November 21, 2025 • 37 mins
Bumper to Bumper with Dan Barreiro!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The Fan welcomes Trans Siberian Orchestra for two amazing shows
at Target Center December twenty eighth, three pm and seven
thirty pm. Tickets on sale now can complete show details,
including a link to buy tickets kfan dot com key recount.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, if our next guest is at the arena formerly
known as the X, he'll be at the wrong place.
How could I forget? I mean, we just talked to
Billy Garran yesterday. Our favorite hockey team, the hottest team
in all of hockey, is on the road in Pittsburgh
to take on the hated Penguins. And that is indeed
(00:37):
where Russo Radio Now originates. It's the whole Fallness debacle.
Is kind of sad because yesterday I started the show
with very positive wild hockey conversation, especially involving the kid goaltender.
(00:57):
And then we also had Bill garn On and he
didn't hear the start of the show, or pretended to
not hear it, and then he texted guards Ye after
Garan was on, to say did Garon have anything interesting
to say? So you can't win with Russo with with
with fondness, I mean, it's like he wants to whine
and complain too much basketball talk, too much negativity about
(01:20):
the wild and then he just ignores it when we
go positive and doesn't even pay any attention.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
No, he's just there to complain. I mean he and
everybody knows it.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I mean, Guestling ripped them, so everybody's in on it.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So like everybody just knows exactly what he is about,
and it's about negativity and uh, you know all that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Type of stuff. So now fallness is the greatest.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Of course he is. I mean it's all it's all
meant and kind of good fun. Occasionally.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, you know, you you rip people you love.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, that's what they say. Anyway, that's for sure. A
question about that.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
He must really really really love me. Oh there's rips
me every day he does.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
He's kind of hard on you, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah he is.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I don't know that anybody's heart better, honest.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, I think I deserve better.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
I'm such a nice, positive, glass half full person.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well you put him on the map. I mean that's
the thing. No, only no one even know the faullness
exists without you think about it exactly.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I mean, he got a bunch of candles, sense' That's.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
My theory is he's now getting like ten to twenty
candles every year, and I'm out of the loop because
I got ripped for not sharing properly the candles that
came in for both of us. So I think it's
going to be held against me forever. I never get
any candles anymore. He still gets a bunch of them.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Yeah, I'm sure he does. Clearly, I've been in his
booth lately. He's got different sense now, So I think
that whoever sent you those candles to begin with, he
probably gave his private address to that person.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well here it is, in fact, this is this one
of his burner accounts. Let's see, No, this is well,
maybe it is. It's a six y five to one
number listed as Guardsy's conscience, seven minutes late to get
to hockey talk typical. So if that's it's not a
fallenness burner, it's somebody on his behalf.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So Garrin.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
He said he was very disappointed to me yesterday because
he said I was way too positive and I didn't
have my usual edge, and he was disarmed by the
whole thing, was very confused by it. And I said, well,
right now, I mean it's hard to complain too much
about what's been going on lately. The question, obviously is
can it be sustained? That's always the question. But what
are we seeing is it? Is it all defense in
(03:29):
front of the goalies? Is it all goalies despite the defense,
or is it the proverbial combo platter that's gotten us
to a place where we are routinely yielding zero, one
or two goals rather than four, five and six goals.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I would have said to Billy,
give it a week. You know, yes, this interview could
have a very different tone the next week, very te
with me. Yeah, I mean, I think it's it's all
the above, I think. I mean, you know, after he
ripped me this morning for chirp this morning, for being
on the road, because I've done very few road games
(04:03):
so far this year. I told Matt Zucarella, I kissed
his button and told him that this was all because
of him. This is after Matt's decided to hirt me
for five minutes. But you know, like, I mean, look,
since they haven't lost in regulations since Matt's has been
back in the lineup. But I know that a lot
of us, you know, a lot of fans even rolled
their eyes that we were acting like that Matt Zucarello's
(04:24):
injury was such a huge deal to start the year,
but it really was. I mean, you know, and I
know that we're talking about a thirty seven year old
and all that stuff in the last year of his contract,
but he adds so much to one curl presofs game,
his overall mood. But what it does to the lineup
on a team that doesn't have a lot of offensive depths,
so it now, you know, puts Boldie in a much
(04:45):
better spot where he's now freed up because if you're
another team, you're going to be really concentrating on Carill
on a separate line. And they've gotten more balance scoring
up and down their lineup because of that. But this
really does start in.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Their own zone.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
In the neutral zone they've just been so you know,
I didn't like the way they played the other night,
but they won the game, so that's all that matters.
As as Matt Boldie said after the game, nobody's gonna remember,
you know, if they make the playoffs several months from now,
that they that they played bad and won that game.
Their reality is is that they've just been a much
better team defensively. They've gotten much better goaltending from both
(05:18):
Philip Gustus and yes per Valstat. Volstat's gotten them points
in all seven of his starts. They have a six
game point street coming into tonight's game. And it felt
like that loss against Pittsburgh on October thirtieth or October
twenty ninth, thirtieth, it really was the churning point. It
was the next day where jared'svirgin had the meeting, and
ever since they've gotten back to more of what we
(05:40):
expect their identity to be, which is in you know,
direct north south type team, hardfore checking, taking care of
their own end first. And they've gotten enough scoring to
to get through right now. But the up the it's
crazy the numbers the month in the month of October
compared to now, Like in the month of October, they
trailed in the second most amount of minutes in the league.
(06:01):
Now they've scored in ten straight games, scored first goal, Yeah,
scored first excuse me. And there you know their goals
against it's second in the league. Actually it's now best
because San Jose gave up a bunch of goals yesterday.
But so they've now, you know, in the last nine
games that they have a one point eight nine goals
against average.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
In the month of.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
October they were at the bottom. They're penalty hill in
the month of October was sixty percent. It's eighty seven
percent in the last nine. So everything about their game
has just absolutely improved here. So it's it's it is
a combination of everything.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Gus bus I think is starting tonight, and there are a
lot of people saying, well, why go with the hot guy?
But as you point out, I think, to me, what's
interesting is that clearly we're seeing the ascension of Volstet
to a place where whatever the percentage between the two
goalies was kind of anticipated as being before the season started,
(06:55):
I gotta believe it's gonna get a lot closer to
fifty to fifty, even if it's not fifty fifty on
the basis of what we've seen thus far.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, and I think it very well could be fifty
to fifty like they are. You know, John Hines is like,
don't hold me to a strict rotation the way the
Carolina Hurricanes do it.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But it's sure sounds like that.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I mean, you know, for the first part of the season,
other than one game, Vaalstadt was pretty much a back
to back starter and and now he's he's I mean,
he is going to start Sunday's game, most likely in Winnipeg,
with a day off tomorrow. So you know, that is
that's very different than what we saw.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
The other thing that I think we all are forgetting
because Valstead has been so great here lately, is that
Gustuson's last two or three starts have been really really
good as well. So you know, in this type of season, Look,
we just saw Connor Hellibuck today. You know, tomorrow he's
having a procedure that's going to keep him out four
to six weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
This is a condensed schedule.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
This year where it just seems like injuries are running
rampant throughout the National Hockey League. The Wild played an
eight to thirty game a couple nights ago. Players can
get back into their into their homes yesterday until about
one am. They flew here, you know, less than twelve
hours later, and then the tonight they fly to Winnipeg
for an after goodnowon game Sunday. So I think John
Hines was also looking at it like you know volstat
(08:06):
very well could have been you know, extremely fatigued today.
So let him work with Freddy Schabbatt a little extra
in the morning and and start us tonight and and
uh you know, maybe maybe they can get on a
roll here and continue getting a great goaltending from both
of them.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Are we happy so far with the year off promotion? What? What?
