into this season, and I wonder if those
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: expectations got to them a little bit, because, I mean,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: right out of the gate home opener following that playoff series,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: so much excitement around the team and the fan base.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: They have a home opener against a division rival, Minnesota,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and they get absolutely hammered five nothing by Minnesota, shut
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: out in Game one of the season, and really they
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: never recovered from that. It was just, you know, downhill
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: from there. I think for some reason, the Blues are
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: this team that they get off to slow starts. They
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: almost need a reset button. You know. Last year the
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: reset button was Drew Banister getting fired, Jim Montgomery coming
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: in and taking over that sort of reset them. They
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: still struggled a little bit up until the Four Nations break,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: but once they got that break, and once they had had,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: you know, a couple weeks off to get healthy, to
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: really implement some different things that Jim Montgomery wanted to do,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: they really turned it on this year. They really didn't
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: find that reset button until it was too late. And
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: it's really interesting because you go back and you look
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: at a couple things, and this is what's interesting when
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: you look at teams that were just on the fringe,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and you go back and look at some of the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: games and you're like, oh, if only this one was different,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: or this one. The Blues blew two four goal leads
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: this year.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: They lost it almost sounds unheard of. I don't know,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I don't hear that much.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: For real, Like a four goal league getting blown is ridiculous.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: It happened to him twice this year. I think they
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: were the worst team. They had the worst record in
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: overtime this year. I think they were like four and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: twelve in overtime. They lost their first like ten overtime
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: games of the season. Think about that. That's twelve points
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: right there that you miss out on. Just because you
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: can't win in overtime, So you think about how just
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: tiny things that add up over the course of the
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: season hurt them. And I mean, you can do this
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: with any team.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: But then you guys trade Sheen. Did that sting you
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a little bit that you guys traded him?
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you kind of felt it coming. And honestly,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I believe the Blues had a trade lined up for
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Braden Shin last year, I believe with the Toronto Maple Leafs,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: and Shin utilized his no trade clause. So knowing how
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: the season kind of progressed this year, I think I
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: think Blues fans were able to mentally prepare themselves for
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: that because they all knew it was coming. Now.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Were you in Saint Louis when they won the Cup
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: a few years ago?
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So yes, I was still here on Long Island at
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the time producing Islanders games. But obviously that season was
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: the year that they got eliminated in the second round
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: by Carolina, and so being in college, like immediately after
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the Islanders got eliminated, I flew back home and stayed
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: for the summer. So it was cool because I got
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: to spend the entirety of the Western Conference Finals and
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: the Stanley Cup Final in Saint Louis. I actually was
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: at Game four of the Stanley Cup Final, which was
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: the only game that the Blues won on home ice
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: in that series and the only game that they've won
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: on home ice in the Stanley Cup Final in their history.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: So that's a pretty cool little fact.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: And I was also did you know that team was
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: destined to win the Cup at a certain point during
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: that season?
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: You know, I think after Game seven against Dallas was
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: when it was like, okay, I think we're at least
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: going to the Stanley Cup Final. San Jose didn't scare
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: me too much. And but like that Dallas game, that
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Game seven, when Patrick Maroon scored in double overtime, I mean,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Jamie Binn had a wrap around that Jay Bowmeister actually
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: got his stick on if Ja Bomeister wouldn't have got
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: his stick on it. Jamie Binn wins that game and
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Dallas moves on, So like it's hard to say, like
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: you knew they were destined to win when it comes
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: down to inches. That's why the Stanley Cup playoffs are
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: so amazing.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Luke on that team, right, Luke Shan.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Has never been on the on the Blues. Actually, it's
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: always been Braiden Shin since I remember.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: She was in the heart of that whole thing.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, it was Braiden. It was Braiden. Yeah, Braiden was.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: He was a big piece of that Stanley Cup winning team,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: which is also another reason why with him getting traded,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: it really hits you know, hits home because it's not easy,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: and you know, especially for a team like the Blues,
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: because they really sort of unlike any other team that
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: has won the Cup in recent years. The Blues won
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: the Cup and then they dismantled everything. Petraangelo leaves, you know,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: then you have to treat O'Reilly and Tarasenko and you know,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: all the way down to shit. I think there's only
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: like four players.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I remember O'Reilly also played a role in that whole series,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: you know, and of course Gloria got you guys through
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the whole thing. I mean, that theme song was played
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: almost every night.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: It felt like it was my top song of twenty
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: nineteen on Spotify. By the way, at the end of
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: the year, Gloria was number one for me.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: It's pretty cool I played on my podcast during that run.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: But it was cool because you know, I remember the
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Blues had struggled a lot. Of course, the New York
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Ties J D. John Davidson, you know, played I believe
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: on the Blues many years ago, and they hadn't been
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: in the Cup since that moment. Actually, that's why I
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: was so special to see them back in it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was definitely a special time, especially considering Saint
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Louis had never won a Cup before and.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: They played the Leafs in sixty seven, right.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: No, so they played Montreal, so that actually in their
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: first three years of existence, they were in the Stanley
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Cup final. All three years. They lost to Boston in
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: the final year, which was also made twenty nineteen special
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: because it was a rematch of you know, fifty years ago.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: But the other two were against Montreal and they got
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: swept in every one of those series. So, I mean,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: that was when the expansion teams were coming in. They
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: kind of had their own conference, and so at the
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: end of the day, it was going to be an
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: expansion team versus an Original six team, and the original
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: six team was always gonna win, and it happened to
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: be a sweep. Every time you.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Grew up in Saint Louis. I feel like hockey's are
