CKSTAM

Fresh off the Olympic Mens team announcement for the Olympics, Team Canada Forward, Landon Ferraro joined Matt and Blake. It’s an unbelievable feeling and he is having a ton of fun about it. It was always one of those things that seemed so far-fetched. Knew NHL games were attainable. Being in Davos on day 1 is incredible. Talked about when he found out he was on the radar. Had a missed call from an Alberta number that he called back and found out he was on the Channel 1 team in Russia. They also told him he was on the Olympic long list. Things went well in Russia. He did everything he could do to make the team. As the time went on and the NHL announcement happened, it got even more real. Half the Channel 1 team is on the Olympic team. Talked about why he isn’t daunted by any of the Covid restrictions. He just got over the virus and is boosted. Feels safe with Hockey Canada and them doing everything they can to go in as safe as possible. Getting in and seeing the guys was a first step in thinking that this is really happening. Talked to Cammi about her time in the Olympics. Heard all the stories and is something he is looking forward to. As of right now they will still be able to move around freely. Would love to go check out other events. Still feels like he’ll be ok if he only just gets to play the games. Talked about working with Claude Julien again. Chip in offensively and someone who will be on the PK and be responsible defensively. Talked about the other BC boys on the team. Hockey is such a small world. Knows the Tamby boys. Been skating with Kent Johnson since he was 13. Said he was as good as all the pros. Talked about skating alongside Eric Staal. Talked about what an Olympic gold medal would mean. Can’t put it into words. Already such an honour to play for Canada and putting that jersey on. Didn’t get a chance to put the World Junior jersey on. At the end of the day, this is Team Canada and Team Canada goes for gold. Talked about playing on an NHL sized ice. He will always have this over Ray. 

Patrick Johnston of Post Media joined Matt and Blake in his regular spot. Started off talking about Mathieu Darche, the latest GM candidate. He is a contract guy who has done negotiation and worked in the community, TV analyst. He has a variety of experience that you want to see in modern front offices. Talked about the growth of the front office and how the Sedin twins will fit in. PJ says this is a great scenario for them. They were brought into learn. PJ also wonders where Ryan Johnson will fit in and what his future is. There is a lot of people in the mix but it’s a good situation for Daniel and Henrik. There is more experience around them and this will learn a lot from a whole bunch of people. Talked about the protocol guys who have been left behind. Answered the poll question. Will be a reason or excuse if they don’t make the playoffs. It’s an excuse all the way. In the end, your team isn’t good enough. As a former teacher, he gave them a letter grade at the midway point of the season. Talked about the Olympic team.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk joined Matt and Blake after an incredible Sunday of football. Thinks it was the greatest weekend in history. All games decided on the last play. The problem is it is all downhill from here. The Championship games will have a tough time living up to that. Talked about the OT rule in football after the Bills didn't get a chance to drive down the field after a KC TD. Charean told a story of when in 2018 PM didn't get a chance to get the ball in the playoffs and the Bills shot a rule change down. That game just left you wanting more. Maybe the Bills should have tried on onside kick. It was their best chance at a surprise. The game was over after they kicked off and PM got the ball. We all knew the Chiefs were going to go down the field and win. Talked about where QB's will want to go with all the young guns in the AFC. Thinks Josh Allen will get his chance to win a SB. It should have been on Sunday. He is good enough and so is the team. Feels that game was for the SB. Talked about Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Charean talked about the future of the two hall of famers. Something has changed to make Brady change his mind, having previously said he will for sure play. Many of his favourite players are FA's. Charean doesn't think he will go out the way he did. Doesn't think he will finish his career the way he did. The question is can they put enough good players around him to go out with another chance. Thinks that both will play with their respective teams next year. The Bengals truly believe that it's their time. It won't be a walk for the Chiefs. KC needs to get down to business. The biggest advantage for CIN is that KC is taxed after the Bills game.

