Winnipeg Jets win over Philadelphia Flyers, Blue Bombers host Roughriders tonight
[Music] [Applause] [Music] This is Winnipeg Sports Talk Daily with Andrew Hustler Patterson and Michael Reis. Hey, what’s going on everyone? Happy Friday and welcome to Winnipeg Sports Talk Daily. Andrew Patterson, Michael Reis with you and we have a packed show as you would imagine coming out of another incredible sports night. Big win for the Winnipeg Jets going 2 and 0 in their quick roadie. Back at it tomorrow night, Canada Life Center against the Nashville Predators. And the Blue Jays do it again. A big win in game four of the ALCS. And the Jays and Mariners are now tied to two. The series is guaranteed to come back to Toronto for Sunday. And the Jays have an opportunity to make that a clinching game if they can get the win in game five today with Kevin Gosman back on the bump. That game going just after 5:00 p.m. Winnipeg time. We’ll get into that right away as well. We also got the Joe Flacco show last night in Thursday Night Football. What a crazy game and crazy performance by Flaco and Jamar Chase. Lee Hacksaw Hamilton popping on a little later on with the NFL notebook. Uh but we will talk Jets and the NHL with Mara Tesh and Craig Button. And then welcome in Jeff Hamilton. Tuck a little Jets, a little Jays, and of course Bombers and Riders tonight as the Bombers need to uh get a win over their prairie rivals who are sitting many of their starters for the trip to Winnipeg. as we get closer to the CFL playoff. That being said, the Bombers can’t officially clinch a spot with their win tonight. Uh but we’ll be paying attention to the late game BC Edmonton because a BC win would put Winnipeg in to the playoffs officially as well. Great to have you all with us. Shout out to all you podcast listeners for making us a part of your day. And of course, if you’re with us on YouTube, hit that thumbs up button and make sure to stick around. It’s Friday, Marble Race time coming up right around 3 pm at the end of today’s show. Uh, big thanks to all the sponsors that make the show happen each and every day. Of course, our partners at Cool Bet, Jake Pat, and I after a great week last week, fired it up again this morning with our weekly picks for the National Football League against the spread. A couple of our favorite props, touchdown scorers, put a few parlays together. We’ll hit that later on. And it was another good night last night. WST winners. We had the ABS. We had the Bengals plus 5 1/2. And of course, the Blue Jays cashed another nice winner. So, we’ll try and keep it rolling tonight. We’ll hit that just before marbles a little later on. Of course, the Winnipeg Jets back in action tomorrow night, our partners at Princess Auto, uh the HSC Millionaire Lottery along with Uptown Alley, Canadian Club, St. Vatel Dental Center, Roy’s Transfer. Uh, I’ll fire up the NFL weekly power poll for Chud’s Powers Sports a little later on. Of course, Manitoba Battery, who’s got their customer appreciation week going on right now. Uh, Clean Line, Boston Pizza, Royal Sports, Little Brown Jug. We will get to a Why not question of the day for Not Auto Corp over at Waverly and McGilly. And of course, your fan feedback for fans.ca. Welcome to everybody in chat. Happy Friday. Happy Bomber Game Day. And welcome to you, Michael Remis. Remo, how the tides have turned in the ALCS. Uh, what did you think of the game last night? I thought we talk about the Jets dominant win over the Flyers. Uh, what an incredible performance by the Jets just coming in, taking care of business over the Flyers. What? Only two shots allowed in the third in the third period. We can talk about baseball later. Yes, just kidding. Yeah, we can talk about it later. You know what? That game’s at five. Quick turnaround. Uh for the Blue Jays, I mean, they got what they needed to Max Scherzer. You look at his numbers last night and what he had been doing going in. He hadn’t pitched more than four innings. He hadn’t, you know, routinely gave up more than four four more runs. So, Max Scherzer and you know, the moment of the game is when John Schneider goes to pull him and he’s getting all mad and doesn’t want to leave. And then what struck out the next guy. So, uh, the bats came alive. Seattle’s pitching, which I thought they were they had an advantage. It hasn’t been. So, the Jays, you know, the Jays down 200, all the fans were freaking out. Now, the Mariners fans kind of reversed here where the Mariners dropped two games at home and now their fans are are all uh, you know, pulling their hair out. So, well, I mean, listen, the momentum in this game has completely done a 180. And as I said yesterday, I thought the winner of game four wins the series. You know, I was just talking with Mattie Awanick on the lock shop. I’m surprised that the series line the series is a pick them right now at minus 109 on either side. I mean, to me, with the momentum the Jays have and having game six and seven at home, despite the fact the home team hasn’t won a game so far in this series, I think is huge. So, they got it done. And listen, I will pump my own tires a little bit, Remo. I did say I thought we were in for a psycho Mad Max Scherzer legacy game last night and that is exactly what he provided. I mean, you mentioned that scene of Schneider going out to the mound in the fifth inning to talk to Max. I mean, he is the most intense, borderline weirdest dude in the majors. Uh, and he lived up to it last night under the bright lights of the ALCS. And as we talked about yesterday, that entire investment in Max Scherzer for the year becomes money well spent if he could do what he did last night. And he performed, gave us a little bit of some scenes on the mound and some incredible pitching. And you know, the bats just kept on going. And listen, as much as we want to talk about Scherzer and his performance, how about Jimenez with almost a deja vu two-run home run in the third inning the way things got going in game number three. And I mean, if you had told me that IKF Isaiah Khalefer would be an impact player for the Blue Jays in the ALCS this year would have said you were crazy. They signed him. got rid of him. He’d been toiling with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the worst team outside of the Colorado Rockies. And now all of a sudden, he’s getting on base. He’s scoring runs in the ALCS. It is simply incredible how this series has turned around so drastically over the course of 48 hours. Yeah. Andre Gimenez, the seventh player in MLB postseason history to homer in consecutive games from the ninth spot in a lineup. So, if you’re getting those contributions, six RBI in the last two games, absolutely huge. And the Blue Jays lineup, you know, wasn’t hitting at the Rogers Center, but they are in T-Mobile Park and the ball is flying off the bat. And look, again, it was uh wasn’t looking great early. You had Seattle uh going up first with the Josh Naylor home run, but Toronto answered right back with a big inning. uh chase starter Luis Castillo. You know, the guy brought in Spire walked in a run and then ahead and next thing you know it’s 3-1 Blue Jays. Didn’t seem insurmountable, but they added out two more in the top of the fourth. 5-1 and Seattle couldn’t come back. Thought they had a couple rallies going, but I mean mentioned Sherzer. How about that pickoff throw and the replay? I mean, that was a big one. and Josh Naylor running into an out at third base after hitry thought they were putting something together. Uh credit to the Jays for the pickoff throw. Uh the good defense and Sherzer’s final line, five and two/3 inning. Uh five strikeouts, but four walks. He did get charged with another earned run after he left the game, but it was a night for the 40 plus Sherzer. And then we saw in the NFL, how about the show Flaco and Rogers put on. So great night of sports with the Jets. the Jets win number of NHL games, but the Blue Jays, I’m curious what the viewership is going to be on that one because it seems uh very very high here in Canada. It it’s phenomenal. They had I I I was seeing some numbers for the broadcast and the numbers in Canada were almost equivalent to the viewers in the United States in a country with what 10 times the population. Um this country is locked in and uh the vibes could not be better heading into the weekend. Game six is going to go on Sunday, game seven if necessary on Monday. But tonight’s game five, the crucial game five goes at 5:00 p.m. tonight. Kevin Gosman on the hill. Just one more thing on Sherzero. You mentioned, you know, the stats. There was almost one other stat. Uh the first ever homicide on the field in the ALCS. Uh can you imagine if Schneider actually said, “Give me the ball.” I I I legitimately think that he may have physically assaulted him. uh there was no way he was coming out. And the good thing for the Jays is because I don’t think they had any choice to keep him in. Uh he got it done going into the sixth inning. I don’t think anybody had that on the card. But uh wild wild night last night. The bats are back for the Blue Jays. Uh the pitching stepped up and now they’ve got their game one starter back on it trying to get a win for his team and get them within one game. Uh of course we got into the Jays afterwards. It was nice the Jet game started early so we could sort of spread it all out over the course of the night and uh another nice effort on the road. Um you know, you mentioned the defensive shutdown uh of the Philadelphia Flyers, Remo. Um very very low event game, low shots. Connor Hellabuk stood tall when they needed it and the Jets made the most of their opportunities. A nice tidy 52 win led by another couple goals from star center Mark Shley. Oh, are they going to say star center Morgan Baron scored? Who scored? He’s got he’s got five points now. Not the most conventional uh goal ricocheting off two guys, but a goal nonetheless. And you mentioned low event shots shots on goal. Uh H first period Jets five, Flyers three, and you’re like, “Oh man, not a lot’s going on in this game.” Bit more eventful in that second period, the Jets got five and allowed allowed 12. Uh but in that third period, it really uh shut it down, squeezed the Flyers. Five shots for the Jets and only two allowed from the Flyers. The Jets did score two second period goals. And look, when uh you had the two-goal lead and you thought they were going to have a comeback, the Flyers with that tippet goal answering right back with Morgan Baron scoring that 3-1 goal. Very similar to the game against the Islanders. Thought the exact same thing where he thought the Islanders were about to mount a comeback and right Jets answered right back with a goal of their own. So, uh, Morgan Baron, I thought that goal was pretty huge. But Mark, you know, and getting the first goal as well. Uh, really a nice play all around. Nyquist on the boards to Nina Ryder making the move down low and Namast following up uh, the rebound. But Mark Schaefley with the two goals. Uh, what a start to the season he’s having and tying Blake Wheeler’s franchise record for points with 812. I thought Mark Shaley was the the first star. Just two beautiful goals. uh the snipe with the first one and the one-time the second one he scored but it was Kyle Connor who had three assists assist you know beautiful sorry two assists assisting on the Baron goal great pass to him and a very similar pass to Mark Shaley as well on the power play so uh they went in took care of business got the two points and they’ll play Nashville on Saturday here yeah you know you you mentioned I mean Shley obviously another big game I mean what a start to the season he’s had he scored five times in the first four games. He’s got eight points, a two-point per game clip. Uh and Kyle Connor right behind him. He of course had that hat-tick. Now has it added four assists. He’s got seven points. But the guy at third in jet scoring right now is the guy that you just mentioned, Morgan Baron. Baron with three goals on the season, five points, leading the way on that fourth line. and Remis, you know, I I could sit here and just talk about Baron and how good he’s looked and what he’s doing for the Jets. What was so interesting to me last night was how that line looked with Parker Ford on it. I thought Ford, like listen, Chimberov had a relatively quiet first few games and obviously they made that switch from originally the Taves line um you know, down to uh down to the fourth line. Parker Ford was on it last night. I mean on the puck he was uh you know front and center right in front of the net on the goal that Morgan Baron scored almost hit his stick on the way in. And you know this is we talked a lot about what is coming with these injuries right now. opportunities for some other guys that might not normally be in the lineup. And for Parker Ford, who of course scored last year in his debut, kind of a magical night just down the road from his home in Rhode Island in Boston, came in, you know, maybe still a little bit off the radar, I think, for most people that follow the club. Um, and has just barged into the conversation as a guy that Scott Arneal will put it out over, you know, some of the veterans. And we’re getting now this competition in the lineup. If you want to be in, you want to stay in, you got to play well. I thought Parker Ford had a great season debut in the lineup last night. And uh they did not miss a beat with the changes on that fourth line, but a lot of the credit goes to Morgan Baron who’s really driving the bus. Reena, it’s hard not to notice. You like, oh, how are the Jets going to replace all these points from Nikolai Eers? We brought in Gus Nyquist, Jonathan Taes, who look pretty good. It’s hard not to notice. Nicola Eers got zero points in Carolina who did win again yesterday and off to a pretty good start themselves. And here’s Morgan Baron with five points in four games. You know, getting fourth line ice time, averaging 1206 per game and not getting any power play time. That’s how that’s why I think it’s just so impressive uh his start here. So, we know he’s got the skating, the size, uh, it’s been a really nice addition. And, yeah, he’s seeing a bit of an elevated role here without Adam Lowry, you know, without Cole Perfetti. So, full credit to Morgan Baron on his season. Third, as you said, on the Jets in points behind Mark Stley, he’s got eight in four games. That’s pretty nice number. And Kyle Connor, not too shabby as well. Seven in four. And you know, one thing they did note on the broadcast and which shocked me was Connor Hellbuk’s first win ever in Philadelphia and they mentioned was the Jets first win at the Islanders in a couple years too. So nice little twoame road trip here uh for the Jets. You know, you go out lose game one against Dallas. They seem to improve every game 3 1-0 and another Central Division battle uh coming up on Saturday. Yeah, when we talk about it with Craig and with Morat coming up, you just mentioned Eers and I’ll just say this. I So, last night uh after the game, um you know, we were watching the football and then, you know, got the got the Carolina game on and you know, I’m kind of looking and seeing what’s happening. You know, is he either, you know, is he scoring? You know, you know, hadn’t gotten a point. Meanwhile, he’s playing with Aaho and Jarvis and they’ve been scoring and they did again last night. I was just wondering what like what’s happening online from Nikolai Eers. So I just simply put in Eers and looked at the latest tweets. Uh not the warmest welcome in Carolina. Here’s what it is. This Eers guy ever going to do something. Next one. Yo, Hurricane fans, is Eers in the lineup? Is he breathing? Is he alive? Holy bleep. Uh Eers doesn’t want to shoot, huh? Lol. Uh, can you tell Eers to take two effing su shots on goal? The bleep has this been doing the whole game. Uh, and then Eers is the wat which uh not goat w that’s worst of all time. And then explain what Eers is doing. That’s just that was the first tweets like right up. So uh I hope that this turns around. I’m certain that it will for Eers, but I was a little shocked that uh the early pressure returns, especially while the team is 4-0. Uh but we’ll pay attention to that. And obviously, I know that Nick will get a warm welcome back in Winnipeg, even if it hasn’t maybe been that warm during his first few games as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. Um let’s h get to uh the uh follow to last night though and hear from the coach, Scott Arneil. um a third period as you’d want to see holding that lead. Here’s what Arie had to say about the team structure last night against Philly. Way better. I thought the first period was our best period of the year. Just uh the puck pressure, the reloads, the communication, not spending a lot of time on our end. A little bit sloppy, a little bit loose in the second, but I still I thought that got back to it again in the third, but that was that was a lot closer to what we need to do. What do you think the response of the fourth line after giving the one goal up? Yeah, I I thought they were good all night. I know that uh it was tough. They jumped out kind of on a line change and them coming with speed and you know, I think that those are just guys that are getting to know obviously the Ford being in there, you know, Bears being the only guy that’s kind of knows what’s happening here and Cole’s um those guys are picking it up what we’re doing and I like a lot of what they do. Obviously, uh you know, a couple big they scored another big goal. So, um that’s a yes of you know, your fourth line. What do you think of Parker’s energy out there? Yeah. No, he’s good. He’s he’s versatile. You can use him obviously takes those right side face offs as he did five on five and then also on the PK. Um you know just like Kemp, you know, he’s a guy that goes out. He’s got detail to his game and u just you know does what he has to do to make sure that he that he has success. All right, there’s the coach on the game last night and obviously Parker Ford’s impact as well on that fourth line. Um was great to see Vladimnikov score. He opened it up. I mean that just a great play of being in the right place knowing that the possibility of a rebound uh was there and I thought that line with Netherite and Nyfist um you know really you know kind of came out of the