What's the scuttle but around the club?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, I thought he was really good the other night.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I think the line was great, you know, as as
John Hines said, it was a mixed bag, but I
really don't think it had a lot to do a
year off. There were a couple of defensive plays where
he got on the wrong side of sa Jackson Blake
and the wild got fortunate into those plays. But I
think that y're of you know, he gets an assist
on his what second shift of the game, he gets
another assist for his first career multi point game. I
(08:50):
thought defensively he was really good. Breakouts he was really good,
and supporting those two he was really good. So I
thought it was a really uh, you know, quality for
game for a guy that was seeing elevated ice time
that could have easily deferred to two great veterans in
Caprisof and Zukarrelo. But I thought he fit in really
well there. I love what I'm seeing off the ice today.
(09:11):
I mean, that's the one thing I do like about
being on the road is you get to see things
that you don't get to see at treer Rink because
you know you only get a certain amount.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Of access there.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
But here, you know, the guys had an eleven to
fifty bus and who's still working out together? You know
at eleven fifty one it's Ere and Caprice off. So
it just feels like you're, like Caprisof is just taking
this kid under his wing. You could tell how much
you're of absolutely respects Curl, and that's the type of
leadership that you really want from a superstar for a
(09:43):
young rookie.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
The closest I got to getting garin going yesterday, it
was about you're off, and I said, well, are you
guys gonna give I mean, you're gonna let him play
through the occasional mistake. I mean you can if you
it's a catch twenty two. You want him to get better,
you gotta give him a chance to get better. And
he very snappily replied this isn't a developmental league. You know,
(10:04):
nothing is going to be handed to anybody, and that
goes back to the central you know, balancing act that
you and I have talked about before, that there's some
truth to what he says you can't hand any there's
too much a stake. But on the other hand, you
do have to try to find out, and the only
way you find out is to let a guy occasionally
play through perhaps as lows you performance.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah, I mean, look, first of all, you got to
look at Bill Gharon's history, right, he grew up in
the New Jersey Devils organization and the New Jersey Devils
and Loula Amorello had a very big development plan where
guys had to spend time in the minors and develop,
and so that's just sort of the way that Bill
Gharon learned the craft. Then he goes into management and
right here in Pittsburgh he was in you know, their
(10:46):
their head of development essentially for years and so that
so he truly believes in a path here. But then
you also look at the Wilds organizational plan and what
you could you could agree or disagree if you're a fan,
I totally respect it, but they are in.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
They are in a win now mode.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
This is not a team that's just gonna be like
you know, first of all, they don't have prospects like
Logan Cooley and Maclin celebrany In these guys okay. But
the other thing is is that they're you know, the
San Jose Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks, these type of teams
that have stunk for a while that have had the
beneficiary of being able to draft at the top of
the first round every single year. They are in development
(11:25):
mode where they are willing to let these guys play
through mistakes, where the Wild just are not willing to
do that. And so you also have a coach and
I know Wild fans seem to think that John Hines
hates young kids.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Matt Boldi absolutely soared under.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Under John Hines. Marco Rossi had his best couple of
years under John Hines. He's playing ze boyam in on
a number one power play. I mean, there's only so
many kids that you could play and give them a
ton of time. So you have to bide your time
and then the wait for injuries and now don all
you're off because of the Marco Rossi and Ryan Hartman
injuries is having this.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Opportunity, so they are in a win win now mode.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
But when you have a coach that's coaching a win
now mode, he's gonna go with guys that he knows
and trusts, and that's Marcus Johansen, that's tonight, Zach Bagosian
getting back in the lineup for Damon Hunt, who's played well,
but he's had a couple of really rough games in
a row. So I think for the most part, you know,
I think that John is doing essentially what he's been told,
what he's tasked with, and that's to get this wild
(12:22):
team into the playoffs so they can hopefully one of
these eons go on a run.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
A lot of texts coming in Russell Radio is indeed
joining us from the road. Felino hasn't scored right six
one two, guy worried or still contributing.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think he's contributing greatly. I mean, look, the last
couple of weeks have been his best hockey. I think
the first eight or nine games, maybe longer, he was
like a lot of guys on this team that just
look lost, was trying to do too much, do you know.
Was on his own page he admitted that to me
and the story that I wrote yesterday about the team
meeting that him and Brock Faber and Jared Spersion kind
of unveiled, open up the curtain and let me in on.
(13:02):
But I think that even though he's not scoring, he's
been much better defensively and he's making an impact on
games physically. So he's looking much more like the Marcus
you know that we've grown accustomed to seeing in the
last eight or nine years that he's been in Minnesota.
So I do think that, you know, it's gonna calm.
He badly needs something to go right. Offensively, his line's
been much better, at least when you're off with centering it.
(13:23):
I didn't love them the other night with Trenion and Hennestrosa.
I think Trenion just looks awkward to me at center,
but they have no choice right now. But I just
think that Marcus is playing, you know, as well as
you can expect for a guy that obviously doesn't have
a goal. I know that that fans want him, you know, fans,
I mean we all, we all look at stats. Nobody
twenty one games into the season wants Akuseg and their
(13:45):
goal to column. He is not happy about it. I've
he mentions it constantly. I've never covered a player that's
in a slump like this that constantly brings it up
to the media. It was almost it's almost like a
disarming way to like, yea, if I keep on telling you,
you're not gonna rip me for it, you know, last day,
it's kind of.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Like that exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
But look, I mean, I think I think he's playing well.
And the one thing I know that wild fans have
asked me a lot about him and Hartman and potential trades.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I mean, first of all, Marcus.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Has a full no move But two, even if he didn't,
he's the one guy on this team that I just
think Bill Aaron would he could trade him tomorrow if
Marcus would waive. Like teams call about Marcus all the time.
Bill has mentioned that to me, but he just believes
that he's so important to the fabric of that locker
room that I just think that he would never move him.
(14:33):
And again he's not. I know that fans want him
to score, and you got a score, you know in
the league where there's four lines that are rolling and
he's on the third line and gets significant ice time.
But I think that you know, he impacts the way
the game in different ways beyond the offense, but obviously
they need him to start contributing in that way too.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Speaking of centers and lack thereof, this comes from Jacob
and maple Grove. Why did the Wild trade Freddy Gudreau
with the lack of center depth? What little they traded
him for. It's not like that was a no brainer
move to get rid of him.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, I mean, you know, in a lot of ways,
it's because of a lot of the things that that
the fans won, and that's not a guy blocking Deanola
you're of. I mean I think that Look, I you know,
it's funny that that that fan brought that up because
I've actually, you know, started to ask around the last
couple of days if maybe the Wild would want to
try to get Freddy back. And coincidentally, Freddy's right now
at their team hotel because the Kraken are playing the
(15:26):
Pittsburgh Pungmans tomorrow and they're at the same hotel right now.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
So they could they could just grab Freddy.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
But you know, I think it was to open a
door figure out so he had an easier way to
make the team. It was to you know, open doors
for guys like Liam Ogrin to make the team.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
So it was one.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Way to get to to to kind of open that.
The other the other thing, to be blunt, is he's
even though he had fifteen team no trade clause, Seattle
wasn't on it. And you know, there's only a certain
amount of guys on this team that you can move
to make changes this summer, and I think that was
that was sort of a big reason, you know, they
wanted to upgrade in their bottom six and get Nico stererm.
(16:03):
I think they you know, look, Nico's gonna take warm
ups tonight. The hope is that will play Sunday. The
fact that he is taking warm ups tonight for the
first time since twenty twenty two with the Wild, by
the way, I think that shows you that he's definitely
playing Sunday. So I think that was another thing is
that they always had in their mind that they wanted
to go get a different type of center this offseason.
