2025 OHL Playoffs Game Recap - Round 3 Game 2 London 6 vs Kitchener 2 - OHL Overtime

For the third round of the 2025 Ontario Hockey League Playoffs, Brandon Caputo and Reece Doumani from the OHL in 60 Podcast record our game recap LIVE from Canada Life Place for a Sunday Night matchup between Western Conference rivals (1) London Knights and (3) Kitchener Rangers in Game 2 of their seven-game series, with London winning 6-2; taking a 2-0 series lead. 
Postgame comments from Kitchener Rangers head coach Jussi Ahokas and F Trent Swick as well as London Knights head coach Dale Hunter and D Henry Brzustewicz.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is Jim Joker's Voice of the Cakes to bron Next,
you're listening to OHL Overtime and in depth interview show
highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
OHL Championship Series, OHL Combine and more exclusively on the

(00:47):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Welcome into another episode of OHL Overtime right here on
the armshair GM Sports Network and our game recap of
the OHL Playoffs Western Conference Championship Series between the London
Knights and the Kitchener Rangers. London taking this game by
a six to two score and now lead the best
of seven series by a two nothing score. Going back
to Kitchener tomorrow night or tonight. If you're listening to

(01:21):
this the next day and your favorite on demand audio platform,
tank it Everywhere. This's tuned in live tonight on our
Armchair GM Sports Network YouTube channel. Make sure to hit
like a subscribe to smash that bell to stay up
to date with all of our live coverage as well
as you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
for all of our great reels and short content. Brandon
Kuto here with you to break down this game tonight
at Canada Life Place as the Knights take it again.

(01:45):
We'll hear postgame thoughts from head coach Dale Hunter of
the London Nights as well as defenseman Henry Brustavich. And
then on the kitchener side, we'll hear from Uca Hokus
as well as veteran forward Trent Swick. And I'm pleased
to welcome on my coho for tonight's episode. That would
be Reese Dumani, who is one half of the Ohl

(02:05):
and sixty podcast. You can go find their latest episode
as well on our network on demand and one half
of the Dogcast on the Bulldogs Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Rees, thanks so much for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
I know you just got back from a busy weekend
watching your Detroit Tigers and you were able to catch
this game as well, so really appreciate you hopping on tonight.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Hey, not a problem. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:24):
If not for construction on the QEW, I probably would
have made it for puck Drop, but made it just
after the London Nights made it one nothing and I
was able to catch myself up. But yeah, happy to
do it, Happy to do It's always always a good time.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Here, absolutely, And we'll hear more from Reese going forward
in the Ohl Finals. We've got some things in the
hop are coming for our finals content. But with that said, Reese,
I know you've kind of been focusing on the East
Side with Joe Vanderlin for the Network, with Barry and Oshawa,
but you were able to kind of get caught up
on this and there was a big storyline a couple

(02:59):
nights ago with obviously Denver Barkie leaving the game, and
then we had the big hit on Christian Humphries by
Casper Halton in early in the contest which resulted in
him leaving the game. It didn't both players did not
play in Game two to eight. We heard the postgame
thoughts from both head coaches going back and forth about
you know, sticking up for their their own teams. You know,

(03:20):
Hunter saying that the hit on Humphreys was clean, and
then obviously you see Hogas didn't agree. And then the
other side, Dale Hunter said it was a late hit
on Denver Barkie and you see Hocas didn't have a
problem with that, so both coaches saying they were wrong
in that the gamesmanship, the things that happened in the series,
we didn't have those explosive sound bites or fireworks tonight.

(03:41):
But you know what, what did you think so far?
Is it everything you expect from a London kitchen Er
Western Conference Final?

Speaker 5 (03:47):
Yeah, I would say so, probably about like seventy five percent.
I you know, it's kind of what we expected at
the at the end of the day. You know, I
thought these games would be a little bit closer. You know,
it's a Midwest Division, Matt, you know, funny enough for
the Nights. This is their third straight Midwestern rival they're
playing in the playoffs here. But uh, you know, I

(04:09):
thought the scores would be a little bit tighter. But
we're kind of seeing what we saw between the Kitchen
Rangers and Windsor Spitfires in the semifinals through the first
two games, where it was Windsor essentially in complete control
and not lopsided victories. But you know, convincing victories, I
guess is the best way to put it. And you know,
there's no love lost between these two clubs. They they're

(04:32):
not fans of each other, that's evident throughout the entire
season series, but from a one to night standpoint to
to dominate as much as they have, one hundred percent
saw this, uh being the case, you know, for the
for the Rangers, thought their starts would be better than
they have been. And we heard Ucie hocus and I
guess our listeners will hear it in a few minutes

(04:55):
are upcoming in this show. But uh, you know, he's
not a fan of the starts either. Obviously, two in
the first period in this afternoon's game not ideal. But
but again, I think it's it's still early enough in
the series that the Rangers have an opportunity to bounce back.
And I think the one thing that works in their
benefit is it's it's twenty four hours away. You know,

(05:16):
you're not waiting a day and and you know, having
a little bit of you know, let's get out of
come on, hurry up, get this game going.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
You know it's gonna be right.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
It's gonna be right tomorrow twenty four hours from now,
and or less than twenty four twenty three hours from now.
But you know, and I think that benefits of Kitchen
Rangers is they can. They can wipe the plate clean
and get started right away in Game three in front
of their home crowd too. So to this point, totally
not surprised by how London's playing a little bit for

(05:48):
the Kitchen Rangers.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
Though nine sixty one the attendance here at Canada Life
Place tonight for Game two, I expect it to be
a soul dope barn there tomorrow night and Monday night
at the Odd Reach, you know, one of the best
and all of junior hockey, just an iconic place to
catch a game, to watch a game, and you know
the Rangers will come out with their best effort.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
But we'll get.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Into it with the scoring Summery, you mentioned the shots
on net being so lopsided in the first period. Kitchen
only had two shots in the first to London's twelve.
It was forty one to twenty five at the end
of it in favor of the London Knights, and again
both teams fourteen shots in the second London fifteen to nine,
and the third. But obviously, you know, once again for

(06:27):
a second straight game, you see Hocus is not going
to be happy with this team's start because they dug
themselves a hole once again.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, they really did. And it started early again.

Speaker 5 (06:37):
You know, it's not like it was We're cruising through
the middle of the period, no score and then London
gets up one nothing. No, it's like four minutes, eleven
seconds the Knights find the back.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
Of the net.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
You know, Nurmi with his first to the playoffs. Amazing
to think that's only his first. He's been such a
dynamic player this season for the London Knights. But yeah,
it starts early, and for the Nights it was kind
of deja vu, like, hey, let's get on the same
role we did in game number one. Let's score early,
Let's score often. Was scoring for four goals in period

(07:10):
one in game number one. Only get two here and only,
but a two goal period is still one heck of
an accomplishment. Doing it three times in this game, but
four eleven in it's one nothing. Then you had late
into the first period, just under four minutes to go
in the first it's Cam Allen with an absolute snipe,

(07:30):
and yeah, it's it.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
Was London being London.