gate playing really well and obviously you heard the coach loving what he saw from his team in the first period last night. It was a big night as Reis mentioned. Mark Shiffley hit 812 points and uh we’ll look to break the record tomorrow night in front of the home fans. Here’s Arie on Shely hitting the milestone. That’s a heck of a accomplishment. You know, Sh’s been a you know, obviously, you know, 2.0, the first player drafted. Um you know, he’s lived up to it all. He’s uh he’s a great player in this league. I think he’s finally really really getting the recognition that he deserves. Um, you know, I think that, um, just the guys that can do that, you know, score that many points over, you know, consistently over year after year, it just, u tip your hat to him. Best you’ve seen him play start. Uh, well, he’s pretty good player last year. I, you know what, I really, but the biggest thing for me in my four years is that he’s bought into how we need to play to have success. And then all his offense has come because not not just him, but his linemates as well have bought into that way. And so the puck’s on their stick a lot more and they get chances to be creative and once it’s on their stick that’s that’s when they go and have fun and do what they do best. There’s the coach on uh you know on Mark Shelley. We hear from Shley in a minute. Here’s just one more from the coach on how he feels that they’ve responded after the loss at home to Dallas to kick off the season. Yeah. And you know it was that was a pretty loose game. That was one that was uh you know for all of us it was felt like an exhibition game. We just maybe it was the hype of the you know the the home game and first game of the season, but I I think we’ve gotten better and better. I don’t think we’ve put together a full 60, but there’s a lot of good things that I like that uh I’ve seen lately. Scott Arneal pleased with the club uh going 2 and 0 on the road. Back at it tomorrow for one game before heading out to Calgary early next week. got Mark Schiffley was the first star, two goals, hitting 812 for his career with the Winnipeg Jets. Here’s Mark Shiffley on now the 5-2 win. Yeah, I thought everyone worked hard. Um, you know, it was a tight checking game. Uh, didn’t have a lot of space in the inside and uh, you know, Bucky made a lot of great saves and um, obviously a big win. You guys talked about wanting to defend better. Was that a little closer to the blueprint today? Yeah, a little definitely a little closer. Um, you know, I thought we were a little moreh spot on for the most part. Obviously some still some areas to fix, but um that was a lot better for sure. Milestone point for you. I know you’re chasing someone else, but what was it like to get tied with Blake here? Yeah, obviously uh you know, very cool. Um you know, Wheels was uh you know, a guy that taught me so much. So to obviously be tied with him is is a you know, a huge honor. What do you think of the goal itself? Second one. Yeah, Casey obviously made an amazing pass. you know, he made an amazing pass on embarrasses goal and um obviously found a great seam and, you know, had the right pace on it and everything and made it pretty easy for me. I know you’re living dayto-day, but like 8 when you hear the number 812 points, like what goes through your mind? Yeah, it’s obviously very humbling. You know, it’s uh you know, not long ago. I was uh you know, just starting in the league. So, um you know, it’s obviously very humbling and you know, just want to keep getting better. All right, so there’s Mark Schiffley and a man get a point tomorrow night. That will be one heck of an ovation for Mark Shley in front of the home fans at Canada Life Center. Um his uh running mate Kyle Connor spoke after the game. Here’s what he had to say about the 5-2 win. Yeah, pretty solid. Um you know, I thought we had a lot of good sticks. We knew they were pretty dangerous coming in the rush to make some plays and we were pulling back. Um had great numbers and uh you know, kept them to the outside for the most part. Sign of maturity too like the patience you guys played with today. Nice. Yeah, I think so. Um, you know, we like to think that we can play a lot of different ways. Um, we obviously like to dictate the game, but if it’s flowing a certain way, um, you know, if it’s that transition and we got to we got to hump back and uh, support and, you know, even when they get rolling there, we don’t panic. We kind of, um, just relax and lean on each other and support each other if something breaks down the next man up. And I thought we did a great job. All right, there’s more Kyle Connor on the game. And here’s one more quickie from uh KFC on uh his pal and linemate Mark Shley hitting that milestone and tying Blake Wheeler top the 2.0 list. Awesome. Um he tie it. Is that what it was? Yeah, he tied it. Obviously he’s hopefully break it next game, but um it’s you know it’s pretty incredible. I think we all know what he means to this franchise and um you know being one of the first picks coming back here and you know leading us through you know the whole the whole playoffs um every every kind of run we had you know he’s been the guy and um he’s a leader in this team community and um obviously he’s a big part of this team going forward. All right there’s Kyle Connor on the win last night. We’ll talk Jets and more NHL with Craig Bettton in just a couple minutes and Maresh from The Athletic a little later on as well. Uh it’s been great our first week with our friends at Uptown Alley on board with Winnipeg Sports Talk. 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Nothing more fun than a time out with the family, friends, or the gang at Uptown Alley, 1301 St. Matthews Avenue. pop by and tell them the boys at Winnipeg Sports Talk sent you. Uh, of course, Roly’s Transfer are great sponsors, the leaders in moving in Manitoba. Folks, if you got to move, lean on the guys at Roly’s. They’ve been doing it for over 60 years, family-owned and operated, and have become the most trusted name in moving in Manitoba. Find their website at rollies.com, and in the top right corner, you can click on request an estimate. Put in that promo code WST for a special discount on moving services and moving supplies. And the friendly staff at Rolies will turn it around quickly with a great quote and get you locked in for the white glove treatment that they are famous for now into their seventh decade. For all your moving needs, make it Roly’s transfer. Holler at them or find out more online and request an estimate today at rolledies.com. All smiles last night for the Winnipeg Jets after their win in Philadelphia. Speaking of smiles, if it’s been a minute since you’ve been to the dentist or you’re looking for a great spot for long-term care for you and your family, pop by and see our friends Dr. Terry and his wonderful staff at St. Vatal Dental Center. Got a beautiful new facility at 167 St. An’s with state-of-the-art equipment and convenient free parking right behind the building and a full array of dental services from cleanings and checkups to things like dental implants. St. Patel Dental Center really has it all. And of course, Dr. will be around as well as maybe some of the staff for the marble race a little later on. Find out more online stel dental.ca and book an appointment and uh make sure to say hi from myself and Remis when you pop by there. And just before we bring in Craig, of course, Bomber game tonight, Princess Auto Stadium, Canadian Club, the official spirit of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be on tap. I’ve talked to the folks, they’ve stocked it up, Bomber fans, so you’ll be good to go. And speaking of Canadian Club, next time you pop by your local Manitoba Liquor Marts, the limited edition Blue Bomber bottle is available. The official Spirit of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has a special blue and gold label celebrating this season and of course this year’s Gray Cup. So pick it up at the Canadian Club display while supplies last for the uh stretch to the Grey Cup and of course holiday entertaining might make a great gift for the Bomber fan in your uh in your circle as well. And while you’re at it, don’t hesitate to pick up a club pack. I know they were great all summer. The CC and Ginger, the Citrus Smash, the Half and Half. Uh those are great 12 months a year as well. Canadian Club, proud sponsors, the Bombers, and Winnipeg Sports Talk Canada’s original Canadian whiskey. It is always a treat when we get a chance to welcome in Craig Button to the program. Uh and there is lots to talk about on the ice and elsewhere. Craig, welcome back to the program. It’s great to have you on the show. What uh how how difficult are you having right now paying attention to all of these hockey games while we’ve got incredible football and of course this exciting run of the Jays in the ALCS. Lot we need a lot of screens these days. You see my hat today? I see my hat. I’m still not over 1995, Andrew. I’m not over it. Okay. when that strike happened and the Expos were good. Hey, listen. It’s nice. It’s great for the Blue Jays. They go down two nothing and then they go right into Seattle. Here’s the issue now. Both of these teams don’t know where they want to play. They can’t win at home. So, where are they going to go and play? Like, so it’s it’s always interesting when that happens. My question for you and for Blue Bombers fans is, do you want to go in the East crossover or do you want to stay in the West? I mean, that’s what these last games are about now for the for the Blue Bombers. very interesting you know to see where so I ask you that’s my that’s my question to you first and I’ll answer your question you know it’s a perfect thing and we’ll throw that to the chat as well for the why not question of the day for not autocorp Waverly and McGilly would you rather the path through the east or the path through the west presumably on the road let us know in the chat from my perspective Craig I have to say I think it’s the east now there’s two reasons for it ton of respect for the Montreal Alowettes they will likely be the number two team and be hosting in that first week. Kind of funny, the Bombers and Alowettes are supposed to play next week, which could be just the most vanilla game of all time before they meet before. I mean, very, very difficult matchup, but I do think the path, especially considering what they did to Hamilton a couple weeks, might be a little bit more advantageous. But to be honest, the real reason why I vote East is that there is that incredible possibility that if they were able to get through the East, we could have a Winnipeg Saskatchewan Grey Cup, which would be Armageddon on the prairies here in Winnipeg next month. Yeah, it would be. And it would I mean for PSN that would be an unbelievable matchup for the Gray Cup. Like so that’s I I think the East is a is a better path for for the Blue Bombers and you know not that you don’t want to win your games. I mean uh the the the coach Michael Shay he he he ain’t giving away nothing. Every game he’s going in there to try to win. So it’ll be interesting though to see where it goes. Now onto your question is hey you know what you got to pay attention. Uh uh I’m going to give a big shout out, huge shout out right here on your show to NHL and what they’ve done with their NHL TV app. You know, they they used to do it in house and then they parsed it out to uh Sportsnet and uh ESPN. It was a disaster. They’ve gone to do the the zone now and it is phenomenal how great it is to tune into games all across the league on the zone. Great job. You get the home broadcast, you get the wave broadcast on wherever you’re at, right? But it was a mess. It was a mess. Sports Net and ESPN didn’t put any effort into it and it was awful. And now the NHL fixed it. So way to go. Gives me a real opportunity. I was playing pickle ball last night. Did the Jets game uh and then went and played pickle ball, came back, and then I watched all the West Coast games towards the end. It was it was great to see, you know, that opportunity to watch the games, touch and see what then you can replay them. you can kind of watch the games in certain spots and try to get a feel for it. So, uh it’s not like I’m trying to catch up with everybody all at the same time. It just kind of you follow along and you see how some of the new players are doing, how new coaches are doing, and what teams are, uh, you know, functioning really well, and what teams are maybe having a little bit of struggle early on. But, uh, it’s a fun time of the year. Well, it certainly is. And listen, there’s a few teams I’m interested in your thoughts on, but let’s start off with the home team. Jets had that tough night uh really letting the game get away from them in the home opener against the Dallas Stars and now have rebounded with three straight victories. Uh we’re very earlier in the season, but we knew this was going to be challenging for Winnipeg without Perfetti, without Samrich, without Adam Lowry, 3-1. What have you thought about the Jets performance overall through four games? Craig, my my my first comment is good teams don’t capsize when they lose players. Now, you just mentioned good players. I mean, you you you talk about uh Dylan, you talk about Adam, you you certainly talk about Cole. I mean, they’re all good players, but at the same time, when you’re a good team and you’re a good functioning team, and I want to put that word in, functioning, you you know, you you want you want to be as strong as you possibly can be, and you’re going to be stronger with those three players in the lineup than out, but you can still function as a team. that first game against Dallas. I mean, it was 2-1 going into the third period. I thought Hlebuck was was keeping them in and you know, we’re doing the game and I’m thinking like Hellbuck’s going to be the story here if they find a way to get the right side of it. So, the four minutes in the third period gets to be 5-1, but then the Jets come back storm back to make it 5-4. Get back to the game. That is their game. Get back to their strengths. Kevin Sawyer mentions this continuously on the broadcast. Know who you are. Play to your identity and your strengths. I think in the last three games, that’s exactly what we’ve seen. They gave up five goals in the first game. They’ve given up six in the past three. I mean, they stifled the the Philadelphia Flyers in the in the third period uh on Thursday night. The Flyers fans were booing. It was it was But that’s what a good team does. I I I I think that when I watched the Winnipeg Jets, anybody that was sleeping on the Winnipeg Jets coming back and being one of the league’s strongest teams this year were were out to lunch. Like seriously, and if you’re sleeping on the Winnipeg Jets not having a good season this year, then you you’re just not paying attention because you have a superstar goalender, a superstar defenseman, a superstar center, and a superstar left wing. And then you have balance through the lineup. Gus Nyquist, how good has he been? Morgan Baron, who who’s just really elevated his game. How good has he been? Logan Stanley, I mean, a first round pick, you know, the ins and the outs. I mean, he’s played really well for them in the absence of Dylan Samberg. So, and need a rider. I mean, I could go on. I mean, we know that Shifley and Connor are brilliant players, but you start to go through this lineup again. Vlatty Domestic, who I just love the way what he does. I mean, I can I can go through all the different parts of this team. It’s a really strong team. It’s a It’s a Stanley Cup contending team. I’m not backing off of that because they’ve given me no reason based on what I see, what I believe for me to think otherwise. Well, hey, speaking of going down that list, the one guy I specifically wanted to ask you about is Jonathan Taves. And uh I mean this week we’ve been I mean coming out of that that the game that he had against the Islanders on Monday. I mean we’re sitting here going okay like I mean everyone was trying to coach any expectations of what this guy would be able to do. Uh we’re seeing him get better each and every game, be an impactful player for Winnipeg, and um I mean to me, we were hoping maybe he’d get to this at some point sort of mid-season. We’re a week in right now, Craig. I mean, what were your expectations for Jonathan? And what have you thought about the way that he’s looked in his comeback? Whatever my expectations are or whatever the fan base’s expectations are, Jonathan Jays has high expectations. He sets the bar as high as anybody. And you know, I don’t know how many times we can talk about details, the the the intelligence he plays the game with, how he just settles things down. If you go back and watch the uh empty net goal, the one that Tanner Pearson put in the net, just watch that sequence. Watch how Jonathan Tay understands where he’s going to push the play, where he’s going to push the play out. He he might not touch the puck, but because his brain is so good and his understanding of the game is so strong, he he just pushes that play out. Well, now the play gets turned over. Philadelphia runs out of space up the wall. Boom. Tanner Pearson into the net. Jonathan Taz I I felt was coming to a to an excellent spot. Shifully in front of him. When Adam Lowry gets back, Adam Lowry gives him, you know, it sounds funny to say Adam Lowry gives him backend support, but you know that support where Jonathan can settle in. Nomesticov has been good. Baron’s been good in in the middle of the ice. So now Jonathan can go find his way. I’m a huge I’m of the huge belief that Jonathan Tae if he wasn’t interested in winning he wouldn’t be playing and he he chose the Winnipeg Jets it’s a beautiful hometown story but he looks at that team and says I can win here and for him at this stage of his career to come in and try to say here’s what I want to try to do here’s where I want to try to influence the team and the group because he’s wired to win. Jonathan Taz is not one of these guys that’s I’m just going to go play and it’ll be nice to be in the NHL for another year. He didn’t like, you know, what he went through, but he’s come back. He’s worked hard at it and and I think it’s only going to get that much better. And when Adam Lowry gets back and they get