GOLD MEDAL PREVIEW: Team USA and Canada Compete for the Olympic Crown | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

Welcome in to the CHG-O Black Hops podcast. We are in the

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ordinary at bet three six five. I'm Jason Waski. That's Mario Terabossi.

Whoa. Chloe Theo is here running the show today. A little bit delayed because we want to give

everybody the opportunity to watch TV USA. And we're going to do a little bit of a preview of the

gold medal game here. USA and Canada. It is set. It is at 7 a.m. on Sunday and we are going to be

right here in these chairs doing a watch along for you and with you. So put us on your second screen

or put the USA game on your second screen if you prefer. That's true. And watch the game with us.

It can be a good time. Going to be a great time. We all get the match up. Most of us wanted to see.

I'm sure our European viewers probably would have liked Slovakia or Finland to be in there. But

tough crap. USA and Canada coming down to the gold medal just like in the women's game. Hopefully

it's the same result. I would take a massive beating of Canada too. As long as USA wins.

Yeah. Yeah. Same result that they win like a heart wrenching loss for Canada would be a lot of fun.

And a US OT winner after you know 2010 with the Canada like a US men's gold and gold.

One of the frozen to the nations was nations was OT to follow up the US women's gold and gold.

Like that would be. I would love it. I would love that. Because Canadians being able to have

that over US teams on the men's side of things is it's annoying. It's been annoying for 14,

16 years. However long it's been it's been annoying. So if they can get a gold medal win,

they can do it in dramatic fashion. That's fine. You'd have the World Championships.

The women's gold and the men's gold all in the same. Not calendar year but season.

That'd be a lot of fun. Yeah. That would be good. I am a little bit hesitant to share my true thoughts

because I do believe in jinxes sometimes. Jinxes aren't real. I know. They're not. But I'll say this.

I feel like this is going to be their best opportunity to be Canada. I have not been overly impressed

with what Canada has done over the last couple of games. They've needed come back wins both times. Look,

do they have the best roster? Yes they do. Do they have the best gold tender? No they don't.

And I do think what we're seeing a little bit here with Canada is a little bit of what we've

talked about before where they're just deferring. Everyone's deferring and deferring and deferring.

And no one wants to just take the game by the nuts and win it and be that guy. I think we saw

a little bit of that today from TV USA. You know, Jack Hughes was great. Quinn Hughes is great.

Look at Chuck's were really good. Like it's there's no shame in being the hero. And I think this win

over Slovakia 6-2 for TV USA. It's what we were waiting to see. I said yesterday it felt like a

lot of this Olympics USA was sort of playing with their food. Yeah. And I wanted to see like a

very like a dominant victory over a good team. We saw that today today was a dominant victory.

I think even the first goal scored by Slovakia that play probably never happens if it's a close game

because he's not going to make it. He's not going to make such a careless play in a close situation.

Yeah, they definitely took the foot off the gas in the third period because they knew they could.

You're up five nothing. You already you saw Tash Thompson didn't play in the third period for

precautionary reasons. Like that was definitely a let's not get hurt these final 20 minutes and go

into the gold medal game as fresh and healthy as possible. So yeah, that that first goal where you're

just like, oh, don't don't don't give it up here guys. It's I'm not worried about it. It's definitely

the kind of game that you wanted the US to see. And you know, from the Canadian side of things,

I think what you've seen is their resiliency show through like yeah, they've had to have a come

they had to have a comeback in the quarters against Czechia. They had to have a comeback against

Finland. But they were able to do it because they're they're so talented and they have a ton of

guys who have been there and done that to do what they did today against Finland sans Sydney

Crosby. Yeah. Again, it just speaks to the depth and the talent that they have and the resiliency

that they have. US hasn't been tested as much. I know they had to go to OT against Sweden.

But again, like they were able to do it guys that have been have been there before and have played in

big moments. You know, when he stepped up, but it was good in the semi final game to have that

confidence builder put some goals on the board and and go into the game feeling like, you know,

you've you've had a little bit of adversity that you've faced not as much as a Canadian team,

but you've overcome it. Yeah. And you've also had that like kind of puff your chest out kind of

win. I think that can be good for the US going into the gold nail game. Michael Evans brings up a good

point that I was going to mention. He says Keeta beating Canada is to not play prevent defense.

Literally took out two teams that way. Yeah, you know, Czechia had a late lead and they were

being massively outshot. Same with Finland and both teams you saw tried to shut it down. And when

you're giving the when you're giving team Canada, three quarters of the ice to generate speed

in Russian to the zone, you're not going to be able to stop them and then you can't get the

puck away. I saw there was a quote from Miko Ransen saying like after today's game, like no

matter what they were. Well, he says here, this from Ryan O'Hara, uh, who writes for the hockey news.

And mile high hockey, Miko Ransen said, we tried, but when you defend for 25 to 30 seconds in your

defensive zone, there's not one guy in the world who can go on offense after that. They were just

coming at us. The third period was tighter, but they were still pushing hard and found a way.

That's what he's saying. Like you can't just sit there and defend defend defend against Canada.