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: dominant sport, but big time and I want to rub
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: salt in the one you had, the Rams, you have
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals never really had baseball a basketball there. But
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: why hockey? How did you get attached so young? You
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: were touched at a young age, I imagine, right, Actually
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: not so much.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: My first real love was football. I played football pretty
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: much all of my childhood, and then my eighth grade season,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: the season before high school, I dislocated and fractured my
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: elbow in a game and that was the end of
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: my playing days. And then, you know, sort of around
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: the same time was when the Rams were leaving, and
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: so I just became a little bit jaded with football.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: I think it just put a bad taste in my mouth.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: And also at the same time, this was about twenty eleven,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: my dad took me to my first hockey game and
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: I loved it because watching it on TV you can't
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: really get the full scope of the game and the
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: atmosphere and all of that. And once I went, I
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: fell in love immediately. The Blues lost that game, but
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: I was, you know, reeled in.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Well, there was something to like like me. It's all
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: you know, off the baseball bat that sound. But also
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: for hockey, I love hearing it off the stick. I
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: mean there's something like it in the area.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: It's different hearing the goal horn in person, like, it's
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: just different. But that's when I really got into attention.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Also. I mean, you consider the screen and watch it,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: but when you're in and then everybody's anticipating what's gonna
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: happen next after that shot, it's just cool. When did
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: it go? You know?
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you can really see things develop on the
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: ice that you wouldn't see on TV. It's a really
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: hard sport, I feel to learn by just watching on TV,
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: which is why I think it the hockey struggles to
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: real people in that don't normally watch it, like create
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: new fans. I think that's why it's difficult for how
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: you had.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: An angle above the so at Barkley's and at ubs
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and all the other rings. I love watching overhead. I
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: think that's the coolest view because you got to see
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the action unfold, even though it's the other.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Way right, Well, that's where the announcers sit, you know,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: That's where the broadcasters sit.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: And I mean at the end zone, I mean behind
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: the goal. That's the best viewpoint. If you put a
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: camera there, that would be cool because I think people
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: would understand, oh, that's how the play's formatting. And I
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: think they do a good job of that.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think hockey is doing a really good job
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: of using technology and broadcasts, like just all the different
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: camera angles, all the different you know, the information that
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: you're getting the speed of the.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Slash, and that's the one that gets me all the time.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: The way they have it plugged in the net and
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: you can see that's that's pretty cool.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: It is cool, especially I like when when the puck
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: hits like right in the center of the camera and
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: the camera like shatters. It's funny.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Uh, well, you were around for the lockout, I mean,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: you know, I think the NHL, Well maybe you weren't
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: because that was four that's crazy, twenty two years.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Well, but then we had the second lockout in twenty twelve,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: which was only like half a season that was lost,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: But I do remember that.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: And what I'm thinking is, like, you know, we were
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: thinking NHL won't rebound from that, They wouldn't rebound from
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: the first lockout. They actually did then the second lockout,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: same kind of thing, but they found a way to
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: rebound I mean I think hockey in general for New York,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: we're also jaded, as you say, because we haven't seen
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: any good hockey in the last couple of years.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: No, you haven't.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I mean I was watching the Olympic hockey. I'm like,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I miss that cab or in New York. You know
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: that's what I miss. But that doesn't mean hockey's popular.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: And I want to ask you, that's because you're in
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: New York now, and obviously both all three teams aren't
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: in it. Buffalo is upstate. We'll get them in a second.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: But do you find hockey fans in New York will
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: watch no matter what? Or there are a lot of
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: fair Weathers that won't watch because their team isn't in it.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: I think it varies fan base to fan base. I
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: know mostly about the Islanders, obviously, having worked with them.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I found the Islanders fan base and the Blues fan
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: base actually to be pretty similar. I find that the
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Islanders fan base cares a lot. I think that they
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: are pretty locked in with what's going on with the team.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Uh that'scar colleague Ryan. He loves the Islanders.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Exactly like I don't know if a lot of people
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: around the League who are in New York really know this.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: But like the the most passionate fans, the Islanders have
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: to be like some of the biggest fans of any
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: team in the league. It's pretty special. Section three two nine.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Don't know if you're familiar with that back at the
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Coliseum in those days, Like it's so cool that they
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: have a lot of really cool little fan bases. But no,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: I think I can't really speak for the Rangers or
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Devils as much, but I know with the Islanders, I
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: would say people are pretty locked in well.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: And Mattie Shaffer's changed the whole game out there too.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: And that that for sure.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, Uh, let's give a play
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: to RHU, because that's how you pretty much got into
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the system with Andy and John Mullen all that. But
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: did you feel like that Islander gig if you will,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: prepared you to be the Blues guy? I feel like
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: that was an easy transition for you, right.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: I mean I walked into the Saint Louis Blues radio
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Network feeling like I already knew what I was doing,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Like basically, I'm doing the exact same thing that I
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: was doing a year ago, except now I'm getting paid,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: like it's almost I didn't go like talking to players,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: like going into the locker room, getting audio for players.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: I had done that, Running the board, I had done that,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: cutting highlights, I had done that. Like every aspect of
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the broadcast that I was doing for my job with
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: the Blues was identical to what we were doing with
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: the Islanders, and sometimes, honestly, the Islanders producing was a
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: little bit more complicated because of COVID. That created a
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: lot of issues with remote broadcasting and studio with you guys,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: that is true and at the time, like talking about
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: remote broadcasting now is not really taboo because it's done
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: everywhere because COVID taught us that we could do that,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: But at the time, nobody really knew that, Okay, this
