The Tom Gazzola Show - Sept. 10th, 2026 - Hour 3

0:00Number three Thursday edition of the Tom Gazola show presented by bet three six five. Good morning. Hope you're doing well out there. Check out bet three six fives early payout for baseball. When your team goes up by five runs, you get paid out immediately. No stress about blowing a big lead. Download the app. See what early payout is all about Tom Gazola brand and Douglas Josh Fenwick in studio alongside Sean Bell. The ground goes wild. Your friend. My friend. You like that, huh? Oh, you got it. You got it. You loved it. Yeah. Bell Z. You can hear on Tuesdays on low tide show and he's our co-host on Thursdays here on the Tom Gazola show and on September 26th, we bring back Hello hockey. That's right. Two sports 1449 to 11. We go for two hours. Half of the shows per month. We're going to be on location. Yep. So we're going to be in and around the city at some of our favorite places to go hang out.

1:01Place to go. Place to go while you're you live there. We like so co local so co. Yes, down tall. Geatery. Shared park. Yes. We'll be touring those places. Shout out to Dean. Dean Lowry, our good friend. Chris Sills, who just I think got his hip replacement. So hopefully he's bouncing back from that soon. And then our buddy guy over in the Shared Park location. Great staff, great food, great vibes. And we look forward to getting back there. And for those that might not be familiar with Hello hockey, we started it back on the 1260 days, took a tour old station and we're able to get in the last couple of shows of the season here on 1440. How would you sum up Hello hockey for folks? Well, I would put it this way. It's that it kind of covers the entire hockey world, right? So Dave Pagnyana is our insider. So he comes in, he talks about some of the news or rumors that have been happening. So for example, you know, back in the 1260 days, when we started, Pag's was talking about expansion. Yes. And so we've been on this expansion train for years and obviously four years and it's been, you know, it's been

2:04picking up steam. So he has, you know, a great network and he's he's able to break stuff and, you know, he's become one of our good buddies. So having him on the show, we have guests, you know, former players, current players, GMs, media members. So yeah, it's a fun show. We like to have a little bit of fun on there with, you know, start bench cut. We were doing some blind ranking stuff last year, story time, story time, which is weird because in story time, a lot of people want to hear the story, but then they don't believe us after that. I think it'll Nick Johnson. Nick Johnson talking about Patrice Burgeonon getting undressed after every single period and showering and then getting back dressed. And so that part, like people listen to the story, put it on social media and all of a sudden like that didn't happen. We would have heard about that before. The guy was on the team. He played on the team. The surgezuboff one where he, oh, I love this shower together and he's smoking in the shower and he's got, he's sitting on his cooler. And, you know, once again, people loved it, but at the same time, they're like, that didn't

3:08happen. You were the guy he was talking to. You were literally showering. I was there. So yeah, it's a fun show. You know, lots of debates and, you know, different coverage on the sport. So it's not an oiler show. It's not an oiler show. Yeah. So if you're coming on and expecting to hear us talk about the oilers and now oilers only, you're going to be very disappointed. I mean, we dabble when it's relevant, but it dabbles like a, that's a strong term. That is a strong term. The, the beauty of this show is because we are so hyper focused on the Edmonton oilers in this market. Understandably so it gives you a taste and sense of what's going on, not just in the national hockey league, but in the hockey world. That's right. That's right. Yeah. And that's the, the beauty of Hello hockey. So we're excited to getting that going again, September 26, 9 to 11 right here on sports 1440, shout out to Paul Sir for working with us and kind of allowing us to get that time of day on this station. So we're super excited about that. All right.

4:10What? No shadow to the other show you displaced. Which one? Which one is Saturday's? The Saturday's. You told us they're, they're doing it anymore. It's all yeah, because I knew because of me, because of you. Can we get you a lunch at local public eatery? I would take a succulent Chinese meal. A Chinese food buffet, would you? I would take that. No, I'm obviously joking, but we knew that this was in the cars and thought, well, we're happy to step aside for a program of such a steam and pedigree. That's why he's excellent. That's right there. That's that's stuff right there. Fanny will trash talk us. Yes, you will. Yeah. He just gave us the finger. Okay, Kelsey, I mean, we've gotten you for the next couple hours. We're going to have Michael Men's, he's on from Daily Face Off Edmonton in a little bit. And then we'll also have Gord Wilson. We'll hear about the SENS later on in the show. Listen, this format is signing is it's the topic. I bet whether you like it or not, it's the topic. A million texts have come in. I'm hyperbriolizing,