That wasn't that you know, wasn't Freddy, But but you're right,
(16:23):
with all the injuries they have right now, Freddie would
be extremely useful.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Brandon and Becker regarding Ogrin, falling out of favor among
scouts league wide. Could we see him traded this season
before his value tanks or the wild content just playing
him on the fourth line when he's up with the
big club.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
What I love about that question.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
It's clearly a athletic subscriber, because I put that in
the mail bag the other day. I talked to a
lot of scouts lately, and I included that mailbag that
you know, a lot of the scouts that come to
Grand Casino Arena are scouts that also have Iowa on
the circuit, so they've seen a lot of him, and
they just say that he looks like a very different guy.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think he's thinking too much.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think that, you know, he's so trying to be
an impactful player that he's constantly thinking like where you're
on the ice and things like that. And when you
do that, it just makes you look slow and play slow.
And so he probably just needs to be a little
more carefree and just go out there and play and
do what he's done for years. But and it doesn't matter,
like I you know, like it does not matter who
(17:22):
you're playing for. You got to control what you can control.
And Liam Ogrin obviously is not going to get a
lot of chances to score playing with Ben Jones and
Tyler Pitlick, But it doesn't mean that he has to
look invisible on the ice and and it could be
up to him to make that line, make it some
sort of impact both physically and off and offensively, and
(17:42):
so he's just got to be better. But to that
person's point, I think one of the things I threw
in the mailbag is one of the things that I've
learned that covering this game for a long time, especially
when you have a first round pick, if you start
to get the impression that that guy is going to
be somebody that's not going to make it to the
make it at the NHL level with the eyes of
a scout that you thought that he was going to be,
(18:04):
you better, you better trade him before everybody else in
the league realizes it. And that but the but the
danger in that is that if you trade him and
then he breaks out somewhere else, you're gonna look stupid.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
So they really got to make a very good.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Assessment and analyzation of his of his game right now
and decide this because I do think that it's getting
a little worrisome right now, just the lack of impact
that we've seen so far at the NHL level. But
you know, I still think that he can be a
great hockey player. But he's got to be more assertive
on the ice. We've got to see that shot that
that we always see in practices, and and you know
(18:38):
I've said this to you before, but there's a lot
of players in this league that I've covered that look
incredible at eleven am and look awful at seven pm.
And so far, he looks incredible in every practice that
I see him at and we haven't seen that so
far at the NHL level. When back, uh, the hope
is Sunday, he's he's gonna warm up tonight. I'm gonna
get him after the game now that he's been activated
(18:58):
off IR and have an off day story on him tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
I know that he's definitely chomping at the bid.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Lastly, from your perspective, the most interesting nugget you gleaned
out of what you've reported on the player's only meeting,
I just think that what.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Was I think it was just a unique meeting.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Usually player's only meetings and trust me, I've been in
many in this building. It seems like every time the
Welcome to Pittsburgh, it's like, you know, a calamity about
to happen. We've been in this building when Eric's next
broken his leg, closed our meetings, when Bruce brud Drew
forgot to put a defenceman on the uh Rid, Joe,
you remember that one Joe O'donald's sitting next to me.
(19:38):
Bruce brud Drop forgot to put a defenseman on the
on the starting lineup, and that they had to play
a defenseman short. I think was Pattern or Quincy or somebody.
So it was definitely Pattern. So uh yeah, So I
mean it seems like it's always there. But usually the
player meetings happened after the game. You know, you always
tweet about it when your reporter up door is still
close fifteen minutes after, so you know they're having a meeting.
(19:59):
This one, it was substantive, like like Jared Spurgeon immediately
told Marcus Felino, I want to do it tomorrow and
they they the leaders had text conversations on things to
talk about, topics to bring up. Jared and John Hines
had a conversation about things that Jared was seeing and
wanted to bring up in this meeting, and then everybody
(20:20):
talked and it just it was typical Jared Spurgeon, like
a very positive meeting, but it was in other words,
you know, let's get our head out of your note,
you know what, and start playing more like ourselves. So
I thought that, you know, I was really like Faber
was really really good in the story. So if you're
an athletic subscriber or want to be an athletic subscriber,
read that story because Favor really opened the door and
Felino and Spurgeon really echoed the things that he was saying.
(20:42):
And I think it's a real big reason why a
lot of these guys are playing great, like Favor's playing
his best hockey this season. And what I love about Spurgeon,
and fans don't always see it because he's so quiet,
is that when he speaks it actually means something, but
then he backs it up with his play, Like he
has not been scored on five on five and one
hundred and sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That's ridiculous for a defense.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So he you know, he doesn't just say things and
for Noah real meaning, and I think that's really what's
helped this team kind of turn it around.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Good work, have fun tonight, and we will talk soon.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Thank you, all right, See everybody'd be nice to fallness.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Yeah, that's very important.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Russo Radio Live from Pittsburgh. That game will be can
be heard tonight on the Flagship FM one hundred point
three the fan pretty close to immediately after we're done
at six, correct and on the Timberwolves channel. You'll have
available to you the Wolves in Phoenix. That's a an
NBA Cup game tonight, the Wolves in the Suns. I
(21:40):
think you mentioned it. It's eight o'clock or so. Tap,
so let's pause. We'll get caught up. We'll get to
some good reaction via the text line and maybe revisit
the Vikings Packers story in our final thirty minutes. So
lots to get to before we wrap things up. At
the top of the op.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
That the Vikings are teaming up for Toys for Tots.
Youem to join us live at Shields and EAM Prairie Tuesday,
December second, five am six thirty pm for our annual
broadcast presented by Unreal. You can bring, bring a toy,
spread some joy. If you're one of the first fifty
donors to each show. You can just score a sweet
KFN unreal winter beating details now kfan dot com, slash Toys,
(22:31):
lots of.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Good texts coming in a number of subjects throughout today's program.
Guards you'll be back with us on Monday. I believe
he is, so he's probably already landed by now in
the Greater Chicago Land area. Gophers will play Northwestern at
Wrigley Field. That's an eleven o'clock tap, which can be
heard on the flagship Tomorrow morning pregame show will begin
(22:55):
at nine o'clock. And we had a long conversation with
Ben Gessling on the development of JJ McCarthy. It's the
story that easily dominates coverage and should quite frankly, I
know there are folks out there who weary of it,
but that's the story.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
It's There's a.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Reason that you're hearing so much about it is that
as much as people some people complain about wall to
wall coverage on it, the fact of the matter is
it's eighty percent of what people want to talk about
regarding this team right now. No matter what your position is,
I'm McCarthy, the team's situation, what they should do going
(23:37):
into the future, etc. And Matt, who's also aka I'll
hang up and listen guy, wrote, let's be real with
the JJ talk, Dan, the average fan and critical media
types just don't have the patience to wait if young
quarterbacks are very erratic. But the only way to have
a multi year championship window is with a franchise quarterback.
So the impatient folks are just gonna have to deal
(23:58):
with it because the growth ups are running the show.
I'll hang up and listen. He's not wrong, but he's
conveniently leaving one nugget out that makes his point a
little less relevant. I would say the issue. And you know, again,
(24:21):
no one can say that we're only bringing this up now.
We warned a hang up and listen guy many others
through training camp, really through much of the summer and
into training camp, that there was going to be inevitably
an inherent unfairness to the expectation level for McCarthy immediately,
(24:46):
and it was set up by the decision making from
the franchise itself, from the people who run this franchise,
the Vikings. As I said with Ben Gesling, in an
odd sense, it was their misfortune to finish fourteen and
three a year ago, and it's hard after fourteen and
(25:07):
three season, even one that ended with a first round
playoff loss, to then say we're going with the kid quarterback.
We think, like with many young quarterbacks, especially one as
young as he is chronologically speaking, too, it's going to
be bumpy. We accept that and understand that, but we
think the payoff is going to be big time for
(25:29):
the next ten years for this team. So therefore, we're
never going to say we're not trying to win games,
but we are saying that it may not be all
that easy for us to compete this season. Impossible message
to deliver, especially when you spend the offseason spending the
(25:51):
amount of money on free agents, aging free agents, I
might add, not young free agents, aging free agents to
try to flesh out to help the roster. And I
know what they're thinking was it was sound on one level.