their full health, it just becomes a stronger lineup with respect. The other thing I want to talk about really quickly when it comes to Jonathan and and and it speaks to the Winnipeg Jets overall, the collective IQ of the players on that team, the individual IQ and the collective IQ on that team. I don’t know if there’s I I don’t know if there’s any team that’s better than that when we talk about the way they think the game and the individual IQ that leads to a collective IQ that’s just brilliant. You know, Craig, we uh you just speaking about the center ice position. Um I mean, Morgan Baron a star again last night. He’s got three goals. I mean, he is playing so well. And that line, I thought Parker Ford had a ton of jump last night. He really stood out to me. Going to be tough to take him out of the lineup. But at some point, I mean, you’ve got Vlad playing in the middle and he’s been indispensable for the club. Jonathan Taves, Mark Shley, and Morgan Baron. When Adam Lowry returns presumably to center ice, um, is it Vlad? Do you think about moving Morgan Baron considering how good he’s looked in the middle of that fourth line? How do you think they handle the return of Lowry when it comes to the center ice spots? Well, I I mean, the way I would look at it for now is I I believe that Adam Lowry along with the other player that has the initials AL, Anton Lundelle in in Florida, are are the two best thirdline centers in the National Hockey League. I’m not taking Adam Lowry out of his strength. I mean, he’s a selfie trophy candidate. He’s brilliant. Uh, and and you know, Morgan showed that he can play in the middle of the ice and and and he can play on the wall. When I start to look at the Winnipeg Jets and and this goes back to Vlatty, Vlatty is so versatile. He can play left wing, he can play right wing, he can play center, he can play on the fourth line, he can play on the second line, he can play on the third line. If you’re Scott O’Neal and you have these options at your disposal and and and it’s not just options that he has, it’s a willingness of players to do different things in different spots in the lineup. And again, that speaks to IQ that and and it also speaks to a willingness and a desire to find ways to contribute. I I I said this last night on the broadcast. If if if you’re not watching Vlatty Masterov on a night in night in basis, you you you can’t possibly appreciate him because what he does in all the areas of the game is phenomenal. Now, he’s not the only one. So, what I would say is glad he can play on the wing, but if you put Morgan Baron on the wing, depending on what your matchups are, you you can work so many different areas of the game. I I’m going to give you an example. Sydney Crosby is one of the greatest centers that’s ever played the game. Last year at the Four Nations, he went to the left wing with Nathan McKinnon. I would expect that Sydney Crosby is going to play on the left wing on the Olympic team. Now, that speaks to not only a willingness by Sydney Crosby to do different things, but also flexibility for the lineup. It gets another player into that. And I think that that’s exactly what the Winnipeg Jets have. Morgan Banner, if you go ask him to play left wing, he he he’ll play really well. Golass Valley Nomesticov could play second line center or third line right wing. I just think the flexibility is so phenomenal for a team because I think you need it. I think you need it when you go when you go through it. Brad Marshian was a left winger his entire career. He went and played in Florida as a right winger on the third line. Players that are dialed in to win that are smart, they’ll go and be flexible. And the Winnipeg Jets have a lot of players like that. Uh Craig, we uh get Nashville for the first time. They were an incredible disappointment last year. Um have you seen much of them this year? And I mean, do they look much different than the team that was so underwhelming last season? Uh well, I mean, they started out so poorly that they were just digging themselves out of a hole, but they go into uh Toronto the other night and they were awful. I mean, it was just it was awful. I mean, it wasn’t like Toronto was world beaters. Nashville was loose and not very good and you know they have some skill and everything. They go into Montreal last night and they uh you know they have an opportunity. They’re they’re playing pretty decent. They have Sorrowos back in the net and they can’t close out the game. They’re not better than Montreal and Winnipeg and and and and so and and Montreal is not better than Winnipeg. If if Winnipeg just goes in there and just puts the puts the press on and plays to the plays the game the way they can, they no game is easy in this league and I’m never going to downplay an opponent. But the National Predators aren’t in the Winnipeg Jets class. And so you go out and you you you make sure that you kill their spirit early and and beat them. But I’m not impressed with the with the Nashville Predators. I’m not impressed with them. They’re a non-playoff team and they’re not showing me any reason to believe that they will be anywhere near a playoff spot. Uh Craig Button’s with us, TSN hockey analyst on Winnipeg Sports Talk. Former Winnipeg Jet Nikolai Eers is now a Carolina Hurricane. The team is 4-0. He’s been on the top line. AO scoring, Jarvis is scoring, and yet Eers has uh no points so far in the season. Um, we often talked about how some players had a difficult time playing with Eers. He wasn’t the easiest guy to play with just because of the the uniques package that he brings in. Somewhat unpredictable. How uh do you think this is going to be a difficult transition to a new team for Eers? Uh, Craig, I think it’s already shown it’s a difficult transition. I I watched some of the game that they played against San Jose the other night. I’ll be straight forward with you. Nikolai Eelers was unnoticeable. I watched the last half of the game last night versus Anaheim. Unnoticeable. I’m going to say this about Nick Leers, and I like Nick Nick Leelers, and I think we all appreciate what he does. To me, he’s a second line player. He’s a second line right winger that has uh an individual bent to his game. So, he needs somebody really smart to kind of get him the puck on the move so he can do his thing because his thing is pretty special and his thing is good. I don’t want to diminish that. But, you now have him playing on a top line. Sebastian Aaho is one of the smartest players in the game. And so and and so Sebastian Aaho is trying to figure out, okay, how’s Nick gonna play? And Nick gets on these fays where he’s just like kind of a a a whirling dervish. He’s he’s he’s everywhere and he’s nowhere and then he’s somewhere and then you get these flashes of of this brilliance and he’s a good player. But I I think the adjustment is both for the Carolina Hurricanes with Nick there and for Nick there too. I when they put him into that spot when when Valardi came in the line, they put him that he just settled in. He didn’t have to take on the role of being the number one guy on the top line with Shifley and with Kyle Connor because trust me on this players like Nikolai Eers frustrate smart players because they’re trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to do and Nick doesn’t know what he’s going to do. So, you need a little bit of a simpler type of thing to do it. I thought Scott Arneal used them really well. I thought Rick Bonis used them really well. I think Paul Ree used them really well. And there was always this, oh, Nick, Nick is Nick. And and and what you like in Nick, you like and it’s good. But I think you have to put him into a spot where he he he’s not the frontline guy and he can come behind the frontline guy to be at his best. That’s how I see Nikolai Eelers and definitely there’s adjustments going on in Carolina. Uh yeah, and it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. I mean, obviously a lot of people pulling for him. Gave us 10 great seasons here. Yes. But, you know, you look at this team, the Jets right now, and you wonder, I mean, man, if Nikolai Elers had stuck around, I mean, maybe you’re not able to do some of the other moves, but um I mean, the the Jets right now have seen other guys step up. And listen, Gustav Nyquist, I don’t think a lot of people really understood what they were getting in Nyquist cuz he did have a down year last year. But Craig, this man is two years removed, like two seasons from a 70point career year right now. And I got to tell you, I’ve been really impressed with him at five on five. And I think between he and Tav’s impact on the second power play unit, um, they’ve looked dangerous as well. I mean, this is a guy that I think Winnipeg fans are sort of realizing that, you know, on a lowcost one-year deal, um, this is some money well spent by Kevin Sheale off in the offseason, 100%. So, let’s talk about that. And Nino’s on that second power play unit as well. Takes the pressure off the top power play unit, right? And and I think that that’s something that gives you balance in your lineup. You know, sometimes your top power play unit isn’t going to, but it also forces opponents. Now, who who are we going to defend? who are we going to defend against? How are we going to how are we going to defend against this group? You you give opponents a lot more to think about in terms of their penalty killing and and how they plan for it and everything. So, it’s been great. Listen, Gus, last year in Columbus. I mean, we saw what happened in in in August of 2024 with the with the with the tragic tragic death of Johnny Goodro and his brother and and then, you know, Boon Jenner got hurt, Eric Brand. I mean, it was just a real challenge in Columbus, I think, for so many. And and and yet at the same time, Dean Everson got that team into the hunt and they did really well. But I think Gus Nyquist has shown that he’s got, we’re talking about IQ and exceptional hockey sense. Gus Nyquist has exceptional hockey sense. So, he can fit in and do the things with other smart players and be really functional. Like, is he the same Gus Nyquist today that he was seven years ago? No. But when you’re smart and you can still skate, you still compete, you still have a level of skill, and you don’t have to be a frontline guy, I think it’s a beautiful fit for the Winnipeg Jets. And I think the Winnipeg Jets fans are going to appreciate Gus Nyinquist as time goes on, much in the same manner that they appreciate Vladimikov. Yeah, really looking forward to seeing what that line will be capable of once Cole Proffett’s back in the mix. And of course, that’ll be at uh some point in the future. But in the meantime, you got to win with who you got, and the Jets have done that three times in a row after the opening game. Craig, thanks so much. We love having you on the program. Have a great weekend. Get those screens ready because there’s going to be a lot to keep track of and uh let’s do this again soon. I’ll see you on the 30th. I’m in Winnipeg on the 30th for uh the Hawks, Jonathan Tay’s first game against this former team. And then the Saturday afternoon, Sydney Crosby comes into town. So, I’ll be in Winnipeg. Hope to see you. Perfect. Bring your costume. That’s the Halloween game. You’ll be here for a couple ones. I can’t wait to see what you and the crew have done up for that. Craig, thanks so much. Have a great weekend, my friend. Yeah, you too. Thanks for having me. There’s Craig Button, uh TSN’s director of scouting and analyst on the Winnipeg Jets broadcast. Always love having Craig on the program. I know he’ll be locked in for that ball game. And uh another big slate of action tonight in the National Hockey League. All right, Marata Tesha is going to join us in just a couple minutes from the Athletic, of course, tonight. You know where to be. Princess Auto Stadium, 7 o’clock. Bombers riders. Bombers needing a win to uh all but book their ticket to the playoffs. Technically, it does not clinch it. We’ll have to wait till the late game, but a BC win will put be put the Bombers in. And as we talked about with Craig, it does seem like there is a possibility of uh that East crossover looming large. Of course, Princess Auto, proud sponsors of the Bombers, their home, Princess Auto Stadium, and Winnipeg Sports Talk. Pop by your local Princess Auto for the best deals on the most unique assortment of tools and equipment around. Everything you need to complete the projects on your list or start something new is at Princess Auto. Three Manitoba locations. You can shop online 247365 over at princessauto.com. Uh we’ll get to our Chuds Powersports NFL power poll before Hacksaw jumps on today, but I know Durinator and the gang down at Chuds is uh is ready for what is to come. Of course, we’re into fall. It’s definitely feeling like fall today. And right now the uh sales are spooky with their October monster markdown event at Manitoba’s Powers Sports Superstore, Chuds Powers Sports up in Gimley at the corner of Highway 8 and 231. Uh they’ve got it all there, but I mean right now the October must haves are the ATVs, sidebysides, and personal transportations. And you can tear through haunted trails and mulet fields with Polaris, Arctic, Argo, Suzuki, uh, Rockur, and Evolution vehicles, boats, and outboards getting ready for, uh, ice fishing season. Of course, they got the RVs and fishouses. And, uh, snowmobile season is lurking around the corner. They’ve got screenw worthy savings now on Polaris and Arctic Cat sleds before the snow creeps in. um everything when it comes to ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, ice houses, sports, outboards, Argo Sasquatch, they’ve got it all with the best and most experienced staff in the business serving the powersports community for over 80 years. Chuds Powersports, check them out chudpowersports.com and uh trueorthparts.ca as well for some great clearance details on gear and accessories. We’ll have the Chuds Power Poll later on today on the program. Uh big week for our friends over at Manitoba Battery. Donnie and the gang are doing their Thanksgiving customer appreciation week over at Manitoba Battery. And to celebrate their gratitude for all of you that has helped Manitoba Battery grow over the years. All automotive batteries are just $99. Plus, they’ve got giveaways, prizes, and games all week long, including your chance to win a $500 Visa gift card. So come see the team at Manitoba Battery, north or south, where gratitude powers everything we do. Manitoba Battery, powering what matters most. See him in store or online at manitoba battery.com. All right, let’s welcome in Marada Tesh for a little jet talk heading into the weekend. Marat, what’s going on? How are you? Hey Hus, I am doing well. Enjoying you chopping it up with Craig Button. What a pleasant guy to talk to. Um, yeah, having a great time of all this and and ready to talk some Jets. Yeah, well, fun Jet Convos. I mean, obviously the home opener didn’t go the way everybody wanted. A week ago, we were talking about an 0 and1 team, tidy bit of business starting off with, I think, a really good bounceback in that Kings game and now a tidy 2 and 0 road trip coming back for the Pres at 3 and one. What do you thought of the past week? Yeah, I thought that there was a real risk early on of the Winnipeg Jets being Mark Schiffley, Kyle Connor against the world essentially. The two of those guys scored Winnipeg’s first five on five goals and they helped set up a shorty as well in that streak. Uh they were having a dominant time on the first line finishing a lot of the chances that they created and through about two games or so, I was a little bit worried about the Jets. Where’s the secondary scoring going to come from? And since that time, you’ve seen some pretty big step up games, some pretty big finishing moments. Uh, Nino Nether picked one up. Vlad domestic picked one up. Still waiting for that first Taves goal, but that middle six has been effective. And it’s been so fun to watch Morgan Baron finish everything. What What speed? What finish? Nice little bank pass off of Noah Kates’s back and into the net as well. Um, it’s it’s been fun to watch guys that might not always be the headline grabbers contribute to wins in some pretty big ways. Well, you know, we’ll get back to the headline grabbers. A milestone point for Shley last night and obviously the start that he and Connor have had. I mean, to me, Morgan Baron has been and listen, I we shouldn’t be surprised. We talked about his opportunity for a breakout season all summer long knowing that Adam Lowry was going to be out and presumably a little bit more ice time and more responsibility for him. Uh but the way that that fourth line has looked really in all of the games has been a big big source of optimism I think for Jets fans. The individual play of Baron I think Kepky’s looked great and uh I’ll get your thoughts on Parker Ford who made his season debut last night and I thought did himself a great service in uh playing at a level that might be hard to take him out of the lineup. Well, Parker Ford, I think like Scott Arneil has said, is a unique character on the Winnipeg Jets in terms of his on ice disposition. He’s an agitator. He’s annoying. He’s a pain in the butt and it’s it’s fun to watch. Um I I wondered for a while and will continue to wonder until he either cementss himself as an NHL everyday player or not. Like does he have the offense? Does he have the puck skill? does he have the other sorts of things to keep himself, you know, in the NHL and not just kind of a tweener because his work ethic is incredible and uh the things that he does without the puck. You can trust a lot of that. Uh I’m one I’m I’m still waiting and seeing. I was so charmed by the argument that he had with Morgan Baron after that goal went in. You scored. No, no, it was you. You got it. It’s your goal. Um like that’s that’s some fun stuff. Some good team building stuff. I like when he gets physical and wins battles. He’s been pretty good on the faceoff dot as well. Sometimes great. Um it’s it’s a fun player type to watch and then just the zoom out as well. How much is he going to get done with a puck at the end of the day? And so far so good. Yeah, I uh I loved his game last night. