Memorial Cup Early Fever: 2027 Finalists & Defending The Throne - Season Premiere: OHL Overtime - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Jim Joker's voice of the Cakes to Products.
You're listening to OHL Overtime, an 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

(00:48):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
This is a story that started three years ago. It's
at post calls heartbreak, unfinished business. What the Knights have
made it to the top of the junior hockey world
and the few is Spen testifying the London Nights. I'm
Memorial Cup champions in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
Welcome into the season premiere episode of OHL Overtime right
here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. Thank you everybody
that's tuned in on our YouTube channel. In the video form,
make sure to hit like hit subscribe to smash that bell,
and thank you to those that are listening in your
favorite on demand audio platform. I'm your host, Brandon Kudo.
We're gonna be hearing from three gentlemen, this afternoon and
Immemorial Cup themed first episode. Here we're gonna hear from

(01:46):
the two finalists from the Ontario Hockey League two representatives
I guess you could say correspondence from the Kitchener Rangers
and Guelf Storm perspective as the two finalists for the
twenty twenty seven Memorial Cup. But can't go too far
ahead because we have to talk talk about the defending champions,
the twenty twenty five Memorial Cup champion, back to back
OHL champion London Nights, and I'm pleased to be joined

(02:07):
by the longtime voice of the London Knights on nine
eighty CFPL. That'd be one and only Mike Stubbs. Mike,
thanks so much for joining us. At an intro, I
played a little bit of your Memorial Cup champion winning
call that for that final against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
First of all, like when you have a call like
that and something that just rolls off the tongue, like

(02:28):
obviously probably not doing a lot of prep for those
sorts of things, but the winning moments in your career,
But do they ever get old?

Speaker 5 (02:34):
No, No, they never do. And you're pretty lucky because
this team tends to provide a lot of those moments
and to be able to see those players get to
where they did, because there was really only one ending
that would have worked last year after losing in the
Memorial Cup Final the year before, returning so many of

(02:55):
the same players, there was really only one thing, and
it was the same thing saying that fifty nine other
teams wanted and they were able to do it, and
it was not easy and it took an awful lot
and it's just one of those things you look back
and you feel so great for those guys. I do

(03:16):
get asked about the word fantastifying, and that came up,
not on the spot or anything. I was saving that one.
I was about twelve or thirteen years old and I
was over at a buddy's place and we were playing
Blades of Steel. I even forget whether it was on
a Nintendo or what it was on. We were playing

(03:37):
Blades of Steel, or about three or four of us
in the room, and they said, well, you want to
be a hockey announcer, you should just hear and you're
terrible at this game, so you just call it. And
so that word kind of came up a bunch of
us just kind of put it together and I've held
onto that and it just seemed fitting to use it
right there. So thank you Blades of Steel, thank you

(03:59):
everybody else who was in that room, Johnny Shale and
a couple other people for helping to do that for sure.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
And before we get going further, Mike, obviously, people know
you call the games for the London Nights, but work
and they also find some of the other work you're doing.
I know you guys do the night Shift podcast as well,
both the London Nights. So if there's anything you want
to plug before we get going here.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
Sure, I mean, the night Shift podcast is available wherever
you get shows in audio format. We've gone video this year.
You can find that on the London Night's YouTube page
and there's a lot of content there if you want
to see what's happening with the London Nights right now.
There are some very interesting new players and so now
we wait to see what happens and I'm really looking

(04:43):
forward to it. There are a lot of encouraging signs
early and now we just dropped the puck on the
regular season. The Knights have come through the preseason, so
they've got a week to kind of work on things
and finalized roster spots, that kind of stuff, and they
will get going.

Speaker 6 (04:59):
So we'll get going with the upcoming season, Mike.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
But before we do, it was obviously a great summer
for London in the NHL draft, which it usually is.
So get the graphic coming up on the screen there
for you guys following along in video. Henry Brustavich, Alexi Medvedev,
and Noah Reed were the three players drafted into the
NHL from the London Knights this season. Brustavich at the
end of the first round, Medvedev in the second round

(05:23):
by the Vancouver Canucks, and then the Anaheim Ducks taking
niagrenad of Noah Reed, who played a very solid bottom
six role for them in the playoffs. So quick thoughts
on those three players being drafted and adding to what
is already an extensive list of London Knights that had
their names called it the National Hockey League Draft.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well, why don't we work three two one, because Noah
Reid is such a wild story. Last year he goes
into training camp, he didn't have a spot, he was
a tenth round pick. He was probably thinking, okay, you know,
I'm seventeen years old, probably heading somewhere that's not the
London Night roster. There's no room. And yet he showed

(06:03):
so much in whether it was training camp, whether it
was the preseason, that he earned a spot on the roster.
And then he played in forty five of the sixty
eight games and all the way through kept earning more
trust from Dale Hunter. And that's what it takes, you
earn your ice time. And then you look at the playoffs.
He didn't miss a game and he had a hat

(06:24):
trick in the clinching game against Owen Sound in the
first round, and so he was a guy who on
big stages could do big things. And then he was
in every game in the Memorial Cup tournament that the
London Knights played. So he just earned everything that he got.
And you look at some of the names that he
was drafted ahead of and it's just it's a remarkable story.

(06:47):
And so the sky's the limit for him. He will
now have a chance to have a bigger role because
there were times when he would play a handful of
shifts in a game and yet showed enough that the
Ducks made him a third round pick and then Alexi
Medvedev almost a similar story in that he split the
net with Austin Elliott last year with the London Nights,

(07:10):
so he wasn't the full time number one, but again
showed enough. When Alexi Medvedev was drafted, he was playing
for the Von Kings, and I mean, he's a story
that goes all the way back to playing in Saint Petersburg,
Russia when he was a kid, and he wound up
leaving at just before his fifteenth birthday to come and
live with a family member in Toronto. Played for the

(07:31):
Toronto Red Wings. But think about this, Alexi wanted to
go to a team that wasn't very good. That's what
he wanted to do as a goalie, and the Red
Wings maybe weren't one of the contenders in the GGHL
that year, and so he wanted to play for him
because he knew he'd get a lot of shots and
he get a lot of work from good shooters. So

(07:51):
that's what happened. And then he moved to the Von
Kings and he helped them to the Ohl Cup Final
where they lost to just a loaded Toronto Junior Canadians
team and they lost one nothing in that final game,
so that compete level has been there. When he was
drafted by the Knights, he was about six feet tall.
Now he's listed at six foot three, and I bet

(08:12):
if you measured his arms and his legs they belonged
to a six foot five goaltender. He just has these
arms and legs that stretch out everywhere. And again, the
hard work, the whatever this takes. He didn't play a
single game in the playoffs. He didn't play a single
game in the Memorial Cup. He was somebody that would
help out the team in practice and he would stay

(08:33):
out there. If guys wanted to stay out late, he
would stay out with them. And he was taking one
timers and it was just what was needed and he
was there to do it. And then Henry Bristovitch, he's
a guy that when he started at sixteen, already looked
twenty two. Now he looks about twenty five. He's got
great maturity. The thing that will really come into kind

(08:55):
of site this year will be Henry's ability offensively. He's
got an incredible shot, but there haven't been a lot
of places to let him use it because the Knights
have had loaded power play units the last couple of years.
Henry's now going to get a chance to unload that
and unleash that and people are going to notice it.
And then the stuff that he does, the little plays

(09:16):
that he makes, little tiny plays breaking up a pass
or reading things right and stepping in a lane. He
just does that all the time. His IQ is off
the charts, and that's why you see him taken in
the first round.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
And when you talk about the London Knights, Mike, and
when you come off two straight Ohl Championship teams and
a Memorial Cup, you know, winner and Dale Hunter and
Mark Hunter and the great program that they build over there,
you know, when you talk about where they might where
things might go for this upcoming season. And I'm going
to pull the standings up from last season here. Obviously,

(09:50):
the Knights had a great season in the Western Conference,
so won the Western Conference, you know, fifty five wins,
just really dominated most of the season. You look at
what you're expecting from this team this coming season, going
to be missing some names, some players graduating on to
the National Hockey League, which they usually do from the
London Nights. So it's that what is going to be

(10:11):
the next crop of those great London Night players. You're
still going to have some of the team from the
last few seasons remaining. But when you look at where
the London Knights might finish within the season, what is
sort of your early preview of what you're looking at
from this team and where you think that they're going
to shake out in the Western Conference with the new
NCAA eligibility and the new players that have been brought.