Speaker 5 (07:35):
They were really good to kick things off, and you know,
not just good in the offensive zone, but obviously in
their own zone. I mean to only give up two
shots is a huge accomplishment, especially with the firepower that
the Kitchen Rangers have up front.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
So you know, nice for Austin Elliott.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
Obviously he gets not a period off, but pretty close
to a period off, only seeing two pucks come his way.
But for the Nights, it was as close to a
perfect period as you could possibly have. I'm sure they'll
nit pick and find little plays that they maybe didn't like,
but from a fan or media standpoint, that's a textbook

(08:13):
home period for the London Nights. You out shoot your
opponent twelve to two, you outscore them to nothing, and
you are in command of this hockey game. Heading into
the intermission.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Both teams won for four and the power play tonight,
which we'll get into in the scoring summary, but Kitchener
finally finds a way to break through on the power
play in the series, something they haven't done so far,
and even going back to their series against Windsor was something.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
That they struggled with.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
Obviously, not having Christian Humphries and Adrian Missljevic is not
going to help them in that sense, but London without
Denver Barkie put Jacob Julian up there and he ends
up having a fantastic game, just next man up for
the London Knights, and again Denver Barkie's a major loss.
Don't get me wrong as the captain for everything that
he does on the ice in both ends. But if
there's any team to overcome, but you know, a key loss,

(09:01):
you think it'd be this London Night's team with how
deep they are with thirteen NHL prospects.

Speaker 5 (09:05):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, it's there's no break for the Kitchen Rangers.
If the Knights lose a guy, well, you know, Julian
steps up and gets four points and is a plus
two and it yeah, it's just for them, you know,
it's not so much well, if we lose a guy,
you know, it's gonna have to really be a team effort.

(09:26):
And as much as it's a team game, Dale Hunter
highlighted that in his post game. But you know, for
the Knights, they just got the next guy ready to go.
It's it's not a struggle to find offense. If you
lose a guy, especially your captain, they're they're very easily
able to make that up. And and obviously some line juggling,

(09:48):
you might expect a little bit of I don't want
to say you're waiting for them to get comfortable. It
might take twenty minutes or so. But I think when
you have it team as mature and as skilled as
the London Knights do, that's not really an issue. So
Dale Hunter knows that if he has to switch lines
throughout a series, if he has to make those adjustments

(10:10):
in game, then you know it's it's not gonna be
an issue. And for some teams it is. But for
the London Knights, when you have, like you said, thirteen
NHL picks and you know they're gonna have a couple
more heading into next season. With guys taking this summer,
obviously you'll lose some more than likely, but it's it's

(10:30):
it's a it's fairly easy for the guys they have
to step up because they understand that it doesn't take
one guy. As much as not having the man with
the C and the lineup might hurt, they can make
up for pretty easily.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Face off forty to thirty three in favor of the
London Knights. They're best men on the dot tonight. Julian
was twelve of seventeen to go along with his four points.
As you mentioned, Samuel Riley twelve of twenty two, will
Will Nickel only five of fourteen Land and sim five
when he had to come in as a winger, as
well as Casper Halton in three or three as wingers

(11:04):
stepping in on the draw Kitchener's side nine to twenty
for Luca Romano, seven to ten for cam Mercer and
seven of thirteen for Luke Ellenis I notice especially on
the penalty kill Reaes. We've talked about the set nauseum
in the last round as well with London, like the
way that they win defensive zone draws. Denver Barkie's another
one that can step in and take these draws as well.

(11:27):
When they start off by winning a defensive zone draw
and the penalty kill and they're able to kill twenty
or thirty seconds off the opposing team's power play.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
That's why they're so successful.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
When it comes to being down a man and why
they've had so much success in this playoff so far.

Speaker 4 (11:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (11:41):
Yeah, that's a big part of it. And that's one
thing I was watching in this game. You know, you
think about those extra advantages you can give yourself. I mean,
whether it be five on five, whether it be down
you know, you only have four guys and you're on
the penalty kill and or if you're up five on four,
you know, to to get that first face off and

(12:02):
for the first two man advantages for the Kitchener power play.
London wins that face off. That was the That was
the yeah, yeah, London won that face off. It was
Ryder Bolton. He got the instigator along with the fighting
major against McNeil, so London's able to get the face off,
send it down the ice. Kitchener really didn't get set

(12:22):
up in the offensive zone draw.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
You know, they did for.

Speaker 5 (12:25):
Maybe twenty twenty five seconds after getting an entry, but
it was it didn't seem like a comfortable power play
for the Kitchener Rangers. And and again that's the effectiveness
of winning that opening face off off of the off
of the penalty. And then you look at the Kitchener
Rangers taking their first minor penalty it was read for hooking.

(12:49):
They do the same, They win that opening draw for
the power play for the Knights and they send it
all the way down and again the Knights were able
to get set up. But again that that face off
win for the Rangers did make it a little bit
difficult for for the London Knights to do so in
the offensive zone. And then you know, start tracking these
as the first period goes on. Woolly then takes an

(13:10):
interference call and Kitchener was able to win that face off.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
But again it was a it was.

Speaker 5 (13:16):
A power play that didn't look as comfortable as you
would expect it to. And again we're watching from a
press box, we're watching from home on TV. You know,
it's obviously a different feeling on the bench and on
the ice, but that's the Knight's penalty kill. And you know,
whether they get the opening draw or not, they're gonna

(13:38):
they're gonna challenge you like mad. They're gonna make you
feel uncomfortable in those situations. And you know there was
a five on three advantage for the Kitchener Rangers in
this game as well. And you know with the London Nights,
they're playing the triangle right, so you've got those two
guys around the hash marks, maybe a little bit deeper,
and then you've got that one guy out at the
top of the slot area. And to be honest, do

(14:00):
you feel like there's a ton of open ice. It's
kind of like you get the four on four, so
you get two guys off the ice and or three
on three overtime, and and you've got so much, so
much space to work with where the Knights were down
two guys, but it didn't feel like there was a
lot of space out there for the Rangers to operate.
You know, the Knights weren't challenging them a ton, but

(14:24):
they took a lot of space away, if that makes
a lot of sense. It just again, it was a
power play that looked a little bit uncomfortable, you know.
Albeit it wasn't the longest five on three advantage in
the world, but the Knights looked like they were in
complete complete control in those moments when they were down
a man. And and obviously they did give up a
power play goal in this game, but you know it,

(14:47):
it seemed hard to find any flaws with with their
penalty kill and what they were doing and trying to
take away from the Rangers.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
Before we get in the scoring summary, reach, we did
have a couple of tilts in this game. We had
Ryder Bolton and Andrew McNeil going at it. Shocker with
Ryder Bolton, seems like every game he gets the guys
fired up with a tussle, and then the second one
was actually Van Bommel, who is in this game there, well,
it was in last game for Van Gorp, and now

(15:15):
he's playing because of Denver Barkie, so he's kind of
jumped up there and given them a spark in that
fourth line. And then Matthew Hillichar is the other guy
that's really been you know, going at it with kit
with London through these first two games. He got a
couple of misconducts and last or a misconduct in last game,
I think he received one as well.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
Today a couple of patalies.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
Really seems like he's trying to go at some of
the London Knights and they're really giving it to him.
So there's already been some spirited tilts already. Two in
the last game, two in today's game. It's you know
what you would expect from a Kitchener and London series.