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get another run tomorrow when uh the pres are here. Um listen, all week long, especially Tuesday, I mean, coming out of the way Taves played against the uh the New York Islanders, we’ve been talking a lot. I mean, I keep on telling trying to tell myself, hey, this is one week. This is the start of the season. There’s a lot of hockey, but I mean, the early returns, and I think what people had coached expectations have been, listen, I think really positive. I mean, what’s been your perspective? What have you seen? What have you like from Jonathan Taves? And how does this compare to, you know, what you maybe were expecting as he returned to the NHL after that lengthy layoff? Yeah, I guess you kind of have to be a Simpsons fan for the word I keep using to make sense. But I I think the good news is that Jonathan Taves is a perfectly chromulent NHL player right now. Like there was a risk after two years and change away that he wouldn’t be able to keep up that he wouldn’t be able to have an impact that like there’s a version of this timeline or an alternate timeline I should say where he hasn’t been able to make it into four games to start the season with the Winnipeg Jets. It was great to see him pick up his first assist. It’s nice to see him almost always in in the in the right position as his feet allow him to be. He’s probably a coach’s favorite in a lot of ways and that you can count on him doing making the right choice. Um not cheating a play, doing all those things. I I’m I’m sort of pumping the brakes personally on the Jonathan Taves has arrived parade. like one assist in four games from a second line center is not, you know, if it wasn’t for the story that’s led us to this moment, that’s not headline grabbing in and of itself. But my expectations have always been this. Give him time. There is no way that whatever whether he ends up as a third line center, a fourth line center, actually has a real top six impact by the end of the year, there is no route to his best that does not take several games, lots of reps. Um, don’t underestimate the amount of time that he’s missed. And that’s still my take. Look, I’ve been impressed. I’ve been encouraged. I don’t want to oversell him based on one assist in four games, but I do have a lot of time to see what he can can reach. And Winnipeg will will take that time heading into January and then ultimately the trade deadline as well to get a sense of what he can be. Yeah, I mean my read is he’s sort of playing on the third line right now just after the the swap with he and Vlad considering who Vlad is out with. But I mean then you look at the ice time for instance at a game like you know against New York and he was the had the second most on the team and you know again the points I I believe will come uh and that’s obviously important but very early I mean one week into his time with the Winnipeg Jets it’s very clear that he’s earned the trust of the coaching staff. He’s out there for big faceoffs. He’s out there. This is a guy that’s going to play more holding leads I would say in the third period than if they’re chasing games because um the one thing you can count on is that he knows what he’s doing. He’s going to do it well and uh you know he’s already one of the best lockdown players on the Winnipeg Jets and Scott Arne’s been using him as such. Yeah, that’s I think that’s the best version is you imagine this team with Mark Shley doing the heavy lifting offensively and then two middle six lines, whatever you call them on any given night built around Lowry and Taves and just being able to count on them in in in critical situations. That’s the blue sky for this team because sorry to make this about Lowry for a second, but last year you might have made the argument that Lowry was one of the better second line centers in the NHL. Such is the impact that he’s had when he’s been in the lineup. Um, so between the two of them, they should be able to get that job done early on. It’s clear even though he’s kind of teased himself for not being as effective as he wants to be, Taves has been great in the faceoff circle. He’s that’s something you can count on. He’s one of the best of his generation and still is great in the faceoff circle. The defensive positioning is there. The being in the right spots is there. I like the way he chirps the refs every single time he gets a penalty, legitimate or otherwise. I think I don’t know if the refs are just excited that he’s back or what, but they’ve been picking on him. That’s a lot of minor penalties so far and like maybe half of them make sense to me. Like some of them have been borderline. I I guess positive signs. That’s all I’m willing to say. Hus, I feel like you’re giving me lots of opportunities to say that I’m sold. It’s absolutely going to work and I’m just I’m just not there yet. I need time and I’m optimistic, but until until it’s a real big stretch, I I still feel like I need that time. Yeah. Well, I mean, I’ll say this. I mean, the worries that people were going to see a guy that just wasn’t able to play at this level or keep up, I think those are behind us. And the question is like where can he get to and where can his team get to uh if he continues to progress after uh a really great return to the league and that first goal is coming maybe tomorrow night. Who knows? We’ll see at uh at Canada Life Center. Um it still is Shiffley and Connor driving the bus. I mean great starts for those two players. We got a piece earlier this week on Shley and the Jets making go and the Jets top center. um kind of diving into how he’s creating the offense. He’s creating a lot of it. Two points a game through four so far and obviously tying the milestone that uh will uh very possibly be broken in front of the home fans tomorrow. 812. I mean, we’re starting to talk about, you know, the road to a thousand for Mark Shley and obviously knowing that he along with his linemate Kyle Connor are both signed long term. Um, this is a train that’s going to keep running for a long time, but it is still driving the Winnipeg Jets. Yeah, there have been times, and I think I want to credit Megan Sha from Stathletes about this one, where the the Connor to Shifley and Shifley to Connor passing into dangerous areas on the ice was happening as frequently as McDavid to dry sight. Like there have been times where if you look at the shifts that they’re taking, you’re getting shifley in moving the puck into dangerous spots for Kyle Connor as much as the best players in the world. And that’s been a driving point of of some of their offensive success. Last night though, it’s Connor making the feeds and Shifley with the one T. Like there there’s been a lot of success in both directions and that chemistry offensively has always been there. Um, I’ve been really encouraged by how many pucks they’re winning back. The Flyers could barely run a breakout last night without it turning into a scoring chance for the Jets. And credit Gabriel Valardi picking off that one pass that uh that ultimately led to a goal there, too. Um, so they’re locked in, they’re dialed, they’re fun to watch, and you know, maybe Shley won’t score two points a game forever, but it’s it’s been a great start. Did you notice, by the way, Blake Wheeler took to social media last night, too, to to post what the Jets had posted about tying the record. It looks like he’s cheering for his old butt as well. Oh, no doubt. I mean, those guys had a great run together. And uh for so long, it was 55 and 26 and uh now for uh seemingly what will be the next uh many, many years, it’ll be 5581. Um, Marat is uh did we just watch the best week of Logan Stanley’s NHL career? I have had a lot of fun watching Logan Stanley this year. Um, look, I’m going to mention it and then blow right by it. He and he he and Neil Pian have been outshot dramatically that there there are some unsustainable elements to the goal rates and all this sort of stuff, but uh I loved the hit on Alex Turkot. I love the hit on Trevor Ziggress. I love the three shot blocks at the end of was that the Kings game where he joked about playing burpee or doing a whole bunch of burpees at the end there and he got on the on a pass block off of his face I think as part of that as well. Um it’s been it’s just Oh, and then he scored his annual goal off the rush and maybe won the goal he wanted back. But you’ve got Logan Stanley playing with confidence and having fun out there. I I don’t want I I don’t believe that the Winnipeg Jets are gonna have success if he’s a top four D playing with Neil Pianc every single night, but he’s doing a lot of good things. He’s doing a lot of fun things and uh and I like Yeah, I’m with you. It could have been like the most exciting week of Logan Stanley’s NHL career so far. It’s cool. Yeah. And I mean, listen, this is I mean, there’s only so many more opportunities. I mean, the road goes only so long. I mean, now he’s waver exempt. there’s a lot of competition. Uh this is a time with Dylan Samberg that someone was going to be put into that role. Uh and probably anyone that was going to put in that role would have massive shoes to fill and it would be a matter of you know just keeping you know keeping things um together as much as you could. Um, but you know, it has been fun watching him. And listen, the added physicality is something that every one of his critics has been saying. If he’s going to be in the lineup, you need to get that out. And he seems to be doing it with more frequency. I think that’s given him a little bit more confidence. And obviously, you get a goal and you start feeling it a little bit more. And he’s uh, listen, he had a really good week. And that’s good because the Jets need somebody um and need a lot of guys actually to step up to fill the big big shoes of Dylan Samberg. Um real quick, I I talked about this with Craig Button, but uh have you been paying attention at all to the Canes and Eer start? You surprised that he’s had a seemingly hard time uh early on sort of meshing with this new club considering the talent that he’s surrounded with? I haven’t watched even a single shift of Nikolai this season. So all I can really speak to is I see the lack of points and like anecdotally Eers has been a tough player for players to figure out. Now I don’t know what’s led to these zero points and maybe you and Button got into it with with a a great level of detail. For all I know, they’ve been all over the offensive zone and they’ve just hit a thousand posts. I don’t know. But it doesn’t surprise me that it could take a second for him to get going with the new team. Um, lots of teammates over the past have sort of have have felt surprised by Nikolai Eer’s jazz at various times and then eventually he starts to get going and then points come in. So I yeah, honestly I’m not sure us it’s just it it it what’s weird and again I’ve kind tried to tune in to sort of like Craig a half of a couple of games just to see what’s going on and wasn’t that noticeable but I mean he’s playing with Jarvis and Aaho on the top line. Jarvis has seven points. AO has six. It’s just so strange to have a a player that’s so talented that’s out there with those guys that are producing not get on the score clock and uh hearing a little bit from Kane’s fans who I think had very high expectations getting him in the offseason. Um Morat, before we go, um we talked a lot about Mark Schiffley. Obviously, he’s quite connected to Kyle Connor. Um we talked about the new contract last week. um fill people in on the piece you have on Kyle Connor off the ice and what he’s doing uh over at the Athletic right now. Yeah, it’s one of my favorite pieces I’ve worked on in in a long time. And the reason for that is it’s a story about good people in Winnipeg doing really good things. uh and for it. So Kyle Connor when his dad was ill with Parkinson’s and he was watching his dad’s health deteriorate, he credits his dad for keeping the family emotions light and his sense of humor getting him through some tough times. He also he opened up to me about what it felt like to be away as his dad’s health was declining and some of the conversations they had around wanting to do a good thing. And it was actually Kyle Connor’s dad who realized it more than Kyle did as a as a younger man that he has a pretty cool platform here as a Winnipeg Jets player in this city. And maybe there would be an opportunity to do something good for Parkinson’s awareness as a result of that. Well, first there’s a phone call to Mark Chipman. Then there’s the connection with um U-Turn Parkinson’s and the movement disorder clinic here in Winnipeg. There’s a fellow named Tim Heg who started U-Turn Parkinson’s who won the amazing race in Canada as the first ever participant with Parkinson’s. He did that along with his son. And there’s just so many connections and it could only happen in Winnipeg kinds of moments as Kyle Connor really is realizing one of the the dreams that his late dad had had for him. And I just think it’s special. Uh I’m I’m grateful to Connor for opening up about it. It’s been something we’ve talked about talking about for over a year now. Uh but he really opened up and and and let into the feelings about it for a good cause. And I I really hope people get out there and read this one. Yeah, no surprise that it is a great read considering it’s coming from Morat, but I highly recommend you get on over to The Athletic and check out that piece on Kyle Connor and what he’s doing uh for Parkinson’s um in the honor of of his dad. Morat should be a fun one tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll see you down at the rink. Have yourself a great weekend and uh look forward to catching up next week. Sounds good, H. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. There’s Marata at WPG Morat on X. And of course, you’ll find all of his work at the athletic.com. All right. Uh well, we don’t uh no skate today for the Jets as they come back getting ready for tomorrow. So, we’ll await tomorrow’s morning skate for the uh Jets lines presented by our friends at Clean Line. Of course, Clean Line is the leaders in plumbing along with heating and electrical right here. family-owned and operated and growing for 40 years in Winnipeg. Of course, they are the leaders in plumbing, both residential and commercial, and of course, are captain approved by the one and only Adam Lowry. Um, check out their site, cleanline.ca for all of their services. And yes, when you’re in a jam uh or something is jammed, 24-hour emergency service available for Winnipeggers and Manitobans over at Clean Line Plumbing, Heating, and Electrical, the official plumbing service of the Winnipeg Jets. And uh we’ll be bringing you the uh Jets lines by Clean Line tomorrow. Keep your eyes on our socials on game days to uh get the latest on the Winnipeg Jets, even on a Saturday when uh we don’t have a live show. Um hey, five o’clock this afternoon, Boston Pizza, it’s time for game five. Uh BPs all week long have been absolutely jammed. We had the Jets last night, then of course the Blue Jays and the NFL game. Uh tonight, Bombers at 7, Blue Jays at 5. Head on down to your local BP and try the new Flight Club menu. Pizza flights, wing flights, chicken bite flights, and the new fry flights, which is classic fries, yam fries, and garlic parm fries served with Chipotle and cactus dips. Uh, obviously you’ll have a chance to spin the BP prize wheel and BP pick a player contest for all Jet games and your chance to win BP’s grand prize of a trip for two to see the Jets play the Ducks February 27th including flights, hotel, and amazing game tickets. Make it Boston Pizza this weekend. If you are staying at home, you can always get it hot and fresh to your door by ordering online at boston pizza.com. Um, our friends at Royal Sports are ready for fall, for the holidays coming up and of course for hockey season. Uh, the Jonathan Taves jerseys are flying off the shelves. You haven’t gotten a 19 yet, Royal Sports can hook you up with that or any of your favorite players on the Winnipeg Jets with fully customized jerseys in many of the different styles. Not to mention the biggest selection of Jets merchandise around. uh the best in NFL merchandise. Tons of bomber gear as the push to the playoffs moves up. Might need something a little warmer for these next couple of games. And of course, Royal for over 50 years has been the hockey supertore in town with the best in selection of player equipment, goalie equipment, skates, sticks, you name it, Royals got it. 750 Pemina Highway. Pop on down and see them for yourself. Give them a follow on Instagram at Royal Sports Winnipeg for the latest merchandise drops and sale information. All right, Jeff Hamilton is going to join us in just a moment. First up though, let’s give a big cheers to our friends at Winnipeg’s favorite local brewery on a Friday. Of course, I’m talking about our friends at Little Brown Jug. You train day in and day out, learning new techniques, approaching new concepts, and living out the thrill of achieving your goals. Building craft beer is no different. While you spend your hours on the ice, we spend ours here, brewing our trademark beer. Again, again, and again, here’s to pushing the status quo and challenging ourselves to build something memorable. 1919 by Little Brown Jug. All right, let’s bring in Jeff Hamilton from the Winnipeg Free Press. Hammer, what’s going on? How about that for a night of sports yesterday? Awesome, my friend. And it was uh like you’ve you’ve been saying this for some time. We all know this is kind of the best time of the year for sports, right? This is this is uh well there’s a couple different times of year, but this is certainly certainly one of them. And um depending, you know, judging by a lot of my family and friends, it was also a successful night of sports as well. So, you know, all in all, I think um you know, a good time to be alive. Good time watching uh watching the world pass by, watching our favorite sports. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, uh this a nice win for the Jets last night, 3-1. And you know there was a lot of concern justifiably so about you know how this team would be able to come out of the gate knowing that they were already down their captain and then you lose to Dylan Samberg and Cole Perfetti. I think we’re seeing some of the depth of this team sign kind of a a show up right now and you know it probably is a little fortunate they are getting some of the softer or non-playoff teams from last year on the schedule earlier on. Um but all these points matter and you don’t want to be playing catchup when these guys come back and uh you know through four four games uh teams that a pretty good job of uh staying and doing what they need to do to get the points and move on to the next one. Yeah. I mean that’s you can only play the team that’s in front of you, right? So it’s you know to your point though and I think it’s fair to mention I think I I forget exactly what the stat is. I’m going to probably butcher these numbers. Maybe you’ve said them on the show in the last whatever week or so here, but I think it’s like nine of the of their first 15 games are against teams that were under the the playoff line, which which is uh you know, which is last year’s teams, of course. I mean, things change and obviously clubs improve. Um but but the Winnipeg Jets have been getting it done and I think that’s what matters here as you mentioned. I mean um you’ve seen and you’ve seen some of that depth come up, right? Opportunities like a Morgan Baron. Would Morgan Baron be getting the same opportunity that he’s been getting now um with the with the without the absence of of Adam Lowi? probably not. You wouldn’t be seeing him being a point per game player this, you know, very small sample size, but still a handful of games here. You got Tanner Pearson, you know, doing a great job on the fourth line. Um, chipping in goals. I mean, empty netters and whatnot, but but playing that defensive style. And of course, you you know, you have um Jonathan Taves coming along figuring out him getting his first point, right? You you’ve seen some of that that obviously he’s got the mind and and and that hasn’t changed. You’re kind of waiting for some of the body to catch up and and that’s slowly and surely happening. And of course you when you have the pieces hus when you have the Connor Halib in net uh you know when you have a defensive structure not even necessarily the the the specific defenders that that Winnipeg has is obviously they would love to have you know Samberg back in the lineup but that defensive structure that um you know Scott Neil’s implemented really since he’s been here with you know Bones before and whatnot but that this team knows how to play that winning hockey. They don’t need to be blowing out every team. Uh, and they need to be scoring their chances. As long as their special teams are going and their goalending sharp, I think given their, you know, strength of schedule, if you will, they have a really good opportunity not just to be tread treading water, um, but to be putting themselves in a good position as they get healthier. Yeah. You know, you mentioned that fourth line like uh, and you know, obviously Pearson, you did get bumped up and it was Parker Ford that played last night. I thought he did himself uh a great service in the eyes of the coaching staff, you know, to to stick around and and be a part of that. Uh and then, you know, one thing you this team has the defensive structure, they got some great goalending this weekend, too. I mean, or this week, Eric Comry was phenomenal against the uh Islanders. And while Heluck wasn’t that busy last night, did have to make a couple big saves. And uh bottom line is two points and back tomorrow for the Nashville Predators for a quick one game stop at home before the team heads out on the road and then gets back for a few more games at home. Bit of a weird schedule, eh? Bit of a weird schedule for the Jets. Kind of like I was peeking this month and if it just it’s not unprecedented by any stretch, but it’s just odd like you know oneoffs and and one oneoff road games and returning back home for a game. It’s it’s an odd schedule. Yeah. Usually when a team goes out like to New York and Philly, they’re playing more than just a couple of games, but I think this is a perfect time for the team to get away. First road trip, couple days off in between, probably some good vibes after that first game. And uh obviously a quick stop here before heading out to Calgary and then we mentioned coming back uh next Friday and then that Thursday game, the Halloween game against the Blackhawks to finish up the month. Um, just before we get to tonight’s Bomber game, um, Blue Jays are back and I mean, let’s face it, we thought that there was a chance that we would see a psycho Max Scherer legacy game and man, did he deliver not only on the mound, but delivered with these sort of histrionics that he has been famous for. I mean, what a scene when John Schneider came out just to talk to him. Um, there’s only one Mad Max and he was on last night. What a performance. Well, and I loved his comments after the game, right, where he said he’s been waiting for that moment, right? Been waiting for that moment where he could almost play games with them and get that full Mad Max rage ever since they had their Zoom call in the off season. So, it’s been, you know, obviously it was a special moment. I also love Schneider’s comments after about, you know, a lot of people, you know, that was the fifth inning. A lot of people said, “Well, he can’t come out for the sixth, right?” Like, it be wouldn’t make sense for him to come out for the sixth. Obviously, he came out for the sixth and when asked about that postgame, he talked about, you know, there are numbers, there are analytics, but then there’s people and there’s reading the moment and reading that moment, I think it was written all over Max Scherzer’s face um as he was going through those innings and he was delivering uh you know, outs um that he wasn’t going to be removed, you know, and and and to hear, you know, John Schneider say afterwards um how he pretty much did it to knowing he wasn’t going to pull him. Hey, maybe he was, but maybe he decided otherwise halfway through. Who knows? Um, but it really was a great great moment for what’s been just a bunch of special moments for this team in in the postseason, right? a bunch of great and and not just like great moments as in like winning games and whatever, but these like real moments whether it’s Flatty, whether it’s you know whether you know it’s whether it’s um you know Sherzer, you’re you’re getting these you’re you’re starting to build these these folklore if you will like these stories that that that that you know really do speak to a run and and with the Blue Jays tying things up and making it 2-2 um you know they’re right back in the driver’s seat now with you know obviously another game in Seattle but then a couple more back home. Well, and the fact that they’re guaranteed to get back home was a win. I mean, let’s face it, when you drop the first two games the way they did at home, I mean, the goal just had to be find a way to get this series back to Toronto and be alive for a game six. And they’ve already done that. Now, you can get greedy. I mean, with the momentum that they have with the bats and obviously you’ve got Gossman back on the hill tonight, uh, it just seems like this series has done a complete 180. And really, man, it’s the him and his homers. I mean, it was deja vu last night. Third inning, guy on second, uh, and he goes deep. And he did it again last night. And I really think that that two-run shot in game number three was the moment that the, uh, Jay’s offense sort of woke up. And if you can get that out of your nine-hole hitter, uh, it does so much. And next thing you know, the Jackets getting passed around throughout. And it seems like the Jays have gone from being written off after the first two games to being in complete control of this series. And you like what was it? Seven homers in the in the regular season like even hitting 200. Yeah. You know, and and then goes back to back in the ALC. Like again, that’s like, you know, that’s the that’s the Fernando Pisanis of the world, right? where you get you make you make a name for yourself based on one series and maybe even one game. But in this case to to to really to your point ignite the offense he did those last in the most unexpected players literally the most unexpected player as you write out your lineup right like you know it’s it’s it is a it was an impressive thing but it’s it’s a it’s a can’t say fairy tale at this point Husk because we don’t know how this series is going to end but it took a lot of magic if you will and some unsung heroes to get them back into a position that they’re in and you know compared to what they were before this weekend. I mean, you got to feel be feeling a lot better if you’re a Jay’s fan. That’s for sure. No doubt about it. Um, let’s get to it tonight. Um, Princess Auto Stadium, Bombers and Riders. And of course, if you haven’t already checked out this week’s edition of CFL 110, it’s up on the WST channel. Kind of went through last week’s action, looked ahead to these games. I’m very pretty clear right now that the Saskatchewan Rough Riders are more than happy to sit many of their top players having earned a home field and a buy um with winning the Western Division. Um Bombers though have to find a way to win this football game and you know it was not noticed. I mean Johnson’s out. They will have most of that defensive line playing for tonight and the Bombers are going to have to earn it. But um certainly the way things kind of shaping up, the table is set for the Bombers to take care of business. But again, uh the weird things happen when these teams play. I mean, it is a rivalry game. Uh you know, Michael Sheay won’t be taking anything for granted when the game kicks off tonight. Yeah, this one feels weird, Hus. you know, like cuz it’s not like the Winnipeg, like I understand that the Riders are down several players, including their starting quarterback and Trevor Harris, their running back, their best receivers are out. Um, you know, uh, that’s obviously going to be a tough situation, but it’s not like they’re playing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers that h are fully healthy, right? Like, you know, um, you know, they don’t have Dalton shown, they don’t have Nick Demsky, right? They get Carrick Wheatfall back, which is great. Dylan Mitchell, who’s been playing better, is now out. Um, and so although I see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers being the better team certainly on paper here, I say weird because it just feels like it’s like a letdown situation, right? Like you have like what’s Jake Mayer going to look like in Saskatchewan? It’s not like they’re putting in Jared Dogy, right, like Toronto had to to go to their third stringer. This is a guy um, you know, that was a starter in this league once upon a time not long ago last season, right? So, like this is really, I think, um, a potential let down game for Winnipeg. I do think Winnipeg’s going to be locked in. It’s going to, you know, to your point, you can’t sit everybody, right? You and you can’t place everybody on the one uh one game injured list because that costs money as well. So, you know, I I do think that it’s going to it’s going to depend really on Winnipeg’s offense. Can Zack which you know, I know that question’s been asked quite often this season for sure. You know, which Zack Claris are you going to get? Are you going to get the one that beat the bricks off Hamilton or are you going to get the one that, you know, um kind of fell apart against the Elks last week? And I think at home, I think that’s a big one here, right? Cuz if it was in if it was in Regina and they were they were uh they were sitting there, you know, sitting the same amount of players or whatever, they at least have the home crowd. So, they’re Winnipeg’s going to have that. Weather looks okay um this evening. So, I think it lines up well for Winnipeg, but that, you know, I don’t want to get into betting here, but, you know, as we talked about our picks, but eight and a half points, like that feels like they’re expecting the Bombers to really kick their ass. Whereas the Riders, you know, they’re going to have some of that, you know, prairie rival um, uh, rivalry energy in them. They’re also going to be pretty relaxed. And there’s something about playing a little, and I don’t mean like a lack of intensity, but like that lack of like pressure to win the game. When all the pressure is on Winnipeg and when you can kind of take a step back and and and breathe and not, you know, not feel necessarily that that intense nervous energy, it can put you in a good place. So, all those things considered, what I guess what I’m trying to get at here is it’s not going to be an easy ride for for Winnipeg, even though the riders are down. And I do think it’s going to take a a great effort from Zach Clarison in this offense to win um especially to cover that spread if you are looking at that. Yeah, I mean I guess it was seven when we did CFL 110. It got to 8 and a half. It’s at 8 right now over at Cool Bet. Um I I think you make a great point and listen, the guys that are going to get into the Saskatchewan lineup are going to be looking to make, you know, an impression themselves. I mean, for every guy that gets sacked, there’s a backup that’s been waiting for an opportunity to get in. And um you know there’s more football to come for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. You know Cory Mace is going to be um paying close attention to the guys that you know are able to step up that maybe don’t usually get those opportunities. But I’m with you. I think this does come down to how the Bombers offense can operate. Um I just ask you why do you think the Bombers offense has been so inconsistent this year? You know what? I I have an answer for that quest question Hustler and I think it’s I think it started in the off season. I think, you know, and I I’ve I’ve made this comment before publicly, you know, to friends, you know, whatever. I think the Bombers really wanted the Gay Cup in 2025. And I’m not saying that they’re giving up in 2026, but like just given the age of their roster, right? And so what I’m getting at is you have another year here now. You’ve obviously had incredible seasons with with Zack Caller at the controls of this offense, but I just don’t think the team did enough to build around him. I think they’re expecting Zack Calleris to be an M O every year. is that Clarence is still very good player like he’s a he’s a great player and he’s a winner and he brings all those you know tangibles and intangibles to your huddle right he brings that energy that confidence amongst the offense I just don’t think that they put the right pieces around him like they should have paid Kenny Lawler right like I mean that you do have the benefit of hindsight but even back then you knew how important he was to the offense right they you know I think they’re asking a lot out of their aging O line here right you know You know, I think Stanley Bryant and Pat Newfeld are playing great football, but they’re not playing the level of football that they’ve been at, and we can’t ask them to year after year. So, my belief is, and maybe, you know, maybe you can classify it as a defense of Zack ClariS, and if that’s the case, so be it. But I don’t think they did enough around him to maximize him. And, you know, you can call it protect him. You can do whatever. That’s fine. I think they’re asking him to do more with less every year. and he’s not getting better every year. So, he’s naturally getting worse. I don’t wouldn’t say he’s falling off a cliff. He’s definitely not that, but he needs more help. And I think the Bombers spent money in other areas that didn’t necessarily lead to hit more protection for him or better targets for him. And I think Zach at this stage kind of deserve that. The Bombers have money, right? That’s the other thing. Like they make a lot of money, right? They’ve been making it to the Gay Cups every year. there was no issue for them to sign Kenny Lawler. In fact, the the the salary cap rose at that exact moment and I still believe that the Bombers are not honoring that enhanced cap at this moment, right? So, you you do with what what you will with that information. Um, and then look at the offense and tell me that they couldn’t have used more weapons, right? Like you’re hosting the Great Cup this year. So, the idea of Dalton Sh getting injured, okay, well, you have Kenny Lawler now. you should have loaded up for this year. Like was it because like I don’t that the explanation I don’t think there’s a a good one because of what you went to the last five and like it’s good enough. You’ve been raking the cash in. You should have been spending it and you should have been building around number eight and I do think in a way they kind of let him down. The other part too Hus rookie O rookie OC man like I mean like this like Jason Hogan wasn’t this brilliant offensive mind that was rising the ranks. it was a default pick because Mike O’Shea has a hard time casting a net outside of the Bombers to find new talent, right? Like I like that’s the issue here is they have they haven’t built around their quarterback, their MOP like quarterback and they have a guy calling the shots who’s in his first year in a great cup hosting season. So I don’t know, do you really need more explanation than those two? Yeah, I mean it’s just interesting how, you know, at times they have looked um very pedestrian and then, you know, you look back at a couple weeks ago and it looks like, you know, an offense that would blow the doors off anybody in the Canadian Football League with the performance against Hamilton. And I mean, for me, listen, they are where they are right now. They got to figure out, you know, they got to book that playoff ticket and whether they’re going through the West or potentially through the East, get themselves in a position to be ready to go on the road most likely in the first round of the Canadian Football League playoffs. And, you know, with a game like this, Jeff, um, you know, with the weather the way it is, I mean, we’re still not into snow territory, but getting a little colder. I mean, this is sort of the blueprint for playoff football in the Canadian Football League. and we’ve got a lot of fun talking about the great quarterback performances and where everything is right now after 16 weeks of the regular season. Things change around now. And you know, for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, focusing