Speaker 5 (10:33):
In, right, there are so many unknowns this year. I mean,
you look at Kitchener and you say, Kitchener's roster is
basically last year and they were really good, and so
I think you kind of put Kitchener in that number
one spot. You've got Winsor that has been building and
has had all of these young, dynamic, skilled forwards. Bill
Bowler's just done a sensational job in building that team,

(10:57):
and I think you kind of put them in there.
And then you've got a few teams I think that
come next, and I think the London Knights would be
fine to be in that next group and then see
where things shake out where you're finally, for the first
time in a couple of seasons, not the team that
everybody is gunning for, but they have added some players.

(11:19):
That one came from the NCAA and Braden Clark. His dad,
Chris Clark, was a captain of the Washington Capitals and
played for the Columbus Blue Jackets and played for the
Calgary Flames. And so you've got veterans coming in. Ben
Wilmot would be another who had grown up in the US.
Caden Hawkins is another. He's from Saint Louis. Caden Hawkins

(11:43):
is a guy that has a great shot, great one timer,
and he has his dog to thank for it. So
his dad would tell him, Caden, you need to shoot
two hundred bucks a day, And a lot of dads
will tell that to their kids, and their kids will go, Okay,
I'm gonna try this, and then they'll get through ten
or fifteen and they'll go, this is hard, and you

(12:04):
go and do something else. But Cayden took it to heart,
and Caden fired two hundred pucks at a net every day.
And they have a dog named Crosby, and Crosby learned
to fetch pucks to the point that if you hit
a post and the puck bounced away, you could say, Crosby,
go get that puck, and Crosby would go and get
the puck and bring it back. And you hear him

(12:26):
telling the story, and you're thinking, in your mind, picture
it right now you've heard the story. What kind of
dog is Crosby. I don't know. It must be a
black lab, a chocolate lab, a retriever of some kind. Wow,
to be able to go and pick up a puck, cockapoo.
Crosby is a cockapoo, this little white dog. And Caden's
got pictures of him with a puck in his mouth

(12:47):
as he comes and brings it back. So there are
a lot of new faces, sure, And on the back
end you've got some new faces. We'll be talking about
Julian Brown and Linus Funk a lot. So there are
a lot of unknown and I think quite a few
rosters have this in the ohl where you've picked up
guys from the BCHL or in Brandon Clark's case, he

(13:08):
was at Providence College last year. You've got a couple
of those. So it just it matters how those guys
fit in, because we're going to see Brandon a few
surprise teams that you just did not expect. Because you've
got guys who come in, fit in and make a
big difference in games.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
And sixteen new players as you see on the screen
there that are signed, maybe not going to be London
Nights this season because they do such a good job
of putting those guys maybe in different leagues to develop
them before they come up to the London Nights system.
But when you have so many new players coming in
and some of those key guys to replace, you talk
about you know what players might be able to step
up there and some of those new players that people
may not know but could become household London Night names

(13:51):
like the Eastern Cowens, the Denver Barkis, the Oliver Bonks
in a few years that back in twenty twenty or
twenty twenty one you might not have heard of.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
Yeah, and there are names like that. I'll give you
three of them up front right now. They are Logan Howry,
who was the Night's first round pick last year, had
seven points in four games in the preseason. Jackson Cover,
who right now is playing in his fifth year of
organized ice hockey, grew up in the Cayman Islands, played
roller hockey, played soccer, athleticism off the charts. His hockey IQ,

(14:22):
you would say, is off the charts. This guy just
makes plays. He can bring you out of your seat.
Now he's seventeen, give him a year or two and
he will bring you out of your seat. And the
other guy is Max Creek coming over from the Niagara
Ice Dogs. And Max has had a tremendous preseason. And
so I really think, as you alluded to it, three
years ago, if we were doing this, we would have

(14:43):
been talking about Denver, Barkie, Easton Cowen, Oliver Bonk as
being that core that you really grew around. If you're
looking to grow around a core, I think you're looking
at those players.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, definitely going to be interesting to see this new
crop of London Knights take that step forward. And when
you talk about some of those players that could be back,
you know, Sam Dickinson is a name that that could
obviously be back, but he could also be in pro hockey.
But I want to focus in on Sam O'Reilly for
a second, Mike, because a guy that was traded in
this offseason, not by the Knights, but by his NHL affiliation,

(15:16):
goes from the from the Edmonton Oilers to the Tampa
Bay Lightning in a pretty big prospect swap between those
two teams. And a guy that looks like, you know,
could be taking a bigger step forward and be one
of the leaders on this team coming into the season.
So what are you expecting to see from Sam O'Reilly
seventy one point season and was so good in the
playoffs for them in that role, especially when Denver Barky

(15:37):
went down with injury. So what can you tell us
about what you're expecting to see from Sam O'Reilly back
with the Knights Brandon.

Speaker 5 (15:44):
Sam plays the game one way and that is as
if it was the Memorial Cup Final. He set up
the game winner in the Memorial Cup Final and he
had five points in five games in the Memorial Cup tournament.
I mean, this guy does not mine the big stage
and his approach. You know, you really hear this at

(16:06):
all levels. You'll hear players who will now go away
to NHL camps and they'll come back and they'll say, Wow,
I was really impressed by the approach of this game
or the way somebody handles their day to day or
just their preparation. That's Sam. When you come into the
London Nights, you are so impressed by that. You think

(16:27):
about things that young people do play video games. Sam
doesn't play video games. Sam is a guy who really
works on himself his game, and he's got this focus
and I really look and it's strange to go back
over that trade that you were mentioning, where Sam, who
is a first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, is

(16:50):
traded to Tampa Bay and it happened kind of quickly
for Ike Howard and Ike Howard is a Hobie Baker winner,
and so at first you go, oh, wonder, but you know,
Edmonton's been really positive with Sam O'Reilly. I mean, when
he was playing in a preseason game, he walks into
the dressing room and he's got a stall where on
one side you've got Connor McDavid, on the other side

(17:12):
you've got Corey Perry. I mean, that's how highly the
Edmonton Oilers thought of Sam O'Reilly. And then you kind
of put it into perspective and you think, but wait
a minute, he was just traded for a Hope Baker winner.
One for one. That's best of the best in the
NC Double A. And that's not just rookies in the
NC DOUBLEA. That's everybody. And so that just shows what

(17:34):
Tampa Bay thinks of Sam O'Reilly and when you get
to know Sam o'reiley, all of that fits because he
is the kind of guy that you want leading your
team and he will have that role on the London
Knights this year. So he's a really important player. I mean, Brandon,
you nailed it. He is a really important player on
the London Knights for the direction that they go in

(17:56):
as this season gets going.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
So, Mike, as we go forward here, how many players
are going away for the Knights to NHL camps? Do
you have the exact number? And with that, I mean,
the Knights sort of go through this more so than
maybe other teams do because they have so many players
that have NHL affiliations. So they might start the year
without some players and they're able to sort of, you know,
tread water and get through that until all their compliment

(18:20):
of players do come back. So what do you expect
in here from the first week or two of the
Knights until they get you know, some of those those
players back from their NHL camps.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
Well, it won't be as many as past years, believe
it or not the last couple of years, so at
least that becomes helpful because you're not dealing with as
many holes. The one thing the Knights have is no
Will Nickel. He is out four to six months after
undergoing surgery in the offseason, and so there are some holes,
and that means that there are jobs up for grabs.