The good news is I don't think the US is going to do that because I feel like they feel like they

can go toe to toe with them. This US group pulling, you know, pulling it back to the four nations

tournament last year. If they get up against Canada, there is no sitting back. They are this group

and their personality is going to be, we want to embarrass these guys. And they will, if they get

up two or three goals on Canada, which hey, that would be an accomplishment in and of itself,

they're going to go into that kind of scenario being like we want it for. We want five. They want

to, they want to bury that team. Um, so I don't think there would be any, uh, respect or like

back off, you know, if they get a three goal lead, okay, just, you know, just make sure you don't

give it up to that. Yeah, because they, they're going to, yeah, you will give it up. They will, I have

the, uh, utmost confidence that if they find themselves in that situation, they will not change

how they play because, you know, the, the, the, the makeup of that team and the mentality of that

team is pretty much based off of the kachucks. Like, and they don't have the, we're going to sit back

and play it safe. No style with they drag. I said this in our preview show. They drag you into

the fight with them. And they will not let you play that way. They just won't. And, uh, and,

and I think some people have a little bit of kachucks fatigue, which is certainly understandable

because it's been the main narrative that NBC has pushed through the Olympics. They're trying

to sell the game. I mean, they are not hockey fans. They are the, you know, them and the

hoses are the faces of the US men's hockey program. Right. So I know there's some fatigue,

but those are the two guys that you want heading into a playoff series in the playoffs. Like,

you, they, they will, they are not scared. They're not intimidated by anyone. They think they're

better than everyone. And they're not like, also, also, we're better than you. The US is a better

roster than Finland and Czechia. No disrespect to those two nations. Right. But there's USA. There's

Canada. I would throw Sweden into that tier, even though they underperformed in this tournament.

Then I think you got Finland. And then it's Czechia, Slovakia. Right. There's like a tier.

Yeah. And then below that is like the Latvia's and the others. But like,

there are Canada's is far superior to Finland and Czechia, whereas they're more evenly matched with

the US. And you can even, if you went position by position, man for man, it's pretty comparable.

They have the, they've got the top, you know, two guys in the game with McKinnon and McDavid.

And we start talking about Maclin, celebrating that conversation too. And because he's just been

unbelievable. I mean, playing with those two guys certainly helps. But yeah, but even still,

there's no asterisk needed. He is, he is a lecturer. He is not been a, and he's not been an

also ran in this tournament. Like, he has been a key factor for Canada. And, and, I mean, if you've

watched him play the season with the sharks, like, he is that guy for the sharks. So he's been in

that, he's been in that scenario and, and been in those spots before. And he's, he's thriving,

which is, you know, if you're Canadian and a shark's fan, awesome to see.

It, yeah, this, this gold medal game will be a coin flip. Honestly, it feels like a coin flip.

I'm, it sounded like with Crosby out with an injury from what Elliott Freeman said before

the game. Like, they were trying to pull out anything from their butts to get him to play.

They tried to make, I guess he said, like, they tried to make like a special brace for him to play,

but he couldn't do it. Give him, give him a couple more days of opportunity to try and find a way

to play. I'll be shocked if Sydney Crosby doesn't find his way in the lineup. But I will,

it will be interesting to see what his usage is, because is it Sydney Crosby is going to

gut this out and play, because this is very likely his, you know, or potentially his last run in

the Olympics, his last chance for gold with Canada. Does he try and, and gut it out? And he's

able to be Sydney Crosby, or is it he's going to dress and he's going to play like five minutes,

he's the 13th forward, basically, like, that'll be a big, I think that's a big factor with this

game is how much, what percentage of Sydney Crosby are you going to get for Canada? Because if you

get anything above, you know, 75, 80% of Sydney Crosby, that's a, that's a big addition to the Canadian

group that could be an X factor. Even just like spiritually for them. Right. Yeah.

To have that, even if he's, like I said, like, even if he's dressed and only plays five minutes,

yeah, like to still have him there, like, that's like a rallying point for them.

If I'm like Sullivan and thank God, I'm not, I am preparing as if he is playing and I am preparing

as if he's playing 20 minutes. And if he doesn't, awesome. But I mean, Sydney Crosby and potentially

his last Olympic, I am, if he is able to get out of bed, he is playing in my mind. So they will

find a way, would you say go find a way to get them in? Jason Spiritually, and I was going to say that

Sydney Crosby is haunting Quinn Hughes. The ghosts, the ghosts of Milan are haunting Quinn.

Yeah, I mean, you, we've seen some crazy injuries guys have played through before for the Stanley

Cup. I imagine it would be even elevated for the Olympics, especially at Gallic Crosby. Like

not counting him out of the 20, 30 Olympics, because you know, don't count him out of anything.

But you never know when your your last Olympic chance is going to be. So if this is it for him,

like he's, I'd imagine he does everything in his, you know, power to be healthy enough to play

that game. All right, do it's a favor. If you've not done it yet, make sure you hit the like button

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We're going to hit the brakes on for the first time, a whole lot more on US versus Canada.

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as it gets cold. All right, we're back on CHCO Blackhawks. Before the break, you're talking

about a lot of things, but a little note I took him ahead about Quinn Hughes. And look,

Quinn Hughes has an ors trophy. He is unbelievable. We all know that. But when you see guys,

when it's the best on best tournament, and you're seeing guys on the all-star team basically,

playing at a higher level than all the other all-stars, that's when you know you've got

someone incredibly special. And I really think Quinn Hughes is, he jumps off the screen

and a game full of players that typically jump off the screen on their own.

Yeah, it's like he did. We need another league for Quinn Hughes.

Yeah, I mean, you really see, you know, when you got guys like

Rewensky and McAvoy and Faber and Slaven, like these are all top line guys for all their NHL teams

and they're down to depth roles because you have a guy like Quinn Hughes.

It really does show you like who really is special in the league. And you got

across Canada and the US roster like guys that are playing like penalty kill and checking

roles who are top line top pair players on their NHL teams. It's what makes the Olympics

tournament special is when you can really see. That's why people missed it for two

Olympic rotations of just like not seeing all these stars at the top at the top of their game.