The thinking was, look, what's the best way to ease
(26:13):
the pain of the ups and downs of JJ and
perhaps make it easier for him to slide in and
have some measure of effectiveness infrastructure around him, an improved
offensive line that will help with protection, adding another running back,
meaning at least in theory that we're going to run
(26:36):
the ball more often, we're going to go to more
of a controlled passing game. Even defensively, with the additions
to the interior part of the defensive line, it was
why can't we build on what we did a year ago,
which was to have a top five defense, top five
scoring defense. So you do all those things. The message
(26:57):
you're delivering is that you expect to compete this and
I honestly believe that the Vikings koc included, thought that
he could quarterback whisper jj enough through season one that
he would not be the reason the Vikings struggled or
(27:18):
a significant reason that he might not always be able to,
you know, win games or be it consistently great quarterback,
but that he would be when he wasn't that good,
he would be pulled along by all of the other
infrastructure that has indeed been built. So to hang up
(27:40):
and listen, guys, point, Patience is harder, not because people
are unaware of the fact that it takes time on
many young quarterbacks. Patience is harder when you send out
all sorts of messages by your activity in the offseason,
especially that seems to indicate you want to be a
(28:05):
viable playoff factor this year. So I honestly believe that
the miscalculation was they either convinced themselves by arrogance, hubris,
or even believe that this could be one of those
situations where McCarthy was good to very good almost from
(28:27):
the beginning of his career. It's always easier or easier.
I guess I should say to exercise patients when you
don't think there's anything at stake. If you're a team
that is worthy of winning seven games, maybe even eight games,
then it's easy to say, where are we going, Let's
(28:47):
play it out. There's going to be some hides and
definitely some lows. No one will convince me that they
thought the lows are going to be this low with
him as often as they have been, even with the
games that he obviously did. You know, he hasn't played
in that many games. That's I think the fatal flaw
regarding what a hang up and listen guys said, we're
(29:09):
we're it's not. Being a critical media type isn't doesn't
mean that you can't see what, for example, the Packers
have done what New England did a year ago in
basically a season that was kind of a throwaway season,
throwing the QB out there. What the Bears did with
Caleb Williams last year, we can see it, absolutely see it.
(29:33):
They conveyed a series of messages that I think unwittingly
contributed to the impatience, the unusual lever level of impatience
that's been shown in the case of McCarthy, because they
didn't think there would have to be a need to
throw away any season, including this one. That's the disconnect here,
and I think that's largely what's happened, and a lot
(29:54):
of it, as I said earlier, is probably unfair to
the kid. In all honesty, I put it more on
their evaluation of him then I put it on him.
He is what he is at this point. In addition,
if you talk to people off the record in the league,
they'll tell you they too know the process, that the
(30:17):
process takes time, that it's it's not a straight line,
and it's stunning how bad a quarterback can look and
how much of a reversal can come if he just
keeps being thrown out there and he learns things. All
of that is, you know, undeniable. But what they say
(30:41):
and what I hear is this feels different. This feels
like some of this stuff is so fundamental that well
Salisbury told us yesterday, much of the stuff that the
Vikings with m O'Connell and even JJ are talking about,
He said, these are off season things that you have
(31:03):
to deal with. These aren't things that you can really
have much of a chance to succeed if you're having
to deal with them. In terms of the repetition, in
terms of him being able to have the right stance
and the right you know, throwing motion, you know, should
say pass after pass, it's going to be pretty hard
(31:27):
to get those breakthroughs during a season. And to that extent,
I think what that underscores is that he's not as
far along at this level as they thought he was
going to be. And again, if they were a throwaway team,
then I don't I think there would still be there's
(31:48):
always Chris Carter said it, there's always going to be
a value. It's a valuation it's an evaluation league, it's
a performance league, so you're always allowed. Carter was allowed.
He didn't say anything wrong when he responded the way
he did to what took place in this last game.
That there's still going to be in real time evaluation.
Trust me when I say there's certainly evaluation. If he's
(32:11):
playing well, there are people who are going to want
to project, well, see look what he's showing. So even
though you could say, well, what's he really proven, because
he's got to prove he can do that again and
again and again. So that would be my answer, long
winded as usual to hang up and listen guy, that sure,
there's among some fans people are always going to be
(32:31):
too impatient, but it was inevitable there was going to
be impatience here because the Vikings themselves conveyed the notion
they thought they could pull this off from year one,
and I think so far they have been proven incorrect.
Now he's still got time the rest of the season,
and we follow the story on this show and we'll
see indeed where it goes. But I think that is
(32:53):
all of what needs to be factored in to this
conversation as well. We've talked about this for a while,
but I think it's important to sort of review it
at particularly at a time like this. Let's get caught
up one more segment. We'll wrap up the program. Remind
you of a very good guest lineup today and what
we have coming up later tonight. Here in the family,
(33:14):
it's the bumper to bumper show rap. It'sprite to you
by American pressure. Here's the other piece that should be disturbing,
even to the mc bobos who say patients can't panic.
The condition of the team that McCarthy inherited is vastly better,
(33:41):
even with the injuries, vastly better than what most young
we're building in him into a franchise quarterback has to
work with. You can go You can cite an endless
series of examples, New England being one with Drake May
Caleb Williams. You want to go further back, you can
go through the list. That also should make it less problematic.
(34:07):
It should make it less likely that a quarterback could
look this ill equipped for significant parts of games. Ill
equipped tends to make more sense if the team you
inherited came off, you know, two and fifteen, or back
in the old days one and thirteen, something like that,
because those teams are tending to start over and they're
(34:29):
still very much in building mode, which the vikings are not.
That's the whole point of building all the infrastructure. And
I'm aware we've had injuries. But that's not there's too
much skill on this team for me to think that, well,
he's got admit, he's got to elevate everybody on the club.
He's got several skill players offensively that should be able
(34:53):
that it should make it pretty easy or or less
demanding of him to actually, you know, in a Patrick
Mahomes kind of way, build everybody else up. I want
to thank an outstanding array of guests today, notwithstanding Gerby,
who joined at three point thirty this evening or this afternoon,
also had a good conversation with Guestling on this and
(35:16):
many more things related to the Purple and then Russo
Radio Live from a Pittsburgh where your favorite hockey team
is back in action tonight on the fan. In fact,
that's where we're going to be out at six o'clock today.
Sermons one hour edition. Are you in this week? Are
(35:37):
you on your way to Green Bay?
Speaker 4 (35:39):
No?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I wish you, wish you wanted to be. You're still
working on it. What if you get a ticket offer tomorrow?
Then what could happen? We'll see what happens. You can't
say okay, I'm open to it.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
We will.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I'm sure review a further preview Vikings Packers review Gophers Northwestern.
Is this a trophy game? I don't think there is
a trophy for this game. I don't recall a trophy
for Gophers Northwestern. There is now no that's sad but true.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
And what else?
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Who knows what else will cover. It'll be a one
hour show with the Vikings Packers scheduled for high noon
and all the pregame show action will follow us at
ten o'clock. That will be on Saturday. I don't think
you have to worry much about who's your hotline this
week because the Hoosiers are off much deserved week off
before they prepare for the old Oaken Bucket game against
(36:35):
the Purdue. The pretty dreadful, although occasionally competitive perdue boiler
Makers so very much hated in Indiana in that rivalry,
and at that point Indiana would finish the regular season undefeated,
and that would mean playing Ohio State for all the
marbles in the Big Ten title game. I still have
(36:57):
a difficult time believing it. Thank you for texting, Thank
you for your participation in all of our activities today,
and we will talk to you as I said Sunday
at nine am, right here, in the fan minute, I'll
be
Speaker 4 (37:16):
I'll be your ri
The Fan welcomes Trans Siberian Orchestra for two amazing shows
at Target Center December twenty eighth, three pm and seven
thirty pm. Tickets on sale now can complete show details,
including a link to buy tickets kfan dot com key recount.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, if our next guest is at the arena formerly
known as the X, he'll be at the wrong place.