(18:51):
You're going to see a younger roster to begin things,
and it will ride on the goaltenders, and Alexi Medvedev
is a returning goalie. The Knights also have two other
goaltenders still on the roster, Seb Gatto and Jayden Cholette
both played last year in the BCHL. Gatto and Cholette
are also draft picks of the London Knights. They were
not free agent signees, and both have performed incredibly well

(19:13):
in the preseason. Gatto played in ninety minutes had a
say percentage of nine to fifty three and Cholette played
in eighty nine minutes and had a say percentage of
nine to forty three. So they are two goaltenders that
now make up kind of a three headed goaltender unit
on the roster, and it'll be up to the Knights
as to what they want to do with three goaltenders,

(19:36):
but you certainly will rely on your goaltending a little bit.
And then guys filter back, and Mark Hunter always says
it he likes to look at his team for the
first couple of months, see how they're playing, and then
you kind of make decisions on either what you need
or you know, where improvements could be made, or what
to do those sorts of things. So I think we'll

(19:56):
see that kind of a year from the London Knights
and really see how all of the these new faces
come together. We've got two guys on the back end
in Linus Funk and in Julian Brown, who might vibe
for most interesting man in the Ohl. And Julian Brown
is somebody who started his hockey career playing lacrosse. His

(20:18):
dad was the coach and so he has this physicality
and it does come from lacrosse, but his parents have
always stressed education and academics. He speaks three languages. He
is just the most engaging guy. Where he was skating
in the summer with another former London night, Tonio Stranges,
and they just started talking off the ice. Next thing

(20:39):
you know, they're on these floaties in a lake and
they've just spent so much time chatting about hockey and
life and becoming buddies that they've floated out too far
and people are yelling to them saying, hey, we got
to get you back, and so never a danger. But
that's just a day in the life of Julian Brown.
And then Linus funk him almost right off the bat.

(21:01):
He's from Sweden and is six foot three, but he's
got some two way to him where he's good in
his own zone. And then he's also very good offensively.
And Linus says, one, I'm kind of missing the food,
and so we said, well, there's there's quite a few
places to go. I mean, there's there's lots of great food.
He goes, oh, no, no, there's lots of great food here,

(21:21):
but I'm really missing arctic char. And I thought, wow,
that's yeah, that's that's a tough one to find. You
can't really go to a like a pop up stand
and find that or a food truck. I said, arctic char.
He goes yeah. I said, do you fish for it?
He goes, oh, yeah, yeah, I fish for it, and
then I cook it over a fire up in the mountains.
And that was just a typical day for Linus Funk.

(21:43):
So you've got some really interesting personalities who the Knights
will be bringing together this year. But a lot of
great characters and a lot of great character which should
work out well.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
Amazing stuff there behind the scenes, and Mike Stubbs always
does a great job of giving us some I'm a
comedic relief here when he does come on for his appearances. Mike,
before I let you go, you obviously remember when London
hosted the Memorial Cup. So in your opinion with I'm
going to put you on the spot with Kitchener and Gwelf,
and I've got Josh Brown and Mark Perry coming on
a little bit later to discuss those two markets and

(22:16):
what they could offer. Well do you think for the
two finalists Gwelf or Kitchener for the twenty twenty seven
Memorial Cup when it comes back to Ontario, Well.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
They both hosted before and they both did outstanding jobs
in hosting. I still think this has been Kitchener's to
lose from the beginning, and so I think, you know,
if they put together their proposal, they have already started
and Gwelf's doing this as well. But Kitchener has a
real eye on twenty six, twenty seven as to what

(22:45):
the roster will look like, and I think that may
be the tipping point where they may be a little
bit more Memorial Cup ready than the gwelf Storm and
that's something that the Big Committee does look at and
so I think that gives them the edge in the end.
So I think the Kitchener Rangers and the City of Kitchener,
I think you'll see them in the twenty twenty seven
Memorial Cop Tournament.

Speaker 4 (23:06):
Well, the longtime voice of the London Knights, Mike Stubbs
on nine eighty CFPL catch him and Jim Van Horn
for another great season calling the London Knights games home
and away every single game there throughout the OHL season. Mike,
thanks so much for taking the time before the season
gets going and look forward to checking in with you
again throughout the season.

Speaker 6 (23:24):
A both the London.

Speaker 5 (23:25):
Knights Brandon keep up the great work. Thanks for this.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
We'll be right back here on OHL overtime and we'll
hear from Josh Brown in the Kitchen Rangers perspective right
back after this.

Speaker 7 (23:34):
Butt ends are hockey stick grips, specifically for the top
of the stick. Designs replace traditional clock tape. They're made
of rubber and offer a more consistent and comfortable grip
and tape aiming to improve performance and reduce slippage. Butt
Ends are an alternative to regular stick tape that provide
an enhanced grip and comforts. Are durable, reusable, and consistent
with the ability to reduce vibration. The grips are available

(23:56):
in a variety of styles, designs, colors, and even have
options for specific player names. At butt Ends. They are
committed to providing the world's highest quality stick gripts and
continue to bring new technology and ideas with each new
grip design, regardless of sports. Alex Patrangelo, Atio Thomas, Max Dilmy,
Aiden Hill and Tim Stut's Law are just a name
a few who have proudly used butt ends for peak

(24:18):
performance at the NHL level. Check them out at butt
Ends with a z dot com and use our referral
code butt ends dot com slash discount slash armchair GM
to get ten percent off your order as part of
our community. Engineered for greatness and performance, butt Ends the
number one group in the hockey.

Speaker 5 (24:36):
Hi, this is Larry the Lot you're listening to. Always
Well over time.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
And welcome back to part two of today's OHL Overtime
season premiere episode, Talking Memorial Cup. Here on the opening
episode of the season. We're back with Josh Brown at
Josh Brown Record obviously does a great job covering the
Kitchener Rangers and a lot of the other sports in
the Kitchener Waterloo area. Josh, thanks a lot for joining us,
A long time colleague and great to get to know

(25:27):
you the games in Kitchener and as well, you're a
friend of the show with the Ohl on sixty podcast
now on board. I know you're an avid listener to
Calling and Reese as well, so I really appreciate you
coming on today and willing to discuss some Rangers for
obviously the twenty twenty seven bid, but what looks like
a very hopeful twenty twenty five twenty six season as well.

Speaker 6 (25:47):
That's always good to talk to you. And yeah, I
haven't been invited to their podcast yet, so you beat
them to it. I like that, Okay, I am a
big fan of that podcast, but just a listener right now.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
Well, they did show about five times when we were
all on the mic five all right last over the summertime,
so I think you think you got enough enough airtime
over there, but never has that Josh. I know the
Rangers looking to host a Memorial Cup for the first
time since the two thousand and eight season. What do
you remember most about the last time that they were

(26:20):
able to host that tournament? They you know, didn't end
up winning it, but winning the Winchell Championship I'm sure
was was very special at that time as well.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Well.

Speaker 6 (26:27):
What I remember is I was covering high school sports
back then, so I didn't get to cover the Memorial
Cup and Kitchener Unfortunately, I was new to the record newish.
I've been on with the team I think since twenty eleven,
so almost almost fifteen years. What I most remember about
the cup was when they presented it to the Spokane Chiefs,
it fell apart. Let's the infamous I don't know if you've
seen the clip on YouTube, but it actually broke in half.

(26:50):
So they have half the team holding this little like
tiny tea cup and the other guy's holding the trophy
and deep branch looking mortified as a you know, at
the mishap. But yeah, So fifteen years of the Rangers
and this would be I've covered three Memorial Cups out
in part in different towns, but this would be my
first main one here being kind of the guy to

(27:12):
write about the Rangers and looking forward to hopefully seeing
them win the bid. That'd be awesome. I always say,
you know, I always want to go to a Memorial
Cup somewhere a little more adventurous, you know, like a
West or at a Halifox, instead of going to your
first one with the team you cover in the town
you're always in. But at least you could just sleep
in your own ben if it works out for them.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
Yeah, well, it's either it's going to be close regardless,
Wolf and Kitchener not too far of a drive for you.
So I'm sure that'll be good for a lot of
us here in the Ontario Hockey League that it's more
of a centralized bid with that sense. And before we
get into, you know, the heart of that discussion, Josh,
it was obviously a good summer for the Rangers. As
far as the NHL draft class got it up on

(27:53):
the screen for you guys watching on the video version there.
Cam Reid, Luca Romano, Andrew McNeil and Matthew Lachar were
all drafted to the National Hockey League, read by Nashville
in the first round, Romano third round by the Islanders,
McNeil sixth round by the Canadians and Lachar is a
seventh round pick by the Leafs. So what were your
thoughts on those four players and sort of the impact

(28:15):
for them to be able to be drafted and then
the impact that they might have on the Rangers this
upcoming season.