In these high stress situations and these big moments, you want to see them play in those

games and you want to see like the top elite players be able to showcase that talent.

So Quinn Hughes has used this as a showcase of like, yeah, without a question, he's the best

American defenseman. You can you can have the conversation between him and kill McCarr as well

for best NHL defense. Yeah. And yeah, he's been a driver for this USA team.

It's yeah, you mentioned pressure. And one of the reasons I picked TME USA in this

Olympics to win the gold is because it feels like not for them, but they have to know that the

pressure on them is not as high as it is on Canada. Right now, all the pressure from media,

from pundits from everything is on Canada solely. The expectation is gold all the time.

And like I said, to start the show, I just have not seen. I just have not seen the dominance

from Canada. I expected. Look, maybe I'll have to eat my words Sunday afternoon when the game's over.

But they just look beatable. They just do. And I don't know if it's maybe they're on cruise control.

Maybe they know they can beat all these teams at 85%. Maybe they know if they need to go with two

minutes ago, they'll get it. So, you know, we saw the dynasty hawks do that all the time. Just

up or down. Oh boy, there's only 10 minutes left. We better win this in regulation. And they just

do it. Yeah. So that's a possibility. I don't like the precedent that sets for your team if that is

the case, because then it is hard to start it for a must win game. But I really just like the way

things are lining up for the US here, it feels like a really great opportunity. Your best players

are playing their best hockey, your goal tenders playing well. Everything and you've got Canada with

all the pressure coming off to less than impressive wins in the qualifying in semi. I don't know,

man, I like the way it looks right now. Yeah, I think I go back to the Canadian group being able to

kind of maybe relish the opportunity to overcome adversity going into what will now be the

gold medal game, like being able to say, like, hey, let's not put ourselves, you know, behind the

ball to start a game. Let's not have to come back from, you know, a one nothing to nothing deficit.

It was crazy. The broadcast mentioned at the end of the Canada game today that, and I believe

them remembering the stat correctly, that they had no Olympic wins that were multi-goal

comebacks in Olympics that involved NHL players. So their win today, being down to nothing to Finland,

was the first time they've had to come back from a multi-goal deficit and get a win

in what five tournaments that spanned from 98 to now, like, pretty crazy that they've just never

been in that situation before. So now they've done it. They have the ability to know like they can do

it. And I think they they have, I mean, look, like we can look at the, you know, the probabilities. I

said basically it feels like a flip the coin. Yeah, we do. I mean, there's a lot of there's a lot of

people who will, you know, go into this game betting on, you know, USA to be the favorite. Would look

at USA to be the favorite the way that they've entered the gold medal game. And maybe that maybe

the Canadians look at that and say like, hey, like, we might we're not the overwhelming favorite.

And that pressure kind of changes, like, the outlook kind of changes on like how they approach

the game because it's not like, oh man, if we don't win, it's a super disappointment. It might be

like people don't expect us to win. Let's go out and prove them wrong. Like that, even if that

might feel manufactured to outside observers, like I'm sure that that's a motivator for the guys

in that room. 100% it is. And we do have the probabilities. This via domicision of the athletic.

The nerds have crunched the numbers. And they've got Canada winning 51% of the time to the US

49% 2.8 to 2.7 expected goals for those two teams. And I like when you look at the margins,

this is a more helpful on YouTube. Sorry, everybody. The one goal margin, very common plus two,

when it gets when it starts to talk about blowout territory, even that is even like you look,

these are this this is literally a coin flip. And I would imagine that Dom's numbers are not like

squarely 51 to 49. I would imagine their 50 point something. Yeah. Six five to, you know,

some you know what I'm saying? I think it's even closer than that number based on what we're

looking at here. Yeah, you look at there's five outcomes in which USA or Canada get a blowout win

each. And I'd I'd be surprised if this game goes down to like a blowouts. And I would be I

would be very surprised if that happens. I'm expecting this to be a, you know, unless one of

the goalies, whether it's a failure diaper binnington or playoff counterhella buck,

if one of those versions of the goalies shows up, then I then I think that's where you run into

a territory where it's like a blowout could happen. But I'd imagine if if the goal tending to sell

it on both sides, the talent in this game is going to come down to a very low scoring game. I

wouldn't even be surprised if it's like two to one is the fine. Yeah. I mean, that that seems

certainly possible. I mean, because both teams obviously defend well. I actually like the

Tme USA decore better. Obviously Canada has the advantage it forward. That's for sure. Yeah.

I think it's going to be an awesome game. I can't wait. Reminder that we will be alive for

watch along during that. So you can watch the game with us on your second screen. 7 am central time.

That's right. We will be here. Chloe also found an interesting stat about the ice time for team

Canada in the final two periods. Celebrini McDavid and McKinnon played 1833 for McDavid,

1802 for McKinnon and 1627 for Celebrini in the last two periods today. I think that's

is Celebrini 1802. Is he in the middle? Yeah. I'm having trouble telling who's who because we're

all drinking water. I think that's Celebrini in the middle. Yeah. Okay. Celebrini's in the middle

mates on the so in the final two periods, they each played like a game's worth of ice time

basically. That's insane. Yeah. This is from bleach report. Thank you. Bleach report. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, that that line has been leaned on heavily by Canada. And I mean, that's

that's going to be one of the key points for the US group is like, if you can, I mean, it's

easier said than done. But if you can shut down that line of McKinnon, McDavid, Celebrini,

like I, or if you can shut down that trio rather, like you can, they're,

there really hasn't outside of Mitch Marner getting the OT winner. In this term,

and I haven't really seen anyone on Canada besides those guys on Sydney,

that have been driving things. Yeah. So if you can, again, shut down three of the best players in

the NHL go for it. But yeah, I mean, it's going to, it's going to be a factor if you can take some

of those guys out of their game and how much they've played. Like in this condensed style, when

we've already had a condensed NHL season, that's going to be, that's going to be a, that's a lot of

minutes for them, for them to handle. Look, I know you've gotten this far as team Canada,

with what you've been doing, because it's working. But if you're John Cooper,

and you're looking at the deployment of those three over the last two periods of today's game,

are you splitting those guys up? Are you like, because you're going nuclear option,

like as a default? Well, they were, I mean, they're in an elimination game chasing two goals.