5:10but I'll read one to kind of cue this up. And you have a very unique perspective on this. You're a two-time world junior player for Canada. You know what comes with that responsibility, if you will, or that blessing to play for the world junior team. So you are one of a very few people in this province, quite frankly, who can discuss what it's like to be on that team. You did it twice. Okay, here we go. I'm going to go to Roger here for this text just to kind of set this next portion of the conversation up. Says, I don't carry the way about Fomenton. He was acquitted. That's it. Did he make a mistake? To most of us? Yes. Now my question is why? What will he bring that the orders are missing? We may have others that will fill that spot. I am sure they signed him and he will be needed and be sent down to Bakersfield. That's from Roger. Okay, so I've listened to this conversation for most of the morning and there's a lot of good points from people listeners that are listening to the show, that are watching the show,

6:13the people that have come on, they've talked about it. And so I'm going to go ahead from a little bit of a different path. Okay, so my first question to you guys is when the orders were doing their back-to-backs down the cup run, which team was the best team that they had? And why? 2014. Okay, and why? Is that better players? And they were fast. They were fast, yes. They could outpace a lot of teams. So one of the things that I think we can all probably agree on is the team has taken a step back in the speed department. Fair. So you bring in a guy like Fomenton because he's got speed and you're trying to add a little bit of youth to the team. You're trying to add speed to the team. You're trying that size to the team. And so from the why does he get signed? Well, if you're stand Bowman, you're saying, I'm trying to improve this team anyway that I possibly can, even if it's marginal. A marginal improvement is an improvement. No matter which way you try to look at it, which way

7:13you try to spin it. And so if you're the GM, that's what you're trying to do. Something that we've always talked about as fans here in the city is that it's when GM's get criticized, it's for a lack of doing something, a lack of movement. It's a little wrong. Or the wrong moves. But the general consensus on that criticism is the fact that you didn't really do enough or you didn't try to improve this team the way that you should have. So I'm thinking here, looking at the situation and it's a player for free. It's a player that played in the league. Yes, it was four years ago. Yeah. I get that part. But you're trying to improve your hockey team. And at 850,000 cap hit, that's quote unquote cheap very cheap. Now you would ask the question, okay, well, what about like a tear sancor or what about a lionay or what about some of these other guys that are on the free agent market? Well, they're going to come, they're going to come with a bigger

8:15price tag and you don't have the cap space to do that. Or you want to save as much or you want to save it in the year later in the year. So you now brought in a player who's going to add some speed. He's going to add some youth. He's going to add competition to that bottom portion of your lineup. And so what have you done? You've made the team better in theory in theory. However, on the flip side, I fully understand from fans and why they're upset given obviously the history of what happened. The optics are not. The optics aren't great. But you knew that this was going to happen at some point as soon as Carter Hart was starting for the Vegas Golden Knights. You knew that these other guys were going to start to get signed. And so are we are we actually surprised that this has happened? The weather has been a team historically that have always tried reclamation projects. And they've done it for years. Like it dates back forever. So to me, it's like I get the points. I get why people are upset.

9:21But at the same time, you've got to think about what is what is Bowman trying to do here? Improve his team. That's the. And so if he makes it the answer. If he makes it and he helps the team get better, well, then everybody's going to applaud Bowman. Hey, that was a savvy move. If it blows up in his face, well, then we're right back to square one. So at the end of the day, it's a it's a low risk move with fanfare. That is that is not going to be good for a certain amount of time. No, how long is it going to be? Well, and spec brought that up. He goes what? A few days. And then you know, they play their first game and everybody kind of forgets about it. So if he has a positive impact, like they have with guys that they brought in in the past in recent years. Yeah. So become fan favorites, quite frankly. But I don't know if he has that high end potential that those guys did. I don't know either. But it remains to be seen, right? But if he can if he can be a solid player, if he can be don't Janmark because he's younger, faster, bigger, better, the team's better. It's a low bar there. It's a it's a very low bar. But at the end of the day, that's what it is.