Speaker 6 (28:20):
I think it was a tale of two parts here.
The first two guys everyone expected to go, McNeil and
Lachar were a little bit surprising, though I think anyone
in Kitchener wasn't surprised to see Andrew McNeil go. I
think he played about thirty five games or so last year,
so he was in and out of the lineup as
a healthy scratch because they were so deep. But when
he did play, he was such an impactful player. And

(28:42):
then as the season went on, there's always those guys
on teams, right that kind of start out a bit fringy.
Matthew A. Danovski was a guy like that, Max Diracolo
who got invited to Detroit's camp, and then as the
season goes on, these guys work their way into the
lineup that can't be taken out. Mcgil was one of
those guys in the playof he really established himself and

(29:02):
I think that's where he turned a lot of heads.
So I love him as a player. I think he's
one of those guys. He's no nonsense, you know, a
little bit of grit, great personality. So I was happy
to see him go. Cameron Reid, he's a future captain.
Luca Romano, you know he'll be a top score in
this league one day. That wasn't surprising, and Lachar ran
into him a couple of days ago, just gave him
in quick congrats and asked how his family. You know,

(29:24):
if they're pretty happy. I think they were a little surprised,
as everyone was. But another guy, I think that has potential, right.
I think that's what they see in him, is if
he can maybe dial back the physical element, a part
that takes him to the penalty box, and just use
it for good as a power forward. I think he
has some potential there to be a twenty twenty five
goal guy in the OHL and a real difference maker.

(29:45):
You know when he's on the ice, you know he's
an intimidating guy. And another guy who I had one
coach told me, coach something like, I don't know, fifteen
years in the cochl never had a guy. He's never
seen a guy work harder than Matthew lachar So. I
love those underdog guys who get there on hard work,
and that seems to be working for him right now,

(30:05):
and I expect a different kind of year for him.
I think he'll be more of an impactful player and
get a little bit more responsibility on the Rangers this year.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
What are you thinking about Cam Reid this year? You know,
Nashville traded up to get this guy. They're really obviously
intrigued in his skill set and a guy that took
a big step in his second year looking to take
a bigger step in the third year. You know, solid
two way defender, fifty four points this last season. But
what would you say about cam Reid that you're really
looking for him to take a big step in going
to the third year now that he has that NHL

(30:33):
affiliation to his name.

Speaker 6 (30:35):
He's just one of those guys that keeps getting better
every year. I haven't seen a defenseman in a long
time here who really stole your attention when you watch them.
Last guy I think that really commanded a game would
have been Ryan Murphy might be a bit before your time.
He ended up playing in the NHL Caroline Hurricanes and
then in Europe and then I think of the A
But he was the kind of guy who would get

(30:56):
the puck behind the net and could skate right up
the ice and deep through a whole team. And to
see that from Cam Raid. He was a little cautious
as a young guy, rightfully, so all young guys are.
But he's really starting to open up his offensive game now,
putting up points. I think he was fourth overall in
the team and scoring last year, kind of sneakily fourth
or fifth anyway time for the team leading it assists,

(31:18):
just like he doesn't just keep getting better, but he
takes giant leaps, and I think when you see that
in players, those are the guys that are going to
be special and really have a shot at making the NHL.

Speaker 4 (31:28):
Josh Brown from the Waterloo Region records with US I
would be remiss, Josh if we didn't sort of talk
about Jackson Parsons and not necessarily what he's done, because
we know Ohl goaltender the year, OHL Overage Player of
the Year, graduating on signed by the Ottawa Senators organization,
you know, wishing him the best of luck there, but
realistically trying to replace a guy like Jackson Parsons might

(31:50):
be difficult, you know, right off the bat, just given
how much he meant to the franchise. So one of
the biggest storylines as far as Rangers camp, would you say,
is sort of the goaltending sitution and who's really going
to step up and take the reins there? In Parsons graduation.

Speaker 6 (32:05):
Well, yeah, HL and COHL Goalie of the Year, right,
so this guy is like the every trophy you could
win for goalies, he did well. Yeah, I mean the
good thing is like not to take away from Parsons,
and I think he would admit this too, but the
Rangers play a pretty good defensive style, so it helps
any goalie have a bit more of a shot. But
I mean he obviously stood on his head and stole

(32:26):
games last year for them, especially in the playoffs, And yeah,
you just can't just replace him. I mean, the Rangers
are going to try. They turned to Swiss goalie Christian
Kersh San Jose Sharks draft pick away at camp with them.
Big big goalie didn't have the greatest year last year,
but it split the season between two teams because he
wasn't getting some playing time so it kind of didn't

(32:46):
never really had a chance to find his rhythm. And
then you know, as your goal as a goalie, that's
super important. And then you got Jason shapp with the
guy's quietly done everything the teams asked about him, you know,
high draft pick, you know, didn't play hardly at all
last year. I think thought maybe he was going to
be the guy coming into this year. Now they go
get this veteran guy, So he's going to be I
would assume the backup to an NHL drafted player that

(33:09):
being said, he'd get did get invited to be on
Canada's Ivan Helenka team, and he will see way more
action than he did last year. It was under twenty
games last year. I think, so he'll spell him off
and you know, maybe with the eye toward if he
has a really good year as a backup and starts
to steal some start from kursh he might be the

(33:30):
Memorial Cup goalie if they win the bid in two years.

Speaker 4 (33:32):
And I got up on the screen. There's some players
that are notable players that are joining leaving, some of
those being over ages as well, so from some of
the signings and you know, the whole Adam Valentini situation,
and you wrote a column on that that people can
check out at the record. But you know, that's one
less player and they've had to kind of compensate for
that now getting some draft picks back to be able
to use. I guess if they want to go for
it this season, but twenty twenty seven's a thing that

(33:56):
they have to look at now as far as not
closing their window on just going forward one season. So
with some of the players they've added in, like do
you see this being that two year window, do you
think that they might have to sort of not go
necessarily all in this year, even though they have a
really good shot at getting back to the Western Conference Final.

Speaker 6 (34:13):
It's a really tricky situation because you have and believe me,
I'm not one of those people who think London is
going to be this disastrous team this year because they're
losing a lot of Memorial Cup talent. Like that team
is still stocks, So nobody should be overlooking or underestimating
the London Nights. The Rangers are in a tricky situation,
like they've got some guys that will be leaving this year,

(34:35):
and like Christian Humphries and Jack Pritam. At the end
of the year, two guys will be in their top line.
Luke Allenis might not be back, so you could potentially
be losing, like your whole top line. So do you
want to go for it this year or if you
get the Memorial Cup. You've always got that out of
the back of your head because you have to have
a good roster. The good news is this, I have
a really good group of two thousand and seven, so
the core of their team will be nineteen next year.

(34:58):
And I think that's the age you'll want if you're
if you're the host of a Memorial Cup and you're
in it, or if you get there on your own,
and you know, because you want you want you need
to have an older team that those are the teams
that typically when you don't win with sixteen, seventeen and
eighteen year old some so they'll you know, Reed Romano,
Lamb McNeil, all these guys are going to be in
their prime. Jacob Jew's younger, the fin they just got

(35:22):
Oscar Hemming. As you know, I've been told he's he's
way I shouldn't say way better, he's he's just as
an exciting player as out of Adam Valentini was so
they losing him hurt stun But then you get this
other kid coming in who maybe brings a bit more
of an edge. I don't think so. I don't think
that that set them back too much, which is nice.

(35:42):
But Hemming's supposed to be a heck of a player.
He'll be a little younger. But if they get the
Memorial Cup on that squad and they have some assets,
it's not they're not teaming in assets, Like maybe Goolf
has a lot more picks, but I don't. I think
Wolf has a lot more work to do to build
a Memorial Cup team. I think Kitchener is sort of
they've known that this is the year they wanted to
bid since they started that draft, and they went out

(36:04):
and signed a heck of a lot of guys from
that Cameron Reid draft and they're all playing on the
team and have been playing and been contributing as well.

Speaker 4 (36:12):
So as far as the standings last year, like Kitchener
finished third in the conference in the Western Conference, and
it was something that maybe they thought that was a
little bit premature, being that good that that quickly and
then the reverse sweep there on the Windsor Spitfires was
pretty incredible to be able to get to the West
Final losing to London and went on to win the
OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup. So when you look

(36:34):
at where Kitchener might might fit in in the Western
Conference this year, are you thinking somewhere in that top
three once again if they sort of strategically make some
moves to make their team better for twenty seven as
you mentioned with the Memorial Cup bids, so we'll know
sort of by November ish what team either it's going
to be goal for Kitchener that does get it, so
at least maybe they don't have to make the moves

(36:55):
before the deadline. But what would you say is sort of,
you know, m mackenzie, I guess on his to do
list now going into this season and making sure that
you know, he sets himself up for what could possibly
come in twenty twenty seven as well.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Well.