So they're definitely going to. No, no, I know that, but I'm, but they've been using that combo

for a lot of the games anyway. So you just wonder if it's like, is he better off at this point,

at least separating, make David and McKinnon, to try to get two lines that are driving play,

because whatever line those guys are like, those guys on our own, we'll, we'll, we'll drive

offense on their own. Yeah. And drag everybody along with them. It feels a little bit,

I don't know, I know it's exciting and tempting, but it feels a little bit foolish

to waste all that firepower on one really great line. And yes, they're playing great. There's

no doubt about it. I'm not, you know, today, Connor McDavid broke the all-time points record for

points in an Olympic series. And there's a game to go. And you hope I would imagine he'll get

a points on day. So he's just building on that. But like, I don't know, if I'm John Cooper,

I am, I am reconsidering that approach, because you're going to need more than one line to beat

USA. They've got the kind of players and they've got the kind of defenders that can

not stop that line. No one's going to fully stop that line ever. But they've got enough to contain

them more than any of the other nations in this tournament to have. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's,

it's going to be interesting to see how they, how they match up. Mike Sullivan's going to have a,

a big task ahead of them to, to, to play that, to play that matchup game. I mean, looking at it

with, you know, at, at five on five without Sydney Crosby, you have McKinnon on the second line.

Celebrities with McDavid and Tom Wilson. Then McKinnon is with Bo-Horvatt and Seth Jarvis. So

at five on five, you have them split up. You have them, you know, trying to balance things out.

But I mean, yeah, when, when the chips are down for Canada, are you banking that anybody not

named Crosby, McKinnon, Warming David, or is going to do it for you? Celebrities have been

stepping up for sure. But do you bank on Mark Stone in this tournament? Do you bank on Nick

Suzuki? I know you have the, the game tying goal. Do you bank on Mariner to do it again? Yeah, I

don't know. At, at this stage, in this moment against this team, USA team, it's, it's a different

animal. So I think if I, if I'm Canada, again, you go back to the idea of like, you don't know how

many of these guys are going to be in this spot again. So if I'm John Cooper, I'm thinking I'm,

I'm going 100% foot down, trying to do everything you can to win this one game tournament, basically.

Where it comes down to gold. So and, and, and winning lasts four years, you know, until the,

until the next Olympics. And for some of these guys, it'll last a lifetime. So I, I think there

is some strategy to it. There also is an element of, we're just going to load up when you have the

guys that you can to, to load up and try and, you know, elite talent your way to it to a win.

Sometimes you just go with it. USA can do it too. They can, they can, they can load up a line if

they wanted. You know, a lot of a lot of their five on five lineups kind of feel that way already

when you got the contracts with Ikel. You know, you got, it's, you, you just have a ton of talent

that you can load up and try and just, you know, feel like a power play unit out there all of the time.

Mark Lazarus with an injury update on stage Thompson says Mike Sullivan says he anticipates Thompson

being ready for the gold medal game, but then he's dealing with a lower body injury and that he

was held out of the third more for precautionary reason. So that's good news for team USA.

Doesn't seem like anything and for the Sabers. Obviously, doesn't seem to be anything long term

for stage Thompson. So all right, a little bit of a note. Let's hit the brakes one more time.

More to come when we come back. We are going to get to some of the news and notes from Black

Hawks practice today as well. So stick around on the CHGO Black Hawks podcast.

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All right, we're back on CHGO Black Hawks and it is now time for our new segment checking it out

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wear relationships and results matter. Member FDIC. If you missed it a couple weeks ago,

we picked our teams based on you know you had $15 to build your roster here. Chloe has been

keeping track of those numbers and you hear she's laughing. So I'm assuming she's not losing

what are the current point standings? Jay was really upset when I gave him the the updates halfway

through the. Yeah, he demanded a recount. Okay, I took 12 more ruchu for Finland and I forgot he

wasn't there anymore. You got to follow your heart sometimes. That's right. So this is based off

of this is fantasy. So goals are two. This are one. Mario is in the lead is 38 points right now.

And then I also did like what players everybody has remaining. So you have Jack Hughes,

Conor McDavid, and then maybe Sidney Crosby if he returns on Sunday. Hopefully Sidney Crosby

for fantasy stake. Yes. Next is me. I'm in second place. I have 34 points and the players I have

remaining are McKinnon, Marner, and Faber. And then Jay is at 33 points. You're one behind me.

And the players you have left are Werenzki, Faber, Kachak, Brady Kachak, and Jack Eichel.

All right. I got a shot. You got more players than we do. I just think it's boring to go

chalk. Just me. Look, we all had the same amount of money to spend. I know. Yeah, I know.

That's good. It's closer than I thought. It is because earlier in the week, I was way behind you.

You were way behind you. Mario was very far ahead. Yes. But I want to hear everybody else's too.

So if anybody else made their lineup, I want to see if anybody's being there. A couple of people

responded to it and sent it to us, but yeah. I had to find some of those lineups. Yeah, it's fun.

