Game over.

Welcome to Game Over, everyone. I'm Peter Cline from Game Over Calgary. She is Samantha Chang from Game Over Vancouver. And this was a wildly entertaining hockey game, especially the last few minutes. So looking forward to breaking it down with all of you. The chat is already going. So I think we're going to have a fun one here today in the first game of the Nikita Zadourov era out in Vancouver. And Sam, I think we should probably start there. First of all, I'm being very rude. How are you this evening? I'm pretty.

Good, Peter.

How about you? I'm doing all right. Yeah. I think a lot of people here, as we'll probably get to throughout the show, are looking for a bit of a rebuild out in Calgary. And I think these are the types of games that make rebuild fun. You hung in there, some young players stepped up, and you lost in regulation. So it's all gravy here this evening. But the newest Knack, Nikita Zodorov. You now have 60 full minutes of NHL experience of being Nikita Zodorov fan. How do you think he handled things this evening?

Scoring the game winner is a pretty good way to start. Scoring the game winner against your former team in your first game for your new team, pretty good. I thought, otherwise, overall, up until that point, I thought he was good. I didn't particularly stand out, didn't have a ton of ice time, but I thought it was a good start.

Yeah, because I've been a bit more critical of Zadorov here than others have been. And I think a game where you don't notice Zadorov is a really, really nice thing, because there are times where you can notice him for horrible reasons.

Sorry, go ahead. I was just going to say, actually, I tend to agree with your analysis of Zadorov. I like him. I think he's super fun to watch, but part of that is the chaos. I watched him play in Colorado a lot, so I'm with you. I understand the critiques. And for him, not noticing him is actually a better game.

But putting him with Tyler Myers is just a nice calming influence that will just make everything fine. I thought that was like... Pardon the pun here, given the team that I cover, but that was playing with Fire, I think, a little bit putting him with Tyler Myers. That was not a move I was anticipating.

I mean, Tyler Myers' nickname here is already the Chaosstraw, stuff. Adding Zadarov to that is... It was an interesting decision. I think my immediate reaction upon seeing that was, You can't be serious, but here we are.

I laughed out loud. Actually, cackled like a crazy person alone in my home when I saw that that was the pairing that they were rolling out with. But again, it pays off that they end up... I mean, they were out there with the net empty. So there is obviously some trust built in there with how Zadarov and Myers were doing things. And then he gets the Empty Net Winner because, of course, he does. But I thought while the night ended with him playing well, I thought the night began with a really good start from Quinn Hughes. And I get this is for the Vancouver portion of the audience, this is broken record. But I believe the 59th best player in the National Hockey League stepped up in a big time way to start this game. You guys are familiar with it. We're getting a bit of a taste of it out in Calgary, having played you guys a couple of times now. I don't even know if I have a question here. Just gloat about Quinn Hughes for the next couple of minutes.

Oh, very happy to do so. I mean, the guy has just had an unbelievable season so far. I had some concerns when he was named captain, mostly because it's a lot of pressure on a guy who is still pretty young. And sometimes you worry that that pressure can, it's maybe too much for his game. And he's really just stepped up to the challenge. He's had an outstanding season. It's been, I think, really making a case for the Norris. I know some people on the East Coast might scoff at that, but I've had a couple of PWHL people with voting power telling me that he's maybe their early front runner candidate for the Norris. And maybe it's a little bit of humorism. I like to think I'm not really a Homer. I've spent the last 10 years criticizing this franchise every single day. He's been the one bright spot. And I think he deserves to be in the conversation. And you can tell me, as a Flames fan, what your thoughts on him have been so far this season.

Yeah. I think the conversation starts with him personally. I think that the way he's elevated things like it's already nine goals this season, which is a career high for him in 25 games, which is hilarious. But it's just like as this Connect team has started to finally hit their stride, it's been him leaning at him and Patterson, obviously. But I understand the defensive side of things is not necessarily where he shines, but the skating ability, offensively, what he's able to do, quarterbacking the power play like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all of the amazing things that he does. He has been everything you could ask from him so far. I think he deserves to be in the conversation among the best defenseman in the NHL. And It haven't seen a defenseman play better than him this season. I feel like that has to matter a little bit. I get defensively, whatever. But he has been the best defenseman, so he should win the award for best defenseman, in my opinion.