10:25Essentially. And so take out the scenario that happened, which obviously is a reason why we're having this conversation. Yeah. Nobody's saying a word. Yeah, it would just he would just be another guy that's coming in to compete for a spot. So but that's not the case. It's not the case at all. It's the optics are bad. And they lost Mama Stanley as brother. Yes, they did out this morning. I'm act texting. This is Babcock, a hotter button than Formenton period. That's from I'm act. Yeah, I don't know if he's if it's a hotter button. Jeffery says I don't know why people are making a big deal out of this. He wasn't found guilty. The spotlight on this. The spot. Yes, the spotlight is massive. And yes, I understand he was found not guilty. But it's still the optics of what happened. It's still the fact that, you know, you have this this young woman who, you know, was part of this scenario and everything that went

11:27down with it. That's why it's a big deal. The optics of it. And so you can be on one side of the fence or the other side when it comes to the player. But the scenario is why people are upset. And I'm not going to sit here and defend like him, the player or whatever. I'm just talking about the scenario itself and why people are upset. Yeah. From the hockey standpoint, we'll stand moments trying to make his team better. Correct. Okay, a couple of texts. And then I'm going to ask you something. I just throw something at you. See what you have to say about it. Tub Guy says these players are going to be held accountable for the rest of their lives for what they took part in. But don't think for one second this girl wasn't there on her own free will. And that's part of why these guys are found a whole other conversation. Tub Guy adds, I just don't understand why the oilers would take someone with that scrutiny when there is a whole American league full of players that can do the exact same role and don't come with the baggage. Lose, lose. That's from tub guy. Pat says, Bell Z. Thank the Lord. This is by far

12:29the best take that I've heard on this. So Pat appreciates what you had to say. People are bringing up Craig McTavish. Yeah, we've discussed that in the 80s. Vicular manslaughter, I believe. And Matt T's a friend of mine. I love him. I think he's a high character guy. He got a second chance. And I think he stayed in touch with the family of the lady that passed in that situation. And I said, I've maintained this. I believe in second chances. I don't know what kind of player formantin is going to be. Is it low risk? Yeah. Did the oilers need to sign them? Probably not. Probably not. But if you're trying to create competition and try to make it a better team, I mean, they're in their stand the cup window. And you look at teams like Carolina, who is probably going to be a contender again or favorite to win. If you got the Florida Panthers coming back, like they're loaded. So right now for the others, they have to do

13:32everything in their power to try to improve their hockey team. And that is the reality of the situation. Yeah. That is a reality. Yes. The other reality is obviously the optics because of the scenario in which formantin was a part of it. It's a poop sandwich, my favorite. It is not great. Yeah. So does he deserve a second chance? Yeah. A lot of people deserve second chances. But I think you can give the second chance while still remembering what happened and make sure that that doesn't happen again. True. So it's accountability piece that somebody just talked about. Glenn Texan says the legal case and not guilty verdict of all of it is relevant to me. What matters is the lack of moral compass. These players exhibited. That is my concern. I'm going to read that one more time. The legal case and not guilty verdict of it all is irrelevant to me. What matters is the lack of moral compass. These players exhibited. That is my concern. That's from Glenn. You played on the World Junior Team. Like I said, twice. The spotlight that comes with that. There's a lot of good that comes with that. There's a lot of pressure that comes with that.

14:35You played in Europe. You played in the NHL. You went between North America and Europe. You can kind of understand and speak to what it's like to be a player of that caliber in that spotlight. But obviously you didn't. Yeah. When you wear the flag, you're representing the entire country. It's a different level, different weight. You play in the NHL. That's obviously the ultimate goal. Because you're playing at the highest level possible. But when you put that flag on your chest, you've got the weight of the country on. It comes with good and it comes with bad. It's a massive bright spotlight. Players will take it in different ways. I know my experience in World Junior. We lost in Finland to the US in a game where if we played that, we probably win 9 times

15:37of the 10. I know that when we came back, the papers, the first thing that I saw coming into Pearson was choke artists. Yeah. You talked about that. Wait of the country once again. We're looking at this and it's like, well, we're choke artists. Well, I don't know about that, but sure, I get it. That's what that particular journalist decided that he wanted to say about our particular team. I got lucky because I went to the state so I didn't see a lot of it. A lot of our guys, I was buddies with Phenuff, his buddies with Getslaff, Weber, George's. Actually, Weber wasn't on that team. George's was on that team. So we talked about it lots. And it was hard because once again, the weight of the country is now on you. And at that particular time, we didn't win. Yeah. Canada wasn't winning. You're in a prominent position. You're in a prominent position. Yeah. So it came with the bad side of it. When we won, well, now it's just pure jubilation. Heroes. Or heroes. And so you go to different, you know, we drove back to Canada and places

