CKSTAM

Ben Kuzma of Post Media joined Matt and Blake. Says the Canucks are trending in the right directions. They’re not giving up blowout losses, they’re not giving up 40 shots. Arguably the best effort vs the Ducks. Gibson is their kryptonite. They’re turning a corner and not headed for a wall. Good news in Denver for the team is that MacKinnon is out. It’s kind of funny, we have bubble Demko and Horvat looking like the guy in the bubble as well. When you start to get your key players going. Talked about Podkolzin going on the PK. Would like to think that we see Motte on this trip. Didn’t think the team would come back from being down 2-0. Wouldn’t it be nice for them to have a 2 goal lead going into the third?.. The Canucks are still finding their way, 13 games in they should not still be looking. Talked about when we might see Motte. If he is a betting man, he would say by the weekend. Talked about Sutter. The fact he hasn’t skated yet is a cautionary point. Doesn’t think we will see him anytime soon. Talked about about Rathbone. 

Darren Dreger, of the Ray and Dregs Podcast joined Matt and Blake for his weekly hit. He admired their work at the grand prize home. Started off by talking about Bob Murray and his trouble in Anaheim. There is a good Bob and a bad Bob. He gets into peoples face, texting and emails and all that kind of stuff. His sense is that has been out there for awhile. Believes that an internal NHL memo regarding the Blackhawks pushed Ducks employees to come forward. We would be nieve to think that there won’t be anyone else. Talked about why Nonis didn’t get the temp job while Murray investigation continues. Talked about Colliton getting fired. Talked about if he has heard any rumblings within Canucks ownership. Not getting the sense that there is anything twitchy going on.  

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Lots of talk about hockey culture in both, the Welcome Matt and Price is Right. 

Patrick Johnston of Post Media joined Matt and Blake and start off by talking about Bob Murray and the latest NHL scandal. Hockey is a pretty good game but it’s not a great game. It’s things like this that keep it from being so. Referenced Blackhawks trying to bury their problems thinking it doesn’t matter, but it does. Murray has had a nice life in ANA the last decade but they haven’t been that great. It’s about how he has dealt with staff and how you talk to people. This seems to be the early indication of what this is about. Talked about what he has coming in the Province on the culture of hockey. Talked to Sheldon Kennedy. Wants to know how to create a culture of listening and understanding. Talked about what we will see from the Ducks, who PJ had at the bottom of the Pacific. They’ve found some decent players and have some good defensemen. There is an argument that they should have moved some of their guys. Talked about the Ducks rival status vs the Canucks. 

It was a Sekeres day to sizzle on Hot Take Tuesday, could he do it?

A couple of different giveaways, listen for your chance to enter!

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Charean Williams joined Matt and Blake, as usual on a Monday to wrap up week 9 after a lot of upsets. Started off by talking about the Cowboys loss. Charean says it is just a one-off as opposed to saying something about the team. Says that Dak didn’t play well and his injured calf has nothing to do with it. Perhaps it could have been rust. The Defence is a concern. Talked about the Bills loss. Says this one is just a one-off as well. To score 6 points against Jax is a head-scratcher. Concerned that Bills would lay an egg abasing a team like that. Said that LAR losing to TEN is also a one-off as TEN is better than what people give them credit for. Stafford looked like the Stafford he was in DET. Talked about NEP and how to win with Mac Jones. If you can run the ball and play defence, you will win a lot of games. Tampa needs to run the ball better. Talked about the job Kyle Shanahan has done with the 9ers. This is an average to below-average team since Lynch and him have come in. At sometime they will have to make a decision if they are going to have to move on. Depending on how the season goes, they may need to go get a veteran QB. Talked about Rodgers and his availability this week and what the rest of the league thinks about his situation. Says they let him do whatever he wants. Packers will come out with 2 game plans depending on if AR is back in the lineup. Thinks it could have improved his MVP chances. 

John Shannon joined the show in his regular spot. Talked about why he stays up late to watch west coast games. Thank goodness the PP started going, he said. Says JT Miller is the battery that makes this thing happen. Demko is doing his job and the forwards are getting into the right gear. More positives than negatives at this time. We can’t measure the emotional aspect that they go through. When they get snake bit, it’s not a good thing. Nobody expected Flames to do what they are doing. They have been a real surprise. When you go on an eastern road swing for 5 games and come back with 10 points, you are doing something right. They’ve done some good things there, a lot of it has to do with Markstrom. Sutter creates accountability. Talked about the Eichel trade. Not sure that BUF could have gotten more. They did what they had to do and that was to get rid of 10 millions dollars and got some prospects. Adams was handcuffed in this deal. Peggula’s made it clear they had to move him to a team in the West and couldn’t take money back. Talked about the FLA coaching situation and if they let Brunette finish the season. Thinks that Colliton lost the room in CHI before the scandal happened. John thinks that he kept his job longer because Bowman stepped away. They played so poorly on Friday night that they had to do something. 