I absolutely agree with you. And it's not something that we've been able to say about the Knucks in the last four or five years. The defense has regularly been the weakest part of an overall week lineup. And this is probably the first season in a long time where they have four actual top four defensemen. Quinn Hughes has an actual partner he can play with. There's enough competition in the bottom pairings that they're serviceable. This is a roster that actually knows how to play defensively. There are still nights where they're hanging Thatcher-Demkau out to dry, but he doesn't have to be a superstar every night. He was good tonight, but he didn't have to stand on his head.

No. Yeah. And when he's needed to, he has. And I think part of it, too, and this is, again, I'm watching from a distance here, not quite as intently as you guys are, but it feels like they finally found a partner for him now. And that trade was one that was criticized heavily, certainly by the person sitting behind this microphone. I didn't understand that move at all. But it really, not to bring it all to a Calgary thing, but felt like since Tanev made his way out here, you guys have been looking for a partner for Hughes, and that airing tonight was really frustrating to play again. So it seems like they found something.

Yeah. I mean, look, the person he played the most with over the last couple of years was Luke Chen. And he was good. A lot of people like Luke Chen, but he doesn't have the skill set of Wernicke. And I thought they were fantastic tonight. And Pronac with two points tonight.

Yeah, that pairing was really good for Vancouver. On the Calgary side, it was funny. Millen, who's been the fill in color commentator for the Flames with Kelly Rudy recovering from surgery. He said, Well, The Flames power plays look better. And then they did them dirty because a few minutes later, they flashed up 0-15 in the last six games. It has been better. And I thought tonight it was actually a strength of this Calgary team and kept them in. Because five and five, I thought, and feel free to disagree with me, but I thought Calgary was getting their heads caved in by Vancouver for a lot of the night. And the power play, which is a weird thing, saved Calgary in this game and kept them in a lot of the way. I thought finally, the Flames power play actually look dangerous tonight.

Yeah, I totally agree with that. I think those were the moments where it was a bit more even, but otherwise, I'm with you. I thought the Knucks were outstanding tonight. It's not something that I'm used to seeing. And still, every time I see it this season, it's a bit of a surprise. And I thought the other piece that kept Calgary in it or as much as they were in it, was Jacob Markshrim. I thought had a good game.

Yeah, I thought he was really good. And I like it when he can perform on a national stage. I guess. I get it's the late game and everyone out east is asleep. But you see the five on five numbers and the Flames are not doing phenomenally. But he has been such a bright spot for this team this year. And so for him to be able to perform like that, you can see he's got his edge back where he's hacking at Patterson a little bit in the crease and stuff like that. It feels like he has got his mojo back a little bit. And while expectations are not high out here in Calgary, if they're going to do anything, he has to be that guy, right?

Yeah. It's a weird situation. I have a huge soft spot for Jacob, Markshrom. Obviously, he was a big part of for a long time, and it's tough seeing him struggle the last couple of seasons. It's been rough watching that. But obviously, as a divisional rival, we're happy to see it. So it's a bit of an odd situation. I'm always happy when he does well.

From afar, what have you made of the Calgary situation? I know, like Vancouver, Calgary has been stuck in, Well, we should rebuild. Well, we're not going to rebuild. And the only people who say they shouldn't rebuild are the ones who own the team and they have a bit of things. So our plight is something that you are very familiar with. What have you made from OutWest looking at what Calgary is going through right now?

I mean, I really sympathize, right? It's not a fun position to be in, especially for a team who I think even just a couple of seasons ago, looks like they should be doing a lot better than they are. I think at the start of last season, I said on a different show that I thought with adding Cadry that they could generate some real chemistry with that lineup. And it just really hasn't out at all. And it's a tough spot to be in where you're good enough that everyone thinks you should compete, but you're not actually good enough to really compete. And you're just stuck in the mushy middle. I laughed with your intro tonight when you said it's the perfect game tonight for a rebuilding team. This was the type of game I wanted the Connect to play every game last season, right? I ultimately wanted them to lose because I wanted Connor Bidard. I did not want them to be so terrible that they were unwatchable, which is what they were for most of the season. This is the game where it's like, you know what the payoff is. You want to get a high draft pick.

You play an entertaining game. It's fun, it's messy, and you lose.

Yeah. Just check, check, check, right?

Yeah. And it's the type of losing that you can swallow. Yeah. So that's been my view of it. I hope for your sake, you get a lot of those games and get a nice, high draft pick there. I am always a fan of rebuilding.