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: is possible. But it was more like a Okay, let's
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: try this and see how it works. So we were
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: like we started that process, so it was like a
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: new idea and so like that, we ran two studios
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: because we had a commercial broadcast, we had a non
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: commercial broadcast that was more complicated. So honestly, what I
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: did with the Islanders arguably was a little more challenging
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: than what I did with the Blues, which is funny, all.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Right, you know obviously there you don't have Chris and
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Greg and we carried the games here at my day job. Yeah,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: I missed them on the radio.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: That miss special.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think you talk a little more freely
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: because you're not part of the team anymore in that sense,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: and you're here now. But were you pissed when they
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: pulled the plug on them that? Let me ask you.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: That, you know, personally, I don't know if pissed is
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: the right word, but personally disappointed for sure. I think
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: anytime you have to let people go like that, it's
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: super disappointing. And like, I'm the type of person obviously
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: I love broadcasting. I love listening to play by play.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: You know, when when I would go to Blues games
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: as a kid, after the game, I would be excited
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: to go listen to the highlights of the TV broadcast
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: and the radio broadcast and just hear how it sounded
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: from the local broadcasters. I think anytime you lose a
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: local broadcaster, it negatively impacts an organization every time from
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: the business side of things, like these things happen, like
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: the Blues just did this same thing, and people are
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: still upset about it. Like John Kelly, you know, was
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: let go from the from the Blues broadcast on TV.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: They do They now do a simulcast on radio and
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: TV with Chris Kerber and Joevitelly, Curves and Joey two
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: of the best broadcasters in the NHL. In my opinion,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: John Kelly is as well. So you know, I don't
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: think anybody was excited to see John Kelly leave and
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: move on. But at the end of the day, like unfortunately,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: it is the business, Like that's where we're going, uh
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: with broadcasting.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: I look many Lachlan who did radio for all those years,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: and I love the guy. I know him personally. He
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: has to do devil streaming because they just won't invest
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: in radio, and I feel like that's a tri state
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: team that should invest in radio. But you know, everything's changing,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure you've seen it now when you were
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: working with the Blues. Was that around when Tarasenko got traded,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: because I mean that was that around the same time.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So the first season that I took over being
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: the producer for the Blue would have been twenty twenty
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: two to twenty three, and of course that was the
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: year that everything just went downhill. The Blues were still
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: supposed to be contenders. They win their first three games
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: of the season, they went end up losing their next eight,
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: and that whole season was just up and down, up
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: and down. They didn't fire Craig Brewby until the season after,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: but that was the season when they traded off a
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: lot of pieces. They traded Ryan O'Reilly, They traded Vladimir Tera, Senko,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Nico Mikola also who went on to win two Stanley
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Cups with Florida.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: You know what it is about the Blues is I felt
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: like they break up. They broke up the monotony of
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup at the time because there was always
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: either the Lightning or the Bruins or the Penguins.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Like it was a different team that won that year.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: You know, it was a different team that won that year.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: And honestly, if you want to play like, you know,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: a game of the butterfly effect the Blues. I think
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: the Blues had one or two more Stanley Cups in
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: their back pocket in the future after twenty nineteen. You know,
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: COVID happened at the time when the league got suspended
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, the Blues were the best team in
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: the Western Conference. I mean, they were poised for, you know,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: to go on a deep run, and I think the
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Bubble in twenty twenty was probably the most difficult Stanley
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Cup to win in a long time. At the same time,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: if the Bubble doesn't happen, if COVID doesn't happen, and
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: everything stays the same, you know, I think the Blues
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: would have been in a much better spot, you know,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: just just going you know, you lose that home ice advantage,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: which the Blues more than likely would have had that season.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: And the Blues are just one of those teams. I
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: talked about it early on in the podcast that they
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: start slow. They just do. They always have and so
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: it was almost like hitting that restart button and then
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: going into the playoffs they had to start all over again,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: and it just didn't work for them. They got beat
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: by Vancouver of all teams. They didn't even win their
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: exhibition games, because if you remember, they had like a
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: few exhibition games before going into that first round. They
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: lost all three of them. Like they just weren't playing
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: good hockey. They were out of sorts. But I think
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: if COVID doesn't happen, the Blues are a really good
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: chance in twenty twenty probably in twenty twenty one as well,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: But you know, these things happen, and then if you
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: want to go to twenty twenty two. This will get
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: me fired up, okay, because I think the Blues had
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: a real good chance at winning the Stanley Cup in
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. They beat Minnesota in the first round,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: go on to the second round against Colorado. If you
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: remember that season, Jordan Bennington was playing some of his best.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: The only time he's been better was in twenty nineteen.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Twenty twenty two. He was locked in in that playoffs,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: but Nasum Kadri runs him down if you remember that,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: and injures him in Game three. Villye Whusso takes over
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: for the remainder of the series. He struggled big time.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Colorado ends up winning that series. Edmonton was easy to
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: beat that year, Like I think anybody could have beaten
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Edmonton in the conference finals. That was like basically you
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: beat the Blues, took it to the Stanley Cup final,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: and then obviously Colorado beats Tampa that year, prevents them
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: from three beeating. So I think the Blues could have
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: won the Cup. In twenty twenty two as well, even
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: though it was a completely different take.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Kinn's one of the Nate McKinnon's first years from not
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: mistaken Runer.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: No, well, he had been there for a while, but
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: it was one of the first years that Colorado really
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: became a juggernaut.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Like and now, I mean, I hate to say this,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: but they are the favorite to win the Cup. I believe.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I think that the strongest team in this in this playoffs.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I still don't believe in them. And the reason why