How could I forget? I mean, we just talked to
Billy Garran yesterday. Our favorite hockey team, the hottest team
in all of hockey, is on the road in Pittsburgh
to take on the hated Penguins. And that is indeed
(00:37):
where Russo Radio Now originates. It's the whole Fallness debacle.
Is kind of sad because yesterday I started the show
with very positive wild hockey conversation, especially involving the kid goaltender.
(00:57):
And then we also had Bill garn On and he
didn't hear the start of the show, or pretended to
not hear it, and then he texted guards Ye after
Garan was on, to say did Garon have anything interesting
to say? So you can't win with Russo with with
with fondness, I mean, it's like he wants to whine
and complain too much basketball talk, too much negativity about
(01:20):
the wild and then he just ignores it when we
go positive and doesn't even pay any attention.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
No, he's just there to complain. I mean he and
everybody knows it.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I mean, Guestling ripped them, so everybody's in on it.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So like everybody just knows exactly what he is about,
and it's about negativity and uh, you know all that.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Type of stuff. So now fallness is the greatest.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Of course he is. I mean it's all it's all
meant and kind of good fun. Occasionally.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, you know, you you rip people you love.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, that's what they say. Anyway, that's for sure. A
question about that.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
He must really really really love me. Oh there's rips
me every day he does.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
He's kind of hard on you, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah he is.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I don't know that anybody's heart better, honest.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, I think I deserve better.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
I'm such a nice, positive, glass half full person.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well you put him on the map. I mean that's
the thing. No, only no one even know the faullness
exists without you think about it exactly.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I mean, he got a bunch of candles, sense' That's.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
My theory is he's now getting like ten to twenty
candles every year, and I'm out of the loop because
I got ripped for not sharing properly the candles that
came in for both of us. So I think it's
going to be held against me forever. I never get
any candles anymore. He still gets a bunch of them.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Yeah, I'm sure he does. Clearly, I've been in his
booth lately. He's got different sense now, So I think
that whoever sent you those candles to begin with, he
probably gave his private address to that person.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well here it is, in fact, this is this one
of his burner accounts. Let's see, No, this is well,
maybe it is. It's a six y five to one
number listed as Guardsy's conscience, seven minutes late to get
to hockey talk typical. So if that's it's not a
fallenness burner, it's somebody on his behalf.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So Garrin.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
He said he was very disappointed to me yesterday because
he said I was way too positive and I didn't
have my usual edge, and he was disarmed by the
whole thing, was very confused by it. And I said, well,
right now, I mean it's hard to complain too much
about what's been going on lately. The question, obviously is
can it be sustained? That's always the question. But what
are we seeing is it? Is it all defense in
(03:29):
front of the goalies? Is it all goalies despite the defense,
or is it the proverbial combo platter that's gotten us
to a place where we are routinely yielding zero, one
or two goals rather than four, five and six goals.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I would have said to Billy,
give it a week. You know, yes, this interview could
have a very different tone the next week, very te
with me. Yeah, I mean, I think it's it's all
the above, I think. I mean, you know, after he
ripped me this morning for chirp this morning, for being
on the road, because I've done very few road games
(04:03):
so far this year. I told Matt Zucarella, I kissed
his button and told him that this was all because
of him. This is after Matt's decided to hirt me
for five minutes. But you know, like, I mean, look,
since they haven't lost in regulations since Matt's has been
back in the lineup. But I know that a lot
of us, you know, a lot of fans even rolled
their eyes that we were acting like that Matt Zucarello's
(04:24):
injury was such a huge deal to start the year,
but it really was. I mean, you know, and I
know that we're talking about a thirty seven year old
and all that stuff in the last year of his contract,
but he adds so much to one curl presofs game,
his overall mood. But what it does to the lineup
on a team that doesn't have a lot of offensive depths,
so it now, you know, puts Boldie in a much
(04:45):
better spot where he's now freed up because if you're
another team, you're going to be really concentrating on Carill
on a separate line. And they've gotten more balance scoring
up and down their lineup because of that. But this
really does start in.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Their own zone.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
In the neutral zone they've just been so you know,
I didn't like the way they played the other night,
but they won the game, so that's all that matters.
As as Matt Boldie said after the game, nobody's gonna remember,
you know, if they make the playoffs several months from now,
that they that they played bad and won that game.
Their reality is is that they've just been a much
better team defensively. They've gotten much better goaltending from both
(05:18):
Philip Gustus and yes per Valstat. Volstat's gotten them points
in all seven of his starts. They have a six
game point street coming into tonight's game. And it felt
like that loss against Pittsburgh on October thirtieth or October
twenty ninth, thirtieth, it really was the churning point. It
was the next day where jared'svirgin had the meeting, and
ever since they've gotten back to more of what we
(05:40):
expect their identity to be, which is in you know,
direct north south type team, hardfore checking, taking care of
their own end first. And they've gotten enough scoring to
to get through right now. But the up the it's
crazy the numbers the month in the month of October
compared to now, Like in the month of October, they
trailed in the second most amount of minutes in the league.
(06:01):
Now they've scored in ten straight games, scored first goal, Yeah,
scored first excuse me. And there you know their goals
against it's second in the league. Actually it's now best
because San Jose gave up a bunch of goals yesterday.
But so they've now, you know, in the last nine
games that they have a one point eight nine goals
against average.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
In the month of.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
October they were at the bottom. They're penalty hill in
the month of October was sixty percent. It's eighty seven
percent in the last nine. So everything about their game
has just absolutely improved here. So it's it's it is
a combination of everything.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Gus bus I think is starting tonight, and there are a
lot of people saying, well, why go with the hot guy?
But as you point out, I think, to me, what's
interesting is that clearly we're seeing the ascension of Volstet
to a place where whatever the percentage between the two
goalies was kind of anticipated as being before the season started,
(06:55):
I gotta believe it's gonna get a lot closer to
fifty to fifty, even if it's not fifty fifty on
the basis of what we've seen thus far.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, and I think it very well could be fifty
to fifty like they are. You know, John Hines is like,
don't hold me to a strict rotation the way the
Carolina Hurricanes do it.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But it's sure sounds like that.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I mean, you know, for the first part of the season,
other than one game, Vaalstadt was pretty much a back
to back starter and and now he's he's I mean,
he is going to start Sunday's game, most likely in Winnipeg,
with a day off tomorrow. So you know, that is
that's very different than what we saw.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
The other thing that I think we all are forgetting
because Valstead has been so great here lately, is that
Gustuson's last two or three starts have been really really
good as well. So you know, in this type of season, Look,
we just saw Connor Hellibuck today. You know, tomorrow he's
having a procedure that's going to keep him out four
to six weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
This is a condensed schedule.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
This year where it just seems like injuries are running
rampant throughout the National Hockey League. The Wild played an
eight to thirty game a couple nights ago. Players can
get back into their into their homes yesterday until about
one am. They flew here, you know, less than twelve
hours later, and then the tonight they fly to Winnipeg
for an after goodnowon game Sunday. So I think John
Hines was also looking at it like you know volstat
(08:06):
very well could have been you know, extremely fatigued today.
So let him work with Freddy Schabbatt a little extra
in the morning and and start us tonight and and
uh you know, maybe maybe they can get on a
roll here and continue getting a great goaltending from both
of them.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Are we happy so far with the year off promotion? What? What?