Yeah. And from The Flames, last season was the perfect summary of basically my entire life, with the exception of 2004 and a couple of blips in there. They missed the playoffs. So it's like, okay, missed the playoffs in the year of Conor Bidard, but they were the one team that based on how the lottery works, that they didn't have any ping pong balls in the thing. It's the worst.

Case.

Scenario. Right. It was so quintessential Calgary where it's like, oh, just missed. But hey, at least we were boring.

I'm sure you've heard me say this for not this year, but the three previous seasons, every time someone asked me to describe the Knucks, I said they were basically the Jay Feaster Flames.

Yes. Yeah. And there would be a lot of, as I'm sure you are aware, a lot of making fun of what was going on in Vancouver. But I always thought Vancouver, the rebuilding part wasn't... Obviously, it would have been better to tear things down, but you guys came out of a bit of mediocrity with the pieces you would want, and you're seeing it now. Patterson, Demco, Hughes, The Flames do not have that. I've referenced this probably too many times. Game over Calgary fans are going to recognize this already. But Corey Prawnman for the athletic did his piece on, Okay, what is every team going to look like five years from now? And the Flames top line five years from now is Huberto at center? And at the other wing? That's where we're at right now. Our foundation is... I don't know. So that's where the flames are at right now. It's a beautiful, beautiful place, right?

I just physically winced. That's painful. Yeah, I will say that for... Oh, man. For however incompetent I actually think the Jim Benning regime was, he managed to land some really good core pieces. And we don't need to... I think that's what Conex fans have been debating for the last five years, is whose picks were those, actually. But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. That's who you have. The issue is always the rest of the team. And it's really interesting to see how with just over one season of competent management, they look like a significantly different team.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is night and day from what we saw from the Knucks last year. And you're seeing it every game. We just pop in every now and then. But yeah, this looks nothing like what we've seen from the last few years from the Knucks.

Yeah. They look like a totally different team. And I know it's got to be some combination of talk it and the new structure that they've brought in. But it's just incredible. I will say somebody asked me today if I was willing to give Alvin an A yet, and I don't know that I'm quite there. We're a third of the way through the season, I guess, maybe almost halfway. But I think part of it is he looks so good compared to what we had for the last eight years that it definitely looks like an A, but I'm going to reserve my judgment.

Well, he's going to give you a lot more chances to grade him because if the early season activity is any indication, he's going to have 15 more trades between now and the deadline.

Fingers crossed. And you know what? He seems to actually want to generate some cap space, which is something I'm totally unfamiliar with.

Yeah, that seems new. I would love that here, although the Flames did do that, as you guys are aware with that move this week. The chat is going off tonight. You guys are great. Knuck, Clay, is in there talking some Knucks, as always, so keep the chats coming. While you're in there, you may as well like and subscribe. It's a couple of clicks away. It's right there. The SDPN YouTube channel is close to 100,000 subscribers. I've heard that's awesome. I've never been a part of anything that gets there, so I've heard it's great. You should let me find out what that is. But yeah, let's keep this going. And if you missed any of this, it's available in podcast form after, or the video just stays up on YouTube. That is literally how this website works. I feel like I've veered often to big picture stuff, but I said to you before we came on, my entire analysis of this game is the Knucks were awesome and the Flames weren't. There's a couple of things from this game that I think we could maybe look at a little bit more from a Vancouver perspective. Is there anything from this one before we take a more bigger picture look at things that jumped out of this game for you?

I think for me, a couple of ongoing storylines that I noticed is, Connor Garland continues to be snakebitten, but I thought he actually had a pretty good game. I haven't been the biggest fan of Conor Garland for various reasons, mostly related to his contract. But I thought the last couple of games, more so than at any other point of the season, he's actually started to show flashes of the player who earned that contract. And notwithstanding that he can't seem to score to save his life. I thought he was good. I don't know what you thought. I don't know if you noticed him at all today.

Yeah, there was that one rush chance he had. I think it was the second period where he just deaked the entire flames and got an opportunity. It's like, okay, I can see. You can see it because he has always struck me as just middle six dude who happened to score a bunch once, and he has ridden that. The trade demand came up at the beginning of the year. I was like, Cool, man. That's great for you that you want to be somewhere else. I don't know how many people want that contract right now, but it does seem like that one's cooled off a little bit. Now, we've been under the water out here with trade demands coming from all over the place, but it seems like that the Connor Garland situation is quieted down. It's funny how winning helps that a thing.