Speaker 5 (15:49):
Yeah, and you know what, that second fight made absolutely
zero sense to me. You know, there was a hit,
it really wasn't a big hit. It was it was
a shoulder check and and you know the Knights player
went down, but it really wasn't malicious, It wasn't really
that hard of a hit, to be honest with you,
like that that second fight didn't make a whole lot

(16:10):
of sense about why it happened. And obviously in this matchup,
you know, if you want to set the tone for
you know, a period of game, whatever the case may be,
totally expect there to be to be some tillies here
in this in this series. It just that one made
no sense to me, and and it led to a
power play for the Rangers, and that's the one they

(16:30):
scored on. Yeah, that was the tying goal. Like that,
to me, it didn't seem like a big enough hit
check tie up wasn't really a tie up, I guess,
but it it didn't make a whole lot of sense
to me. And in that moment trent Swick scores. It's
a two to one game. Yeah, London's still in control
of the scoreboard. But you can start to feel the

(16:52):
Rangers getting some momentum and start moving up ice with
more authority and you know, get a lot more pressure
on goal. Obviously after a two shot period, then you've
come out and fire fourteen. That's a nice adjustment or
readjustment you could say, for the Kitchener Rangers. And they
started to come at Elliott, and so to me, that's

(17:14):
a situation where, yeah, you want to stand up for
your guys if there's a big hit, But to me,
that's not a big enough hit that you go after
somebody to get in a fight and take them off
the ice. Because the Rangers had momentum, you know you're
gonna get an instigator for coming in. So I think
in that moment, you just have to hold yourself back.
And again I understand what Van Bambo was trying to

(17:37):
do and stand up for his teammates, but I think
in that moment, with how the game was starting to progress,
with the Rangers starting to get a lot more pressure
on goal, it's gonna automatically lead to a penalty because
of the instigator. It just it made no sense to me.
It really didn't.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
And that's not a.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
Knock it at Van Bommel at all, But I think
you just have to be a little bit more aware
of where the game is at and understand that maybe
you don't need a fight right now. As much as
the momentum may have been on the Ranger side at
that point and you're trying to get it back on
your side. I don't think that was the best way
to do it in that moment.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
No, you described it perfectly.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
I think there was a time and a place, and
I understand Van Bomme will coming in as a guy
wants to make an impact, but you ended up giving
the Rangers the momentum in that and they ended up
tying the game after they.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Scored the power play goals.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
So really was an adverse effect in that sense, and
I think Van bomb will learn from that as he
goes forward. But you know, they just wanted to kind
of drop the gloves at any point today, and I
know the head coach, Dale Hunter and the coaching staff
will definitely tell them that there's a time and a
place to kind of pull it back. And that was
definitely one as you described up perfectly.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
There.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
We'll get into scoring summary quickly. You mentioned the Knights
jumped out to a two nothing lead. Jesse Nurmy with
his first goal the playoffs, really nice risk shot up top,
and then later in the first period it was Cam
Allen and that was an NHL type of shot there.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
You could see why.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
He was a draft pick of the Washington Capitals and
signed both times. Going upstairs on Jackson Parsons who's been
so good for the Rangers this season, but being able
to beat him with two shots up high gives momentum
to the London Knights on the home side with two
goals early on.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
Yeah, yeah, it does.

Speaker 5 (19:20):
And I think that's one thing is if you're the
London Knights and obviously Parsons, he's gonna find a way
to to get back to what we're used to seeing.
You know, six goals isn't normal against Parsons. And I
think we kind of saw that as the winsor Spitfire
series went on between the Spits and Rangers, where the
first three games were like, Okay, where's Jackson Parsons, When

(19:41):
is he gonna enter this series? And then you saw
it in the last three games. He had two shutouts
in those games to force a Game seven with the Spits,
and then he was just he was dialed in for
a Game seven, was phenomenal through regulation and overtime and
helped his team pick up a victory at the WFCU Center.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
And we're kind.

Speaker 5 (19:59):
Of at that moment now, and and not to say
that we haven't seen what we're used to seeing with
Jackson Parsons. I mean he went full on Dominic Kashik
there in the second period with a phenomenal save trying
the two pads stack and getting it with the glove
like that was. You don't see that very often anymore,
so when you do see it, it's something to watch three,

(20:20):
four or five times after it happens.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
And you know, we've we've.

Speaker 5 (20:24):
Seen we've seen moments where Jackson Parsons is on but
I think more times than not in this series, and
this is not fully on on Parsons, obviously. I think
there's coverages that have been missed in the first two games,
and the coaching staff for the Rangers will try to
clean that up, and and all of these goals are
not on Parsons. However, I think when you get those

(20:44):
those not necessarily straight shots, but those shots that hit
nothing and go directly by you, maybe it's positioning, Maybe
it's you just going down a little bit early, or
you're starting a little bit too low and you can't
get the blocker or glove back up in time, whatever
the case might be.

Speaker 4 (21:00):
I think those are.

Speaker 5 (21:01):
Two goals that I don't want to say shouldn't have
gone in. But I think if your Parsons and looking
back at them, maybe you get a little bit out further,
or maybe you try to. I don't want to say cheat,
because you can't really do that against the Knights because
they'll find those holes. But definitely two really good shots
and they clearly beat Parsons cleanly. So credit to the shooters,

(21:25):
but also as a goaltender, and I think Colin Ward
can attest to this is those straight shots goaltenders like
to have.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
Oh yeah, Colin Ward loves to talk about goaltending. The
great goaltender he was in this time. I don't know
about that, but he definitely knows about the position and
we love calling a happy birthday to him this weekend.
But we'll move forward here as we go on with
the scoring summary you mentioned in the second period there
that Van Bommel you know, fight turns into the trent

(21:52):
Swick goal or sorry, that was the second goal for
Luca Romano and the power play. Trent Swick gets the
first one on the board from Jack Pridam and Andrew Vermullin.
This is a great play by the Rangers to kind
of cycle it down low. It was Andrew Vermuellin, the
former ice dog finding Jack Pridham on I guess the
half wall there and he makes a great cross ized
feed to Trent Swick who's able to get in tight