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: is because they don't have they don't have the piece
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: that wins you games in the playoffs, and that's goaltending.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I don't trust their goaltending.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Well, and let's go to the playoffs for a quick second, yeah,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: I mean it. My favorite one is gonna be Philly
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: versus Pittsburgh. I want to jump on the I ninety
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: five and go watch it. You and me both watch
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: at least one of those games in Philly, because when
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: was the last time the Flyers were in it? Not
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: for a while.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: It's been a long time. I can't even remember the
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: last time they were in it. It's been a while.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: It's been it's been a while. And look I used
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: to have flyer gear. I kind of liked the callers
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: back when I was a kid, so I have a
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: soft spot for them. But they're gonna face the Penguins,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: and we don't know if this has said the kids
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: last year. I don't think it is, but I think
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the Penguins are surprising everybody. I've had Lou Turminello on
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: every week and he keeps saying, you know, the Penguins
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: weren't supposed to be here this year. No, they weren't.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: They weren't. They really weren't. And I mean a lot
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: of people had them pegged as they're gonna be one
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: of the worst teams in the league this year. And
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: but you know what, that's the beauty of the NHL.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: There will always be teams like that. If you remember,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: I think it was twenty twenty three when the Devils
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: made the playoffs and they had like a forty point
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: improvement from the year before, and the Kraken did the
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: same thing. They made the playoffs, they had like a
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: forty point improvement from the year before. But that makes
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: it so entertaining because you never know who's gonna be
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: in it. Like you can look preseason and be like, Oh,
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: this looks pretty pretty solid, Like I think I know
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: who's gonna.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Be in it.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: No, like you never know, maybe because.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: The Rangers didn't really do well so I didn't focus
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: as well. But I do feel like the Western Conference
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: is a little stronger than the Eastern Conference? Am I
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: right in saying that?
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I usually I would say, yes, m it's interesting because
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I think the Central Division is the best division in hockey,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: but I think the Pacific Division is so weak that
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: as a whole, the Eastern Conference is stronger than the
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: Western Conference. Like if you look at that bottom wild
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: card spot in the Western Conference, like it's kind of
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: a joke to be totally honest with you, and I
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: say that at the same time knowing that it's very
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: real that one of those teams could upset a Colorado
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: or a Vegas Like, I mean, go back to twenty
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: nineteen Columbus sweeping Tampa, who just had just put up
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: a record amount of points that season. But if you
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: look at, you know, the Western Conference and where the
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: wild card teams got in, the Kings got that spot.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: They have ninety points like they are they're not.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Now, they haven't million a while either. I mean that's
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: that's interesting.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: You know what you would think. But they've actually made
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: the playoffs five years in a row.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Huh.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: But they are always in early exits.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's what it is. Maybe they're out soch This
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: is why.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: I say the Pacific is so weak, like that there's
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: no depth in the Pacific Division, and how it's.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Like Dallas in these situations, I always feel like they're
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: gonna be a threat to anybody that plays them. I
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: want to I want to buy Utah. So here's another
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: team and they didn't make the playoffs. You have as
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: much success as Vegas in their first year. But I
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: feel like I'm watching almost like a similar kind of
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: thing where a second year team's gonna get in here
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and they have a chance. I mean, they look good
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: when I saw them in New Jersey in January, and
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: yet here they are fifth seed. I knew they were
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: gonna be special last year because they were actually pretty
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: much up there for a while in their first year.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I'm like, wow, they're really competing without a name. But anyway,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: you know, they they look good last year and.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Good for Utah. That's a team that is easy to
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: root for. You know it's gonna be cool. We have
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: one team in the West, Utah, being in the playoffs
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: for the first time. You have one team in the East, Buffalo,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: who's basically being in the playoffs for the first time
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: at least the first time in my hockey life.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: And by the way, it's not just the Buffalo's in there.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: They're playing Boston, who's a wildcard team. I mean, these
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: other tables have turned in the conference. Buffalo is better
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: than the Bruins. Me.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Boston wins that series well because of experience, you would, okay, right, experience,
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: goaltending defense. I don't trust any aspect of what Buffalo
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: has done. And like, I'm so excited for Buffalo and
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: I want them to win, like I want to see
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: them do well because it's been so long, Like there's
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: such an easy team to root for. Be Like if
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: the New York Jets made the playoffs, I feel like
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: everybody would be rooting for them, just because it's been
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: so New York State we got sure exactly. So I
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: want Buffalo to win, to be fair, I just don't
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: see it happen. I think they win Game one purely
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: off adrenaline at home, and then I think it's over
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: in five or six.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at this at this eastern side, it looks
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: like it could be a Tampa Carolina, you know, conference final.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I just it would make sense. I mean that those
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: are the two teams that seem to always be in
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: it if it's not Florida, who definitely won't be in
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: it this year, considering they're not not in the playoffs,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: which is.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Very I mean, after a two peat, you would think
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: they would compete.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: But yeah, happened in injuries, you know, like things happen.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: And again that goes back to the point I was
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: making early about you think you know what's gonna happen.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: I don't know if one person in the world would
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: have picked Florida to not make the playoffs this season.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: All Right, So I'm in a bit of a battle
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: here because I love Krider. Okay, I love Chris Krider,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: but I equally love Conor McDavid. I love it. That's
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: gonna be a fun matchup. But I'm also saying I've
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: been saying it for weeks now, this is the right
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: time for Anaheim, and I think eventually not this year.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: They got a trip chip for Chris Crider. What do
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you think?