16:41stayed open longer than they're supposed to. It comes with the spotlight. But you need to have a moral compass. I'm like going down that path. All right. I know. It's just it's not a good conversation. It's a fun conversation. It's hard conversation to have. And you know, it turns into it turns into a fight on both sides of it. But the reality of the situation is when you put on that Canadian sweater, everybody in Canada is watching you. Everybody in Canada is hoping that you do well. So I understand. Like listen, this is not it's not an easy one to discuss. I'm going to go to this text from iron. Iron says the public does not know all the details. Iron, all the details were. Oh, no, they're fully out there. Yep. They're detailed. They're in court. They're details. It's tough to read. It's not good. So the details are there. And iron continues deserves a chance to continue his life. I'm not dismissing the girl and how her life

17:45changed to hope he has grown from this and is now a better person as a hockey move. What is the downside? Can he play center? I think he's just checking wing or penalty kill. Yeah. Once again, it goes back to the conversation. The kid is going to get a second chance to continue his life. Yeah. But you have to remember what happened. You hope that he has learned from the situation. You hope that he doesn't make that mistake again. Correct. And you hope that for her, she's able to go on and live a good life as well. So you have to kind of balance both things. So that's why it's a conversation's hard because I get where people go when it comes to the moral compass side. I get it fully. Okay. We're going to go to break. We're going to discuss lines and all that stuff. The fun side of the game with Michael Menzies from daily face off Edmonton. We got Belzee and tow. We're rocking and rolling here on a Thursday edition of the Gisola Show presented by bet 365. It's the Tom Gisola Show brought to you by bet 365. Good morning, Tom Sean

18:46Bell. Brandon Douglas, Josh Fenwick with you. And we're going to be joined by Michael Menzies from daily face off Edmonton as we get set for training camp kicks off for the rookies tomorrow for the main group on the 16th. Then we have a preseason game on the 19th regular season starts 19 days from now for the amateur nor those you could text us one eight three three four one 14 40. If you're watching on YouTube, like share, subscribe, all that good stuff. Michael's ready to rock and roll. Let's go. All right. From daily face off Edmonton. Michael Menzies. Hey, Michael, good morning. First of all, hope you're doing well. And yesterday we had our first peak at some line combinations. Some of the new guys until Alex formentin included. Obviously, we've talked a lot about that today. Yeah. Maybe let's start with that signing just your thoughts to hit on it. And then we'll get into the nitty gritty of the lines and where we think this team is headed. Yeah, well, I was a little surprised. I think, you know, like forington had not been necessarily on the radar. If you

19:53looked at the situation a few months ago, obviously he'd been reinstated by hockey Canada a little bit earlier than the rest of the acquitted as part of the trial. And Stan Bowman was quoted yesterday as saying that played into their comfort level, perhaps about giving him a second chance. And you know, I think there's just been so much online outcry. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable, no doubt. And I think for a lot of people too, it's just another oiler controversy. You know, and there's been a lot of them over the last 10, full years where there's a lot of headlines that have nothing to do with the hockey. It has to do with maybe individuals characters and, you know, in this case, you know, a charge and a very high profile trial. And his fans want to just, you know, sit back. For them, the game is the end of a long day. They come

20:58home from work. They put on the TV and they want to watch their team and feel good about the players that are on their team and rooting for them. And so I don't know if the outcry would have been so loud if this had been maybe the first situation the oilers had put themselves in. But it is another one. And we're coming off of, you know, maybe a lot of people uncomfortable with Babcock or still uncomfortable with Bowman or on and on. So I think that's part of the why. It's been so charged here. We'll see how long that continues, especially as camp is right on the doorstep here. But I think that that plays into a lot of the response. Do you think the timing of the signing also plays into a lot of it? Like if the signing happens in, you know, the end of July early August, are we still having the same level of outrage? Or is it a little bit less because