(22:15):
there and put that one in and to give the
Rangers their first goal. And that's what you really need
to do if they're gonna have any chance in the series.
They really need to cycle the puck well on the
London Knights, who do defend well, but they showed that
they can be had at times. And if you if
you work hard like that, you're gonna be able to
get yourself rewarded. And then one minute and ten seconds
into the into the second period, we thought, okay, Kitchen

(22:36):
is going to make a game of this one.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
Absolutely, And with Trent Swick size six six two oh
eight h you kind of find it hard to believe
that guys could forget him or miss him coming, whether
it be into the zone, whether it be trying to
duck behind the d just because he is so so big.
But yeah, that's a that's a play where Swick finds
himself alone behind behind a couple Knights players who got

(23:01):
you know, and albeit you have to give credit where
credits due. Jack Prittam is a really good player and
you have to pay attention to him, but give credit
to Swick for sneaking behind the London Knights players and
essentially all alone against Elliot one on one and it
was it was Swix scoring his seventh, but yeah, all
around great play and a minute ten in. It's those

(23:21):
goals that are two to two and a half minutes
either into a period or with two to two and
a half minutes to go in a period that can
make the difference and seems to make a big difference
for certain teams where it just rattles them enough.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
Where they lose focus for a little bit of.

Speaker 5 (23:38):
Time and you know what, to be honest with you,
not to say the Knight's lost focus after this goal,
but a minute ten in Swick gives the Rangers some
life and you know, all of a sudden, unfortunately they
took a penalty which kind of stops some momentum a
little bit. But then Pritam breaks in on a shorthanded
breakaway and could have easily made it too too, but
Elliott's standing tall obviously, but then the Rangers, you know,

(24:02):
you have that fight and then Romano scores to make
it too too, and it's like man if Prinham could
have scored shorthanded like three two Rangers. Who knows what
we would have been seeing midway through the second period.
So yeah, Swick, he did a nice job getting in
behind some bodies for the Knights and beating Elliott and
really did a nice job getting his team some momentum,

(24:24):
getting them some energy early into the middle frame, and
and really this was their best stretch of hockey throughout
the sixty minutes here in Game two.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
They've played their best hockey in the middle periods of
both games. But again, starting a little bit too late
has been the problem for the Rangers. They make this
game too too. As you mentioned on the Luca Romano
short sight goal, I think Austin Elliott wants that one back.
That was one that you'd expect him to have on
the short side. But Luca Romano's third goal already through
the two games definitely been the Rangers best player offensively,
even though they're down to nothing in the in the series.

(24:55):
To make it to two, and then you thought, okay,
you know, Kitchener gain the momentum here it's a two
two game. And then we had later in the second period.
You mentioned the goals rate at the before and the
end of the period. This one was with less than
five minutes left in the period, they cycle it down low.
No no Ah Reed able to get off the cycle
down low finds Oliver Bank for the one time or

(25:16):
on the right circle and he goes far side on Parsons.
And that just felt like it took the air out
of the Kitchen Rangers because they fought back so hard
in this game to tie it up, and then you know,
late in the period they give up that one off
just kind of a broken play down low that finds
Oliver Banco front and then all of a sudden London
has the lead again.

Speaker 4 (25:35):
Yeah, yeah, you said that perfectly.

Speaker 5 (25:37):
It kind of took the wind out of the sales
for the Kitchen Rangers a little bit. And and yeah
for having such a good second period to give a
couple up. To be honest with you, but we'll start
with the first one, both with with less than five
minutes to go. It's you know, it's one thing to
get tied and obviously you got to start there. Feel

(25:58):
the Rangers down to nothing after one. You just you
have to get tied first and then you work your
work hard enough to try and get the lead. And
you know, for for this game, it kind of felt
like as the second period was going on, you know,
whoever gets the next one, it's gonna be a big
moment and a big point or turning point of the

(26:18):
game where it's like, who knows what will happen if
the Rangers make it three to two for one. I
can tell you Canada if place would be quiet because
you just give up three in the middle frame, Rangers,
of all the momentum, You're like, the Knights fans are
all of a sudden in shock. They're like, whoa two
nothing after one? Now we're down three too, Like what
the heck happened? But but for the Knights, they're able

(26:40):
to sort of put the first half of the second
period behind them. Bank, Yeah, with a with a great shot.
We know he's got it. We know we're gonna be
seeing that in the NHL one day. He does does
a phenomenal job to beat Parsons and and to get
the Knights the lead back, and from that point on, yeah,

(27:00):
it did kind of feel like the Knights were back
in control like we're.

Speaker 4 (27:04):
Used to seeing.

Speaker 5 (27:06):
And then you know, they obviously carried it on throughout
the rest of the second and then into the third
period as well.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
You mentioned first of their two goals at the end
of the second and this one really felt like the
backbreaker for me, Reese. It was almost like the Dickinson
goal at the end of game in the at the
end of the first period in game one, where he
makes it four to nothing, when the Rangers you know,
had some momentum, and then they give up the fourth
one late in the period you mentioned. Even later in
the period, you know, Jared Woolley takes a point shot

(27:32):
and this one just happens to hit Jacob Julian stick
and beats Parsons to make it four two.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
And those two.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
Goals, the Bonk goal of fiftet fifteen forty nine and
the Julian goal at seventeen twenty six, those two really
just did it for me as far as what you know,
the Ranger's momentum going into the third period was basically
over at that point because London gets two quick ones
there and you could just see from the bench like
it just felt like that was their their moment to
really put it away. And obviously then you know, just

(28:01):
you know, they just did what they did in the
third period to you know, get on the bus and
get down to a kitchener for Game three on Monday.

Speaker 5 (28:09):
Yeah, yeah, you know what, I look at this game
as like it had three different parts.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
Yeah, and that's not period period period.

Speaker 5 (28:17):
That's for obviously, first period, the Knights in control, no doubt,
you don't give up two shots.

Speaker 4 (28:23):
Safe to say the Nights were in control for that
first period.

Speaker 5 (28:26):
Then you head to the second and it's about ten
to fifteen minutes, so where it's part two and the
Kitchen Rangers are in control. And really that was the
first time in this playoffs that from a London night standpoint,
at least as me watching them play and watching them
sweep the Owen sound Attack, sweep the Erie Oters, where

(28:47):
this was the first time in the playoffs where I'm like,
this might be the first time the Knights are actually
feeling the most pressure or the most nerves they have
throughout the postseason. And again we're watching from a press box,
we're watching from TV, whatever the case might be. You know,
we're not actually on the ice or on the bench.