What's the scuttle but around the club?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, I thought he was really good the other night.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I think the line was great, you know, as as
John Hines said, it was a mixed bag, but I
really don't think it had a lot to do a
year off. There were a couple of defensive plays where
he got on the wrong side of sa Jackson Blake
and the wild got fortunate into those plays. But I
think that y're of you know, he gets an assist
on his what second shift of the game, he gets
another assist for his first career multi point game. I
(08:50):
thought defensively he was really good. Breakouts he was really good,
and supporting those two he was really good. So I
thought it was a really uh, you know, quality for
game for a guy that was seeing elevated ice time
that could have easily deferred to two great veterans in
Caprisof and Zukarrelo. But I thought he fit in really
well there. I love what I'm seeing off the ice today.
(09:11):
I mean, that's the one thing I do like about
being on the road is you get to see things
that you don't get to see at treer Rink because
you know you only get a certain amount.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Of access there.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
But here, you know, the guys had an eleven to
fifty bus and who's still working out together? You know
at eleven fifty one it's Ere and Caprice off. So
it just feels like you're, like Caprisof is just taking
this kid under his wing. You could tell how much
you're of absolutely respects Curl, and that's the type of
leadership that you really want from a superstar for a
(09:43):
young rookie.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
The closest I got to getting garin going yesterday, it
was about you're off, and I said, well, are you
guys gonna give I mean, you're gonna let him play
through the occasional mistake. I mean you can if you
it's a catch twenty two. You want him to get better,
you gotta give him a chance to get better. And
he very snappily replied this isn't a developmental league. You know,
(10:04):
nothing is going to be handed to anybody, and that
goes back to the central you know, balancing act that
you and I have talked about before, that there's some
truth to what he says you can't hand any there's
too much a stake. But on the other hand, you
do have to try to find out, and the only
way you find out is to let a guy occasionally
play through perhaps as lows you performance.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah, I mean, look, first of all, you got to
look at Bill Gharon's history, right, he grew up in
the New Jersey Devils organization and the New Jersey Devils
and Loula Amorello had a very big development plan where
guys had to spend time in the minors and develop,
and so that's just sort of the way that Bill
Gharon learned the craft. Then he goes into management and
right here in Pittsburgh he was in you know, their
(10:46):
their head of development essentially for years and so that
so he truly believes in a path here. But then
you also look at the Wilds organizational plan and what
you could you could agree or disagree if you're a fan,
I totally respect it, but they are in.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
They are in a win now mode.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
This is not a team that's just gonna be like
you know, first of all, they don't have prospects like
Logan Cooley and Maclin celebrany In these guys okay. But
the other thing is is that they're you know, the
San Jose Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks, these type of teams
that have stunk for a while that have had the
beneficiary of being able to draft at the top of
the first round every single year. They are in development
(11:25):
mode where they are willing to let these guys play
through mistakes, where the Wild just are not willing to
do that. And so you also have a coach and
I know Wild fans seem to think that John Hines
hates young kids.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Matt Boldi absolutely soared under.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Under John Hines. Marco Rossi had his best couple of
years under John Hines. He's playing ze boyam in on
a number one power play. I mean, there's only so
many kids that you could play and give them a
ton of time. So you have to bide your time
and then the wait for injuries and now don all
you're off because of the Marco Rossi and Ryan Hartman
injuries is having this.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Opportunity, so they are in a win win now mode.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
But when you have a coach that's coaching a win
now mode, he's gonna go with guys that he knows
and trusts, and that's Marcus Johansen, that's tonight, Zach Bagosian
getting back in the lineup for Damon Hunt, who's played well,
but he's had a couple of really rough games in
a row. So I think for the most part, you know,
I think that John is doing essentially what he's been told,
what he's tasked with, and that's to get this wild
(12:22):
team into the playoffs so they can hopefully one of
these eons go on a run.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
A lot of texts coming in Russell Radio is indeed
joining us from the road. Felino hasn't scored right six
one two, guy worried or still contributing.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think he's contributing greatly. I mean, look, the last
couple of weeks have been his best hockey. I think
the first eight or nine games, maybe longer, he was
like a lot of guys on this team that just
look lost, was trying to do too much, do you know.
Was on his own page he admitted that to me
and the story that I wrote yesterday about the team
meeting that him and Brock Faber and Jared Spersion kind
of unveiled, open up the curtain and let me in on.
(13:02):
But I think that even though he's not scoring, he's
been much better defensively and he's making an impact on
games physically. So he's looking much more like the Marcus
you know that we've grown accustomed to seeing in the
last eight or nine years that he's been in Minnesota.
So I do think that, you know, it's gonna calm.
He badly needs something to go right. Offensively, his line's
been much better, at least when you're off with centering it.
(13:23):
I didn't love them the other night with Trenion and Hennestrosa.
I think Trenion just looks awkward to me at center,
but they have no choice right now. But I just
think that Marcus is playing, you know, as well as
you can expect for a guy that obviously doesn't have
a goal. I know that that fans want him, you know, fans,
I mean we all, we all look at stats. Nobody
twenty one games into the season wants Akuseg and their
(13:45):
goal to column. He is not happy about it. I've
he mentions it constantly. I've never covered a player that's
in a slump like this that constantly brings it up
to the media. It was almost it's almost like a
disarming way to like, yea, if I keep on telling you,
you're not gonna rip me for it, you know, last day,
it's kind of.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Like that exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
But look, I mean, I think I think he's playing well.
And the one thing I know that wild fans have
asked me a lot about him and Hartman and potential trades.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I mean, first of all, Marcus.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Has a full no move But two, even if he didn't,
he's the one guy on this team that I just
think Bill Aaron would he could trade him tomorrow if
Marcus would waive. Like teams call about Marcus all the time.
Bill has mentioned that to me, but he just believes
that he's so important to the fabric of that locker
room that I just think that he would never move him.
(14:33):
And again he's not. I know that fans want him
to score, and you got a score, you know in
the league where there's four lines that are rolling and
he's on the third line and gets significant ice time.
But I think that you know, he impacts the way
the game in different ways beyond the offense, but obviously
they need him to start contributing in that way too.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Speaking of centers and lack thereof, this comes from Jacob
and maple Grove. Why did the Wild trade Freddy Gudreau
with the lack of center depth? What little they traded
him for. It's not like that was a no brainer
move to get rid of him.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, I mean, you know, in a lot of ways,
it's because of a lot of the things that that
the fans won, and that's not a guy blocking Deanola
you're of. I mean I think that Look, I you know,
it's funny that that that fan brought that up because
I've actually, you know, started to ask around the last
couple of days if maybe the Wild would want to
try to get Freddy back. And coincidentally, Freddy's right now
at their team hotel because the Kraken are playing the
(15:26):
Pittsburgh Pungmans tomorrow and they're at the same hotel right now.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
So they could they could just grab Freddy.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
But you know, I think it was to open a
door figure out so he had an easier way to
make the team. It was to you know, open doors
for guys like Liam Ogrin to make the team.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
So it was one.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Way to get to to to kind of open that.
The other the other thing, to be blunt, is he's
even though he had fifteen team no trade clause, Seattle
wasn't on it. And you know, there's only a certain
amount of guys on this team that you can move
to make changes this summer, and I think that was
that was sort of a big reason, you know, they
wanted to upgrade in their bottom six and get Nico stererm.
(16:03):
I think they you know, look, Nico's gonna take warm
ups tonight. The hope is that will play Sunday. The
fact that he is taking warm ups tonight for the
first time since twenty twenty two with the Wild, by
the way, I think that shows you that he's definitely
playing Sunday. So I think that was another thing is
that they always had in their mind that they wanted
to go get a different type of center this offseason.