on that offensive line, the running game, not having Zack Calleros do it all to me is um what they’re going to need to do over these next couple weeks because if they are going to win on the road, never mind in the in the Championship weekend in the first round of the Canadian Football League playoffs, they’re going to need to get back to the bread and butter of playoff Winnipeg Blue Bottle football, and that is running the football, keeping control of the all winning time of possession and uh you know winning on the line of scrimmage. You know who would absolutely love that? Brady Oliver would absolutely love that love that game plan and you know I think he’s itching for that and maybe he’s even built extra for that Hus because of I don’t want to say a lack of touches per se but maybe a bit of lack of touches leading up to this you know season change. I think the irony in that Hus in your in your comments is that if they do go over to the east, I’ve I had the um I guess benefit in in in a way of being in Ottawa for four years for school and I knew what fall was like out there. Like we you actually get a fall. So I don’t know how cold it’s going to be in October or November even in in in a Hamilton, right? Or a Montreal, but you you come over to the west and that’s certainly going to be the case. Um you know, I digress. I I do think that that will bode well for them. I do think, you know, I wonder if the O line is built to do that week in and week out, right? We haven’t seen that consistency. And every time we’ve seen it this year, it’s been a major storyline like, oh, did you see the O line like, you know, finally woke up and and opened those lanes and, you know, look how dominant they were because when the O line is rolling, we all know just how dangerous this offense is and how how um multi-dimensional they can be, right? Like, you know, they can attack you in the run game, they can beat you in the pass game. Um but certainly starts with carrying the rock and so you know I think it’s just a natural progression and things do change. It’s obviously with last year’s great cup being in BC place all things were essentially equal um by the end of the year. However, that’s not going to be this the case this year in Winnipeg. And if the Bombers can get there and if that works in their favor and they can kind of churn out those games like we used to see them, I mean, they could be a very very dangerous uh you know outcome, you know, any part any point in the playoffs, let alone maybe the maybe the Gay Cup here in Winnipeg. Now, just to reset a little bit of what we talked about on CFL 110 this week, um BC’s 9-7, they’re hosting Edmonton. Edmonton’s got a win. Calgary’s got Toronto. Winnipeg has Sask. Um, when we look at the standings right now, I mean, what do you think is most likely for the Bombers? A crossover. And, and if you had to bet right now, who hosts the West semi uh at home with the opportunity to win and move on to Saskatchewan? Um, is it BC? Is it Calgary? Um, obviously the Bombers are in a tough spot just because of the tiebreaking scenarios and obviously losing last week. Yeah, you know what? I I I really go with momentum, Hus. I think this is a big one when it comes to like deciding the standings and whatnot. And I just I’m looking at the Bombers as a crossover team. I just I you know I think they get in and I I don’t think it’s necessarily, you know, well, we’ll see how Edmonton we’ll see how interesting Edmonton makes it, but I I do think, you know, with their schedule, we’re looking at a couple wins here and everyone above them essentially controls their destiny, right? So I do see BC the way they’re playing finishing in that second spot. Calgary obviously got back off the mat last week, but I still don’t have a lot of confidence in them. So, we’ll see. But they have a fairly generous schedule upcoming here. I think what they played Toronto. Um, so I do think there’s I do think the toughest schedule is the team that’s below them. So, in that case, I do think the standings kind of plays out the way they look. Obviously, those things could change as we as we see, of course, the Riders being in first no matter what. But um if you know you’re asking me to guess, I’m going uh Saskatchewan, BC, Calgary, Winnipeg. I think it’s going to do a unique East crossover, which could you know, which I don’t think here’s the interesting thing, and I think this is the way the Bombers are thinking about the potential of the East, and I’m not suggesting that they are, but they would be looking at it like, okay, the East would be a tougher first game, right? Montreal would be a tough first game, but if you can get past that game, it would be easier playing and and I’m put not putting words in their mouth. This isn’t what they’re saying. I I just I could see this being the logic. It being a tough game against Montreal because I think Montreal is going to be the toughest I think they’re the toughest team in the league right now with the way they’re playing and their coaching staff and obviously Davis Alexander running their offense. But if they can win that game, it’d be better to go to Hamilton in the East final to get to the Gay Cup than go to Regina, have to play obviously a talented Rough Riders team uh in in their in their territory on their turf. Um so, you know, doesn’t see it almost feels like a pick your poison us given the given the talent there, but you know, we we’ll see what happens. And you know, if you look at this team, you know, this team’s been saying for years, especially the last three, after they’ve been unable to get the job done at the end, like something needs to give, right? Like something needs to happen. Maybe this is the thing they need needed, right? It’s what they needed in 2019 when nobody, you know, nobody expected them to, you know, especially with their quarterback situation late in the year to to go on the road and win all three games. Um, you know, no one predicted that. I don’t think a lot of people are predicting even if they do go through the East, the Bombers coming out of it. So maybe that’s an opportunity they have. I also have one more thing, Hus, on that. I actually looked into it a little bit. I don’t believe and they can you can get it right here on on on Winnipeg Sports Talk that the Bombers if they do go through the East and they do make the Gray Cup, I’m under the understanding that they won’t be in the visitors locker room that it will not be a situation where if the Riders get in or anyone from the West gets in to that Gay Cup game that the Bombers if they go through the East will suddenly be in the visitors locker room. I’m was told there’s language in the contracts for that very thing. In the event that a team does cross over, if they are hosting, they stay. So, I’m going to go as far as to tell you right now, the Bombers are under the impression that they will not be leaving their their home facilities if and when they make the great bet. Yeah. Well, they got to get there first. But that is uh that is, I believe, a fact. I think uh DT was talking about that. Oh, was Oh, is he already spilling the beans? Am I Am I late to the party? I think there was I think there was a question about that on the on the coach’s show. The most recent one. Yeah. Earlier this week. I was I was listening to it. I didn’t hear it, but yeah. Okay. And Okay. Well, if you if you didn’t listen to the coach’s show, you heard it here first. Yeah. I get wrong. Anyway, that would be And I mean, listen, the dream I was hearing that all over the place, right? I was finally was like, is that really what like cuz I could not I even This is the other thing, H. Even if the Bombers were to be in the visitors, if I was the Riders, I would not want to be in the Bombers home. Like, I’m telling you right now, man, that would be the worst. It would be Paranoia City if the Great. It would be It would be hidden microphones in every locker room, and every meeting room, and every rehab. I mean, obviously that’s claiming to, but here’s the thing, man. It’s the Canadian Football League. I would not rule it out. Hey, just on that, back to Montreal for a minute. um just pulling up the gay cup odds over at Cool Bed and uh you know that’s Montreal has a shorter number than Hamilton to win the Gay Cup despite Hamilton having the inside track on home field and the buy. Uh it’s and the season series and the season series Hamilton has over them too. So it’s not like they can look at Montreal and be like oh well at least they beat Hamilton this year twice. No, it I mean that that’s it. But again, so much of that was without Davis Alexander and we know how different Montreal is with with him. But yeah, Montreal 3 to1, Saskatchewan 290, and Hamilton plus 340. Bottom line, get a win tonight. Move on. Give us lots to talk about next week into the F. And just quickly on that scenario of the Bombers playing the crossover against Montreal, most likely the final game of the regular season is next week here in Winnipeg. Montreal at Winnipeg. And if that is locked in beforehand, Jeff, it’ll be a bizarre scenario where we’re getting the most vanilla 60 minutes from both of these teams in what is essentially a warm-up for a game that actually matters in a different venue the following week. What if they just do agree to do like a rock paper scissors best of three for the the winner and everyone goes into it healthy? Like, you know, that that would be interesting. I I you know I have a I just have a feeling we’re going to be going into week 21 um needing to know some information. I I don’t think it’s going to be tidy. Uh it never is and certainly if you know if we’ve learned anything in this season it’s it’s hard to predict uh much of anything. So you know we’ll see what happens but that would be an interesting situation. I’d be curious to see how both teams would handle it. I imagine with the Alowettes being on the road, um, they wouldn’t have, you know, a lot to a lot of interest in in dressing a majority of their team, whereas Winnipeg playing in the confines of of Princess Auto Stadium might be more inclined. But yeah, that could be a pretty uh a pretty nothing burger. Um, and at the same time be a preview of what was to come the next week. That that is an interesting situation. Hey, uh, enjoy the game and enjoy another awesome sports weekend. Uh, I’ll look forward to catching up with you next Tuesday for the final regular season week of CFL 110 before we get to playoffs and uh, the road to Princess Auto Stadium begins for the Gay Cup in November. Hammer, have a great one. Thanks for doing this, pal. Yeah, thanks. I really appreciate and and you know, the takeaway I have for this stuff is, you know what, this usually things are done by this point in the year. So, to have to set still have a lot of balls in the air um, still ready to still waiting to fall is uh, is awesome. And we’ll be, as you mentioned, we’ll be cutting that all up on CFL 110 each week. So, looking forward to that and you too have a great weekend and same to the uh the listeners. Never a dull moment in the Canadian Football League. Talk to you next week, Paul. Got it. All right. Good stuff with Hammer. Hacksaw’s coming up right now. We’re going to get into the NFL notebook and pay attention. We’ll open up uh marbles registration when we get going on with Hacksaw. Uh do want to get into fan feedback brought to you by fansfirst.ca. your number one spot for buying and selling Winnipeg tickets on the resale market where what you see is what you pay. No added fees whatsoever and uh quickly becoming the number one spot to get e get rid of extra tickets at a great price with prompt payment the next day. Check out the site today fansfirst.ca. We asked you if the Bombers make the playoffs, what is their ceiling? Uh 34% still have faith the great cup contender. 25% say one and done. 25% just happy they made it and uh west final I guess technically east or west final appearance is the ceiling 16%. Appreciate your feedback and all the great chats all day long. Fan feedback brought to you by fans first by fans for fans no fees. Um, do want to remind you folks to get your tickets for the HSC Millionaire Lottery so you can both help support Manitoba’s Hospital, the Health Sciences Center, and potentially become Manitoba’s next millionaire. That’s right. Someone will be winning one of five dream home packages valued at $ 1.5 million or a cool $1.25 million in cash tax-free for the grand prize. But there is so much more than just the grand prizes. When uh when we’re talking about the HSC millionaire, uh we’ve done the fall bonus, but the Gray Cup bonus is on right now. If you get your tickets before midnight, October 23rd, you’ll have a chance to win one of three great cup packages. And October 30th is the early bird deadline where you’ll be in for over $215,000 in prizes, including an $85,000 cash prize and 30 winners of $500 in gas and groceries from Red River Co-op. While you’re there, and by the way, you can get your tickets at hscmillionaire.com. Make sure you check out the 50/50 in the extra cash plus options. There’ll be 125 winners of over $170,000 in all cash prizes for the extra cash plus and the 50/50 is already over $1 million. So, a minimum of $525,000 and that number keeps going up. Support our hospital HSC with the HSC millionaire lottery. Get your tickets now. hscmillionaire.com or in person at London Drugs or your local Red River Co-op location. And again, October 23rd, your deadline for the Gay Cup bonuses and October 30th for the massive early bird draws. Uh Jets back at home tomorrow uh for the Nashville Predators. Don’t forget game packs of four and six are still available, which include access to playoff tickets and savings over single game tickets. Uh, check out the Passport, the most flexible product the Jets have ever launched. And make your plans for next week. ’90s night returning by popular demand. October 24th versus the Flames. Next Friday, a week today. First 5,000 fans get one of those limited edition Corduroy snapbacks. And of course, the Halloween game. Craig Button’s going to be in the house as he told us earlier today. Um, the Blackhawks in town, Halloween Eve, costumes, great prizes, and of course, Taves going up against the Blackhawks for the first time. Uh, all right. WinnipegJets.com/wst as well for our game of the month. Talking Nikolai Eers earlier on. We’ll see him and the Canes in person and will be up in section 316. Join us, get your tickets, which include a beverage and a meet up before the game. winnipegjets.com/wst. All right, just before we bring in Hacksaw, while we talk NFL, let’s get to this week’s Chuds Powers Sports WST NFL power poll for the week. Uh we will start off at number five, the Detroit Lions. I still think the Lions are right there at the top of the NFC. Uh but they took one on the chin from the Chiefs on the weekend, so the Chiefs jumped them. I know they’re three and three. They’ve had a murderous schedule. Rush, he rises back. Um, the Chiefs are the team. The Bills are out. The Eagles are out. They both stunk the last couple weeks. The New England Patriots get the spot. 4-2. There’s lots of good 4-2 teams. Listen, the Patriots haven’t won a lot of won a lot of big games over good teams, but that win in Buffalo on the road was enough to put them in at number three. And then we’ve got two 5-1 teams. I’m gonna give the Indianapolis Colts the nod. Now, they may be a paper five and one. Their schedule has been what it is. I like that win over Denver. The other games, I mean, not great quality, but they’re well-rounded. They’ve got a great running game. Daniel Jones is playing well. Their defense is holding up. They’re 5-1. They get the number two spot. And while I think this is not going to last, I can’t not give Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers the number one spot. What Baker’s doing right now with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Embuka, Bucky Irving out is nothing short of incredible. Uh, and they’ve won some big games against good teams. Uh, got to love what Baker’s doing right now. If the MVP voting, even though he’s not the favorite, I think he has been the most valuable player in the league through the first six weeks. That being said, I think they get steamrolled by Detroit on Monday night. So, Bucks fans, enjoy it at the top of the list right now. Of course, the Power Pole brought to you by Chuds Powersports, Manitoba’s Powersports Superstore in Gimley, corner of Highway 8 and 231. Check out everything our friends at Chuds have going on online at chudpowersports.com. All right, let’s bring in the hacksaw for the NFL notebook. Also want to hit this baseball a little bit. Saw, uh, how have you been handling I asked Craig Button this before. Um, I’ve just had to go out to sports bars with lots of TVs cuz there is so much going on. I mean, just keeping track from the Jets game through the baseball, the NFL last night, hard to keep track of, but man, is it fun being a fan right now. There are not enough hours in the day to watch everything that we want to watch. And if you try to put I have split screen capabilities on my TV, I can’t watch it all. My eyes start to go crazy on me. But, I mean, it’s it’s been electric. The baseball playoffs have been superb. The NFL is what the NFL is. College football Saturdays here. This side of the border in the States is absolutely crazy. And if that’s not enough, we got the NHL starting. I pay attention to that. And next week, here comes the NBA. Do you have the phone number, the toll-free 800 number for the guy that has the patent for the 42-hour day? Because, man, there’s not enough hours a day hustler to to pay attention and watch all this. And I write about this stuff every day. I you know the best 15 minutes is more like about 45 right now with everything to talk about. Hey, just before we get to the NFL, quick thought on the Jays turning this series around and obviously what awaits the Jays or Mariners in this juggernaut Dodgers team that speaking of back is fully back. Yeah, it’s like home run derby. I mean, I was I was really stunned. Seattle walked into Sky Dome Rogers place and and beat him two times in Toronto and then equally shocked that the Jays, who I thought were living on borrowed time, went back to the Pacific Northwest and played home run derby in that