The CEO of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Axel Shuster joined Matt and Blake fresh on the news of the announcement of when their playoff game will be against Sporting KC. Started talking about the team not getting down on itself after giving one up. Says the game was a little more difficult but it was no problem. They want to be world class in handling suffering. The team reacted the right way and played a great 2nd half. To find out at the end that there was no security blanket. It was the perfect ending for them to do it all on their own. Talked about what it meant to have 25K fans in the stands. It was incredible. Never had anything like that after the last 2 years. They got it exactly when they needed it. The fans backed them up. They would not have gotten the point without the fans. Talked about Brian White coming in mid season and if he had any indication that he could have done what he did. Says they always try to stay conservative in their expectations of incoming players. It was something that you couldn’t predict with Brian. Says the staff played a big part in settling him. The coaching staff found the best way to use these players coming in. Almost the perfect package they go in-season. Talked about Florian Jungwirth and what they expected from him. Wanted leadership from him, starting 32 Bundesliga games. You need an emotional leader who pushes guys on the pitch. He also over performed. Signed him as an addition, turned out to be a guy who started most of the games since he game. He fit into the culture, along with White and Gauld. Talked about what is holding up the hiring of Sartini as a permanent head coach. Says that they need to be comfortable to sit down and speak about it. Every time they talk, it’s about the game in front of them. It won’t help them to win a game to sit and talk about the head coach. It doesn’t come only with a signature but with a strategy and the next steps to do. Talked about officiating and the noise SKC made against the officials. He trusts that every referee is doing their best and doesn’t want to make mistakes. Was happy there was no camera on him when the PK was called within the first 5 minutes. He can say that if he was the ref it would be way worse. Talked about when we may see Vite. He has to earn his spot but he has very special skills. He can think quicker than anyone else on the pitch. He is a real player, his coaches tell him. Talked about the suspended executives and who is picking up the added responsibilities. They have already hired a new new executives as he builds the club off the pitch. Talked about the teams interactions with the investigator. Will wait until the investigations has concluded and the recommendations that come before he makes decisions.

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Ryan Johansen of the Nashville Predators joined Matt and Blake ahead of their Friday game vs the Canucks on Friday night. Talked about playing back in his hometown for the first time in a long while. Said how much he liked getting on a plane and flying out of EDM rather than having to stay for there for the bubble. Talked about the start to the season for the team. Everyone tries to get off to a good start to the season and feels that the team has played well enough to win. Talked about the identity of the team. They are embracing the identity of being a hard working, ugly team that others hate to play against them. Talked about “The Herd Line”. References back to the identity of the team and they set the pace and the mentality for the team. Talked about Colton Scissons and the kind of player he is. Ryan wasn’t surprised that Fabbro is bringing 100 people. Says he is Italian and that’s how they roll. A lot of great people in that family. Being back and seeing the rain makes it feel just like home after a year and a half. Talked about how much he is looking forward to Seattle.

Rick Dhaliwal joined Matt and Blake and started off by being complimentary of the studio. Than he explained why he wasn’t at the launch for it. Compared our chairs with the chairs on their set. Talked about Podkolzin. Wonders if Brock Boeser is hurt. Referenced a video that he didn’t look to happy in. It’s his contract year. The Canucks could potentially have 5 guys on the US Olympic Team. Was told Boeser was almost a lock. Garland stock has gone way up. Was told the Americans are very impressed with him. If BB is going to make it, he needs to score goals. Has to be a top 6 goal-scoring winger for that team. Demko and Hughes are for sure. Talked about Hamonic and when he could be able to cross the border. Talked about GMJB telling the media to get lost on the Hamonic subject. Talked about Klimovich. He is going to be living with Silovs.

Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada’s Mens National Team goalkeeper joined Matt and Blake to chat about the big matchup vs Seattle this weekend. Says these are the games that you want to play. Talked about his routine going into a big game. Says this is the biggest club game he will play in. Everyone needs to show up and be the best player they can be. This can be big for the city to reconnect with the fans. Talked about the streak they have been on. Talked about the Canadian Championships and what it would have been like to insert a lot of games at a crucial time for league play. 

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The General Manager of the World Series winning, Atlanta Braves, Alex Anthopoulos joined Matt and Blake. Started off by chatting about why making the rounds in Canadian Media was so important, including this very show. Talked about how he is feeling after contracting Covid 19. Everything is going well, he can take part in the parade tomorrow. Then it’s right back to work the following Monday. Says his wife was more crushed than he was missing the party after winning the Championship. The parade is what he has always sold his kids on. The bottom line is he just wanted to win. Says there is always next time. Talked about the feeling of winning. Everything coming through that touches him. Talked about the difference between this outpouring of support and that of leaving TO. Says he never got to enjoy his time working there because he was always working. Talked about experiencing the final out at home with his kids. Wanted to see them watch everyone they know on TV. Thinks tomorrow will be when they see the festivities tomorrow. Once they see that they will understand the impact of sport and the community rallying and coming together. Talked about the future of this team. Would love to think they could do this every year but knows how difficult it is. 

Legendary Canucks Writer and Hockey Hall of Fame Member, Tony Gallagher joined us today, in studio. Started off talking about the face-off woes on the PP for the Canucks. Talked about the EP40 struggles. Talked about life in retirement. Talked about the festivities surrounding the induction into the hall. Talked about his relationships with some of the guys who are going in with him. Talked about his relationship with Jason Botchford. Talked about how disappointing he is that not much is written about Canucks management.  Talked about Gillis and if would want to take on the top job at the PA. 

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