Our Canucks reporter, Jeff Paterson joined us fresh off the Émilie Castonguay presser. He was really impressed with her, always impressed with those that can handle their business in multiple languages. A very impressive person. Referenced how emotional she got when talking about her players. Talked about what EC laid out for her vision. It will be about bringing out the best in human performance. They have gotten away from that the last few years. Talked about what she will be doing in the front office. Could take the lead on contract negotiations. Talked about where the team is at with their GM search. Expecting there will be an announcement by the end of the week. Feels like it is Allvin’s job to lose. Talked about the situation on the ice and how they have navigated all the players going on Covid protocol. Giving the Canucks an A for effort. Coming out of the weekend with a single point is pretty much all they could do. Talked about the penalty kill not getting it done. They are the worst PK unit in the NHL. Talked about the goaltending situation and if they might have to go back to UBC for a backup. Talked about Doug Jarvis and his ironman streak being eclipsed. Yandle will equal the mark tonight. Kessel will also get there in 6 weeks. Incredible to think that Covid hasn’t gotten to him. 

John Shannon joined Matt and Blake for his regular Monday appearance. Started off talking about the hiring of Émilie Castonguay. John loved what she had to say when she said, “ if you do the work, you get the job.” She is just saying that she is the AGM and not just a woman. This goes back to the hiring of Jim Rutherford being a progressive thinker. He sees the game changing. Jim is a survivor and has a good sense on what is going on. He has always been thinking on the cutting edge. The moment he walked out of the PIT office he said to himself he will get back and he will be progressive. This is caterpillar to butterfly the last three months. Hiring the AGM before the GM makes you think that the Canucks were going to hire already and ran it by all the prospective candidates. Talked about hiring agents. It was telling to see her become emotional when talking about her clients. It says that she becomes fully entrenched in the job. We are seeing the growth and evolution of a front office.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rick Dhaliwal joined Matt and Jeff for his regular Friday appearance. Talked about the lineup the Canucks are icing tonight. Ran through all the guys that are out. Talked about when the calvary might be back. Was told 10 days for everybody. Talked about the 4th line and what Rutherford thinks about it. If you look at it, three guys with low salaries working their ass off. Motte is one of the guys who makes that line tick. Talked about Rachel Doerrie. The team has known about her as awhile. Talked about what the analytics department is all about. Talked about Mike Futa as a GM. Has been told that he is not in the mix for the GM job. Ricky thinks Rutherford has a pretty good idea who it will be. Talked about who could be traded next. JT Miller is a guy that clearly teams are calling on. Talked about Hamonic. The time he has been out is injury related. 

Former Canucks AGM, Chris Gear joined Matt and Jeff to talk about his time with the club. Says he hasn’t fully joined the dark side (the media) but that he got the call from Frank Seravalli. Just wanted to try it to keep him busy. Has had some good feedback from the first few articles and hopes it isn’t beginners luck. Wants to take his time and be open to all sorts of discussions. Talked about if he has had time to decompress. It was a bit of a blow when it happened after 11 and a half years. It’s always the risk when you move to the hockey ops side, out of legal. Thought he might have survived the drop after Green and Benning were relieved of their duties. It is what it is at this point. He has moved on and they have moved on. Talked about his tweet addressing his dismissal from CSE. Talked about he got started with the club. Was working with VANOC. Got to know the organization from their work with the building agreement. His first file at the Canucks was the Bertuzzi incident and was on his desk for 4 years, before it was settled. Talked about the makeup of the front office while he was there. Not sure there is a perfect size or if VAN had an optimal size. Talked about having different points of view in the room. It strengthens you, gives you feedback and challenges bias’s people might have. Talked about having the stomach to get back into it. Says it is stressful but the job is great. If the opportunity comes again, would be tough to turn down. Talked about his columns with Daily Faceoff. Talked about Evander Kane. Talked about guys who are lighting it up under the league minimum. 