(29:07):
So I could be way out and left field with this,
but when the Rangers were in control to start the
second and into the middle of the second period, that
was the first time for the Nights that I'm like, oh,
you know, are they gonna lose their first That's really
the first time I felt like they had a chance
to fall in a game. But then you get to
Part three and that's at the fifteen forty nine mark

(29:30):
of the second and then for goal number four, it's
seventeen twenty six, where it's like, oh no, it was
just a lapse for about ten to fifteen minutes. It
was a little bit of a lull for the London Nights,
which obviously you can't have. It's those lull moments that
could make or break a hockey game. But Part three
they were able to regain control of the hockey game,
and then you're absolutely right after that Julian tip goes in, Yeah, okay,

(29:54):
I think the Knights are are where they're supposed to
be at this point. They are the better team right now.
They're in control again in the game, and that carried
into the third period for a couple more.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
So.

Speaker 5 (30:05):
That's the way I look at this one is you
have Part one in the first, you have Part two
for about ten to fifteen minutes in the second, and
then the rest of the time was Part three, where
the Knights were in control again.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
Yeah, the two more goals by the Knights in the
third period, Blake Montgomery was the first one to make
it five to two. You know, just a weird bounce.
It seemed like some of the weird bounces went London's
way tonight. But again, that's a momentum for you. And
then Jacob Julian and the power play as Brucetaevich found
him beside the net and he was able to sweep
that one past Parsons for his fourth point of the night.

(30:37):
Two goals to assist for the watching or Winnipeg Jets
prospect Jacob Julian.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
I get these guys mixed up.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
They got so many NHL prospects sometimes it's hard to
keep track of who's on what team. But Jacob Julian
caps off a great game, two goals to assist, stepping
up in the absence of their captain, Denver Barkie, and
just goes to show that how much s depth this
team has without a guy like Denver Barkie, They're still
able to win at six to two. We're gonna take
a quick break, We're gonna come back. We're going to

(31:02):
hear from postgame from both both representatives from the Kitchen
Rangers and the London Knights, and as well. We'll get
Reese's player the game later on, So stay right here,
be right back on OHL overtime right here in the armchair,
GM Sports Network and our OHL playoff game recap will
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Speaker 6 (33:04):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network, the Niger
regions best local source for North American sports podcasting coverage,
buy sports fans, for sports fans.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
Welcome back to part two of today's OHL overtime game
recap of Game two of the OHL Western Conference Final
between the London Knights and the Kitchen Arrangers here at
Canada Life Place, London, taking it by a six to score.
Brandon Kwutto and Ristomani of the OHL and sixty podcast
are back with you, continuing to break down this game.

(33:53):
We're gonna hear from both representatives here shortly. Thank you
everybody that's tuned in live on o arm Heare GM
Sports Network YouTube channel, those listening the next day, and
your favorite on demand audio platform as well. Give us
a follow on ext Armchair GM pod as well as
on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for all of our short
reels and content. So Reese before we get to the
Kitchener Rangers postgame with UC Hocus and Trent Swick again,

(34:15):
we had about I think it was twenty eight or
twenty nine penalties last game in Game one, not quite
as many in today's game. But it just seems like
London running three lines and then they throw that fourth
line out there of Bolton and Van Bommel and whoever
else they want to put on there, and it just
gives them so much momentum. It gives them momentum boost

(34:38):
in this game, and the Rangers are kind of fighting
their emotions and it seems like, you know, London's definitely
got them going right now. It all started forty seconds
into the series with the big hit on Christian Humphries
by Casper Halton and that was reviewed for a five
no suspension, no penalty, and obviously that's been upsetting to
the Rangers players and their coaching staff. But if you're

(35:00):
the Rangers res, how do you kind of you know, reset,
get this thing back on track and know that you know,
it's the first team to win four.

Speaker 5 (35:07):
Yeah, yeah, that's the big thing. And I mean they
they went through just one round to go. You're absolutely right.

Speaker 4 (35:13):
It's it's the first of four.

Speaker 5 (35:14):
It's not the first to two or you know, in
the situation they were in with the Spitfires.

Speaker 4 (35:19):
It's not the first of three, it is the first
of four. So you know, I hate I hate the
old you know, you're not in trouble to you lose
at home.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
I I'm not really big on that, you know it.
I believe it to a certain extent because obviously, if
you take care of business at home, uh, you just
have to win one on the road and it would
end up being a game number seven in London. But

(35:48):
you can find ways to win on the road and
be successful. Like it's you know, I'm not big on that,
you're not in trouble till you lose at home. But
for the Rangers, like for the London Nut to play
the London Knights is different animal than the Spitfires. And
you know, I'm a firm believer and I'll I'll die
on this hill that the toughest opponent for the London

(36:10):
Knights is in this Western Conference Finals. And whether it
was gonna be the Spitfires or whether it was going
to be the Rangers, I believe one of those two
teams are going to be London's toughest test. And that's
no disrespect at the Barry Colts. That's no disrespect at
the Aushawa Generals. Whoever gets through to the Ohl Championship series,
this is the toughest opponent the Knights are going to
face until they get to the Memorial Cup if they

(36:31):
obviously win the Ohl Championship, which I think they will,
but I think for the Kitchener Rangers, you just have
to keep it as simple as possible, and as easy
as that might sound, it's not going to be. But
the simpler the better. You know, this is a series
you're not gonna win by making pretty plays. It'll help,
but it's not a series where you're gonna win by

(36:55):
you know, pulling a Datsuki and Deek and doing the
towdrag going top shell for you know, the Forstburg where
you go to one hand and try to slide it
past the goaltender, or you try the tow drag through
the legs and go around the d It's it's gonna
be really tough to win that way. You're gonna win
by keeping it simple, being hard on the foe check

(37:15):
and making sure you're back in your own zone. And
that's not to say the Rangers have to play careful
and play safe hockey by having guys back, but I
think that means you have to be aware of where
your opponent is a little bit more than you have
in games one and two. You know, for the Rangers,
you get to a point and the start has a

(37:36):
big part to a big part of this. They have
to be way better in the first period. But if
you if you find yourself not chasing the game, then
you don't have to start taking taking chances early on
in games, you know, for the Rangers, and actually this
is for any team playing the Knights. If you get
down let's say two goals and you're heading into the

(37:58):
third period against this London Night's team, it kind of
feels like you have to start taking chances a minute
into the third period because they're going to be very
limited compared to you know, we're worth eight minutes to go.
Let's we're gonna probably start to see the d jump
into the play. You kind of feel like you have
to start that right at the beginning of the third.
So I think for the Rangers, a you have to
find your way ahead. If you can get up one nothing,

(38:20):
that's huge, but keep it as simple as possible. Don't
try to be the team that makes the highlight film
every single night. Just keep it simple and stick to
stick to the you know the fundamentals. Be good at
the little things in the game, and that'll translate to
success in big moments where you're pressing and you find

(38:40):
a way to get one past Elliott, or you know
you're under siege but you're you have great defensive positioning
in your own zone. You know, it's not necessarily getting
your stick in a lane, it's not necessarily getting your
foot in a lane. It's if your positioned correctly, then
it's very tough for the for the Knights to find