22:02people are now, you know, they're camping, they're on vacation, they're doing their thing. But the fact that we're like a week away from camp and then now all of a sudden here comes a signing. Is that the, do you think that's part of why there's so much outrage? Or is it purely because of the situation? And if you're in the, in the depths of late July early August when there is little to talk about and especially in this market where you're looking for every morsel, you can only do so many hours on the elks, even though they are very good. It is very exciting. I could see, you know, the, the, Tom, you might have to be talking about this for a few days in a week and, you know, we really have a whole, you know, hot stove about it. So I can see it either way. I will say this, what I did like about it was the signing happens yesterday, formington speaks to the media, you know, within a couple hours. And I think that's good because if you look at it, Vegas Carter Hart was kind of ducked out of the media line light for most of the season. And I

23:04think created maybe a bit more of a distraction at times and made the people that are, you know, vigilant and don't want to or that are still very upset about what happened, you know, give them more ammunition. So we'll see how a goal is if formington's in the lineup and this becomes a trend of questions and stuff like that. But I did think it was good that he addressed the media early. Valet valid point Michael absolutely. Okay, let's talk about the actual fun stuff about hockey and that's line combinations and potential and all that. All year long. And maybe you could point back to other coaching regimes and other management regimes. People would be like, don't play Mick David with dry side all don't play. Mick David with dry side all Mike Babcock gets hired after Chris noblock is fired in a very clumsy fashion. And people go, well, after they get past it being Babcock, they go, well, maybe he won't play dry settle with Mick David.

24:08We get our first glimpse of informal skates. And what are we hearing? Probably dry settle Mick David playing together. Michael, your reaction to that. That's a coaching question. That's what Mick David said yesterday. That's a, you know, what it is. That's a coaching question. I'm not going to say, you know, I thought his his availability was interesting yesterday talking about that. And he also there was, I don't know if it was meant to be shade. I don't think it was. But he did say that the players had asked for some stability with the lines, you know. And we know noblock loved to love to mix it up. He had the magic bullet going all the time. Oh yeah. Lose or with, you know what I mean? So those combinations were always changing in game after game. And so I think that might be one thing that actually happens is the lines maybe stay together a little bit longer. But a lot of a lot of the forwards in the top six top nine have played together.

25:12It's going to it's going to end up being a lot of Mick David and dry style, isn't it? Isn't that how this is going to go? We've seen this movie before. Yeah. Listen, you got two guys like that. And you need a goal. I'm sorry. I'm putting them out there together. I get it. But like you look back the Pittsburgh penguins. I feel like that's a perfect team to look at and comp. And so you had Malcolm, you had Crosby. For the most part, those guys played on separate lines. Why? For the most part, let's call it 90% of the time they played on different lines. Why? Because it's a matchup nightmare. And so here in Edmonds, it's a matchup nightmare if you've got Mick David on one line, dry style on the other line. But we have this crazy temptation to consistently put them back together. Like when does that change? Hey, man, it's been 12 years. I don't know. I guess that's my question, Tom. Yeah. After 12 years, why can't we figure it out? Ask Michael. Michael, can you help me with

26:15this? Please? Yeah. I can't know because I agree. Why? Why wouldn't you want to? You know, I get it. It's tempting. There are two of the, you know, worlds four or five best players in the world. Well, what if we played them together? Well, what if you played them apart and over the stretch of, you know, a series of games or a series of playoff games, you know, you force the opposition to have deal with two different sets of matchups, whether in line combos or deep pairs. So I think the authors are better when they play them apart. And they're also able to get more out of their wingers who might not be, you know, you're tried and true no doubt top six wingers, right? I mean, that's the way that cap and can come in and, you know, be effective in the top six because he plays with dress. They have a little bit of chemistry. You know, you create those roles and you're able to elevate talent that maybe otherwise wouldn't be, you know, top six level across the entire league.