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree. I you know, I think he's
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: a big part of the reason why they're in the
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: playoffs this year. I don't see Anaheim going very far
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: just because again the experience factor, even though like obviously
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: talking about guys like Chris Kreider, like they have some experience,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: but just you know, generally, they don't have a ton
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: of experience as a team in the playoffs going up
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: against an Edmonton team who obviously does, but you know,
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Joel Quinnville has that team playing some great hockey, and like,
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna be honest, I don't trust either Edmonton or Anaheim.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: It goes back to the Pacific Division thing. Like you
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: put those two teams in the East. I don't think
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: either of them are making the playoffs. And you know,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: we talked about the uh, you know earlier, the conferences
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: in which conference is better. I was just looking at this.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Vegas has ninety five points. They ended up winning the
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Pacific Division this year. They won the Pacific Division with
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: ninety five points. You know, where ninety five points would
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: get Vegas in the Eastern Conference, it wouldn't even get
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: him a wild card spot.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: So that is pretty much a strength of the Eastern Conference.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what you're telling me, Yeah, no, exactly. I mean
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia has the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: and they have ninety eight points and Vegas won the
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Pacific with ninety five, So I mean it's kind of that.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: This is the one thing about the format that I
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: don't like is, you know, we talk about Pittsburgh and
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia going up against each other, which I'm excited to see.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: That's gonna be a great series. That series is basically,
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: if you seed the teams like you used to in
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: the NHL playoffs one through eight, that would be the
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: seven and eight seed. So basically you have the seven
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: and eight seed playing against each other, and it just
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: doesn't seem it doesn't seem right, Like I don't really
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: like the fact that the two weakest teams in the
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: Eastern Conference are playing each other in the first round.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: And like, I get that it's a great matchup, but
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: at the same time, if you did do the one
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: through eight seeding, we'd have Boston and Montreal in the
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: first round. So it's like, I understand why the NHL
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: goes to the format that they currently go to, and
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: it's because they want to create more parody rival well, no,
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: it's actually because they want to create more rivalries in
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: the series matchups. You know, they put the two and
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: three seed from each division up against each other to
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: create divisional you know, rivalry matchups. But I think it
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: takes away a little bit. Oh that's true, because.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: In the old days, you know, it would be the
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Devils and the Rangers meeting in the conference finally exactly
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: not exactly the quarters or the semis, you know. And I,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: by the way, that gave me a bad flashback the
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: whole Horrible Devil series that the Rangers had a couple
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: of years ago. I didn't even know what that was.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: But anyway, I want to ask you about your journey.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: So you're you go from the Islanders of Saint Louis.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: What brought you back to New York though? Like why
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the change?
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I, you know, when I left New York in
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, when I graduated, I didn't really want
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: to leave New York. Obviously, COVID was going on, and
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: New York was not the best place to be during COVID.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: It was you know, just a lot of people and
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: it's one of those times where the job market wasn't
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: great and I just took what I could get. I
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: actually took a job in South Carolina for a little while,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: moved down there, hated my life for six months, ended up,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: you know, getting an opportunity with one oh one ESPN
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: in Saint Louis, which is the flagship of the Blues.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: So when I got that opportunity, given you know, my
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: situation in South Carolina, it was an easy, easy choice
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: to make to move back home and work on that broadcast.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: But as I said, like, I never really wanted to
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: leave New York and I always wanted to end up
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: coming back here. I didn't know when the time would
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: be right. And obviously, you know, recently I've been just
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: applying to different places and trying to land something, and finally,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: you know, I got this opportunity with Salem, and I'm
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: really happy to be here, happy to be back in
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: the city.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Well, it's awesome have you as a colleague and a
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: friend and a fast friend over sports. I mean, any
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: time I got a friend in here, a colleague and
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: here I love sports, I'm like, oh, let's stay connected,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: you know. Anyway, the Cardinals though, so I mean, I
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: gotta finish up with the Cards because you mentioned the Rams,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: you mentioned the Blues. No interest in the Cards. I mean,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: were you a kid that went to the ballyard a lot?