(39:00):
holes and to get the puck towards the middle of
the ice. So I think the simpler the better for
the Rangers. They're headed home and again twenty four hours
later after game number two, you get into game number three.
So I think that is the best case scenario for
the Rangers is flush this one, get home, sleep in
your own bed, get ready to see seven thousand plus
at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
London improves to ten and oh so far in the
twenty twenty five OHL Playoffs, and Austin Elliot has still
only lost one game the entire OHL season, which is
crazy to think about and you mentioned about the not
worried until you lose at home. I'm in agreeing to that,
but only for the team that has home miice advantage,
because technically, if you win all four games at home,
you're good. If you're the team that doesn't have home
miice advantage, you're gonna have to win at least one

(39:44):
game on the road. So I get the analogy if
you're the team with home ice advantage. But I'm with
you there's a that you're saying might be overused a
little bit. But you know, those those hockey slangs and
everything like that, you know, we gotta love them. We
get the press conferences. But speaking of that, let's get
too the first audio today. It is with Kitchen Arrangers
head coach u see Hochus and Vegas Golden Knights prospect

(40:06):
and veteran forward Trent Swick.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Here's what they had to say following the game post.

Speaker 7 (40:11):
Game coverach of game too Western Conference Championships Series Today's
final sixty two beer for the London Nights, joined now
by Kitchen Rangers head coach usye Hocus along with forward
Trent Swick. Coach you know, similar outcome on the scoreboard
is game one, but your team certainly showed some glimpses
of the doctor him.

Speaker 8 (40:26):
Maybe you can share your thoughts in the game. I
thought we have to first period, we weren't there. They
had a lot of good a zone time, Our offense
wasn't there. We hadn't needed more first period for sure,
and then D zone, we have to be better.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Are the zone.

Speaker 8 (40:46):
We made similar mistakes what we did also the first game,
so we have to get those out. And but yeah,
second period we had our moments. We thought to two,
We had our few chants to score three two to
five minutes left, and then you give up two. Yeah,

(41:08):
you give up two easy goal, like not easy goals,
but he gave up two goals there and that's shouldn't happen.
And then third period we had to push there for
a minute and a half. It was in their zone
and then they get a rush and they score, but
it doesn't really help its playoffs. And now it's two
nothing for London, and now we're heading the kitchen. Like

(41:32):
they say, you're probably you're in the first time you're
in trouble when you lose the first game at home.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
So but.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
Yeah, we weren't there.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
We have to be better tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (41:43):
Trying to go for yourself this afternoon is one of
the veterans on this team, you know over the next
you know, twenty four hours leading into game three, how
do you how do you speak to your teammates leaving
into that game.

Speaker 9 (41:53):
Yeah, I think we all know we can be better
and hopefully we can show it tomorrow night. Hopefully we
can bring it. And uh, I know everyone wants to
win in that long room and you ever need to
show it.

Speaker 7 (42:06):
Guys will take questions, just ask that you speak up
when you ask a little bit anoise outside the door here, Josh,
what do you wanna start?

Speaker 10 (42:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (42:11):
Uh, you see you have four nothing in game one,
two nothing exign just two shots in the first period.

Speaker 9 (42:16):
But how do you deal with starts in your teams in.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
This series so far?

Speaker 8 (42:19):
And how do you how does that.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
Affectual rectory don't win when it's that starts.

Speaker 8 (42:24):
I thought today they didn't. It didn't effect. We got
into the second period and they didn't effect. We were
two two or quite a while. Of course we have
to be better. Uh, you can't let that. And then
again like quite early early in the game, they got
the first goal. So same the first game, so we
have to be better on that. It will be a

(42:45):
totally different ball game if if you scored the first one.
And uh, that's where we have to be dialed in more.

Speaker 11 (42:51):
What do you want to see in kitchen or when
you just have to get back to this series?

Speaker 8 (42:54):
Well, I guess there's a lot of things, a lot
of things you can't really Huh. Yeah, it's we have
to be better nothing else. There's quite many things where
we can be better. Trent, what's it like is it
two difer?

Speaker 1 (43:09):
You going to chase this team?

Speaker 12 (43:10):
You've been what's it like like against a team like
this having to like from behind and somethings that like.

Speaker 9 (43:16):
It's at there, it's tough. Obviously we wanna come out
and get the lead early. We haven't seen what it's
like to play against them when we have the lead yet,
so hopefully we can do that in game three. Your
video can until where you ad your down to.

Speaker 12 (43:30):
Does that do you meet on that experience or what
does that do.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
To the lead?

Speaker 4 (43:34):
Uh?

Speaker 9 (43:34):
For Rest, this series makes us Uh we've been here before,
like you said, and uh we can lean on that
and yeah, we're not like worried in the locker room
right now, So hopefully we can use that past experience
and bring it into game Three's right.

Speaker 12 (43:52):
But yeah, do you see uh Humphreys and Campbell miss today?

Speaker 8 (43:57):
How how much do you guys miss to listen? Well,
that's playoffs. You lose guys, and then you have to
go with that. What the guys you have, That's just
how it goes. And then your guys other guys come
in and they have to step up. That's how I
see it. It's the team sport coach.

Speaker 11 (44:16):
It seems like the second periods but in your better
period you had to fight back today to nothing, and
then the last game as well as the second period
is probably your best best period of the of the series.
What is it in that middle period that you can
guys kind of take from that and try to put
it together for the other periods?

Speaker 8 (44:31):
Zoom game, A zoom game. What we've done, that's h
That's where we're in our for check contor pressure, that's
where we've been better.

Speaker 10 (44:41):
I think broke trying obviously, it's you know, pretty excited.

Speaker 6 (44:45):
To get back to the AU tomorrow.

Speaker 10 (44:47):
How s there are you to get back and you
know see the fans and see your home.

Speaker 9 (44:51):
Yeah, I'm very excited. I heard it's packed tomorrow, it's
sold out, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's some game.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
There were trent Swick and you see hocus on the
post game after Game two, Reese said a lot of
things we got to work on, but didn't really want
to give too much away obviously in the public. But
it sounds like they know what they need to do
in order to win this game. They've got to implement
it tomorrow if they don't want to go down three
to nothing in the series.

Speaker 4 (45:17):
Yeah, big time. Yeah, absolutely it.

Speaker 5 (45:20):
You know, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't skate
tomorrow morning and just take it as a chance to
look at video. You know, that'll be way more effective
for the Kitchen Rangers at this point than you know,
getting a morning skate in and trying to get things
figured out. Ice ice size is the same. Only difference
is the color of the seats and the smell around

(45:41):
the building. Obviously, Kitchener Memorial Auditorium is that great roasted
as a roasted peanuts smell or whatever.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
They can believe it will be.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
You know that's that.