27:17So yeah, I would play them apart. I think that's when the others are at their best. For example, when you put them together, it leaves you with what we saw yesterday at the informal skate, Newgen Hopkins between Hymen and Howard. How much staying powered does a line like that have? And if that was the second line on the depth chart going into a Thursday night game against the Vegas Golden Knights in December, would you be confident in that line, Michael? I like newge on the wing. Yeah. I think he's better suited to be a winger today. And I mean, again, because we've seen that he is good chemistry, whether it be with McDavid over the years, because they have, you know, other centers that can take the role. I just think it would set the line up nicely. One to four, McDavid, Drysidle, Dickinson, Samansky. If you wanted to do it that way. Or

28:18drop newge down to third line. But I still think he's better suited as a winger these days. And the oilers have the center iceman to be strong at the pivot. And I think newge can be better served in this day and age for him to be on the wing. I think that's I think that's where he's better right now. Michael Menzies joining us from daily faceoff, Edmonton. We're discussing the oilers. We've already got the format and stuff out of the way with Michael. Lots of text continue to come in. Belzy, where do you want to go with this team right now? Well, we got the rookie camp coming up. That's right. And so I just I'm curious on some prospects that the oilers have in their lineup. So, you know, Connor Klattonberg has been talked about quite a bit. We know what Howard is doing, Hudson as well. And we've seen Josh Samansky in the lineup. So taking out those particular players, who is probably the most interesting player that we want to watch and

29:21we want to see because that per that guy could potentially, you know, become an oiler in the next couple seasons. Well, I'm just let's pull that. I think there's still the interesting question of let's say a Quinn Hudson, right? Who's older? Who's gone through NCAA and had a very strong age shell season? You know, I think, you know, in the heat of last year, there was talks or, you know, a lot of hope that, okay, maybe one day he could be a guy as they've gone and signed a lot of forwards that look like they could play in the 11th forward to 17th forward slot on a depth chart. His name is kind of slid into the background. You know, I'm curious to see if there's a if there's really a guy there. You know, you see the gold tenders, there was all the discussion about Johnson, was he going? Was he staying in North America? And that sort of drama, I think

30:27Unger has a leg up on on Johnson and Vinny and and and day and those guys at the moment. And, you know, Thomas Chabulka, you know, one of these older heroes, you know, we didn't necessarily have the highest of expectations for a player like Josh Semansky out of the shoot this time a year ago, maybe like some aspects of this game, but here's a defenseman that I'm a little intrigued about. If he's a guy who can slip in because I don't know, you know, they might be pressed here and have to move a stasthene, let's say, you know, and Ruggula is still on the mend. You know, who would be a first call up of a scenario comes about? So there's a few names. They're all a little bit older. They're not really your prospect types, but that's the state of the Orders organization.

31:27But maybe a guy like Bowakey as well. I think this will be a big year for him in the age. Hopefully he served well with good health and can and can be that prospect that many believe he could be when he's first drafted. Michael Mennsey's with us. And yeah, it's an exciting time of a year. I'm going to read this text. Brandon says, Babcock played Datsub can Zetterberg together a lot in Detroit. Didn't he? Yeah, maybe bless you, Fanny. Bless you. But yeah. Yeah, those guys were special players, but that line up in Detroit. Yeah, Hall of Famers. Across the board. Yeah, but I had the pleasure of playing against a few of them. How did that go? Not great. Got me sent down. What I think this is actually going to be a benefit. Like, when we were talking about Babcock, coming in and some of well, he only won Cup with that Detroit team. Or just anyone could have

32:27walked in and won gold medals with those Olympic teams. Well, this Wheeler's team is not set to be rebuilt. It's set to be winning right now. So a coach who's been in those spots who's had similar type of talent. Well, this, this should bowed well. Or at least he's got some experience in that as opposed to someone who hasn't. So by that was a long time ago, as we know. So we'll see. That's true. We will see. Here we are on the eve of rookie camps starting and then shortly after main camp. We're going to have so much to discuss. Michael, we'll be discussing it with you throughout the season. Thanks for the time today, pal. We'll see you soon. Okay. Appreciate it. Thanks so much, Kex. There's Michael Menzies from Daily Face Off Edmonton. I'm going to end this segment with a text from hockey mom. Oh, by the way, if you're trying to get into an argument with me on the text line, I'm not getting into any arguments. I've said my piece just just just putting it out there. Yeah. Hockey mom in the park says, good morning, Tommy.