That wasn't that you know, wasn't Freddy, But but you're right,
(16:23):
with all the injuries they have right now, Freddie would
be extremely useful.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Brandon and Becker regarding Ogrin, falling out of favor among
scouts league wide. Could we see him traded this season
before his value tanks or the wild content just playing
him on the fourth line when he's up with the
big club.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
What I love about that question.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
It's clearly a athletic subscriber, because I put that in
the mail bag the other day. I talked to a
lot of scouts lately, and I included that mailbag that
you know, a lot of the scouts that come to
Grand Casino Arena are scouts that also have Iowa on
the circuit, so they've seen a lot of him, and
they just say that he looks like a very different guy.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think he's thinking too much.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think that, you know, he's so trying to be
an impactful player that he's constantly thinking like where you're
on the ice and things like that. And when you
do that, it just makes you look slow and play slow.
And so he probably just needs to be a little
more carefree and just go out there and play and
do what he's done for years. But and it doesn't matter,
like I you know, like it does not matter who
(17:22):
you're playing for. You got to control what you can control.
And Liam Ogrin obviously is not going to get a
lot of chances to score playing with Ben Jones and
Tyler Pitlick, But it doesn't mean that he has to
look invisible on the ice and and it could be
up to him to make that line, make it some
sort of impact both physically and off and offensively, and
(17:42):
so he's just got to be better. But to that
person's point, I think one of the things I threw
in the mailbag is one of the things that I've
learned that covering this game for a long time, especially
when you have a first round pick, if you start
to get the impression that that guy is going to
be somebody that's not going to make it to the
make it at the NHL level with the eyes of
a scout that you thought that he was going to be,
(18:04):
you better, you better trade him before everybody else in
the league realizes it. And that but the but the
danger in that is that if you trade him and
then he breaks out somewhere else, you're gonna look stupid.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
So they really got to make a very good.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Assessment and analyzation of his of his game right now
and decide this because I do think that it's getting
a little worrisome right now, just the lack of impact
that we've seen so far at the NHL level. But
you know, I still think that he can be a
great hockey player. But he's got to be more assertive
on the ice. We've got to see that shot that
that we always see in practices, and and you know
(18:38):
I've said this to you before, but there's a lot
of players in this league that I've covered that look
incredible at eleven am and look awful at seven pm.
And so far, he looks incredible in every practice that
I see him at and we haven't seen that so
far at the NHL level. When back, uh, the hope
is Sunday, he's he's gonna warm up tonight. I'm gonna
get him after the game now that he's been activated
(18:58):
off IR and have an off day story on him tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
I know that he's definitely chomping at the bid.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Lastly, from your perspective, the most interesting nugget you gleaned
out of what you've reported on the player's only meeting,
I just think that what.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Was I think it was just a unique meeting.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Usually player's only meetings and trust me, I've been in
many in this building. It seems like every time the
Welcome to Pittsburgh, it's like, you know, a calamity about
to happen. We've been in this building when Eric's next
broken his leg, closed our meetings, when Bruce brud Drew
forgot to put a defenceman on the uh Rid, Joe,
you remember that one Joe O'donald's sitting next to me.
(19:38):
Bruce brud Drop forgot to put a defenseman on the
on the starting lineup, and that they had to play
a defenseman short. I think was Pattern or Quincy or somebody.
So it was definitely Pattern. So uh yeah, So I
mean it seems like it's always there. But usually the
player meetings happened after the game. You know, you always
tweet about it when your reporter up door is still
close fifteen minutes after, so you know they're having a meeting.
(19:59):
This one, it was substantive, like like Jared Spurgeon immediately
told Marcus Felino, I want to do it tomorrow and
they they the leaders had text conversations on things to
talk about, topics to bring up. Jared and John Hines
had a conversation about things that Jared was seeing and
wanted to bring up in this meeting, and then everybody
(20:20):
talked and it just it was typical Jared Spurgeon, like
a very positive meeting, but it was in other words,
you know, let's get our head out of your note,
you know what, and start playing more like ourselves. So
I thought that, you know, I was really like Faber
was really really good in the story. So if you're
an athletic subscriber or want to be an athletic subscriber,
read that story because Favor really opened the door and
Felino and Spurgeon really echoed the things that he was saying.
(20:42):
And I think it's a real big reason why a
lot of these guys are playing great, like Favor's playing
his best hockey this season. And what I love about Spurgeon,
and fans don't always see it because he's so quiet,
is that when he speaks it actually means something, but
then he backs it up with his play, Like he
has not been scored on five on five and one
hundred and sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That's ridiculous for a defense.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So he you know, he doesn't just say things and
for Noah real meaning, and I think that's really what's
helped this team kind of turn it around.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Good work, have fun tonight, and we will talk soon.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Thank you, all right, See everybody'd be nice to fallness.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Yeah, that's very important.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Russo Radio Live from Pittsburgh. That game will be can
be heard tonight on the Flagship FM one hundred point
three the fan pretty close to immediately after we're done
at six, correct and on the Timberwolves channel. You'll have
available to you the Wolves in Phoenix. That's a an
NBA Cup game tonight, the Wolves in the Suns. I
(21:40):
think you mentioned it. It's eight o'clock or so. Tap,
so let's pause. We'll get caught up. We'll get to
some good reaction via the text line and maybe revisit
the Vikings Packers story in our final thirty minutes. So
lots to get to before we wrap things up. At
the top of the op.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
That the Vikings are teaming up for Toys for Tots.
Youem to join us live at Shields and EAM Prairie Tuesday,
December second, five am six thirty pm for our annual
broadcast presented by Unreal. You can bring, bring a toy,
spread some joy. If you're one of the first fifty
donors to each show. You can just score a sweet
KFN unreal winter beating details now kfan dot com, slash Toys,
(22:31):
lots of.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Good texts coming in a number of subjects throughout today's program.
Guards you'll be back with us on Monday. I believe
he is, so he's probably already landed by now in
the Greater Chicago Land area. Gophers will play Northwestern at
Wrigley Field. That's an eleven o'clock tap, which can be
heard on the flagship Tomorrow morning pregame show will begin
(22:55):
at nine o'clock. And we had a long conversation with
Ben Gessling on the development of JJ McCarthy. It's the
story that easily dominates coverage and should quite frankly, I
know there are folks out there who weary of it,
but that's the story.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
It's There's a.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Reason that you're hearing so much about it is that
as much as people some people complain about wall to
wall coverage on it, the fact of the matter is
it's eighty percent of what people want to talk about
regarding this team right now. No matter what your position is,
I'm McCarthy, the team's situation, what they should do going
(23:37):
into the future, etc. And Matt, who's also aka I'll
hang up and listen guy, wrote, let's be real with
the JJ talk, Dan, the average fan and critical media
types just don't have the patience to wait if young
quarterbacks are very erratic. But the only way to have
a multi year championship window is with a franchise quarterback.
So the impatient folks are just gonna have to deal
(23:58):
with it because the growth ups are running the show.
I'll hang up and listen. He's not wrong, but he's
conveniently leaving one nugget out that makes his point a
little less relevant. I would say the issue. And you know, again,
(24:21):
no one can say that we're only bringing this up now.
We warned a hang up and listen guy many others
through training camp, really through much of the summer and
into training camp, that there was going to be inevitably
an inherent unfairness to the expectation level for McCarthy immediately,
(24:46):
and it was set up by the decision making from
the franchise itself, from the people who run this franchise,
the Vikings. As I said with Ben Gesling, in an
odd sense, it was their misfortune to finish fourteen and
three a year ago, and it's hard after fourteen and
(25:07):
three season, even one that ended with a first round
playoff loss, to then say we're going with the kid quarterback.
We think, like with many young quarterbacks, especially one as
young as he is chronologically speaking, too, it's going to
be bumpy. We accept that and understand that, but we
think the payoff is going to be big time for
(25:29):
the next ten years for this team. So therefore, we're
never going to say we're not trying to win games,
but we are saying that it may not be all
that easy for us to compete this season. Impossible message
to deliver, especially when you spend the offseason spending the
(25:51):
amount of money on free agents, aging free agents, I
might add, not young free agents, aging free agents to
try to flesh out to help the roster. And I
know what they're thinking was it was sound on one level.