It's fun to have some some side fun in the Olympics, but like I'd like to say I'm surprised, but,

you know, yeah, there you go. How are you feeling about the bronze medal game? I know we don't

really care, but I would like to see an Olympic medal in person. Yeah, Tavo's Tavo's there with Finland.

I want him to win it. Me too. Talk about guys. I'm fond of the Finns.

Opportunities to play in the Olympics. And he's a guy that obviously would have been there in

2018 and 2022. Have the NHL players been there. So at this stage of his career, like,

I'm not counting him out again for 2030, but he will kind of be up there in age. By that time,

we've 35. He'll be 35. 35. So maybe can't can't exclude him right away, but this might be

his best opportunity to take home a medal with with Finland. And, you know, they're a very talented

team. They were up to nothing on on Canada with with a chance to get to the gold medal game. So

they have it in them to play that way and be able to be be a tough out. And Slovakia, I think,

you know, they tonight's game, you know, I went how I felt it would go. They have a really

talented team, but I think as far as the four teams that got here, I think everyone kind of

agreed to Slovakia was the fourth of the four. Yeah. So yeah, I think Finland, we saw on the

graphic. They were like a 76% chance probability to win 3.2, expecting all to 1.7. Yeah, that feels

right. So I'm going to say Finland wins bronze. And yeah, it'd be cool if Tevo brought it back to

Chicago. And yeah, showed the showed the guys. I also, you know, you go back to what Miko

Ranin said that we mentioned earlier in the show. They're not going to be on their heels the whole

game. Can't be like they should be able to dictate the offense in this one against Slovakia. So,

you know, I would it would not shock me if we saw like a 3-1-4-1 win from Finland. Could be

because I do feel like they are they're just a notch above. Like I said, when we're tearing the

nations, I think there's like a Finland, it's kind of in its own tier between Sweden. And even though

they're going to finish with the medal and Sweden's not, I think just generally speaking salute,

they're kind of in their own tier under Sweden above Slovakia, Czechia, et cetera. We should

do a tier list and nation nation tier list of hockey nations. That's fun. Yeah, it's a good time.

Can you create that right now, Chloe? Yeah, Chloe on the floor. I'll whip it up.

Yeah, no, I would agree. I feel like there's definitely a big four with, you know,

as we saw with the four nations and stuff, as far as, you know, nations that are participating

in the Olympics. But yeah, I do usually feel like the Finnish group is always like that,

you know, three B if Sweden's three A kind of thing. Yeah. Well, it's going to be, it'll be enjoyable.

I'm wondering, what time's that came at? Do we know? That is a, I think it's a 940. Oh,

it has to. No, no. I think it's a one, it's a 140 central time start. So it's even better. Yeah,

yeah. But we will not be doing a watch along for that one. No, not for bronze. That was only if the

US was playing for bronze, but they are not. They're playing for gold, as this should be. Have

you ever seen a gold medal in person, like an Olympic gold medal or any medal, any Olympic medal?

I don't think I have. Yeah. I, I, yes. Yes. I'm trying to think of like a

circumstance where I would have aside from like maybe in a case, like some historical display,

like the hockey hall fame. I probably saw one like, but in terms of like someone saying,

this is my Olympic medal here. Look at it. Take a look. I can't imagine. I've ever

done that before. You sparked something in my brain that like in elementary school.

I think did Brian Boyton will come and speak to your class. I'm not Canadian. It's the first

first Olympian in my mind. When I was in elementary school, I think a US Olympian,

like from somewhere in Wisconsin, brought a, it would have to be Nagano Olympic medal to school.

All right. Nagano medalist from in my, am I making this up in my, like, I've, man,

I'm trying to like put myself back in like nine-year-old brain. Okay. Kasey fits Randolph.

You think I'm going to know. Was a speed skater? I haven't. I have no. Karen Dieditz of River Falls.

No. Yeah. I don't think so. It wasn't Chris Chelios. It wasn't. He got the medal for hotel

treaching. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to find Kendall Cohen's goal field on the show and be like,

hey, if you're coming, that would be cool. She's got a couple of Olympic medals she could, she could

bring. There you go. Borbicus said, Dwayne Wade brought his gold medal to Richard High School.

Two blocks from my child at home. It's not, uh, wasn't for me. Man, um,

f you'll look at you'll find it. I'll come to you as soon as we end the show. I'm, I'm, I'm like

fairly certain now that you like, that's like one of those, um, seen inside out. Yes. It's like one

of those memories that are like gray and about to turn to dust. You need bing bong. But it's like,

it's like, wait, it's there's something there. And I got to try and, man, I can like visualize it.

I'm like in the audit, uh, the, the, the gymatorium of my grade school. We had a, we had a, uh,

wait, what's the name of your grade school? St. Mary. It's RIP. Skypoint. St. Mary's, uh,

Catholic school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It's no longer, uh, called that. Yeah, but I'm seeing

if there's a story about it, something else. Um, we had an assembly where, you know, we, uh,

we all sang the Olympic song, which I'm not going to sing now because we'll get copyright

strict, strict, um, but we like learned and sang the song as a school. And like, um, I swear,

there was like, uh, an Olympian was there and brought a, uh, brought a medal. No, you know,

what it was? Nope. When I was in, okay. I was in dare. The dare, uh, right? Our dare officer,

the, the light bulb is going on the memories. Yes. Our dare officer was, uh, 1984,

summer Olympics. You're going to think I'm making this up speed, speed walker bronze medalist.

That's awesome. And he brought it into our dare program. That's what it was. 1984 speed walking.

And he had, he brought in the medal and he brought in the VHS tape of him speed walking.