Yeah. I mean, who doesn't want to win? I was a bit surprised when that trade demand came at the start of the year, mostly because I thought that when he signed the contract, I thought it's a risky contract, but he had been good at that point. I was a big proponent of trading Connor Garland before they signed that contract. This is the one thing that I feel like the Connects have not done well... I mean, sorry, not the one thing, one of many things that they did not do well over the last couple of seasons. But maybe something that's continued under the the all of the regime is that they have a tendency to hang on to players longer than they should. They buy into their own players a little too much. And I know you obviously want management to believe in your team, but I think sometimes they take players who clearly are outperforming what their realistic expectations are. And instead of trading high, they just double down. And it's bitten them so many times. And that's just another, for me, the two standouts in that scenario are Garland and Kuzmeko. Those are players that you could have traded high and gotten some really good assets back and didn't.

And now they have contracts that make them essentially untradable.

Yeah. You're paying them for their best case scenario, and you're not necessarily always getting that. Kuzmenko... This is the one I wanted to ask about. He was a healthy scratch for a couple of games there. Obviously wasn't tonight, at least on the PowerPlay, which holy shit, that PowerPlay looks good. But Kuzmenko, a couple of chances in tight, it felt like he was playing a bit better, but I'm looking at this as someone who literally wasn't playing a couple of games ago. What did you make of Kuzmenko? And has that message been sent to him now?

I mean, I don't know if that message has been sent. I mean, that's what he's been like this whole season. And it's been one thing that I think talk it has done really well is his ice time and his play aligns directly with how he's performing. He has... He has a couple of bad shifts. He's stapled to the bench. He has some bad games. He's healthy scratched. And that's not something that happened in his first few seasons and it never really lined up. But it's still an ongoing thing, right? There doesn't seem to be a level of consistently good play from him. And so it's good to see when he's on, he's really fun and he's great to watch. But we need to see that every game. He can't just be getting benched or healthy scratched regularly.

Right. Another player I want to ask about, and again, for Vancouver people, if this is doubling up, I apologize, but I'd just like to know, J. T. Miller, obviously a rather polarizing fellow. I wouldn't want to host a podcast with the dude, but from a on the ice hockey standpoint, it feels like maybe it's a little bit better and not as, Oh, my God, this is a disaster, as it's been in the past. But how has J. T. Miller fit in with things as this Connect team has become one of the best in the Pacific Division, if not the entire Western Conference?

Yeah, I think I was fairly critical of J. T. Miller last year for various reasons, primarily because he was defensively atrocious last year. I thought he was sloppy defensively. I thought he did not take accountability for it. And there are a lot of things to complain about. I was also, I'll be open. I thought that the contract was a bit much. I thought the trade was a bit much. He's been, you know what? He's proved that trade worth it. I think that's fair to say. But I will say he's been excellent this season in my books. I think he's been, he's never going to be that defensively responsible, but he's at least putting in the effort this year. He's performing the way I would expect him to perform to earn the contract he has. We'll see if he's still doing that when he's 35. I mean, that's the real issue. That's always been the real issue with the contract. But I think he's been very, very good this season. I think that he's really quieted down the naysayers a lot.

Yeah, it feels like there's a lot less of that coming from out west, the discussions around him. Obviously, you guys make a move this week with us. It was great. Do you think that the Knucks are done? Because if not, I still got a couple of defensemen and a first line center who's playing a third line center out here in Calgary that you guys could just have. Just a couple of first round picks and some young players, and they're yours.

So do you think that the- We're just going to flip the flamesour guy campaign? Yes. Where you're taking all the Connex?

Yeah, we're just going to flip it back. I mean, we took the color scheme, too, with the De Blasty jersey. But yeah, if you want one of them back, Tanev is right there if you want to reunite that. But yeah, obviously, a team with Rutherford is never done trading. But do you think that in terms of big, effective moves, do you think that this Connect team is done?

I think it's a bit hard to say, right? They've got a good thing going. It's working. But they also could stand to still upgrade that blue line. I don't know what moves are available out there. I think that they'llI think they'll try to do it because I think, frankly, at this point, not withstanding that this is the first season that I think they are actually real contenders for a playoff spot. And I by no means think that they are going to be real cup contenders other than the anything can happen if you get in strategy, if we can call it that.