The thinking was, look, what's the best way to ease
(26:13):
the pain of the ups and downs of JJ and
perhaps make it easier for him to slide in and
have some measure of effectiveness infrastructure around him, an improved
offensive line that will help with protection, adding another running back,
meaning at least in theory that we're going to run
(26:36):
the ball more often, we're going to go to more
of a controlled passing game. Even defensively, with the additions
to the interior part of the defensive line, it was
why can't we build on what we did a year ago,
which was to have a top five defense, top five
scoring defense. So you do all those things. The message
(26:57):
you're delivering is that you expect to compete this and
I honestly believe that the Vikings koc included, thought that
he could quarterback whisper jj enough through season one that
he would not be the reason the Vikings struggled or
(27:18):
a significant reason that he might not always be able to,
you know, win games or be it consistently great quarterback,
but that he would be when he wasn't that good,
he would be pulled along by all of the other
infrastructure that has indeed been built. So to hang up
(27:40):
and listen, guys, point, Patience is harder, not because people
are unaware of the fact that it takes time on
many young quarterbacks. Patience is harder when you send out
all sorts of messages by your activity in the offseason,
especially that seems to indicate you want to be a
(28:05):
viable playoff factor this year. So I honestly believe that
the miscalculation was they either convinced themselves by arrogance, hubris,
or even believe that this could be one of those
situations where McCarthy was good to very good almost from
(28:27):
the beginning of his career. It's always easier or easier.
I guess I should say to exercise patients when you
don't think there's anything at stake. If you're a team
that is worthy of winning seven games, maybe even eight games,
then it's easy to say, where are we going, Let's
(28:47):
play it out. There's going to be some hides and
definitely some lows. No one will convince me that they
thought the lows are going to be this low with
him as often as they have been, even with the
games that he obviously did. You know, he hasn't played
in that many games. That's I think the fatal flaw
regarding what a hang up and listen guys said, we're
(29:09):
we're it's not. Being a critical media type isn't doesn't
mean that you can't see what, for example, the Packers
have done what New England did a year ago in
basically a season that was kind of a throwaway season,
throwing the QB out there. What the Bears did with
Caleb Williams last year, we can see it, absolutely see it.
(29:33):
They conveyed a series of messages that I think unwittingly
contributed to the impatience, the unusual lever level of impatience
that's been shown in the case of McCarthy, because they
didn't think there would have to be a need to
throw away any season, including this one. That's the disconnect here,
and I think that's largely what's happened, and a lot
(29:54):
of it, as I said earlier, is probably unfair to
the kid. In all honesty, I put it more on
their evaluation of him then I put it on him.
He is what he is at this point. In addition,
if you talk to people off the record in the league,
they'll tell you they too know the process, that the
(30:17):
process takes time, that it's it's not a straight line,
and it's stunning how bad a quarterback can look and
how much of a reversal can come if he just
keeps being thrown out there and he learns things. All
of that is, you know, undeniable. But what they say
(30:41):
and what I hear is this feels different. This feels
like some of this stuff is so fundamental that well
Salisbury told us yesterday, much of the stuff that the
Vikings with m O'Connell and even JJ are talking about,
He said, these are off season things that you have
(31:03):
to deal with. These aren't things that you can really
have much of a chance to succeed if you're having
to deal with them. In terms of the repetition, in
terms of him being able to have the right stance
and the right you know, throwing motion, you know, should
say pass after pass, it's going to be pretty hard
(31:27):
to get those breakthroughs during a season. And to that extent,
I think what that underscores is that he's not as
far along at this level as they thought he was
going to be. And again, if they were a throwaway team,
then I don't I think there would still be there's
(31:48):
always Chris Carter said it, there's always going to be
a value. It's a valuation it's an evaluation league, it's
a performance league, so you're always allowed. Carter was allowed.
He didn't say anything wrong when he responded the way
he did to what took place in this last game.
That there's still going to be in real time evaluation.
Trust me when I say there's certainly evaluation. If he's
(32:11):
playing well, there are people who are going to want
to project, well, see look what he's showing. So even
though you could say, well, what's he really proven, because
he's got to prove he can do that again and
again and again. So that would be my answer, long
winded as usual to hang up and listen guy, that sure,
there's among some fans people are always going to be
(32:31):
too impatient, but it was inevitable there was going to
be impatience here because the Vikings themselves conveyed the notion
they thought they could pull this off from year one,
and I think so far they have been proven incorrect.
Now he's still got time the rest of the season,
and we follow the story on this show and we'll
see indeed where it goes. But I think that is
(32:53):
all of what needs to be factored in to this
conversation as well. We've talked about this for a while,
but I think it's important to sort of review it
at particularly at a time like this. Let's get caught
up one more segment. We'll wrap up the program. Remind
you of a very good guest lineup today and what
we have coming up later tonight. Here in the family,
(33:14):
it's the bumper to bumper show rap. It'sprite to you
by American pressure. Here's the other piece that should be disturbing,
even to the mc bobos who say patients can't panic.
The condition of the team that McCarthy inherited is vastly better,
(33:41):
even with the injuries, vastly better than what most young
we're building in him into a franchise quarterback has to
work with. You can go You can cite an endless
series of examples, New England being one with Drake May
Caleb Williams. You want to go further back, you can
go through the list. That also should make it less problematic.
(34:07):
It should make it less likely that a quarterback could
look this ill equipped for significant parts of games. Ill
equipped tends to make more sense if the team you
inherited came off, you know, two and fifteen, or back
in the old days one and thirteen, something like that,
because those teams are tending to start over and they're
(34:29):
still very much in building mode, which the vikings are not.
That's the whole point of building all the infrastructure. And
I'm aware we've had injuries. But that's not there's too
much skill on this team for me to think that, well,
he's got admit, he's got to elevate everybody on the club.
He's got several skill players offensively that should be able
(34:53):
that it should make it pretty easy or or less
demanding of him to actually, you know, in a Patrick
Mahomes kind of way, build everybody else up. I want
to thank an outstanding array of guests today, notwithstanding Gerby,
who joined at three point thirty this evening or this afternoon,
also had a good conversation with Guestling on this and
(35:16):
many more things related to the Purple and then Russo
Radio Live from a Pittsburgh where your favorite hockey team
is back in action tonight on the fan. In fact,
that's where we're going to be out at six o'clock today.
Sermons one hour edition. Are you in this week? Are
(35:37):
you on your way to Green Bay?
Speaker 4 (35:39):
No?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I wish you, wish you wanted to be. You're still
working on it. What if you get a ticket offer tomorrow?
Then what could happen? We'll see what happens. You can't
say okay, I'm open to it.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
We will.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I'm sure review a further preview Vikings Packers review Gophers Northwestern.
Is this a trophy game? I don't think there is
a trophy for this game. I don't recall a trophy
for Gophers Northwestern. There is now no that's sad but true.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
And what else?
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Who knows what else will cover. It'll be a one
hour show with the Vikings Packers scheduled for high noon
and all the pregame show action will follow us at
ten o'clock. That will be on Saturday. I don't think
you have to worry much about who's your hotline this
week because the Hoosiers are off much deserved week off
before they prepare for the old Oaken Bucket game against
(36:35):
the Purdue. The pretty dreadful, although occasionally competitive perdue boiler
Makers so very much hated in Indiana in that rivalry,
and at that point Indiana would finish the regular season undefeated,
and that would mean playing Ohio State for all the
marbles in the Big Ten title game. I still have
(36:57):
a difficult time believing it. Thank you for texting, Thank
you for your participation in all of our activities today,
and we will talk to you as I said Sunday
at nine am, right here, in the fan minute, I'll
be
Speaker 4 (37:16):
I'll be your ri
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