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, I know you said football, but was there
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: any baseball?
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: Maybe a little bit. I did play baseball growing up.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: It's not really my favorite thing, Like MLB isn't my favorite.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: I don't like one hundred and sixty two games, like
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: it's a little much for me.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: How about one twenty and we started Memorial Day. I
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: think that would be a great.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's better than one sixty two.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: I'll say that because here's here's the thing for one
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: sixty two. Okay, you're watching these Yankees and Mets games
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: and they're not selling out in April. It's like horrible
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: to watch behind the plate in these freezing weathers. It's
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: like right in May and cut the season down a little.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Bit, right, well, and like you see all these empty stadiums,
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: you know, for for many of the teams. But no,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: I mean I would consider myself a Cardinals fan for sure.
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: I'm really a fan of anything Saint Louis. But I
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: really don't like how the Cardinals are run as an organization.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: I'm not a huge fan of their ownership the duits.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: A lot of people call him the Wallet because you
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: know he will sacrifice the product on the field for profit.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: You know, the Cardinals probably have not probably they do
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: have a top three fan base in all of baseball.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: And you know that Cards Cub series is always fun.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: But yeah, they have a time and they're a very
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: legendary franchise.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, right, not even talking about top three fan
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: base in terms of you know, how many fans they
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: have across the country, not even that. I'm talking about
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: attendance numbers like, butts in the seats, the people paying
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: money to the team, like.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: And the Central is almost an easy division.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: To win historically, yes, Like you have teams that usually
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: aren't competitive, like Pittsburgh. You know, the Cubs have not
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: been bad. Milwaukee's Milwaukee somehow has a crappy team on paper,
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: but they always seem to figure it out, like they
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: always seem to be at the top of the division.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: But no, you're right, I mean, the Central is a
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: very winnable division consistently. But you know, when it comes
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: to trades and it comes to free agency, for the
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: most part, if there's a big fish out there, you know,
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals are not going after them because they don't
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: want to pay money for them.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: So it's like the teams around the eyes say, the
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Yanks have watched all their opponents of the division to improve,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: but so of the I know Central, I mean the
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Pirates seem to have had a rejuvenation this year.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the Reds with Ellie de la Cruz.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: And not only him, but Eugenio Suarez, he knows two.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: And then you have Milwaukee's Milwaukee, They're never gonna.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Really go away. They're pests.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Uh. And then you have the Cubs, so it just
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and then you have the Cards. I mean, I feel
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: like the Cards never get that signed. And didn't they
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: get rid of contrarasts?
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: I think they did, Yeah they did. And the whole
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: contrerast thing was really weird because you sign him as
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: a catcher and then for a while he was like
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: switching between catcher and outfielder, which, to be honest, like
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: William Contrera or sorry, Wilson Contreras came in in a
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: really difficult situation because the shoes he had to fill
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: were Yadi or Molina's, Like nobody's going to be able
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: to fill those shoes, and for a team that is
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: so defensively, my as the Cardinals and they want to
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: play that kind of defensive style of baseball. To put
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Wilson Contraras in that position, it's really tough for him.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: Like they signed him knowing he's not a defensive catcher.
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: He's not gonna be the best defensive catcher in the league.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: And so when it wasn't working out that way, they
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: put him at in the outfield and that didn't really
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: work out. They put him at DH, fine, but they
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: didn't sign him as DH. They signed him as catcher
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: and then they like ended up in his final year
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: playing first base. So it's like this is where the
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: frustration grows with the Cardinals because it's like, what are you, Like,
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: what are we doing here? What are we doing? But
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: I will say this, going back to spending money and everything,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: another thing I don't like about MLB, and I know
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: a lot of people feel this way. And at the
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: same time, I don't think it's ever going to happen.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: The league needs a salary cap. They just do when
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: you have teams like you know, Colorado, these smaller market
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: teams Pittsburgh, they're not even trying to in I mean,
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: they're spending fractions of the money that teams like the
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: Dodgers and the Yankees are spending. It's just it's like
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: they're not even playing in the same league. So I
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: find that to be a big problem because I mean,
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: you talk about the Cardinals. Obviously the Cardinals aren't going
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: to make as much money as the Dodgers as the Yankees.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: So it's really an unfair advantage for these large market
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: teams when you can just spend however much money you want,
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: and the smaller market teams really can't do that and
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: they're playing with a budget. I mean, it really is
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: like playing in two different leagues. How do you feel
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: about the salary cap? I know it's a big to
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: the topic in baseball.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: If we could be on the lockdown, I'll lockout and
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what happened that sixty game season in
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty when there was a whole mess between the
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: MLBPA and MLB. I said, you watched down the road,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: there's gonna be a real lockdown, not the twenty twenty
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: two joke lockdown of seven days, but a real lockdown,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: and I think we're headed there. It just but the
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: salary cap. When you watch how the Dodgers spend all
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: that money, it's a valid argument to that. It's insane
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: because the Yanks, I know, well, they bought the championships.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: The reality is they didn't buy anything in those four championships.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: All those guys were sort of homegrown that they were