Speaker 6 (37:11):
I just the start of your questions there, the predicting businesses.
I hate it. I think I picked picked. The Rangers
finished seventh last year and they're the second best team
in the Hlso, like, the one thing I will say
is coach Uciojokis gets the most out of his guys,
and they're playing a real tight system. The guys are

(37:31):
all bought in. They're all on the same page, from
coaching staff to players to prospects. People coming in know
that this is expected of them, so he can get
guys to play. He gets the most out of his guys.
He's done a really good job. It's a killer team,
you know. I mean, Mike McKenzie's, you know, a very
savvy GM. Joe birch Is, a former CHL guy, runs

(37:52):
the team.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
Now.

Speaker 6 (37:52):
I got Steve ban Kewski who ran who was the
former CEO of the club for decades running the Memorial
Cup bits. So there's some beasts behind the scenes here
putting this bin together. As far as what they have
to do as a team, it's gonna be a weird year.
Like where do I see them finishing. A lot of
people have them winning the West. I'm not. I haven't
really done my predictions yet, but they'll definitely be top

(38:14):
three in my opinion. It's hard to say because they're
starting the seasons out. Carson Campbell, Luke Ellens, Andrew Vermullin,
three veteran older guys who all had surgery in the offseason.
I don't know how long they're gonna be out. They
could miss a month, they could miss a couple of weeks,
So how good are they going to be in that month?
They might lose some games then they got I think
it's weird talking earlier eleven guys headed NHL camps. Some

(38:37):
of these guys are going to be going to World
Junior tryouts. That always is tough to IOC London. You know,
that's when they lose their gate. They're like four games
a year, whatever it is they lose during that kind
of December break. So I don't know where they'll be
in the standings early on. I think they'll be a
second half team. McKenzie, I think I know his strategies

(38:59):
to been. He wants to build a Memorial Cup winners.
So the core of their team is going to be
from within free agents, drafting guys from the impoort draft.
But they always got to add a little couple extra
guys here to push over the top. Whether he can
get that this year for a decent price, I don't know.
It's such a weird landscape in the OHL right now
with the NCAA guys coming and going. I keep hearing

(39:21):
about guys that might leave the OHL halfway through the
year and guys who might come back from the NCAA,
and I just don't think we know how that's all
gonna work out. So it's kind of hard to you're
it's kind of hard to form a team for two
that's what you know. I was gonna wanted to talk
to Stubbsy in London because I don't think they added
too many guys last year. Like most of that team
was in place come September. They weren't from what I recall,

(39:44):
I don't think they were too busy at the trade
deadline going again in guys. So I think if you
can do that, that's the secret. And I think that's
what he's trying to quietly been doing, is building this
team year after year, get started with a strong class
and adding these little, you know, free agent fines here
and there, and getting some guys with a lot of
hype in the import draft, hoping it will come together.

(40:05):
I imagine lot one or two guys next year. Like
I said, I don't know if that starts this year
or not, just because other teams might who are going
for it this year, might come in with a higher,
higher package that the Rangers can't be and they're not.
I don't think they're going to trade any of their
core guys, like I can't see them. They have to
be their youngest guys, maybe get to get you know,

(40:27):
the veterans in.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
And we won't really know the impact of this Josh
for the next couple of seasons, Like we have to
see how this new landscape sort of works with all
these players coming and going and these NCAA commits being
able to come as well, So the windows might be
shorter than what we've seen in the past, and we
just really don't know the impact of it. We'll have
to wait and see how the next two years ago
and how the Rangers are sort of already navigating through that.
They haven't won the Ohl Championship since that seven eight season.

(40:51):
So as far as the community aspect, I know, the
the the the odd being a you know, historic building,
they're doing some renovations there as well. The region and
the city of Kitcheners obviously behind the bid as well.
So as far as the community impact and the Rangers
want to put in the work to be able to
host something like this, Like how confident are you that
you know they're obviously a finalist, So the CHL must

(41:14):
believe in them in that regard. But as far as
what you might expect from them when they do host
this tournament with upgrades and things like that, just what
do you think the impact would be on the arena
in the city.

Speaker 6 (41:24):
I think they have a fifty to fifty shot at
getting the Memorial Cup. No, you know what, it's funny,
there's something to be said. Was it like like Branford's
already saying they want to host a Cup in like
fifteen years or something. Now it's five years away, but
it's like super I think there's something to like putting
it out there early. And the Rangers three years ago
said they wanted to host this. And there's certain teams

(41:45):
in this league that, whether you agree with it or not,
or seen as pillars of the OHL, and I think
the Rangers are one of those teams. And I think
but getting out there early, and I would really really
have a hard time seeing the OHL snubbing one of
what they consider they're strong franchises. You know, they came
in last minute, maybe, but this is something they've been
obviously twenty and twenty two. I think Joe Birt first

(42:08):
mentioned it that he wanted to do this and the
fans deserve this, so I would be shocked if they
don't get this. I think it's theirs to lose. And
that might sound a little cocky, but I just you know,
between the rink that can hold almost eight thousand, it's
almost you know, I'm not double golf of golfs around five.
You know, I don't want to put down golf. I'll
just talk to the pros a kitchener. I mean, their

(42:28):
rink holds, like I said, almost eight thousand. They you know,
they sell out most of their games, so you know
those games between the Q and the W are going
to get to see. You know, people are going to
go watch those and buy those tickets. And let's be honest,
like at the end of the day, the COCHL wants
this to be a success. They want to go somewhere raw.
You know, the games are going to sell out. There's

(42:49):
going to be some hype. The Rangers, you know, when
they held it in two thousand and eight, they started
a couple of traditions on their own. One was designing
a Jersey for the first game to honor military and
then they auction them off and now every host city
does that. Ever since they started that two thousand and eight,
every single Memorial Cup the host city has done that.
They did an alumni game, which was different at the time,

(43:11):
and the guy who landed that, Steve Bankowski. He's back
as a chair as I mentioned of the Memorial Cup Committee.
So between their front office, in the team that's going
to be peaking for that year, and the fans support.
As far as ticket sales and capacity goes, I think
they check a lot of boxes. I mean, it's not

(43:32):
a modern facility' that's one problem I know for broadcasting.
It's not convenient for TV all the time because they
don't have the space that they do it some of
the newer rinks. But you've been to the odd and
anyone who goes there raves about it, and you know
it's a crown jewel Arenas on the junior circuit in
the CCHL, the oldest rink tied with Sudbury in the

(43:53):
O and they're getting a new one up there so
it will be the oldest and I think all those
things work and their team's favor and expecting to see
them come out on top on this in this vote.

Speaker 4 (44:04):
So before we let you go, Josh, what's one player
you're really looking to take a big step for the
Rangers this season? Maybe not quick like you don't have
to go in depth analysis, but somebody you're really looking
at to really make an impact on the squad.

Speaker 6 (44:17):
They have a ton of young guys still, so it's
hard to say because they have they are so deep.
I think they right now they have two extra lines
and three extra d that could all be starters. So
it's insane. But I I'm one guy I've mentioned before
is Tanner Lamb. I don't know if that's really a
gutsy callie. He was top ten in scoring, but he's

(44:37):
of the the guys from that that the two thousand
and seven birth born guys. Camery Luca Romano got drafted.
He didn't. He's always been he was a smaller guy
when he came in, a slighter guy, and people have
always kind of counted that against him. But he tied
for the league or tied for the team league and
assists very quietly with forty led all those seventeen year

(44:59):
olds last year points and he's he's looked hungry. He
scored a Michigan goal in an inter squad game and
training camp, and he's messing the mesh in preseason play.
I think he's out to prove something motivated that he
didn't get drafted, and he's a really talented player. And

(45:20):
also I always liked the guys who breakout are also
the guys that kind of show well in the playoffs,
and he was one of the guys that really stepped
up unexpectedly in the playoffs to be a big contributor
for the team. So I'm gonna go with Tannel Lamb.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
Okay, So I've got two quick things for you to
be able to respond to. One you can respond to.
Mark Perry is going to be our next guest on
from the Guelfs and as well Colin Ward from the
Dogcast and the Bulldogs Audio Network. A friend, a friend
of yours as well, wanted me to ask you if
you're ready for Game one between Kitchener and Branford.