33:27If you're grads on the new gig at 1440, thank you, hockey mom in the park. On the Alex Foremanton topic, what we should be seeing from the others is Alex making a positive impact in this community. You should be speaking to the minor hockey and elite programs about his experience. If one player hears him, he has made a positive impact. I appreciate that ongoing litigation may prohibit this. But if that is done, then use this horrible experience to make good. I'm sure EM would appreciate seeing that from these five guys from hockey mom in the park. Great text. Yeah, that should deserve a couple clicks. That's good stuff for you. All right. Hockey mom in the park. Thank you for the text. First text for hockey mom in the park, by the way. Appreciate that. Thank you for listening. Thank you for the kind words and the thought as well. All right. We're going to step out. Take a breather when we come back. We're playing in or out with Brando here on the guzzolio show presented by bet 365 45. We're rolling on here. Brando Fanny Bellzie. Tommy with you. Text us 1 8 3 3 4 1 14 40 time now to play in or out.

34:30With Brandon brought to you by RV wars. RV wars is back and this weekend at the premium outlet mall by the international airport five massive dealers clearing out all remaining in stock RVs. Visit RV wars.ca for details. Let's go, Brando. Okay. Okay. You know what? Moving too fast. Bottom line. Are you in? Where you now? You know how to what? No type of questions. Just action. Before I will then I'm out. I'm sorry, Jet. Actually, you're already in. Are you in or are you out on sports? 14 40. I thought you would go. I'm in thought we would have had a really cool moment, but you kind of ruined the whole thing. Not sure if you guys caught this or not, but yesterday morning, the M&T owners announced the signing of Alex ferment to a one year deal. 850 case been the past several years over in the Swiss league. Two mild success. At this point, it's not crazy. It can't be said that it's crazy or

35:35outlandish anymore. That the oilers as an organization. Enjoy. Thrown. Relic. Being at the center of attention in the hockey world. Explain it. Yeah, I mean, this one's not very hard for me. I feel like every year at some point, we're all sitting here talking or there's a press conference. We like, we brought in this person and everybody goes crazy for a little bit and then it dies down, but it's been like this what for the last five years, six years? Oh, no, past that. I mean, the trade for Zach Cassian was 2015. Oh, well, there you go. There you go. So I would, I'm fully in fully in. I'm going to say out because I don't think it's them more so enjoying being the center of attention. I think it's them just not giving to Iota's about dealing with the repercussions.

36:36Yeah, exactly. They're going to go do whatever they think is right and makes them better. And then which puts them at the center of attention. I know, but I don't think they enjoy it. I think they just do it because they enjoy it. And they're they make the poor PR team deal with the mess. It's almost like it's like a right of passage to start to see that. That's not a good thing. One is not a good thing. Problem is that the oilers have the very best player in the world. A generational talent. And guess what? Conor David gets plenty of headlines throughout the season for all the right reasons. But the problem in my eyes is that this team's team makes just as or nearly as many headlines for the wrong reasons. Yeah. And like the signing, don't like the signing, totally don't care about the signing either way. Yeah. Like it does like your opinion on it doesn't change that it absolutely makes waves across the hockey world and sometimes beyond, right? Like it's just the circumstance dictates that it's going to be a talk talking point. And as much as

37:37Tom, like you said, even when we got you're wrong with men'sies, it's like, all right, we want to talk about actually on the ice stuff. Please. Who is playing? Who is playing with who yesterday? This informal captain's game. Even that alone is a little bit like who cares? But guess what? It's mid September. Hockey season is in the corner. That's what we are jonesing for. It's some legitimate hockey talk. But instead, we spend essentially, what are we coming up on three hours into the show? Two and a half of it has been largely dictated by this one year vet minimum contract that was signed yesterday. Why? Because of who the player was. Center of attention. And we're like, listen, for me personally, again, we have to begrudgingly, it has to be discussed. Absolutely. It has to be discussed. I just want to say this, poor Connor McDavid, he gets to talk about all the good things he has done and the team has done in his time with the Oilers. But he's also had to talk about a lot of crap that unfortunately as the face on

38:39the captain of the team comes with the territory. And I think back to immediately when they traded for Brandon Manning, the guy that broke his clavicle and he had to say, yeah, it's all good. That is he was bsing through his teeth. That was might have been the most outrageous poor caught thing that's ever happened. And there's been some crazy things that have happened here in Edmonton. But that was just dumb to his credit. He puts up with it deals with it. I know he's handsomely rewarded for it monetarily. And there's plenty of accolades that come with being a super, superstar in the NHL. But I just the Brandon Manning thing when Peter Shirley made that dumb trade and brought in the guy that broke his captain's clavicle a couple years prior. And he's got to sit there and be like, yeah, it's all good. I told Peter it's fine. Yeah, right. Yeah, that's the guy on a marginal player. Oh, he was in the minors and they didn't even play him in making some of them. Such a marginal player. And then you bring this like it just didn't make sense. I know. And center of attention. Conor's had to deal with that. And to put a ball on it,