And he's there with his like, you know, pharaoh faucet looking hair because it was the 80s and he's

doing the shimmy. And he had the bronze medal. Oh my God. Uh,

Sandra Balucci. No, it was a guy. That's a man. American, um, medalist. Curl Schuler.

There's so many, but there's so many. I think it was 84. Could have been. All right. Oh, yeah,

I don't, I don't remember the, uh, distance or whatever. Let's see, dare program.

Nice. You know, we got to figure this out. Kenosha, dare, police officer,

yeah, 1998. Like, yeah, I have no idea. Ben Shory, huh?

Computer to University of Wisconsin, Parkside, blah, blah, blah. What's the name? Ben Shory.

I don't know. We'll find him. We got to get our internet investigators to find this person. Oh,

man. If you're out there, uh, dare officer from Kenosha, uh, who also competing in the Olympics,

if you're out there, uh, find me and corroborate my story. Man, yeah, that definitely,

I love that. That definitely happened. It just is in your head somehow. That is what it was.

Yep. My dare officer was an Olympic medalist in speed walking in the 80s.

And he brought the medal. I think he was a bronze thing. Crazy thing about dare. Oh, yeah,

dare was a MLN pyramid scheme. Dare? Yeah, it just came out. How? I don't know. I didn't put

money in. It's on the internet. It has to be right. All right. We're going to hit the brake

zone. Hawks. Stuff happened today. Believe it or not. We're going to hear from Jeff Latchell. Wow.

And a whole lot more. I gotta. Yeah. I gotta. Coming up next on CHGO Black Hawks.

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All right. We are back on CHGO Blackhawks. If you've not done a yet, please hit that like button for

us. We would appreciate that big time. The Hawks did practice today at the Blackhawks Ice Center

presented by Fifth Third Bank. The artist formerly known as Prince. It was a very intense,

fast-paced, spirited practice and they ended with not a bag skate, but they separated

team into four groups and they had to do like full laps at full speed and each group had to go

four times. So there were some hands on knees at the end of practice, but it wasn't a punishment by

any means. Yeah. Just some conditioning, but some power play works, some PK work, some tight

in-tight quarter drills. Couple players stood out to me today. I've been keeping a close eye in Kevin

Kortzinski. One of the first drills they did was like we've seen this a million times at Hawks

practice. Just one-on-one battles, winning the puck, checking, being physical in front of the net

along the boards. He was competing against Alex Flasick, a lot of the today's practice, and Kevin

Kortzinski held his own against a guy much bigger and much heavier than him. So he looked good there.

He was also on the top power play unit or on the second power play unit during those drills.

However, and you're going to hear from Jeff Flashle here in a moment, he said the reason Kortzinski

was there was because they were focusing on the penalty kill, and they had Renzel on the penalty

kill. And so they were more concerned about those players in the power play. And he still says

that Kortzinski is fourth in his tears for power play defenseman. Another tear list.

Behind Renzel, election of Grizzlyck, in no particular order, Kortzinski would fall in fourth on

that list. So there's that. I think Ryan Green looked really good, and you may have forgotten

because I did that he was a healthy scratch on asking before the break. Yeah, remember that.

But he was stick handling in a phone booth a couple times, went through two defenders with some

insane stick handling moves. He looked really good. I thought Nick Flalino looked really good.

He is waiting to get back on the ice and start playing again. So why don't we hear from Jeff

Flashle now? He talks about all these things and more. This was him after practice today.

Just real quick. I just want to congratulate John Robaluski in the US women's team,

including Kendall and Unreal W for the US team. Rob was a friend of mine and thought it was awesome.

He was able to guide that team to victory. What a game it was between the two countries. So it was

awesome. Good. You mentioned wanting Colton to move his feet a little bit more.

And he mentioned how it feels like this. These own changes might help him do that more and get

the puck in transition more. And just so what are you hoping to see from him down the stretch here?

First off, I would say kind of the last month or so, this is the league.

He didn't get tons of opportunity and that happens sometimes in this league and so I don't know

if it's a fair judge necessarily. I think when he's playing his best, he's moving his feet

with the puck. He's moving his feet without the puck. He's been physical on a pretty consistent

basis, getting lots of credit for that. But I think confidence is a huge factor in all this stuff.

And so when you're not playing in a regular basis, it's hard to learn how to play in those minutes

sometimes. As you go through the league, guys learn to do it and get better at it, but it's hard for

young guys. So depending on the opportunity in the minutes he's given and the opportunities given

potentially on special teams, that'll dictate a lot of how he plays. So we'll see where that goes.

And ultimately, you know, it's a balance between who dict, you know, does the coach decide who

plays, does the player decide who plays, there's a balance there. I mean, I think we foolishly say

that the coach doesn't have an impact on it. Obviously, the player's play has an impact on it,

you know, and so I think it's a double-edged sword. If he gets good opportunity, you know,

it's a spectacle, he's in position to do well with it. It's just my decision is who does

the better guy in those spots and those are decisions I got to make.

I hope to see it, I hope to see it from Ryan Gray, 30 days in a slow crisis.

Well, I think Ryan, you know, is probably like a lot of our guys. I felt like he needed a,

you know, probably a chance to get to that break. I mean, again, the schedule's, you know,

nothing that he's seen in any level that he's played. It's just the reality in no junior league,

no college league, no American hockey league, none of those prepared for what we've gone through.

And so, you know, what the first time through, I just think it was probably a good breather for

mentally as much as physically. And I think he's had a good couple days out here, seems like he's

confidence is in a good spot. And as I said, confidence matters a lot. So hopefully you can

carry that forward from the next three practices into next Thursday.

Was I any reason you kind of had him not playing basketball this game?