Rob Williams of the Daily Hive joined Matt and Jeff. Talked about the collaboration between Sekeres and Price and Daily Hive. People are loving the editorials turned to print. Talked about the ticket debacle that will ensue when people show up to the game and their tickets aren’t valid. Talked about how many season ticket holders there are. Talked about the theme nights where they celebrate diversity. Not a lot of teams celebrate the way the Canucks do. They should have been doing this long ago. It’s a PR slam dunk.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vancouver sportscaster, Scott Rintoul joined for his regular Thursday hit. Talked about Rachel Doerrie. She is a very smart, young woman who has worked in the NHL before. Has done plenty of research in the game. She has worked on projects that quantify hockey IQ. Scotty thinks she disrupts the space, which some people will find uncomfortable. This is a diverse hire but doesn’t think it’s the last one. Checkmark for the organization. Thinks that one of the three AGM spots will be a female. It’s about time, we need more of this. PK woes are personal related. Even with new coach bump. Talked about EP40. Beyond the goals, he looks more dangerous. Talked about Boudreau comments on Höglander. Bruce likes to make jokes but he is a realist. Scotty doesn’t have an issue with Bruce’s description of Nils. Scotty says NH came flying out of the gate. Talked about who will start in goal for the Canucks vs the Panthers. Would love to see MDP but odds are that it is Spencer Martin. Talked about Crepeau leaving the Whitecaps. Likened it to Ousted leaving. It’s a stunning move for the organization at this time. Talked about his 49ers. Saw some problems with Dallas. Jack Fraser, JFresh Hockey, joined Matt and Jeff to talk about analytics. Talked about what most sticks out analytics wise this season. Still a very flawed team but there are much brighter spots under the hood than compared to the last few seasons. The team struggles to carry the puck into the offensive zone and create chances. Thinks that was very intentional by Travis Green. When you have a team that struggles to create shots of the rush, you will be in trouble. 4th in shots off the cycle. 31st in zone entries, leading to a chance. Talked about league interest for JT Miller. Without a doubt he would fill a lot of boxes for a lot of team. He has a good track record of production. There are warts that can be pointed out in his game. The extra year will make it more desirable. Miller fits the category of Rutherford wanting to make a big change. Talked about Elias Pettersson. This has been a season with a little bit of turmoil for the Canucks. We all know the player he is and it’s a little too early to ring the panic button. Second half of the season will be finding a rhythm and getting into more dangerous spots around the ice. Talked about Rachel Doerrie. She has a strong hockey background. She is trying to find new ways to quantify the game. Has very little doubt that the Canucks will not regret the hire.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darren Dreger, host of Ray and Dregs and Podcast joined Matt and Blake for his regular Wednesday hit. Started with the Canucks front office. Talked about why Allvin isn’t such a slam dunk. Was reminded that he is very likely going to make the short list of five or six candidates. We do know there are a couple that have been made public. Talked about Sean Burke and will echo the comments of Sekeres. Don’t make the mistake of making Allvin the front runner. Doens’t mean he won’t get the job. Talked about Ryan Johnson. There is a chance he rises in the Rutherford era. The fact he was kept on board is credit to the Aquilini’s. Thinks that Jim had a handle of what he was about and wanted to get to know more. Even if he isn’t GM, that doesn’t mean he isn’t an importance peice moving forward. Talked about if there could be a parallel between the Kent Hughes hiring in MTL. Talked about the roles a diversity candidate could fulfill. Talked about the timeline for new management. Says that Jimmy is hungry and doesn’t want to sit around for a rebuild to happen as he gets up there in age. Whatever he does is going to strengthen the team. Says Motte is his type of player. There would be a conversation with the agent before making a move on Motte. There is a market for him, depends on supply and demand. Thinks a draft pick for sure. How high, is the question. Dregs said he will ask Ray why he is so “pissy”. Talked about that situation. Dregs didn’t like it from either account. The assembled media who lead the pack, weren’t there. Feels like Jim would have phrased it differently. Leon didn’t like the approach he took at Koskinen. The belief internally is that is why Leon went about it the way he did. Dregs thinks that we will have some news on the GM front by the time we speak again, next Wednesday. 

Our Canucks reporter and one half of the Rink Wide Podcast, Jeff Paterson joined Matt and Blake in his normal slot. Talked about performances of the season. Thinks that WAS game was a very good performance. Talked about EP40 and the kid line he is on with Höglander and Podkolzin. Talked about Canucks players in Covid protocol. Talked about how they will utilize Demko as they need more wins to keep the playoff push alive. Talked about Lammikko and how he and his line could be utilized. Talked about Tyler Motte and how much longer he will be a Canuck. Not sure anyone should be putting penalty killer on their business card if they are a Vancouver Canuck. It’s a red flag. You like everything about the guy on and off the ice. He is an open book. Honest as the day is long. JPat does view him as a trade-chip. Talked about this trip being what Jim needed to see. Now he can go about shaking it up the way he wants.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.