Well, we've tried to out here for 20 years.

So have we. But I do think that thePederson, Hughes, Bessar, they're all entering their prime right in their prime. Their window to win now with those players is like they're in it. They've wasted the first few years of that window struggling. And so if they want to make runs, they have to make the big moves to make this a roster that can go on a run now. They're not at a point where as much as I would have liked Bidarnat, and I think that would have obviously been a game changer, they can't just have four or five top 10 picks in the next few years. Be terrible, get some top picks, because by the time those players are ready, Patterson, Bessar, Hughes will be out of their window. J. T. Miller will be aged out. So if they want to do anything, they have to do it now. So I think they have to keep making moves.

Yeah. It does feel like while they have screwed things up around Patterson and those guys spectacularly in almost comedic fashion, but I'm preaching to the choir, I know. But it feels like, okay, well, now you got to go, right? The Petterson is going to be quite a bit more expensive next season, I would imagine.

That's the real concern, right? If any trade you make right now can't eat into whatever cap space you need to pay Aureus Petterson. Right. And that's what I said when they signed him to a Bridge deal was there were a lot of fans here who said they don't have cap issues, they managed to sign him. The point was they couldn't afford to sign him to a long term contract, and they were not good enough to convince him to sign a long term contract. And so now you're in the unfortunate position of now that you're finally good, he's on an expiring contract. He's having a career season. He's been unbelievable. The market rates have gone up incredibly, and you are going to have to pay him way more for the next two years than you would have if you sign him to a long term contract earlier on.

Yeah, that's going to be... But I mean, they're not totally sold on him. So we'll see how... See how that goes.

That has to be top five stupidest quotes of this entire season.

And this season's been a dozy. But yeah, that is certainly up there. And I know other people are talking about it. That just screams, Oh, I didn't want to go out with you anyway.

You can't fire me. I quit.

Right. Exactly. Yeah, 100 %. If the Knucks were to go out and make another couple of moves, I know I joked about what the Flames have available, what do you think is a position of need? It does feel like the Zadourav move, at least for now, settled things where they need on the blue line. So we'll be looking to the forward group to address with Vancouver?

Honestly, this is maybe the first time in a long time. I can't think of an obvious move that they need to make. Okay. I think actually getting rid of Bowvilly has opened up opportunities for players like Hoaglunder to have more ice time and to show what they've got. I think he's been good. I think he's up to the task. And I think they can stand Pat for a little bit before they see what else they need. I'm not convinced that that blue line is good enough, particularly for a playoff run. If they, Sushi coming, whether or not Carson Sushi is in the lineup, makes a drastic difference in what that blue line looks like. And in an ideal world, if you're going to go far, you need to be like, Colorado, the year they won, where you can lose half your blue line and you still have a serviceable NHL defense court. They don't have that. If they lose one more that blue line is a shambles.

Yeah.

So to me, the blue line remains the main area of priority, but that's also the hardest piece in the League to put together.

Right. Yeah. When you look at team needs, anyone who's contending is blue line depth, right? And I used to host a show out here along with Rett Warner, and he talked about '04, the run that was great here in Calgary, but has also ruined expectations for forever now. But he talked about by the time they got to the Cup, it was him, Regere, and then you'd have to introduce yourself to guys coming in. The playoffs are a grind. It takes a lot to get to that point where you're lifting the shiny thing over your head at the end. So you need as much NHL-ready depth as you can possibly have, especially on the blue line.

Yeah. And it's just not going to happen with a team who has to regularly play Noah J Olson.

Right. I was going to ask. That seems like too much of him tonight. I understand he's a BC kid, so I don't want.

To- I've had too much of him most nights. I know that's really awful, but he's not doing it for me.

Yeah. Okay. I'm glad we're on the same page on that, because I was watching tonight. Seems like he's out there more than I would feel comfortable rolling him out there. You talked about opportunities that have opened up, and just to tie it back into tonight's game. Lafordy getting a chance with Patterson and and out there on what I would call a first line, I think, Alias Patterson, could be a heart candidate. So I'll call that a first line. I thought that was one where he filled in really great with them tonight. But what are your thoughts watching that line mesh together over this game?

Yeah, I thought he performed really well. I think Laverty has been a huge win in terms of a trade for the Conex. He's ended up being much better than I thought he would be. That's a line where when the season started, it was Patterson because Menco, McKay was injured. I thought McKay coming back really gave that line some speed.