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: in the nineties.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: With It's different.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: They they they did buy, but they weren't buying Zuber.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: You know, you didn't have to sign a Jason Giambi
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: or an a Rod on a payment plan, right, and
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: they seem to get everybody. So yeah, I think if
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers went again, we're heading the lockdown.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: Well, and to the Dodgers' credit, like they also have
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: a lot of homegrown talent, Like they do really good
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: with their farm system. Like I'm not I'm not knocking
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: them for that, But at the same time, when you
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: can go out and supplement that basically with an unlimited checkbook,
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: you know that, then you're basically playing in a different league.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: And I'll tell you what else about the lockout. I
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: think a lockout at this time will really hurt the
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: sport of baseball because I think baseball's are already struggling
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: amongst younger people, and if you go through a lockout
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: right now, and you turn off a lot of your
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: fan bases. Getting them back I don't think is going
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: to be as easy. I really don't because the more
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: time goes on and we're in this generation of you know,
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: tiktoks and just scroll, scroll scroll, I mean, the attention
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: spans are getting shorter and shorter. And I'm not blaming anybody.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: I'm the same way. Like that's how I am. And
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: like as we're talking, I'm dealing with work conversation exactly exactly.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: So I think to go through a lockout and sort
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: of piss off your loyal fans not having a season,
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: or however long it takes, getting them to come back
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: might be even more difficult because now that a sour
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: taste in their minds.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: And look, I'm gonna mention it because there was Saint
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Louis centric, Mark maguire. That's why they kind of look
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: the other way on all that, because it brought baseball
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: back in ninety eight, you know, it brought it back
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: from that strike they had a couple of years earlier.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: All right, Graham, before I let you go, and I've
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: loved this conversation. He too, You're alumnus. You're alma mater Hofstra. Yeah,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: making the tournament for the first time in twenty five years. Now,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: were you around when they hired Speedy or were you
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: graduated by then.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good question. I don't think I was
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: around at that point because I'm not a big basketball guy.
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: So when I was at WRIHU, obviously we were broadcast
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: in the games, but I was never really too much
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: a part of those broadcasts. And I can picture the
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: guy that was coaching before I can't remember his name,
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: but I don't think Speedy Claxton was there yet. Now.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Something that's interesting actually is Hofstra won the CIA Tournament
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, and it was like a big deal
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: because it's like, oh, the first time Hofstra has been
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: in the NCAA Tournament in twenty years, and then it
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: gets canceled because of COVID, because of COVID. So I mean,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: I mean really happy for Hostra getting back there for
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: the first time and now twenty five years since they
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: weren't able to get there in twenty twenty with COVID.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: But it was fun.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: I have a Rick Cole story. He's an aged Yeah,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, I told you this off air. But Rick
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Cole used to be the Dowling volleyball coach and he
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: was almost leaving Queen's colleges. Fitting Gerald Jim I was
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: announcing at the time for Queens without his volleyball playbook,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: and I say, here's your playbook, coach. That was kind
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: of a cool thing because he like had to come
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: back and get it. Nice guy. Now he's the ad
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: and boys. He turned around and Hobster by Baseball has
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Frank Kettle and aost till I think so, I mean,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: it's pretty cool to see these legends come back and coach.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: You know, No, I know, I was really hoping that
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: Hobster would be one of those teams that goes on
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: a little bit of a run and upset some teams,
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: like a Loyal in Chicago or wasn't it Oral Roberts
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: one year that went off, Yeah, randomly.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Well even this year you look at Iowa, they went
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: on a bit of a they did. They knocked off
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: Florida and they had a couple of more wins. But
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: this is why basketball. I did not think Yukon was
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: gonna win the tourney. I didn't think they get it
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: to the final four, even I think they get that far,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: to be honest, but once they beat Duke, I'm like, okay,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: they might run the table here. You know.
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Hey, real quick before we get out of here,
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: you want to go through some predictions for NHL playoffs, Well.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we can, let's do that. I mean to me,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: I'm looking to know, I'm looking at myself right now.
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: I think it's a pretty easy first round to predict.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: You know what that means is that I'm going.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: To be around. If you want, you could come back
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: on in the second round, that'd be great if you want.
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: To take that way, you know what, And we can
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: we can look at how our predictions do like, because
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: every time you're confident, that means it's going to be uh,
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: you know.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Probably if Colorado should beat the Kings, I feel like
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: that should be easy.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: Dallas and Minnesota is going to be a series. That's
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: going to be a heck of a series. I think
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: Dallas wins, but that's gonna be a fun series to watch.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Golden Knights experience over Utah.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know. I'll tell you what Utah is pesky.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: They are not fun to play against. And and A
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: in a playoff series they can let their physicality show.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: That's gonna be a that's probably gonna be the most
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: physical series in the playoffs. Watch that's gonna be a
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: fun one.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: Anaheim versus Edmonton, I'm it's a toss up. That one
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: is a toss up for me. But I would still
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: say the way Anaheim's had the momentum, I think they
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: beat McDavid and dry Sidle, I just I could see it.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: Really, I don't think they beat Edmonton. I don't think
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: Edmonton lasts very long in the playoffs this year. I
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: don't see them going back. As soon as they play
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: a Central Division team, they're done. That's my opinion on them.