Speaker 7 (45:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (45:50):
I think it's gonna be awesome. The McKee Cup, I'm
gonna call it there. Jaye McKee was an awesome coach
in Kitchener and a great guy. To deal with, and
I'm glad to see's gone on to the elsewhere. Not
that I never expected that, but they're gonna ad this.
This Bulldogs team is the real deal. I think they're
gonna you know, it's gonna be tough on for Gittchen.
They're gonna be missing key guys and and probably have

(46:11):
half their team at NHL camps. Maybe hopefully they'll be
back by then, so it's at least close. But you know,
Branford's the same, right, they're gonna have. They got a
lot of stars that team. They've been busy. I was
just looking like they'd like they knew Niagara, and I
think they've made the most trades in the off season
now if they're tied with Niagara, I think with teams
that they've dealt with already, it's sorry, like six or seven.
It's crazy. But let's see how all those new faces meshed.

(46:32):
And hopefully, I hopefully both of you guys will be
up with the press box and come and say hi.
And and when you get perry On, just say hi
for me. He used to work in Kitcheners so I
know him well. And Timmins, boy, I'm just curious what
I was hoping he might be honest, just because I'm
curious to see what he thinks about the golf bin.
He's plugged in there more than I am, so I'll
look forward to looking at too. Watching your interview with.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
Him sounds good. So there's Josh Brown from the Waterloo
Region Record. Josh, thanks so much for joining us before
you go. Where can people find your work and what
you're doing this season for the Rangers?

Speaker 6 (47:06):
You can find me and the Waterloo Region Record physical copy, online,
Record dot com. I'm on X and I am on
Blue Sky too, believe it or not, keeping it real
with all the social well a couple social platforms a BC.
It's always good to talk to you, always great.

Speaker 4 (47:22):
So that's the Kitchen Rangers perspective of the twenty twenty
seven memorial cop bit. We right back after this with
the Guelf Storm perspective. Fourth Wall is the official merchandise
supplier of the Armshair GM Sports Network. Our user friendly
site is print to order with no minimum items or
inventory needed, shipped right to your doorsteps, safely and efficiently
from their North American warehouse. All of our logos are

(47:43):
available to supporters, listeners, and viewers can have the best
variety available to them for their swag preferences. All items
are priced as low as possible, allowing everybody who wants
to support our business with the opportunity to do so,
receiving quality and comfortable products in return. Shop today at
fourth wall dot com with the direct link to our
Armchair merch Store in the description of all episodes and

(48:05):
in the bio of all of our social media accounts.
Become an armshare GM today with fourth Wall.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
Hi, this is Mike Stubbs, radio Voice of the London Nights.
You are listening to Brandon Kapudo on OHL Overtime.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
And welcome back to the final installment of today's OHL
Overtime season premiere episode and our Memorial Cup talk for
the twenty twenty seven Memorial Cup. We heard from Mike
Stubbs in the first part of today's episode talking about
the twenty twenty five champion London Knights. Part two we
heard from the Kitchen Rangers perspective from Josh Brown of
the Kitchener Waterloo Record. Great stuff from him discussing the

(49:06):
Kitchener Rangers being a finalist for the Memorial Cup in
twenty twenty seven and now we're gonna hear from the
gwelf Storm side of things, the other finalist along with
Kitchener for that twenty twenty seven bid. And I'm pleased
to be joined today by the color commentator for the
gwelf Storm on Rodgers TV. That'd be the one in
the only, the OTC, as I call him in wrestling terms,
Mark Perry. Mark, thanks a lot for joining us today.

(49:28):
I know you got a lot to We got a
lot to talk about with the gwelf Storm. Exciting news
for them last week being one of the finalists. But
before we get going, where can people find the great
work you're doing and what you're going to be doing
for the Storm this season?

Speaker 8 (49:39):
Well, where can't you find me? It seems like twelve
months of the year. Obviously. My big role is with
the gwelf Storm on Rogers TV. As you alluded to,
you can find us on Rogers TV wherever the gwelf
Storm are playing their home games. I also do color
commentary work on the radio side for the Sudbury Wolves
on seven kl You. I am a news reporter for

(50:04):
Gwelftday dot Com and I also do regular work during
the summer in the inner County Baseball League with the
Kitchener Panthers and the GWELF Royals. I think I covered everything.

Speaker 4 (50:14):
You're a man of many hats, Mark, That's what I'll say.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
But you do you.

Speaker 4 (50:18):
And Ryan Drewy obviously calling the games for the Gulf
Storm on Rogers TV. Again, tough season for the Storm
last season, and we're going to talk about that in
a memorial cupit and everything regarding that. But before we
get going with that, let's let's quickly touch on the
Guelf Storm players this summer that had their names called
in the NHL Draft. And I'm gonna pull that upright

(50:41):
right now. There we go, and we've got Quinnboshane, Spada,
and Charlie Poquette were the three players that were selected
in the NHL draft. Boshane a fifth round pick by Pittsburgh,
Spada a seventh round pick by Tampa Bay, and then
Podkett a seventh round pick by the Dallas Star. So
was that sort of what you were expecting as far

(51:02):
as the players that were going to be picked from
the Storm organization? And what do you think of those
three players now with the NHL affiliation to their names?

Speaker 8 (51:11):
Well, I love it. I kind of expected Quinbo Shane.
He was probably the highly touted prospect out of the
bunch that were with the Storm this past season, and
the Pittsburgh Penguins, I feel like is a really good fit.
I think he's going to learn a lot from that
defensive core and the defensive coaches in the Penguins organization
that he can bring back to Gwelph. And you know,

(51:33):
you look at the other two. Charlie Paquette had a
career year last year. He's still the iron man in
the GWELFH Storm ranks just a little over two hundred
and ten straight games he has played. The guy has
been just a horse obviously, just getting named captain as well.
And you know it's his second or third time through
the through the draft process here, so I'm really glad

(51:56):
to see that the hard work that he's put in
has paid off. Grants Beta kind of caught me off guard, admittedly,
and this is all due respect to Grant and the
great work that he put in this season. It was
kind of a late pick. You kind of expected maybe
somebody else, even a left kats and to get picked
up by an NHL team, but that didn't end up happening.

(52:17):
But when you look at Grant Spada specifically, you think
about how this draft had ended up rolling out. There
was a lot of big guys that were picked in
the later stages of that draft, particularly in that seventh round,
and Grant Spada fits that to a t. He's a large,
a large defenseman really starting to find his feet, his

(52:37):
skating ability, works the corners physical as well, and he
ends up getting into a Tampa Bay Lightning system very
similar in makeup, where they also have a lot of
big guys on their NHL team on the back end
that he can learn from and similar to literly de beau,
Shane can bring that to the OHL ranks.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
And when you talk about Spada, he's a guy that
when I had asked you as my Golf Storm correspondent
for this season, a player that you were looking for
to going into camp, Spada was the guy that you picked.
So it was that sort of a little bit of
a draft bump, or do you think that going into
this next season, maybe he rounds out, you know, learns
how to play in that bigger body and is able
to take a bigger role this season with the Storm.

Speaker 8 (53:18):
Well, I feel like He's definitely going to take a
bigger role this year. He's a year older. This defensive
corps for the gwelf Storm very similar to what we
saw a year ago, but Spadea is going to be
counted on to be a little bit more of a leader.
He's a year older, he is starting to fill into
his body a little bit more and try to find
his confidence. And I really do think that that draft

(53:39):
is going that draft pickup, I should say, is going
to give him that extra boost that he needs to
really find his confidence and really find himself into those
top four, those top two defenseman style of minutes. And
you know, he is going to be counted on a
lot this year because he is going to be that
name that has stuck around here for the last couple

(54:00):
of years, and you start to wonder where, you know,
what is his trajectory, what is his development and his
progression year over year. He had great progression even just
in the last year, and I think that's why Tampa
Bay decided to take a look at him and end
up picking him in the seventh round. You know, I
really do think two years ago there was something missing

(54:22):
in his game where you know, the reads, the hockey
IQ just wasn't there as much as you would like
to see it. But this past season it really started
to come into form. And now this year you kind
of take that next step and you wonder, you know,
what does twenty five twenty six have in store for
Grant Beta And I really think that a confidence level

(54:43):
going through the roof and learning from those defensive coaches
in Tampa Bay, and more importantly to another thing to
really note on this is the system that Corey Stillman
has put into place here too. I really feel like
his system is filled in a little bit more towards
Grant style. And I really think now that you're going
to be into year two of Stillman behind the bench,

(55:04):
you know that will allow Spata to really develop even
more into into this role as as a leader on
this team on the back end and.