Speaker 5 (45:51):
Yeah, it's it's the only reason we go there. Who
cares about the hockey. It's the only the only reason
we go there. But no, it's you know, really realistic.
That's the only difference. So I think, to be honest
with you, it'll be way more effective for the Rangers
to look at the video. And yeah, I don't blame
I don't blame U see for not going into details.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
I probably wouldn't either.

Speaker 5 (46:10):
The Knights don't need any more help trying to figure
out how to beat the Kitchen Rangers. But yeah, video
will be way more effective tomorrow. It wouldn't surprise me
if they didn't skate tomorrow morning and just just did
a whole video session. Maybe take a little bit extra time.
But but yeah, there's there's quite a few, quite a
bit to work on if you're the Rangers, and you know,
I think there's more positives than a lot of people

(46:33):
are gonna take away for this Kitchen Rangers team. I
think it's a massive accomplishment. The fact that you were
able to fight back down two goals. Now that might
not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of
things against the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five London Nights,
you better believe it is because more times than not,
they cruise to a victory up to nothing, and they

(46:54):
don't really get a whole lot of pushback when they
have a to nothing lead. So I think that's one
where the Rangers, Yeah, you know, you went down to nothing.
It wasn't an awesome period. And and you see kind
of touched on this like it may have not had
as big of an impact on the game as as
some people might think. Again, it is a great question
to ask, you see, if it really did have that

(47:14):
big of an effect. But he said, no, it was
too too, and and we played that way for for
a bit. And you know, obviously you don't want two
shots in a period. You'd like to be able to
match your opponent, of course, but that doesn't necessarily lead
to less goals or less pucks going in your net.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
So so I like.

Speaker 5 (47:31):
The way he put that that, No, we were able
to work back into two two and play two too
for a while before the Night scored their third goal.
So it's gonna be a big video day tomorrow. Definitely
a ton of to work on, but to remember that
you've got your fans there.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
It's gonna be a sold out crowd.

Speaker 5 (47:47):
Like Swick had mentioned, and you just got to focus
on one game at a time, one period at a time,
because that's what you that's what you have to do.
There's there's no game four before you play game three,
so so you got to focus on game three and
uh and take it from there and quickly.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
I know you mentioned that injuries happen in playoffs, but
when you lose Christian Humphreys, who has ten points in
thirteen playoff games for them, as well as Carson Campbell,
who Josh Brown from the Record talks about is so
valuable for them as far as blocking shots in that
back end, and he's really one of those veterans back
there that kind of is the sheriff back there, kind
of directing everybody, showing the young guys you know, how

(48:21):
to really play defensive hockey. When you lose those two guys,
and then you're already out to adrior Missljevic as well,
Like things are just starting to pile up for the
Kitchen Arrangers, as we saw with their opponents the windsor
Spitfires in round two when they had so many injuries.
Neither team's going to make excuses of that, but suctual
we're going up against the London Nights, who are so
deep up front and on the back end. When you
lose a couple of guys, it's really hard to overcome.

Speaker 5 (48:43):
Yeah, it really is, because you don't have that buffer
of the regular season where yeah, we might have some
guys out, maybe we'll lose three, four, five in a row,
but then we can get on a roll and try
and make up that crown. You don't have that luxury,
right If you lose four in a row, you're done.
And the Kitchen Ring just tough losses. But but you
see's right, you can't he can't whine about it, you

(49:05):
can't sulk about it. Just the next guy has to
step up. And and obviously it's it's tough to match
the talent that the guys have who are out for
the Kitchener Rangers, but but you have to try as
hard as possible to to get to that level. And
and that's where those promotions from maybe the third to
the second line and then the second to the first

(49:27):
line make that big of a difference. Whereas the guys
coming into the lineup who maybe we're scratched for a
game one or a game too. If they come in,
you know, you're maybe not necessarily looking for them to
to be a first or second line guy. You know,
you expect those guys to be promoted from the third
and fourth line, whereas those guys from the press box

(49:48):
will move into the third or fourth line roles. So yeah,
you really just have to try as hard as possible
to get to the level where those guys who are hurt,
you know, you have to make that up. It's hard,
but it's the playoffs and and the best way to
put it is just suck it up and go play
the game. You know, you don't really don't have to

(50:08):
change a whole lot if you play the way you
have been all season long. It's gonna be tough, obviously,
but but yeah, next man up, let's go.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
We there's no time to lose. With Game three being tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
Let's get to the London night side with head coach
Dale Hunter as well as defenseman Henry Burstavitch, who can
be easily mistaken for his brother Hunter who played four
years with the Kitchen Or Rangers as well, that you'll
hear Josh Brown Quickly's talk about. But here's what the
London Knights had to say about their performance tonight.

Speaker 7 (50:36):
Conference Championship Series one night, six two winners this afternoon
taking it two nothing seriously, joined by Knight's head coach,
Dale Hunter, along with defenseman Henry Verstavage. Coach, you had
to like what you saw from your team today. Maybe
a little lift there at the start of the second,
but but a good recovery.

Speaker 10 (50:50):
Yeah, what you know, we we came up pretty well
again and they tied it up and then we kind
of had a good end of the second and the
sword a couple of years and.

Speaker 7 (51:00):
To assist for yourself, but sometimes it's things that aren't
on the scoreesheet to make the difference in games. Of course,
a few big defensive plays with there. How does it
feel to be able to contribute?

Speaker 4 (51:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 12 (51:08):
Great, I just playing with a really really good deep
partner there and I kind of just want to be
an anchor for him and uh yeah help out our
goal in there.

Speaker 7 (51:15):
So pleasures, Ryan, did you want to start?

Speaker 1 (51:18):
Yeah? Sure, you know how key was?

Speaker 11 (51:19):
They were talking about Henry's plays and there was Austin
Elliott that's stop shorthanded.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
How key were the most plays when it's kind.

Speaker 10 (51:25):
Of it is, Yeah, the game was tight there and
some big plays like that that's uh what you know
we want from our guys, and they came up big tonight.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Henry is your is your brother watching?

Speaker 3 (51:38):
Uh?

Speaker 12 (51:38):
And and you know how probably do you be of
your effort to site you know, leading booth. Yeah, he'll
be fired up, he said, he wants me to be
the best guy in the series, but he wants them
to win. So they just lost, so he'll be back now.

Speaker 11 (51:50):
So granted, coach, how do you think your your team
battle without your captain Denver bark He obviously I switch
up the lines a little bit.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
How do you think that they did any six absence?

Speaker 10 (52:01):
No, they did well, you know they they played as
a team and moved the puck around really well in
ozone and created a lot of chances.

Speaker 12 (52:09):
Dale, how'd you think so you lose a catalyst on
the power play specifically, is that a work in progress
or do you think you're did you do they find
it at the end there?

Speaker 10 (52:17):
But you know, again again there we were Denver was
out for periods of time for a month or so
during the season, so we've had to work it again
back then. We just went back to the same leve
we had before then.