Man, he can fly.

Yeah. He adds a level to that line that doesn't otherwise exist. And it's interesting that Laforty is the one who gets the chance to step up there when because Menco is not playing. I'd also love to see Nels Hoglander up there. I'm a big Hoglander fan. I think he's smart. He's quick. I think he just excels in a top six position, and I'd love to see more of him.

Yeah, he's won because I have felt that while I do think a rebuild should be coming for the Flames, it probably isn't, and it's going to be more retool like they did with a To-Foli trade, where they get Sharon Govich back. I was looking at what would be the comparable on the Knucks. And Clay and I talked about it the last time we did one of these. Hoaglyner would be at the top of my wish list. It seems like we've been seeing clips of him since YouTube started. It feels like he's just been around for forever because we've been seeing prospect videos on this kid for a while. But it does seem like he's starting to find his C-legs a little bit now in the NHL.

Yeah. And I don't have a lot more to add other than that I want to see more of him. I think the more he plays, I'm a big believer, and obviously, the more ice time he gets, the more confident he's going to be. And giving him those chances can only be a good thing.

All right. Like I said, the chat has been going off tonight. And now it is time for you guys to have your say, ask your questions here in the presser. While you are doing that, I will remind you again, like this video, subscribe to the channel. There is so much great stuff here on SDPN, so why not subscribe? And again, if you've missed any of this, it's available in podcast form. It's a great way to catch up on all of the Canadian teams throughout the National Hockey League. Just quickly here, we have Conrad, a regular on Game over Calgary chats, saying, Yes, Peter, Murray Edwards still owns the team. No rebuild for us. It's been a really weird conversation around this team this year because obviously, there are a lot of pieces that are going to be going out the door. And most of the fan base, if not all the fan base is like, Yeah, tear this thing down. But there's always this thing like, I've been covering this team for 11 years. I know that ain't happening. If it does, it's the first time it's going to happen. So it's like, Yeah, retool.

I genuinely don't see a rebuild happening here. I think it is going to try to be retooling on the fly here.

I think for whatever reason, NHL front offices are deathly afraid of rebuilding. I don't know what it is. I think it's a consistent disrespect for the level of knowledge and patience in fans. I think for whatever reason, ownership GMs tend to think fans can't tolerate a rebuild, when I think the reality is if you can communicate what the rebuilding plan is clearly and follow it, most fans will actually deal with that. It sucks for a couple of seasons, but if you do it right, people get it and they'll get behind it. It's better than being stuck in the mushy middle for a decade, because that's when you really start to lose fans. Because the thing I can't tolerate the most is the idea that fans don't understand what a rebuild takes and that a retool is actually far less likely to get you to the promised land.

Yeah. No, I agree. And it would honestly make being a fan quite a bit easier, honestly. But then I think it makes it almost easier on the team, too, because instead of judging, for out here in Calgary, instead of judging Pospicil or out in Vancouver, Kuzmenko or Pot Koles and before or anything like that, you're judging them based on how they're improving instead of, how is this team contributing to getting this team into the playoffs? When that's just not realistic, right? But you listen to Game Over Montreal right now talking about Slavkowski, and instead of, Hey, is this guy one of the best centers in the league? It's, No, is he improving? Is Caulfield improving? It obviously takes pressure off of your players, but I think it changes the conversation around the team entirely. I think a lot of fan bases are knowledgeable enough to handle that a thing.

Yeah, I totally agree.

Okay, a couple more here. Avery, The Muchy Middle, the Detroit Red Wings story from 2011 to 2014. Yeah, but you can have.

A Muchy Middle when you have that many cups. Right.

Yes. Detroit, I think, built up a bit of goodwill in that area, I would say. But David Leguon for a first is still an all Timer. Eric Edwards, Sam, you talked about the Knucks historically doubling down on players playing at their ceiling like Cusmenco and Garland. Do you think Bessor should be traded? He's playing at his ceiling.

That one, I actually don't think quite fits into that. I think the Knucks actually have to keep Bessar now having lived through the last three seasons where he was not playing at his best. I think he's clearly been hampered the last few years by injury and obviously by off ice family issues. And I can't think of someone more deserving of a feel good comeback story than Brock Bessar this season. And I don't think that he's a player where this season is going to be a flash in the pan. They've already paid him a contract based on underperforming years of the last few years. You might as well keep him at this point.