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: And honestly, I'm gonna tell you this, I think the
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: East is pretty easy for me.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess you're gonna think Pittsburgh, Carolina yep, Tampa yep,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: and Boston yep.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: Like it's pretty it's almost a clear Yeah, it almost is.
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: And again, knowing how the NHL playoffs operate, that means
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: three of the four are going to be the complete
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: opposite of what I think.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: So it'll be interesting to see how'd the Flyers get
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: get here, because I mean, that's.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: Big because the Islanders collapsed.
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: Well no, I mean, what what's their personal because I
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: don't even know who's really playing on that team anymore.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Well it's different.
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they've had so much trouble. Well, they got Trevor Zegris.
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: That was their big off season acquisition. And what's interesting
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: is that Trevor Zegris gets traded from Anaheim to Philly
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: because they had the whole cutter, gotier situation. Remember right,
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: and now both teams are in the playoffs after long
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: droughts of not being in the playoffs.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Let me ask, let's stay here for a second. The
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: Rangers will not fire Chris Jury, but they should. Yeah,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: I mean I look at that. There's gonna be this
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: Stanley cup or Jake Gunns. I really liked that kid,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: that guy. He was the real trade bait that I
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: thought the Rangers could have trade a I thought the
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: Rangers could have jumped on and they just never did it.
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: Now he's just thriving elsewhere. But to me, the end
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: of Drury began when he didn't get Gunzel. That's how
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: That's what I'm trying to say.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and of course it's it's Tampa that gets gonzl
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: and you know, he's one of those players that generally
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: he's pretty quiet during the regular season, like you don't
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: hear much from him. He puts up he puts up numbers,
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: but he kind of does it quietly. And then you
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: get to the playoffs and the guy's just a beast,
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: like consistently going back to his Pittsburgh days, like he
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: was scoring every other game. Yeah, like multiple goals everything,
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: Like it's almost like every time you see Pittsburgh score, Oh,
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: Jake Gnzl of course, Like he's just a monster in
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: the playoffs. Some players do that like that they get
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs, then all of a sudden, they're just
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: the best player in the league.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: Now, a lot of these teams are gonna be great
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: on their goaltending, I think, right, So I mean that
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: that's gonna be where where it really makes a difference.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gonna be interesting because there's some series where
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: I'm like, E, like, I don't really know about the
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: goaltending situation. For instance, like Carolina always struggles with goaltending
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: Didn't they have to like swap out a guy and
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: all that other.
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I don't know who's going to be their
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: starter in the playoffs and.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: The absence I'm seeing now Washington is this always last year?
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: Do you think he's come back? So?
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: I think the reports for Alex Ovechkin was that he
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: said it probably was not going to be his final game,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: his this you know, this season.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: He probably wants to get the nine fifty, you know
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: what I mean.
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: Knowing him, probably, but I think, uh one of the
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: telltale signs of that was in the final game between
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh and Washington, which was I think game like eighty
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: one of the season something like that. Obviously with Sidney
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: Crosby on the other side and both of them being
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: in the same draft class, you know, there was a
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: whole thing. I think Pittsburgh the team was coming out
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: to shake Ovi's hand, and Ovi like waved him off,
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: like no, no, no, and like that's kind of the signed
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: to me, Like, Okay, I don't think he's done.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I think he's done. Jonathan Quick had a nice moment
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: where all the guys came out in the jerseys and
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: and also the Panthers came over and shake down. I mean,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: the respect these guys have for each other, even though
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: they dropped the gloves nine time, they still have a
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: respect level about themselves, and I think that's where it's
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: that's the emotional part of hockeys. You see the respect level.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: You saw them shut down the entire game for that's
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: gonna get presented with that. That was pretty special. After that,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: he beat the record at the Ubs. So I wasn't there,
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: but to see it on TV was pretty Yeah.
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: Well, and that's one of the best things about hockey too,
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: is is you know on the ice, bitter rivals. Off
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: the ice, everybody's friends, like.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because they all got traded, but I think, uh,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: you know, good Joe and Crider, they all stayed in
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: touch and are still friends. So I always thought it
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: was advantage that would be next. I don't know what's
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: gonna happen with him.
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: Well, what's interesting too, And I just had this thought
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: pup into my head about Chris Drury and the Rangers.
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: I heard and you can speak more to this than me, probably,
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: I heard that the beginning of the end for the
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: Rangers because they they had that President's Trophy winning season
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: not too long ago. Was that three years ago?
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: And yeah, then didn't they put well, they traded Barkley
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Goodrow back to San Jose correct, And I heard that
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: even though Barkley goodrou is a you know, a fourth
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: line player, that really caused a lot of issues in
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: the locker room. Like I think, hockey locker rooms are
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: kind of fragile when it comes to you trade a
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: guy that is a leader or that is like the
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: heartbeat of the team, and it can cause things to
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: fall apart. But that's that's sort of what I heard
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: was like one of the beginnings of the end for
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: the you know, the Rangers in Chris Jerman.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: It was very fast, all right, My friend Graham Francis
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: my colleague hockey guy, as you could tell hofstro Alum,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: thanks for running one like a ballex media today.
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: Hey, thanks for having me. Let's do it again.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Let's do it again after round one.
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: Hell yeah,