stadium. I don’t know what to make of it. I I think the big question is, has anybody got enough pitching to last the next couple of games? That that really becomes the big situation. And Seattle’s kid pitchers, the last two starters, have really had a tough go. So, you know, maybe they’re feeling the pressure. I don’t know if the managers done a good job handling the starters when they hit a bumpy road like the other night where George Kirby got lit in the third inning. And I was really stunned. the Mariners manager and pitching coach sat in the dugout and just let Kirby get racked rather than go into the mound trying to settle him down, ask him how he felt, see if they could change the assortment of pitches that he was throwing, but they just sat there and watched them get blasted in the third inning and then it happened again in the fourth inning. So, there’s a fine line to helping your young pitching staff and these guys have not really walked down this road before. Um, I’m I’m a little bit disappointed in the Seattle leadership, but man, those big bats, big difference. And obviously, it doesn’t really matter because the Dodgers are playing in a different solar system right now. Do you know as the Dodgers get ready to play tonight against Milwaukee Hustler, the Dodgers are 23 and6 since Labor Day weekend when they went into a really bad tail spin because their relief core was coming out of the bullpen with a can of gasoline. They’ve solved it because they’re hitting home runs. have solved it because their starting pitchers are giving him tremendous length in the rotation. So, playoffs have been good. I don’t know that this is the World Series anybody expected, but it looks like it’s going to be Dodgers versus somebody who’s a survivor in the American League, but right now the Dodgers are just playing in a different galaxy. How about that psycho Max Scherzer last night doing his thing? I mean, was that a scene or what when Schneider went out to the mound? I mean, only Max. Yeah, I can’t read lips very well, but it sounded like something like, “F you. This is my ball. Get off my damn mouth.” And and and he backed it up. Now, this is amazing, though. I mean, because he had been out for such an extended period of time, he’s had two different sets of injuries. And, you know, Max has got a lot of miles on that arm. So, so they trusted him and they got through it on that that next at bat. They he got the guy out. So, I give Sherzer an enormous amount of credit because that’s just the kind of dude he is. But God, I wish I could have had tape version to actually hear and I bet he didn’t use the King’s best language talking to his manager. Yeah, I think one of the guys at the Athletic is a write up on that. Um, I was uh checking it out earlier today. Was it Ken Rosenthal? Yeah. Inside the fiery foulmouth mound visit that led Mad Max to a signature October moment. I’ll be checking that out after uh after the show today. Hey uh just before we look ahead to the weekend, how about the Joe Flacco show last night with the Bengals and Jamar Chase. I I was listening I heard a clip today of Cleveland Sports Radio just going absolutely nuclear on the general manager for trading Joe Flacco in the division to give the Bengals life. And it seemed like the worst nightmares of Browns fans, maybe even Ravens fans that still have hope and the Steelers were uh realized yesterday when that Bengals offense completely came to life. It was just easy playground um pitch and catch from Flacco to Chase all night. Well, Flacco got hot. That offensive front in Cincinnati is not very good. Pittsburgh’s defense last night was deplorable. Oh, I can’t imagine the screeching going on right now towards Mike Tomlin and obviously that defense played really poorly. The other the other aspect of this is if you look closely at Pittsburgh’s offense, they’ve really become pedestrian. They don’t have a lot of down the field threats and Aaron Rogers may throw for 231, but there’s interceptions along the way and it’s all five yard dump and I mean there’s no big play stuff. Trade deadline’s coming. hustler. Pittsburgh is going to have to make a deal to go find another game breaker. I’m kind of disappointed in Metaf. He’s making a lot of money. Came from Seattle in that trade. He has not been a difference maker in that offense. So, yeah, Pittsburgh has taken a lot of heat in terms of Cleveland’s scenario, the storyline. I mean, you can scream at Andrew Barry about the Flaco thing, but you scream at Andrew Barry about how horrible the offensive line is and had so many injuries and they don’t really have legitimacy at running back. Uh, you know, they may have the quarterback of the future, but I thought the kid Dylan Gabriel played pretty competitively. Did not turn the ball over last start. Now, we’ll see because the the more you play, the more video that coaches will get on what you do versus what you don’t do. So, see if defenses play the Browns a little bit differently to force Dylan Gabriel into comfort zones that he can’t handle. So, that bears watching in start two, start three, and and the components out there, they’re screeching, give Shador Sanders a chance. Come on, give me a break. These coaches are with Sanders every minute of every day in practice and in video. And this they know what he can handle versus what he can’t handle at this point. And Gabriel is obviously the better choice. And I would have I I swear to God, I would have never ever imagined Cincinnati would have been able to come back and beat them. Pittsburgh didn’t deserve to win, but Cincinnati earned her because old Joe got the job done. The battle of the two old men at quarterback. Amazing story. But it’s it’s been this way all season. The whole NFL season, the first five, six weeks has been upside down. It was a fun game to watch. I mean, we were kind of dialed in on the baseball and the hockey, but the second half was back and forth. And um, hey, good uh, good night for the Bengals fans that have I mean, the team’s three and four right now. They get a few wins. I mean, there is the potential of Joe Burrow making it back in December. See whether Flaco can keep them in the mix after that big win against the Steelers uh, last night. Lee, the trade deadline’s coming up in uh what I guess less than two weeks right now. What are you hearing around the league of players that might be available to some of the contending teams willing to give up draft capital? Well, we got teams that are in trouble defensively. Your name is Dallas. Your name is the Philadelphia Eagles. Your name is San Francisco. All a byproduct of injuries or defections. Trey Hendrickson is still there in Cincinnati. The Bengals are not going anywhere. Uh, I I keep thinking that they are taking phone calls. They’re going to ask for a high pick. The thing is, they’re not going to get somebody’s number one for a 31-year-old pass rusher, although he’s still a pretty good football player. I think Hendrickson might be moved to one of those teams that I just mentioned who really needs pass rush help. Uh, that’s one. I don’t know if there’s a fire sale coming in New Orleans, but I mean, that’s not a good season. It’s not a complete team. Alvin Chimera is there. He’s got a no trade clause in his contract. He said, “I don’t want to move.” But at the end of the day, if he gets a chance to go to a playoffbound team that desperately needs a running game, maybe he winds up getting traded. We keep hearing the Chargers out here on the West Coast who who’ve lost their top two running backs with extended injuries. Chargers might be willing to do it, but Chimera’s got a lot of miles on him. It would have to be like maybe a third, very fourth round draft pick there. Uh the wild card is a young receiver with the Raiders and he’s kind of had a falling out with Pete Carroll in that organization. Jacobe Myers, I mean, he’s productive. He’s kind of slight. He runs. He’s fleety. Catches a lot of yardage passes. He’s on the trade block because he’s a walk free agent. He might wind up in a place that needs a wide receiver with speed and you say Pittsburgh. So those those are just three names right off the top. There’s a number of offensive linemen that are kind of out there on the trade block and there’s a bunch of teams. Chargers again have just a mess in their offensive line with injuries. They might make a deal. There’s a a number one draft pick with the Giants that’s not playing. Evan Neil, he might come, but again, the price tag to get him is going to be relatively far out because he’s just not proving he play at this level. So, yeah, I think there will be more trades coming in the league within the next 10 days to two. Packsaw u I’m sure you saw the uh Sunday nighter between the Chiefs and the Lions and that scene at the end of the game um Branch on Detroit. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking, but uh man, strong words from Dan Campbell about uh Branch who now will sit out a big game against the Bucks because of the suspension. Well, I hate to use the phrase criminal element because that that cast a really ugly sign, but this guy’s had so many problems with the league office. I’m surprised he’s not had more suspensions. you know, now he got this oneame suspension for slapping or punching uh JJ Schuster Smith in the face and breaking his nose. Um, he’s been fined 13 times in 41 games. Fin. He’s a cheap shot artist. He plays, if you like to use the phrase plays on the edge, he plays over the edge. Sometimes you look at that and said, “This is a criminal element type guy. Why the hell is he allowed to continue to play?” But now they’ve set a standard. The next time he steps over the line, it’ll be a twoame suspension. No, that’s those are big game checks and there’ll be a four-ame suspension. So, I don’t understand why the kid acts the way the kid acts. But it was it was really cheap. It was really ugly and nothing triggered it. It was Mahomes tried to shake his hand postgame celebration and he blew him off and that led JJ to come across the field and confront him which then led to the punch which led to the scrum etc. So bad scene. Yeah, that that was ugly and I would have had no issue if they had dinged him for two games or even three games considering the rap sheet that they had. That is not something that the NFL wants. Hey, just before we go, um are you hearing anything about this Josh Simmons situation in Kansas City? Like for people that don’t know, like Patrick Mahomes showed up for that massive Sunday nighter against the Detroit Lions and his left tackle was not there. Reportedly, he’d flown back to California. It was originally reported as like some sort of family emergency. That’s been dialed back and I mean I was watching Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes press availability earlier this week and they basically just said that Brett V is is handling it. They have no comment. Although it was interesting saying Mahomes uh Mahomes said he’s praying for Josh every day. It’s it’s a very concerning situation from a football standpoint and it sort of gives the vibes of maybe a a dark situation for Simmons personally who looked like he was the guy I mean that will be protecting Mahomes blindside for the next 10 years. Well, he started well I mean he roared through camp after coming out of Ohio State and all the knee rehab. played pretty well in preseason and it was a starting off tackle of two and a half games into the season, but then they started to sputter and he started to sputter and struggle and they wound up replacing him with Jaylen Moore. Um, yeah, you know, I I was led to believe he’s from here. He’s from San Diego. Uh, I was led to believe that it was a family issue, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s a depression issue, maybe it’s a mental health issue, and the kid just needs to step away. But you know these these guys these players they’ve got the bel best best health care in the world thanks to the players association and uh those guys are one phone call away from getting help regardless of what it is if it’s a family tragedy or if it’s if it’s depression etc. So I’m I’m hoping for the better and maybe just stepping away from it. maybe he’s just not coping with the reality that this is the next level up and playing in the NFL is a really hard thing and and teams are doing things to him that he can’t handle and now they benched him and he didn’t handle that. So, I’m hoping within a couple weeks he’ll be back. Kansas City as a team looks like they’re about to arrive because now they get Rice back at wide receiver. That that comes 10 days after they they got the speed merchant Xavier Worthy back. Uh they they still got Hollywood. Kelsey’s played with a little bit more pep in his step the last couple of weeks. Momes, you know, they ambushed Detroit. I don’t know if people paid much attention. They went to formations in that Detroit win that were totally spread formations. They not shown all season. It’s really out of their character and Detroit was really confused and they went up tempo and Mahomes hardly got rushed and the ball was out of there quick and there were running lanes, etc. So again, Andy Reid’s brilliance with X’s and O’s. Now they’re getting all the components back. Um, if you want to yell at me because I said the era was over, you could feel free to yell at me now if you wish because they look like they’re starting to come together because of some of the creative juice. If they can keep their guys on the field, maybe there’s still going to be a player in the AFC West because Denver is a player and the Chargers at this point in time or not. Yeah, I I don’t know about Denver, Lee. I mean, I’m interested to see this Giants Denver game. I mean, like Denver’s defense is good. Like Denver held the Jets to -10 yards passing and still barely won by two points against that 0 and6 team. Like to to me Bo Nicks hasn’t taken the step yet that Shawn Payeyton was expecting this year and it’s putting a lot of stress on that great defense of theirs. Well, his mechanics are a little bit off and I I saw him here when the Chargers played the Broncos early in the season and his mechanics just did not look right. his confidence did look not right and his accuracy was off. I mean, he’s gotten a little bit better. They need to run the football a little bit better, etc. Uh they’re to me, they’re a little bit still erratic. They’re not how they played the second half of last season, but Knicks is really good. But tell you what, their defense is a real deal. They got 30 quarterback sacks. Uh and and they’re limiting opponents to 265 yards per game. And do you know if you’re a quarterback on a third down, you come to the line of scrimmage, your conversion rate against Denver’s defense 27%. Nobody in the league does that defensively, but Denver is doing it. So they can live off this defense. And you talked about the Giants. I mean, this has been fun to to see Jackson Darton Scataboo, but you know what? You look at what the Giants have to play. You ready for this? They go to Denver, then they go to Philadelphia, then they get Frisco, then they get Dubai, then they get Green Bay, and then they get Detroit. That’s their next six weeks. So, welcome to the real world, Jackson. It’s going to get tougher, but it’s been fun to watch the Giants. No doubt about it. Um Saw, what’s cooking over at the the site? I mean, as I said, you know, you need a few extra hours in the day to cover everything, but uh I’m not sure the website has had more action at any point this year than with everything going on right now. Our podcasts are just blown through the roof. You know, we’re also dealing with a baseball crisis here with the San Diego Padres’s manager waking up and walking away from a pen and contending team. And now we got all types of infighting infrastructure in the Padre’s front office. And of course, we’re covering the Dodgers and the playoffs and all that. So, if you like sports, just check my website. I write about it every day. It’s absolutely free. It’s posted there first thing every morning. Hacksaw hamilton.com. And once you’re done watching Hustler here in Winnipeg, my call my old Canada network, jump on my YouTube channel and watch what we do because we kind of do something a little bit different in terms of topics on the table and opinions and then fans forum interaction. Just go to Lee Hackaw Hamilton. So have yourself a great weekend, my friend. Thanks so much for doing this, my brother. 