Well, I just think, you know, there's times, there's times for guys to sit. And, you know,

I don't think anybody's necessarily, you know, he's a, he's a first-year guy. The grind is

winning the league. He hadn't really faced any adversity up until that point. You know, never,

hasn't, you know, spent a second in the minors. Sometimes you got a face of adversity.

He just felt like it was the right decision for our team at the, on that game and him personally.

And I give him a chance to kind of take a breath, look, watch the game, and then get back out.

You obviously have a lot of young offensive defensemen. And when it comes to our play,

how do you assess who's the best fit there? What are you looking for from that role?

Well, one thing I do, I guess I should probably explain, is one of the reasons we've

switched guys over the two-park leanings over the last two days is to do with penalty kills

as much as anything else. And they get reps killing penalties. You know, ultimately,

we've got guys that have shown that they're capable of being power play guys.

And, you know, we'd like to see one or two guys grab it and show their elite that if there's

a difference there, nobody is showing that they're elite out of yet. But they've all shown

they're very capable at it. So, you know, they'll be, we'll see how the separation is as we keep

going here. You know, certainly, you know, whether we went through a stretch or the rinse was good,

then I thought, you know, already was good. And I think Grizzlyx has been pretty consistent

out at, you know, I think those three would be ahead of Courts right now on the vine for

power play minutes. And then it depends, you know, what we see is the best fit as we're moving forward.

But this gives us a good chance to both get looks at lots at those guys in those spots,

that also gets the chance for them to get penalty kill reps.

Random thing, but how do you determine the shootout order? Like you like having

lardisco first a few times and the darts typically gone second. Like, what is your rationale for that?

Some of it is, some guys when they go first, they just, they don't mind going first.

Some guys like to go second, you know, and it's just they like to get a look at the goalie.

And I've had a lot of players that have been that way a little bit. I think Bidard prefers that

second spot and get a look at yet, not that they don't have tape ahead of time and stuff like that.

But just get a feel for it. Also, you know, enough times somebody like Conner has played a lot of

minutes and over time, so it gives them a chance to catch his breath. And, you know, you got to be

careful who's in those who's in the three hole because that could be a real pressure field hole.

The one hole that doesn't have quite as much pressure on it. So I put lardisco there because,

you know, he's a first year guy and I didn't want to mount the pressure on him. And then, you know,

he, I think he scored the first one, I think. And then, so then you put him out there again, what,

you know, you kind of go that way. So there's a little bit of field to it. A little bit, uh,

you certainly got to make sure that your best shooters get a chance to shoot. That's probably the

number one rule. When you, you haven't had a full complement of centers at times this year, but

now that it seems like you might have too many guys to, you know, are you going to look at maybe

having guys makes up face-offs a little bit or, um, yeah, I mean, that's what we'll see with that

goals, you know, um, you know, like when you have a, when greener embeds you've played together,

they've kind of shared the face-off rules, like just depending on who's feeling it.

You know, it's certainly best he's taking the majority on the right side. I think greener's

taking a little bit more on the left side. Just depending on how they're feeling at that night and

who their opponent is. Um, you know, with like more Z and Frank, if we keep them together,

you know, that's a lefty righty thing. The lefty can take it on the left side. That's a real

advantage if you can do that. Um, so we'll see what that all shakes up.

Have you had any thoughts on like, when table front back, if you wasn't playing right away,

or is there any? It's a good question. Um, they played tomorrow. Um, you'll probably give him

a couple days off. We probably won't practice them honestly until Wednesday. Um, you know, so I,

I wouldn't say we'd hold them out of the game Thursday, but we'd probably give them a couple days

here. I got to actually, uh, sit on my staff today right after this and just sort out what

our messaging is to him. I didn't want to say anything until we knew what game and nobody's

playing in that game tomorrow. Um, my god would be, you know, we'd probably miss Sunday Monday,

Tuesday. And then so he gets a three day break practice Wednesday. Play Thursday.

Such a young team. Well, you talk about that. Sorry.

Actually, that kind of Murphy's had this young group. Yeah, you know what, man, I can't say

enough good things about Murph. Like he's been great. Um, first off, I think he's played really,

really well. And, um, you know, there's a time early in the year where he wasn't, uh, given lots

of minutes. He's really had to earn it. Um, yeah, it really, really done a good job of earning ice

time on a consistent basis. Uh, he's a huge reason why our kill has been really successful. Um, I think

he's defended really, really well. He's moved the park well. If he's showing some scoring, um,

he's been physically, he's fought. Uh, all those things are important part of leadership. Um,

you know, your play probably is, is, is the most important part. And then, uh, beyond that,

he's just a real, you know, his dad played his dad coach. He's been around the game a long time.

He's got a real level head to him. Um, I think he, uh, it does, it has done a good job of, uh,

being a pop of baritory young players and helping them along. And so I can't say enough positive

things about him as a person in the impact he's on our locker room. All right, that's Jeff

Marshall. Uh, I'm taking an exception with his exception, shocked by the delay between his

last answer in my question, um, less than a second. Less than one second. Get the timer out.

I was pausing for a follow up to see if there was another question coming. And then I said, okay,

it's my turn. And I caught him off guard. Can you start it at the, uh, it was like one of,

yeah, like, try to like one ten. What's find out? One, two, you talk about the, sorry.

That's two beats. I don't think so. Um, um, it's completely, uh, valid of a break between

questions. I thought so too. Yeah. Maybe because it had gone on for a while. Yeah, I mean,

I feel like Blaschle at some point, especially if he talks for a few minutes, starts to get a little,

like, all right, will we wrap him up here? And then we started with, uh, no, everyone sat there

for 10 seconds without the question after he, uh, because without, because Tracy Meyer,

for the behind the curtain, Tracy Myers is usually there and gets the first question. She is

senior on the beat. So by default, Tracy gets the first question. So Tracy's not there.