Speaker 7 (52:29):
Good head at points last year you were playing forward
for this team and now you're one of the anchors
in the back end. Just talk about your game and
how you've developed from last year to this year and
being such a staple back there.

Speaker 12 (52:39):
Yeah, I kind of just trusted the process, did anything
the team needed to win, and kind of just trusted
the coaches and now getting my chance and kind of
going with it. A sorry almost call it Hunter brother
for four years or four years, Henry, did you tell
me what the loss of parking means to the thing players?

Speaker 1 (53:00):
And sort of was there a sense that was he
on your mind or playing for him?

Speaker 12 (53:04):
Yeah? We want to play for him.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Obviously.

Speaker 12 (53:06):
He's he's our captain, like he's our leader, and guys
just got to step up and when he when he's gone.
So I think all the boys stepped up big today
and really happy with him.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
There was Henry Brustavich and Dale Hunter on the post
game following Game two, winning six to two over the
Kitchen Or Rangers, rees, a couple of minutes left here
before we get your player of the game. I liked
what they said about you know, Dale Hunter talked about
when they missed Barkie earlier in the year. They went
back to kind of what they were successful with with
Julian obviously with the two goals to assist and then

(53:40):
Henry Bucetavis talking about, you know, playing for their falling
captain even though he's still a presence off the ice.
They wanted to to really you know, come out and
show that they could, you know, win one for him.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
And they definitely did that today.

Speaker 4 (53:54):
Yeah, they did.

Speaker 5 (53:55):
By the way, before I really get into my thoughts
on what they said, quote of the series or quote
of the playoffs, he said, he wants me to be
the best guy in the series, but he wants them
to win. Speaking about his brother Hunter. I have it
up on Twitter. The Ohl posted that quote. I just
had to mention it because that that could go down
as the quote of the playoffs. That's incredible, Like I

(54:16):
love that. I think, you know, it's it's it's easy
to say that. Oh no, he you know Hunter, he
hates the Knights. He wants no part of the Nights,
no matter what, and he just wants the Rangers to win.
But the fact that you know, you can you can
still cheer on a family member but still have allegiance
to the opponent says a lot about about Hunter and

(54:37):
about that entire family because because it is hard, right,
as much as you want to see your brother succeed,
you want him to lose and you want his season
to be over, and you want to see the Rangers
go on to the OHL Championship Series and play for
a J. Ross Robertson Trophy. So I just want I
want to touch on that first. I thought that was awesome.
And the fact that that Hunter is going to be around,

(54:59):
I think that's gonna be really cool. Because as much
as he's gonna hate to see if the London Knights
move on and eliminate the Rangers, obviously he's not gonna
like it. But if there's a photo opportunity on the
ice somewhere, I'm sure, I'm sure he'll.

Speaker 4 (55:11):
Take it with uh, with his brother.

Speaker 5 (55:13):
But yeah, I think, Uh, you know, Dale kept it
short and short and simple. You know, it's uh, he's
a guy that really doesn't like to go too far
into his answers. He just likes to get to the
point and then and then move on. I think he
did a really nice job explaining how well the h
the team stepped up in Barkie's absence, and and and obviously,

(55:36):
you don't you want him to play all sixty eight
games in the regular season. You want him to play
every single playoff game, which for the Knights it's been
the minimum right now ten games through uh through the
middle of the Western Conference Championship series here. But you know,
I think I think what happens off the ice with
with barking Up being in the lineup, he's he's still

(55:56):
having an impact on this team. You know, he still
has a day and and what goes on. I'm sure
he's in the video meetings, he's he's you know, a
big part of the preparations for for this squad. So
you know, the fact that you know they they go
out and win it for him, for the for the leader,
for the captain of their team says a lot about
what that locker room is like. And you know, I

(56:19):
think I think for the London Nights, it's it is
a as much as they obviously love to have thirteen
NHL drafted players on their squad, like any team would,
you know, it really is a wee more than an
eye culture. And that was evident the way Dale Hunter
talks after games, the way whichever player joins him after

(56:41):
games the way they talk about their club and how
much they want to win together and not just have
guys get individual accomplishments.

Speaker 4 (56:50):
You know, it's it's a it's a team game.

Speaker 5 (56:52):
And and you know, the same as the Rangers who
have to step up with guys out of the lineup,
the Knights have to do the same. So so I
think that that's one thing you really take away from
what what Dale and Henry said is, you know, the
the team played really well stepping up without their captain
in the lineup.

Speaker 3 (57:11):
Before we get out of he you're gonna put Reese
on the spot with our stick tap of the game
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start to finish join their mission at hockey Stickman Dot
to join their mission of saving hockey families money. Reese, Uh, pretty,
I would say, Jacob Julian's gonna be your player of

(57:31):
the game, but maybe you have somebody else.

Speaker 4 (57:33):
No, no, it'll be Jacob Julian.

Speaker 5 (57:36):
You know at points aside, you know, I really liked
his game away from the puck as well, and obviously
with four points, you're gonna have the puck more often
than not.

Speaker 4 (57:45):
But you know, I thought he played a complete.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
Game uh today against the Kitchener Rangers to help his
team get up to nothing. You know, I will give
a I will give a honorable mention to uh, to
Henry Bristovitch and and the way he played not only
obviously getting a couple of helpers, but but the way
he played.

Speaker 4 (58:01):
In his own defensive zone.

Speaker 5 (58:03):
And you know, I think I think that played a
huge role in the in the London Nights picking up
the victory. But h in terms of in the offensive zone,
it's it's Jacob Julian. He was the best player on
the ice for for both clubs and and you know
he earned first star.

Speaker 4 (58:19):
He was he was really really good.

Speaker 3 (58:21):
So Rees, thanks so much for joining us for the
great analysis today. Uh again, much appreciated on this Sunday
night coming on and and watching you know what, was
another you know, fun game between the London Knights and
the Kitchen Arrangers. They'll be right back at it for
game three at the odd but uh, you know, appreciate
you hopping on and always look chatting.

Speaker 5 (58:39):
Hey, hey, It's always a pleasure, and uh you know,
I love these Midwestern matchups London Nights and Kitchen Rangers.
I wish we could see this playoff series every single year,
but uh yeah, always happy to do it.

Speaker 4 (58:50):
Thanks for having me on, Brandon.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
No worries.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
We'll talk to you again soon, Reese, and thank you
everybody that's tuned in live on our Arms show GM
Sports Network YouTube channel those listening the next day in
your favorite on demand audio platform. The London Nights take
Game two of the Western Conference Final by a score
of six to two in front of nine thousand sixty
one here at Candada Life Place in London. So until
we talk to you again after Game four at the
Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday for Rieseumini, my name is Brandon.

(59:15):
Putto have yourself a great rest of your night, and
we'll talk to you again very soon.