Yeah. And I feel like, and again, this is from afar, but it feels like with Bessar, he is at his ceiling in a sustainable way, where Kuzmenko and Garland are at their ceiling in a, We're redlining this car and it could fall apart at any moment, a way.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

There was another one here that I wanted to. While I'm looking for it, Julesen makes too many bad pinches. Yeah, he is okay, but he was a top four defenseman for the Knux night, and that's not where he should be, I don't think, in my opinion. I would imagine you would agree with that.

Yeah, I absolutely agree with that.

Which team is the worst rebuild in recent history? There's a bunch of them. There was this one here from, number one. I don't want to rebuild, what if we do it wrong? Look at Edmonton wasting those generational talents. It's heartbreaking.

Is it heartbreaking or is it hilarious?

Yes, because I would like to see McDavid in the biggest moments of the sport, but it is also hilarious that it's them screwing it up.

Yeah, I think it's deeply hilarious. I can't think of another team that has had that many top picks in the last 15 years and just absolutely nothing to show for it.

Yeah. And any sport, the only comparable is Mike Trout and future Toronto Blue Jay, Showhey O'Tanya on the Angels, not making it to the playoffs in baseball. It is mind boggling how they've been able to screw that up. But I will say, what if we do't do it wrong? From a Flames standpoint, we're doing it wrong now. The last couple of years haven't been going so swimmingly that we couldn't possibly change what's happening now. Aside from the last few games where they are playing a little bit better, this is not what it's supposed to look like. We're not supposed to be, Oh, well, now they're one for 18 on the PowerPoint, so it's fine. Right now, our reality that we are currently living in is going wrong from a Flame standpoint. A rebuild where those generally, yes, it doesn't go great sometimes. Ottawa has been stuck in it for a little bit. Buffalo, same thing. But what's happening now has such a minimal success rate where you do this the right way and it can lead you to years and years and years of sustained playoff success. So that's my mini rant on that.

Yeah. I mean, my answer to that is as opposed to rebuilding wrong as opposed to what? Retooling on the fly for eight years? What does that even mean?

Yeah.

The last eight years of my life as a Kinnox fan have been atrocious. I don't think I could say it's been worse than the Oilers.

Yeah. No, exactly. Yeah, you try to retool, and then in Calgary, you sign Owen, Noelen, Antonio Monte, significantly post-Apex, I will say. Knuck, Clay, talking about why ownership doesn't go for rebuilds. Owners management aren't patient enough for rebuilds. I do think there is something to… sports is one of the only areas where I think you do that a thing. I've worked in radio my whole life, so business isn't a strong suit of mine. But I don't know if there are any businesses that go like, Okay, you know what? Our numbers for Q2 aren't great. Let's just suck for a little bit, but then we'll get right back. It is a uniquely sports thing, but it's 2023. It's been a uniquely sports thing since the '70s. We've had a long run where you cantrying to figure this out now.

Yeah. And I don't know that you can look at any of the teams who have been truly successful Cup contenders in the last 20 years and not see the drastic rebuild where they have been absolute garbage for a few seasons and then emerged as really good teams.

There was another one here. I am so bad at keeping track of this one. I want to.

See what's happening. The chat is hopping, so you have to scroll back up.

Yeah. I don't want to miss anything, but there's a lot going on in here. You guys are great tonight. Someone is saying that we're jealous of the oilers? I promise you were not. I assure you, no. I don't watch Zach every night on Game Over Edmonton and be like, Oh, man, I wish I was that.

I was that. Zach's a good guy. I'm really dying to have Skinner over Thachadonco.

Now we're getting into a lot of Rebuild talk or anything like that. Avery, I'm Graying at 30 and I blame Ken Holland. That's fair. Yeah.

It's not Ken Holland. It's the well-done steak, Avery.

There also, while Avery, that is one of the worst takes. I brought him on Calgary Radio specifically so he could say that to a nation of beef lovers out here in Alberta. But there were some atrocious jersey takes in the game over chat tonight. I'm not going to expose everyone, but that was ridiculous. In my opinion, and I don't want to get this too far off of the rails here, every Knucks Flames game should look like '89 to '93, where you guys got the skate going. We got the retro jerseys, and it should just look like that. Same thing with the Oilers. Well, I love me some Blasty. Every one of these games should look like '80s or '90s games.