No one knows what to do. Who's first? That's true. Who asked the first question? The system

comes crumbling down. Uh, yeah. More importantly, you have answered your question about the,

yes, Olympian, the fraudulent Valor ceiling Olympian that has showed up at your school. It would,

it would not have been an Olympic medal, uh, unless it was his friends Olympic medal. Jim Haring,

if you're out there of Kenosha of Kenosha, Wisconsin, uh, was an Olympic speed walker,

uh, for the 1980, 84 and 88 summer Olympics. Now, US didn't participate in the 1980 summer

Olympics because of, uh, political protest because the games were played in Russia. Uh, but yeah,

he participated in 84 and 88. Whatever medal he brought again was either someone else's Olympic

medal that he was borrowing, or maybe it was like a national championship's medal or something

like that. But he brought a medal that he was proud of and played a VHS tape of him doing the

shimmy walk, uh, from some event. I'm sure it was the Olympics, but he wasn't winning the race.

I have done that walk before, but not competitive. Not competitive. Yeah. Only because I'm,

you're just competing against yourself and it's race against the time bomb in my stomach. It's

called the old lady mall walk. Yeah. Okay. That's not what I was referring to. Old women walking at

the mall. Yeah. I don't understand. Cause that's how they walk. It's a, it's a, I call it the clench

fascinating, uh, sport with the, cause of yours, like, oh, you just walk goofy, like, you know,

like, no, they're walking like that because you literally have to have your feet on the ground

at all times. So you, we're going over time, by the way. Yes. Um, so you can't like, and they have

people that watch the feet. And if they are, you know, if they're improperly stepping, it's a,

it's a, you know, disqualification or penalty or whatever it is, you have always have to have

your foot, like touching the ground. So like, when they do the shimmy, it's so that you're,

and he explained all of this over the course of an entire dare program session. No, I was like,

as a kid, I was like, this is much better than telling me that weed's going to kill me. Yeah.

Or whatever they were talking about. Um, but they have that shimmy walk is so like, your heel

can hit and roll to your toe. And then you take the next step and it like rolls natural.

It's fascinating. It's a goofy looking event. Yes. Um, but it's, it's not a natural skill. So

you have to, so like when you say, oh, your Olympic speed walker, you have to learn how to do that

and your body to, you know, have the muscle motion and all that stuff. So yeah, anyway, Jim

Haring was the guy that did it. Um, Olympic speed walker. He's a part of the UW Parkside athletic

hall of fame. So shout out UW Parkside took some summer courses there because I was a five year

college student. Uh, and yeah, police officer in, uh, in Kenosha and the dare program for a bit.

All right. No, he speed walked to their program. Oh, if you ran, he would have been disqualified.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will see you on Sunday. Yeah. Sunday. It's 7 a.m.

USA, Canada, watch along. I'm bringing a bag of hash browns. You're bringing your George

Foreman girl. No, he's going to show up with anything this time or maybe just finish your

attendees and bring it. I'm bringing a blanket and, uh, a whole pot of coffee. I need to know

the attire though, because you said you were going to bring a gown and a hat. I don't have a gown

in the hat. No one wants to see that. Find it. So why did I go out of my one? I'm just kidding. Uh,

I am going to wear what I traditionally wear on the show.

Lame. Clothing. Clothing. Top to bottom. Where you're clothing. That's a guarantee.

I can't sleep in my PJs because then I'd be naked and we would have FCC.

New would see problems. I was going to say. Oh, that's, no, it's, you know,

try to, it's just not, it's too, it's not comfortable for a guy.

It's a containment. Yeah. I just, yeah, I don't, I don't know. Yeah.

Not, it's just not comfortable. No, I'm good. Does anyone have a waffle maker?

Yeah. You do? I have to find it. But yeah, I might, yeah, I might have one of my basements.

I'll also have a pizel maker that was used one time in my life. I'm a maker is used once.

You have to get your George Foreman girl anyway. So you got to go dig in. I, I had a George

Foreman girl in college. I don't, do you have a toaster here? No, I can bring a toaster. I have,

that I know where it is. I have a toaster. I'm going to just bring some waffles and stuff.

Toaster bagels and I'm bringing a bag of hash browns.

Bag oh hash brown is great. A mayor is great Russian bagel open.

Welcome to great Dominican bagel. Oh, yes. The one I'm, uh, Madison. Yep. Not American.

Good, uh, really good though. Depends, depends on who you're talking to. You ever have the cookies from

there? No, I wouldn't say I love the coffee, but the bagels. They do have gluten free bagels over

there. I haven't had it yet, but I saw that they, uh, they have them. There's cross contamination

for sure. Yeah, whatever. Okay. All right. Well, he's on with a great pole of information that

George Foreman girl was originally offered to Hulk Hogan. Uh, and he turned it down for the

Thunder Blender. I'm glad he was thrilled to, but he was glad to see who got it. And George Foreman,

if he asked some people have no idea that he's a boxer, that he was a boxer.

I know. He's famous for before being a spokesman. It's a John, John Madden. Yeah, yeah. If you

ask kids of a certain age, who Madden is right now, the football game guy, like the guy who made

the football. Yeah. Yeah. It's the guy who made the football game. No, no, that's not it.

All right. We're going to wrap things up. We will talk to you 7 a.m. on Sunday, USA, Canada. Let's go.

Rock flag and eagle.