1919’s on you next time. Talk to you again. Thanks. Have a gold one, pal. There he is. Lee Hacksaw Hamilton. can follow him on X as well at hacksaw1090 and leehacksawahamilton.com is the website. All right, let’s uh just fix my glasses here. Let’s get to uh the cool bet lines. Uh last call for marbles everybody. Remo, if you want to grab the names and get going, I will take a look at what’s happening right now. First things first, the Jays a slight favorite in the uh this afternoon’s game. 5:00 drop Jay’s minus 112 Mariners minus 104. Uh I’m going to put all this together in a moment for something that I think you’ll like to get on folks. Uh Bombers tonight 8 12 point favorites right now and now minus 400 on the money line. Uh Elks for tonight. Five and a half point dogs in BC as well. Plus 192 to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win. And we already have lines up for tomorrow’s hockey slate. I think you know where I’m going with this gang. Uh the Winnipeg Jets minus 189 favorites against the Nashville Predators. So with everyone on the Jays wagon right now, the Bombers needing a win, the Jets playing tomorrow, how could we not put together a little special uh bet for tonight? Jay’s to win, Bombers to win, and Jets to win tomorrow. That is under in the combo cards under for the community. And it’s boosted from plus 261 to 3:1. So, if you want to ride me with me on that, we need the Jays and the Bombers tonight and the Jets tomorrow. That is 3 to one. Uh, of course you can get all of our football picks, props, touchdown scorers in today’s episode of uh, WST Winners, which is live available right now after the show. We did that live this morning, myself, Pat, and Jake. Uh, and we’ll be cranking up a bunch in the combo cards. Just looking to see if they are up yet. Yes, we do. Okay, here’s what we cooked up. the per parlay, the touchdown scorers, Devonte Adams, Rashi Rice, and Jaylen Herz. That’s boosted up to plus 922. And our spread parlay, Patriots over the Titans, Patriots – 6 12, Giants plus 7 and a half in Denver, and Dallas plus 1 and a half against the Commanders. That one’s boosted from plus 509 to plus 585. And if we click on the exclusives, we have our prop parlay plus 650. Patty’s on the Quinton Johnson long reception of 23 or more yards. I’m on Matthew Golden and the Packers to get 50 or more receiving yards. And uh we’ve got Beon Robinson. Oh, that was Patty’s. Jake was on Quinton Johnson. B John Robertson 120 rushing and receiving yards. That one’s boosted to plus 650. That one is in the exclusives. The full slate of NFL games are up right now, highlighted by that Monday Night Football double header. Uh the Droids now gone to six-point favorites over Tampa since we did that one this morning. A big one for the Vikings and Eagles. Eagles struggling. Uh Phillies coming to Minnesota. Vikings two-point home dogs plus 110 and uh Chiefs back. They got the Raiders 12-point favorites for Kansas City. It is all there right now. We also, by the way, do have our CFL parlay for the week that we did on CFL 110. Bombers – 6 1/2 tonight. Elks plus 5 1/2. Alowettes – 8 and a half tomorrow. Got a nice boost on that one up to plus 526. If you haven’t played a cool bet before, use the promo code WST. We hook you up with a 100% bonus up to 200 bucks on your first deposit. And for everyone that’s here, the marbles, all you poker players, the next WST poker night is Wednesday. This upcoming Wednesday, we’ll have a bounty on Jeff Hamilton’s head for winning last time. Bounty on myself and Michael Reis. We’ll get it going at 8 o’clock. We’ll have details on our socials, but mark it down. Wednesday, October 22nd, our next WST poker night over at Cool Bet. Uh hopefully everyone that has been playing joins us. And if you haven’t already and you do like online poker, join us. It is a heck of a lot of fun. DM us for more details if you need. All right, Remo, what a week it’s been. Fun show today with so much to talk about. We got a baseball game in less than two hours. So, uh, let’s, uh, let’s get going with this marble race. I guess before we do marbles, we got to get a little Tristan Rivers action going on. Of course, Friday afternoon, the marble race, but it doesn’t start until the Muse of the Winnipeg Digital Sports Space fires it up with the theme song, Let’s Go Tristan Rivers. And then let’s do some marbles on WST. [Music] Another week of work goes [Music] to treat yourself maybe [Music] for the whole day. You can’t [Music] comprise. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Don’t you roll. [Music] Wow. AC/DC version. Was that Tristan’s cover band? Yes. Tristan Rivers uh AC/DC cover band. He got uh he says he didn’t sound enough like Brian Johnson or Bon Scott, whoever. And he got this got his cover band to do. And they have a show coming up at the South Beach Casino. Uh he’s got an AC/DC and Guns and Roses cover band. So check out them around. When’s the show? Let me I think it’s Halloween. Let me just He sent me the link. Let me bring it and I’ll put it in chat. So I showed it to Tristan. He’s done all the versions of the marble race theme song for us. Yes. Uh October 31, Halloween. What a great Halloween that would be with Tristan and his two cover. That sounds like a time. That sounds like a time. Just have to be able to fire it up and get back to the city in time for that hockey game at 2 p.m. the next day. Um let’s uh let’s do it. Um Remo, what why don’t you fire up? How many marbles do we have today? Yeah. Uh, let me fire that up right now. I’ve been busy testing out marble tracks. But before, you know, we’re talking about music and marbles. We haven’t really touched on the CFL finally announcing their halftime show yesterday after months of speculation. It is Machine Gun Kelly. Sorry that he doesn’t go by that anymore. MGK. And I think it’s kind of like how the Washington Bullets had to change their name to Wizards. You can’t have a guy This is too too violent. You can’t have machine gun in your name. Yeah, you can’t have great handle. It It is a cool handle, but you can’t I agree. You can’t have a guy walking around with the name machine gun. There’s kids out there. It’s too violent. So, now that he’s turned into a pop star, I mean, he grew up doing hip-hop and he’s done a lot of different things. kind of a prolific uh artist over his career, but now fully into the pop lane with his thing. Um I I got a kick out of it. All the people are like, “Oh my god, they haven’t announced a halftime show yet.” Like, okay, whatever. I mean, I literally could not care less. Uh it would be impossible to care less about who the halftime show is. Um, that’ll be a time where I’m pretty sure uh we’ll be hooking up with other fans or getting beers or something like that. But for the broadcast, it is a big part of it. And like listen, I’m sure there’s some CFL old-timers who are going, “Who the hell is MGK?” But, uh, he’s a one of the top pop artists right now around. He’s got a new album that is getting a lot of play and this will be a guy that brings some uh some people that are interested in that far more than the game to the broadcast. So, um good on it. I think they worked really hard on this. I’d heard that a couple weeks ago that they thought this was going to happen and then it wasn’t. And for all the people that were complaining about how long it takes, I mean, booking these acts for oneoff events is uh it is really challenging. And uh anyways, I think the organizing committee did a great job. They’ll uh they’ll go out and do the show for those people that are locked in on that. I mean, I’m sure it’ll be cool. And uh for those of us that are using halftime for what most people do halftime is, we’ll take a break and get ready for the second half. And fingers crossed that somehow someway our Winnipeg Boo Bombers can be playing in that game, whether they’re representing the East or the West coming up. But uh let us know your thoughts in the chat on uh on that as well. Uh I’ll say our Facebook page comments uh had very very strong opinions about the halftime show. I posted it out there and look people asked me what I thought. I was like, “Yeah, it’s fine. I think he’s big name.” Um not too I’m more familiar with his dating history. I’m more familiar with his name. I know that he played Tommy Lee in the Molly Crew movie, The Dirt, but I’ve I know some of my friends say his music’s his music actually pretty good. Some of his older albums. Yeah. No, and listen, like the new his new bit is I mean, very poppy, but I mean it’s on the radio all over the place on the video shows. It’s doing a million streams. Um, so yeah, I mean, listen, good on the Canadian Football League for, uh, getting someone that’ll move the needle in some ways, get some new people on, and hopefully maybe uh, you know, pop a big number on TSN and CTV and at the same time, um, get a few more people on both sides of the border paying attention to what’s going on with the championship game and the Gray Cup. Uh, yeah, and I know I I thought the same thing. Gilbert Marion, is his girlfriend going to be there, babe? Yeah, Megan Fox still throwing 99 on the black. Um, I’m not sure whether she’ll be here in Winnipeg, but uh let’s roll out the red carpet for her if uh if she’s there. It’ll be neat. I’m starting excited. Uh are they together? I don’t know if they’re still together still. I don’t know. I I can’t I don’t I can’t keep track of that. I’m going to go care about one celebrity relationship and that’s Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Um, I’m looking at my favorite website, uh, who’s datedh who.com just to confirm, but it’s not it’s it’s pulling up a different guy and it’s not working. So, well, we’ll confirm later. But people are saying they broke up. They did. Yeah. Oh, that’s too bad. Hey, Brandon W. I watched Transformers last week just to see her. Lol. Trans. Nice. Okay, so they were engaged for two years, it says, but I don’t think they’re together. They separated December 2024. So there you go. T will as a Swifty, I’m surprised Hus even allowed MGK’s name to be mentioned on the show, honing in on her, horning in on her turf. No. Hey, I’m a CFL supporter. I’m pumped about this. But yes, there by the way, now gotten into listening to some of the new T Swift album. Unbelievable. What a banger. Just banger after banger. Oh, did we lose you there? I think we lost your microphone. You might have to. You’re going to pop out and pop in. Sure. I was going to pop out and pop in. We had this issue yesterday. So, we Okay, let’s look at the marbles. We have 277 marbles in the marble race. We are going to put in Hustler and all capitals in one of them as I wait for him to return. Excellent. Hustler and all capitals. And I went through so many marble tracks looking for the best one. The one that I picked not the longest. Oh my mouse is glitching. Hold on. Okay, one sec. Okay, we’re back. So, let me load you into the thing. Uh, my most I’m going to load you back in. Hold on. Here we go. Chaos, you’re back now. Okay, perfect. Um, marbles me. Uh, let’s give MGK one and let’s give Craig Button one. It was great to have Craig on on a Friday. Definitely marble worthy. And then let me just switch it so you’re not getting that echo husk. I I’m not getting it. I’m not getting one. Okay, you should be good now. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s all good. So, wait. Who’ you want? I gave one for you. And who am I giving one to? MGK. Yeah. And Craig Button. Oh, Craig Button brought it today for sure. Awesome. Awesome stuff. Yeah, if you joined in late, great segment with Craig out of the gate around 1:30, first hour of the program. Definitely uh definitely check that out. What uh what track did you pick? Okay, I picked one. Not the longest one, but it’s it was pretty good actually. So, look, it’s not about length sometimes. It’s about suspense and good obstacles and giving any marble out there a chance to win. That’s exactly right. Everyone will start at the start finish, whoever gets in first. WST hoodie, courtesy of our friends. Shout out to Shippy and the boys over at Shipman Associates, one of the uh top promotional products companies in town. Appreciate their support. Okay, so it’s called Feel the Cannon. And you know who wasn’t? They weren’t feeling the cannon last night. Uh Columbus losing 4-1 to Colorado. A lot of great games on last night, but feel the That was great because that Did you get on the uh our the three sport parlay that we uh we uh laid out last night? Uh no, I did not. Avalanche. Avalanche to win. Bengals to cover five and a half and Jay’s to win. Oh, thank you very much. Six to one. Man, we’ve had a great week with some of these picks today. Very week, I should say. Uh again, check out the the combo cards and the exclusives for everything that we cooked up for the week in the National Football League. All right, here we are. Feel the cannon. 280 marbles. Wow. Big big turnout today. Brand new track again. Uh whoever gets in first, we’ll hook you up with the WST hoodie. Um big weekend coming up. Big game for the Bombers tonight. Jets tomorrow. Jay’s as well. But it’s not the weekend until the marbles drop on WST. Let them fly, Remo. Here we go. Oh, I love big dropins into massive funnels. This is going to be a This is going to be a great a great start, especially just with so many marbles. The start I would imagine on a shorter track the uh this key start is huge. All right, who’s going to make it down first? It looks like Oh, Coach Kezer, Souljian, Tew Will, Murray Sysler, and Wolf’s World are top five right now. All right, this is why it’s called Fire the Cannon. Let’s see what happens here. Coach Keyser first up, there’s T will everyone popping into this next smaller funnel. See if there’s enough room for all these marbles. But, uh, who do we have here? Uh S DER, the SMA, British Bradley in the mix right now. But Caitlyn Litkkey first through into the orb. Ken 0007 and S Elder all in the mix. Who’s going to get out first? That is the key as we go next out into the tube. Oh, Donny Boy. Our guy Donny Boy in first place right now. Felix Petcow, S. Elder Matthew Jordan all in there right now with Donny Boy as we continue making it through this next portion of the course. Um this is an interesting one. This is I guess a little bit of a corkcrew here and then turning in but just about everyone running through on that area right now in first place. It is still Felix Vince and Toba bullish Bradley right now going into uh here’s an interesting obstacle that we don’t see too often. See how this is going to work out. No one’s really getting too far through. Bullish Bradley riding it. He’s in the mix out of the blue. Oh, who’s this? Mr. Vub. Mr. Vub on one side, S. Eldder on the other. This is going to come right down to the end. We got a great finish coming up. Who’s going to be first? Mike Cochran Winnipeg. There’s a few different routes that marbles took here which made that a very interesting course. But Mike Cochran Winnipeg the winner S. Eldder Mr. Vd Dub in third. Uh Jen, what’s that last name? I can’t read that. Royals Rans. Oh, Jen Rans. Granny Bomber fan. Nice work, Granny. Top five. Bullish. Bradley, Yakman, Joanie Thirsten, Boba Jet, and hey, Mary Jane. Top 10. Nicely done, MJ. Always like when Mary Jane does well. She always brightens up the chat whenever she’s uh she’s with us right now. All right, finishing up all the rest of these marbles coming in. I am quite interested to see where uh where I’m going to finish. Uh we’ve got the fire. All right, there it is. Mike Cochran WPG. Congratulations, Mike. Fire us an email. Winnipeg sports [email protected]. Let me know what size you are for hoodies and I’ll fire you up and you can pop by some point next week if it’s convenient for you to come and pick it up. All right, moving down the list. There’s Felix. There’s Caitlyn. We got Jet Oil. Tom, Donny Boy, finished a little back. Must have got stuck in. Hey, there’s uh our pal Bravo Bry 18 overpar podcast. Oh, the 63rd. I like it. Should win my head-to-head wager with Rosco and Sha this weekend. There’s Vincent Toba Tracio. There’s Amanda top 100. Not too bad, Amanda. Three-time winner. She’ll be the first one to tell you that. Uh there’s Mike Win. Mark AMP. Hey, Dr. Terry. What’s up, Doc? What’s going on over at the uh St. Patel Dental Center? There’s Andrew Ho. What’s up, Andrew? Great to see you at the game last week. Wicked John, Lulu, M. Who else do we have? There’s Spency. What’s going on, Spency? There’s Rosco. All caps, Kyle, David D, T will tough tough run for T- Will today. 20th. Did finish though at least. Uh, and Craig Button third last today, but he did finish. MGK got top roped. There’s Dresman. Dan Jets fan. Yeah, poor old poor old MGK just after uh after Bobby Woo. uh and all the way down to Kent Rhymer at the uh bottom. Fun race today. Good track, Remo. That was uh that was a good one. It wasn’t the longest one, but I uh I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the longest one. And we saw Mike Cochran take the middle shortcut. There were three ways at the end. You could go to each side and Mike Cochran went right through the middle. So again, not the longest one, but I thought it was pretty pretty good. A couple DNFs, not a ton. 241 finishers of the 280 in. Decent trick. So, shout out to Mike Cochran and congrats to you on your 63rd place finish. Yes, thank you. It was a great moment for me um ahead of my pals that we always uh bet on who uh who finishes first each week. Um great week of shows. um for the weekend WST Sunday live on uh on Sunday obviously 9:00 a.m. Uh and again the Saturday days we won’t have regular postgame coverage for you uh because Connor and Liss will be firing it up at 9:00 a.m. So um normally the rest of the games on other days this week Connor uh it was Connor and Remis last night. You can check that out on the channel as well if you if you missed it. Um, but Sunday 9:00 a.m. and we’ll also have Sunday night hitting in uh the Monday morning Connor and Zach with the latest on the Bombers uh the playoff report, playoff picture heading into the final week of the regular season and then of course we’ll be back potentially on the day of game seven of the ALCS if the Jays and Mariners split the next two games. Uh but we’ll be getting ready for the Jets in Calgary. Have a big show coming up on Monday. A huge thanks to all of you for joining us today. Very, very fun program. Um, thanks to Craig Button, who was awesome as always, Marada Tesh, the hammer, and of course, Lee Hacksaw Hamilton. And a big thank you to all the sponsors that make WST happen each and every day. Folks, enjoy the ball game tonight, the Bomber game tonight, Jets tomorrow, NFL, everything else going on this weekend. Join us Monday at 1 PM for the latest on all things Winnipeg sports and around the sports world at this really fun time of the year for sports fans for literally everything. For Michael Rivas, I’m Andrew Patterson. Have a great weekend. We’ll see you Monday right here on WST Daily. Oh my god. Shut it down. Let’s go home. Thanks for tuning in to Winnipeg Sports Talk Daily. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed at winnipegsportsalk.com. [Music]
Andrew “Hustler” Paterson hosts Winnipeg Sports Talk Daily with Michael Remis. They look back on last night’s Winnipeg Jets win over the Philadelphia Flyers and count down to tonight’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers game vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders. Guests: TSN’s Craig Button, Murat Ates of The Athletic, Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press and Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton.
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2 comments
GOOD SHOW BOYZ
I AGREE WIT HAMMER
IF NOT LAWLER THEY SHOULDA SPENT TO CAP FOR FAJARDO
WILL SEE
GOOOO BLUE🎉🎉🎉
JETS , MOOOSE N JAYSSSS
N ILL REPEAT
CHK BONFIRE RECEIPTS
I PEGGD BLUE WINNING EAST N CUP IN VISITORS RM VZ SASK IN JUNE 😮😅😊
Bottom line why Bombers are not consistent – Miller, Walters and O'Shea made fundamental mistakes at the start of the year. Letting good players go and picking up duds. Missing on getting a good QB backup- could have got Fajardo. It starts and stops with the front office