I do love Blasty. Thank you. You are correct. I am really bitter that you guys stole the color scheme. Although I will say the Connex unveiled their First Nations Night jersey, and it is gorgeous. They're using the grizzlies colors on the Orca logo, and it looks sick. And I want them to make that the full-time jersey.

Yeah. I don't know if you got to see much of the pregame, but it was Indigenous Night at the Dome. And I thought, I meant to mention this earlier, I thought the Flames killed it. They had the anthem sung in Blackfoot. The René Bourke came out with the jersey that they wore last year. I thought tens across the board for the Flames in that sense. And if one team does do those things really well the last little while, the Knucks, while we can comment on how they have managed things on the ice, those sorts of things, the Pride Night stuff was phenomenal. The Knucks have been excellent at that.

The one thing that they have actually knocked out of the park consistently for probably four or five years now are all of the specialty nights. They've just done an incredible job, I think, consulting the community. And I know the Lunar New Year's nights, the Diwali nights, they're all things that the broader community looks forward to. It's really generated a lot of interest from different segments of fans. And it was one of the things that pissed me off the most about the way the League handled those nights this season is that for teams where they had actually done a stellar job the last few years, it sucks.

Yeah. And it felt like Calgary was getting into that, too, and taking the right approaches to who to ask about these things and all of that. I mean, that is a whole other thing. And I know you have covered that subject quite extensively on other platforms. But yeah, just an absolute fumbling by the NHL at the highest level for sure. Now people are just yelling at each other in the comments, which I seem to bring that out of people. So I will absolutely take that.

Okay, I have a question for you.

Yes. Okay.

What did you think of the Calgary Flames doing a tribute to Zatrov? Because I thought that was really weird.

I thought it was… It's really weird, too. And we've had a few of those where the crowd is booing someone every time they touch the buck, but then they get a video tribute and it's, Oh, hey, look, we love you. Boo, again. Again, all due respect to Nikita Zadorov and his wonderful accomplishments in a year plus with the Calgary Flames, at no point did I think, Man, this guy is getting a video tribute or any anything. You can just have him not be there anymore. It doesn't have to be a video thing every time. I want to know who the worst player in the NHL to get a video tribute is. Oh, I like that. And if it's not him, he has to be close, right? Because that is utterly insane. But this is also a fan base that, as we've talked about, we haven't had a lot to cheer about in the last my entire lifetime. There are people who legitimately want to build a statue for Mark Gordano, who great captain of the Calgary Flames won UNO Play-Off Series in his time here. So people are willing to celebrate anything because we haven't had a whole lot to celebrate here.

Yeah, that's fair. At least you do have a cup.

Yes, that did happen six months before I was born, but yes, at least they do have a Stanley cup. Someone just said, Why are we yelling at each other in the chat? All right, on the tribute one, Columbus doing a tribute for Jonathan Kwik is one of the greatest things I've ever seen ever.

I.

Love it when teams just get it. And they seem to just, on the ice, not at all. But off the ice, they seem to get it quite a bit. The tributes to soften those players up so they don't light us up. Well, he scored the winner tonight, so mission not accomplished on that one. Now we're getting into video tributes. I think this is a pretty good place to call it here. But yeah, this was a blast. I have just personally appreciated your work for a long time. So getting to chat with you has been awesome. And I apologize I've been so scatterbrained tonight, but this was a wild game, especially at the end there, where it looked like the flames might tie it up after falling down two goals with a minute left.

You know what? I don't think you've been scatterbraid. This is my favorite wild recap. It's the way to do it.

Awesome. Well, I'm happy you say that. For everyone from the Calgary side who may want to to follow you on social media, how can they do that?

You can follow me @samanthaCP_ on Twitter or X or whatever we're calling it. I'm super annoying on it, so don't recommend.

I would recommend because I tend to not be one of the people who thinks that engaging with you in a combative manner is a smart way to go about things. So I just sit back with the popcorn and enjoy.

Well, I'm glad someone's... Where do I get?

Yeah, fair. You can find me on Twitter. I still call it Twitter because old habits die hard. Twitter and Instagram, I am @prime_time_cline. One more time, like this video, subscribe to the channel. There's a lot of great stuff. The Knucks are going to have, I think, a pretty good run here in the next little while. Well, we might have traits to talk about on Game over Calgary. So subscribe for both of those. Thank you all so much for hanging out with us late on a Saturday night, and we will talk to all of you later. Here. Game over.