Speaker 4 (55:12):
Then quickly on Quinbo Shane like a guy that you know,
a fifth round pick may may have been a bit
low than what people were expecting. He played at the
chl USA Prospect Challenge, so he had some some eyes
on him this season. Obviously, the Storm as a team,
if they would have been a little bit better, maybe
he would have had a little bit more eyeballs on
him as a playoff team and things like that. But

(55:33):
you look at him and you think that he naturally
he's going to take a step forward in his game
as well when you move on from some key defenseman
and some key defenseman leave that he should be stepping into,
you know, a top two role and really elevating his
game to you know, playing twenty five to thirty minutes
a night.

Speaker 8 (55:50):
Well, you look first of all at those two seasons
that he has played in the gwelf storm, you know,
just thirty three games played in his rookie year, forty
nine games played last year, and this is a guy
that has struggled with injuries and it's just been you know,
tough luck really if you will, you know, ended up
breaking his wrist in the at a U seventeen tournament.

(56:11):
I believe in his his first season, struggled a little
bit with with injury troubles last season as well, But
I think this is a guy that when you get
a healthy Quinbo Shane and playing you know, sixty sixty
five even playing the full sixty eight games, that this
guy can be a difference maker. There were some times
last year where you were starting to wonder, especially early on,

(56:32):
you know, where he was trying to find his way
and trying to find his role being a second a
second year guy, and you know, being counted on a
little bit more, and I feel like there was there
were some growing pains in there, particularly in the first
couple of games of the season. I do remember very
specifically a couple of turnovers that were caused by him
that ended up turning into goals on the other side.

(56:55):
Started to get things rolling, and you look at the
plus minus minus ten, it's not too too bad, it's
not great, But I really feel like that that's a
guy that you know, developed and found a little bit
more confidence as the season gone. It went along and
you know, got a little bit more minutes, and you know,
now this year, you really want to see him, you know,

(57:15):
get into these bigger moments and you know, for example,
quarterbacking the power play. I really feel like that's something
that really he needs to, you know, start taking taking
a little bit more of a more of a step
into you know, one thing that I noticed with him
in the preseason in particular, is that he was shooting more.
You want to see that slap shot from the point
on the power play a lot more. He was doing

(57:36):
that a lot more than what I felt like he
was doing last year. So I'm already starting to see
some progression in his game, and I really feel like
being in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and learning at the
training camp that's going to help propel him even further.
And quite frankly, he's just got to shoot the puck
a little bit more from the point. But he's got
some soft hands if you find him in close, in

(57:56):
tight on the nets, a guy that can score from
many different places in the offensive zone.

Speaker 4 (58:02):
So as we move on a little bit here mark
the big big ticket item this week is the Gulf
Storm and Kitchener Rangers named finalists to host the Memorial Cup,
which is great to central centralized teams. A lot for
a lot of people to be able to get to
that tournament, including myself. It'll be a lot easier travel wise,
and both both just down down the road from each
other when you think about it. But gwelf Storm going

(58:24):
to be trying to host this tournament for the first
time since the two thousand and two season, and they're
looking for another j Ross Robertson Cup, which I believe
was the twenty eighteen nineteen season mark.

Speaker 8 (58:36):
Yeah, it's correct, Yeah, that is correct.

Speaker 4 (58:38):
So as I pull up the season by season stats here,
when you look at that, as far as how excited
the GWELF community is for an opportunity like this, you
know that this season is important to grow for the
next season, and knowing that they're coming up from the
absolute bottom of the Western Conference and looking to take
a step this year, and then if they are awarded

(58:59):
the moor Cup, that twenty twenty seven year is going
to be so important for draft picks and what have you.
So what were your thoughts when it was announced that
it was going to be Kitchener and Guelph as the
two finalists with Kingston and Nagara, that we're not chosen
for that honor. Just your initial reactions to it and
what you think that means for the Storm this season.

Speaker 8 (59:21):
I really feel like the Storm this season now everything
is just kind of off the ice. You have to
basically wait until late November early December before you really
find out that you are going to be hosting it
or not. But I really do feel like the team
this year, you're not really looking at it as much.
You'll let everybody take care of things behind the scenes.

(59:41):
You showcase what you can do on the ice, sure,
but at the end of the day, you know you'll
let the people off the ice really kind of have
that sales pitch toward the brass that are going to
be making the decision on the more Memorial Cup because
I think at the end of the day, you know,
you don't want to put too much pressure on yourself.
You have enough pressure as it is being an OHL player.

(01:00:04):
You just want to take that Memorial Cup bid out
of your mind and just just play the games, really
and you don't do the best you can and that's
that's really all you can do as an organization and
let the chips fall as they may. When you look
at these two teams, Squealth and Kitchener, and I know
Josh probably talked a lot about it when it comes

(01:00:25):
to you just the Laurels and you know, the pros
that the Kitchener Rangers have over the Gwelth Storm and
hosting this Memorial Cup bid, whether it's the you know,
the seating, you know, Kitchener Memorial Auditorium they have about
two thousand more seats. You know, it's a bigger centralized
area where you have, you know, one of the ten
largest municipalities in terms of population. You know, they have

(01:00:48):
that history, they have, you know, recently been able to
host different things like the Top Prospects Game. They hosted
Canada Russia a few years ago as well. You know,
you even look at what they've done in the last
few seasons during the preseason and having that preseason showcase.
I really feel like you go back to that preseason
showcase that they've been hosting with four different teams. Really,

(01:01:10):
from what I think about with this preseason showcase that
Kitchener puts together, this is showcasing to them that or
showcasing to the brass that hey, we can host a
four team tournament. We have the facilities. Here's our prime
examples of how we can do it. You know, you
look down the road and everybody thinks when they look
at Kitchener versus Gwelf when it comes to a Memorial Cup, bit, oh,

(01:01:33):
it's a shoe and Kitchener is going to win it.
Of course they're going to win it. You know, That's
all I've been really hearing around hearing Gwealth. There is
a little bit of skepticism but I think once it
ended up becoming Kitchener versus gwelf, there was a little
bit more of a you know, kind of that friendly
rivalry of we really need this, we want to be
Kitchener into this. And when you look at the facility

(01:01:56):
here in gwelfh I really do think it is positioned
to host a tournament like this because again hosted in
two thousand and two. When you think about all the
amenities everything around the sleem And Center, it's built in
a mall for crying out lad There's a lot of
different things that you can do in their pregame. Yes,
I know Kitchener is building a restaurant inside its own
inside its own arena, but other than that, you're in

(01:02:18):
the middle of a residential area. There's not much around
the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. For Gwelph. You have the downtown
course steps away, you have the parking, you have so
many different restaurants and so many things that you can
do pregame that it really does give Gwelph a leg
up in that perspective. But you know, I think overall

(01:02:40):
there is a little bit of buzz when it comes
to the GWELF storm possibly being able to host a
Memorial Cup. And when you talk about that, you know
plethora of draft picks. There's been a lot focused on
twenty twenty seven in particular the last couple of years. Yes,
it was a down year last year for GWELF. When
you look at it, when you look at the players

(01:03:00):
that are coming up, they're starting to build themselves into
a winner. And when you saw their year to year,
it doesn't take them long. It does not take them
long to go from the basement to the tippy tippy top.
This was a team, a franchise that was in the
Memorial Cup Final in twenty fourteen. They were favored to win,
ultimately couldn't get the job done against Edmonton, had a

(01:03:21):
couple of down years, missed the playoffs a couple of times,
and then sure enough, what happens in twenty nineteen. They
were the underdog story of the OHL. They end up
winning the OHL Championship and advance to Halifax to the
Memorial Cup. There. So, this is a team that has
a history of being able to turn nothing into something
very quickly, and with the plethora of draft picks that

(01:03:43):
they have, there's a pretty good chance that they might
be able to do just that, but this time go
in through the hosting door. But you know that they
want to go in through the front door by winning
the championship as well.

Speaker 4 (01:03:56):
Yeah, and they want to have those bragging rights over
Kitchener for sure. And if you got are falling along
on the video side of this, I do have a
players joining and players leaving graphic up on the screen.
GWELF obviously adding a lot of players with the new
NC double A eligibility, players being able to come in
that have committed to NC Double A and vice versa.
So general manager George Burnett was definitely busy bringing in

(01:04:17):
some some key overage players like Ethan Needham as well
some great young players like Jacko Wissick and some others
just to name a few. Obviously, the elephant in the
room is jet Luchenko. Is he going to be up
in pro hockey this year? If he does come back,
does he get moved for a bunch of draft picks? Again,
we were not going to sit here and speculate it,
but you think that if GWELF is going to be
in contention for twenty twenty seven, that'd be something that

(01:04:39):
George Bennett would have to look at and he's not
afraid to make those kind of moves. So when you
look at it, Mark, what do you think is the
outlook for sort of the team this season? They obviously
want to be better than finishing last in the Western
Conference in a rebuild year, So what is your outlook already?
It's hard to say in the preseason, but what are
you thinking for the Storm this season with that full

(01:05:00):
Memorial Cup bump a little bit?

Speaker 8 (01:05:02):
Well, I don't think they're gonna miss the playoffs this year.
I do think that you're probably gonna see a team
that's kind of middle of the pack. You might see
them in fifth or sixth. I don't see them winning
a division title. But at the same time too, I
don't think that they're going to be exactly where they
were a season ago. Where they're going to be, you know,

(01:05:23):
bottom of the Western Conference picking second overall in the
next draft. I do think that they have made some
moves to kind of show off some of their shortcomings
from last season. Their goaltending tandem is a year older,
you know, obviously with Zach Jovanovski as well as Colin Elsworth,
these are gonna be the two young guys that are

(01:05:43):
going to be pushing each other to be a little
bit better. And you know, they were great down the stretch,
even for Gwelph despite the fact they missed the playoffs.
But these are gonna be two guys that are going
to be, you know, battling for for for playing minutes.
Scruz Resnik is going to be coming up the rear.
Don't forget about him. He's going to be playing some
junior B this season. But you know that if one

(01:06:05):
of the two main goaltenders goes down, he was picked
up pretty early in the draft and can be counted on.
As I mentioned before, the defense looks a little bit
similar they they are also a year older, and you're
hoping that some of that experience at NHL camps ends
up proving to be fruitful for some of these guys,
not just the two guys that were drafted into the

(01:06:27):
NHL this past year, but also you know guys like
Noah Jenkins, who ends up getting getting an invite to
camp too, And you know guys another guy Rowan Top
another one that got an invite to an NHL camps.
So you know that's that's going to be a good
defensive corps this year that is going to learn from
their mistakes from a season ago up and forward. As

(01:06:47):
you mentioned Jet Luchenko, we don't know his status right now,
Lev Katz and ends up going to Penn State, you know,
so there is a couple of holes to fill. But
I do feel like that a lot of the free
agents that have come in, some of these early draft
picks from the last couple of seasons, you know, have
looked very good in training camp, and you know, you
could find an unknown and a diamond in the rough

(01:07:08):
this season with this, with this squelf Storm, these newbies
that are coming.

Speaker 4 (01:07:12):
In, and you mentioned Charlie Pocatten recently named the new
captain of the golf Storm. That goaltending Taney talked about
Dan Clutch enters the organization as well, So former NHL
goaltender himself, maybe he's able to help those guys along
and give his experience as well.

Speaker 8 (01:07:26):
Former Timmins, Golden Bear. Don't forget about that.

Speaker 4 (01:07:29):
You're probably one of the only people that can get
that trivia question right now.

Speaker 8 (01:07:33):
He played two blocks away from where I grew up.
I mean, yes, it was six games, but the fact
of the matter is Dan Clutch played in Timmins for
a for a little bit, so I told near, near
and dear place to my heart. But obviously his resume
speaks for itself in the NHL ranks as well, and
you know he's going to really help these you know,

(01:07:56):
be a guy to uh to get advice from from
from these goaltenders and even the players as well. I mean,
life in the NHL can be tough, but he was
around it long enough where he can also be another
guy that you turned to for for some advice along
with you know, some of these former NHLers that are
on the on the bench as well, namely, you know,
another another guy into a second season with the team,

(01:08:19):
Corey Stillman. I mean you win two Cups for a reason.

Speaker 4 (01:08:23):
Yeah, Corey Stillman definitely one of the one of those
guys in the NHL that you know, was well respected
for the way that he played on nofty ice. Quickly
Mark got up on the screen. A couple other players
invited to the NHL camp seven total for the Guelf storm.
So anything else you want to mention about those other
guys already talked about the Spada, the Poket, Lushenko, Boshane,

(01:08:43):
but a couple others as well.

Speaker 5 (01:08:45):
Well.

Speaker 8 (01:08:45):
Noah Jenkins is going to be one of those guys
where you know, he gets picked up in the cam
Allen trade with London near the the transaction of the
trade deadline last year and made an immediate impact. He's
going to be another guy that you're counting on this
And Daniel Skvortsov really felt like he not necessarily underwhelmed,

(01:09:06):
but he was a guy that was in and out
of the lineup later stages of the season, ended up
becoming kind of that seventh defenseman, if you will, in
seven D setups. But you're really counting on him to
really step it up a notch here this year because
he is one of your three import slots. You want
to make sure that he is, you know, put into
the best position possible to succeed. And I really feel

(01:09:28):
like he's going to be driven to be a successful
piece of this gel Storm roster moving forward. But again,
you touch on some of these younger guys that aren't
mentioned in the NHL camps. Now I'm really interested to
see guys like like Will McFadden and Parker Snellgrove and
see what the trajectory is for them coming up this season.

(01:09:52):
Some of these newbies that they have picked up as
well are very intriguing to me. I mean, Benjamin Brunton
is going to be playing Junior B, but he was
a first round pick in the UA teen draft coming
from the North Bay area. He's going to be interesting
to watch and if he gets in a few games.
Iliashibinski just ended up getting signed a couple of hours ago.

(01:10:15):
He really impressed during the preseason too. You know, Christopher
Sores a former team made of Hunter McKenzie's when they
were both playing in the midget ranks. There's some pretty
good players that are upcoming that nobody's ever heard of
before in the OHL ranks, but you might be hearing
about them pretty often very soon.

Speaker 4 (01:10:36):
Great stuff there and again the Gulf Storm looking to
take a big step forward this year with the possibilities
of twenty twenty seven along with the Kitchener Rangers being
the potential host for the twenty twenty seven Memorial Cup
when it does come back here to Ontario. So Mark Perry,
the color commentator for the Gulf Storm on Rogers TV. Mark,
thanks a lot for being able to come on and

(01:10:56):
give us some great analysis from the Storm we'll be
checking in with you throughout the season. Maybe we'll be
checking in with you in late November early December if
the GWELF Storm do get awarded that bid over Kitchener.
But look forward to being able to stay in contact
with you this season and give our listeners, you know,
the ins and outs of what's going on over there
in GWELF at the sleem and Center.

Speaker 8 (01:11:18):
Hey, I appreciate you having me call me up anytime.

Speaker 4 (01:11:20):
That's going to wrap it up for this episode of
OHL Overtime in our season premiere episode talking about the
twenty twenty seven Memorial Cup. Thank you very much to
Mike Stubbs, Josh Brown, and Mark Perry for joining us
on today's show. Make sure to give us a like
hit subscribe to Smash that Bell on the YouTube side,
and for those listening in your favorite on demand audio platform,
thank you very much for doing so. That's been another
episode of OHL Overtime right here on the Armchair GM

(01:11:41):
Sports Network. We'll talk to you again very soon.

Speaker 6 (01:11:44):
This is the Armchair GM Sports Network

All Episodes

Memorial Cup Early Fever: 2027 Finalists & Defending The Throne - Season Premiere: OHL Overtime

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Memorial Cup Early Fever: 2027 Finalists & Defending The Throne - Season Premiere: OHL Overtime