39:44Tommy said, you're out because you don't think they want to be the center of attention or enjoy it. You just think they don't care what anybody thinks, which is absolutely true. Yeah. And to me, all that reads is that they they know that no matter how many people say that because of this move or that move or this thing that Ruffles feathers that they're out on the oilers, they're canceling their tickets. They're not coming to games. They're not spending a dime on merch. They know that that doesn't matter because the building's going to be full. They're going to lead the league in profits again or be second in it and amongst the most profitable organizations in the entirety of North American sport. They know that. Yep. And as a result, they don't care. And that's that's their prerogative all much with it. Stereo Kates's money. He can do with it as he sees fit. Some sad news on a very different side of the coin here last night, around the hockey world, announced a Barry Melrose long time player coach and most prominently, perhaps analysts with the SPN for the better part of 30 years, a past away at the age of 70 after his battle with Parkinson's

40:48disease. And quite frankly, this got thrown around a little bit most maybe notably by John Bucci-Gross, who is a long time friend and coworker of Barry at ESPN saying that he belongs in the hockey hall of fame. Take your pick about how you classify it. Is it in the media wing? Is it as a builder? The face of the NHL on the sports network in the United States of America for 30 years in media wing, not as builder, not as coach, obviously. What do you cut final? Yeah, sure. Want to call their cup? Yeah, but that doesn't make you a Hall of Fame caliber coach. No, on the media side, I would 100% be behind him being inducted into the hockey hall of fame. You outlined it on ESPN, which is the premier sports network. And for a good chunk of us on America, the only sports network. That's right. And he was the go-to guy for three decades there, a face of hockey and the discussion around it. Even during the times

41:54when ESPN wasn't showing hockey because they had a follow-up with Gary Batman and the league, that's when you got the versus outdoor life network, which was showing games. It was very bizarre. And up here in Canada, we didn't see Barry Melrose. We didn't hear from Barry Melrose that much. Not until the last decade, decade and a half, but Barry Melrose was carrying the bag for the NHL on ESPN that entire time. So I would go yes in on the media wing side of it. Yeah, I would agree. I'm in for a lot of the same points. When the NHL was in those San Jose, the expansion era, and cities and markets that didn't really know hockey, he was that face. He was that guy that they leaned on to help them get through it. And so for me, I would say because he did that and he had such longevity in his career, I would 100% put him in the media wing.

42:55Great mullet, iconic. Awesome mullet, awesome suits. And every story here about people that worked with him or around him, just like the best guy, so much fun, made the game fun. And on ESPN, all they wanted to talk about was football and basketball and even golf during the Tiger Woods blow up of the late 90s early 2000s, like he was there every night, talking hockey. And obviously a very, very prominent role in the growth of hockey in the United States. To me, it basically boils down to anybody that says the dawn cherry should be in the hockey all the fame for his role, for basically 30 years on the hockey night in Canada desk. You have to put your hat in then as well for Barry Marles to go in for his role growing in the United States. And I would put myself in a yes for both of those cases. If you look at that question, right? So dawn cherry, obviously he was iconic. Like it's hard to you can't argue the opposite way. Now of course, now my question would be like, who would be more influential between Barry Malrow. Barry Malrow's

44:01dawn cherry down in the States wasn't that significant. He was more. Barry Malrow's wasn't that quote unquote, I guess. I would do it. Yeah. You can, I think you can make that argument on both sides of it. Yeah, that's right. And I think both guys deserve to be in that. Yeah, like don't get me wrong. Dawn Cherry is iconic. Like you can't get away from that. But it's just, you know, thinking about, okay, well, hockey's already established. People know, you know, the sport in Canada, but being down in the States at a time where not everybody knew he was a guy. He was the only guy that really was building it. Like the girl, like I said, the girl of the game is maybe the biggest feather in his cap and being the face of hockey for Americans. So much of the point, Lil Wayne, the rapper had a tweet saying how saddened he was and like, you know, sending his condolences to Barry's wife and family because he was watching Barry Melrose on Sports Center growing up. That's insane. Yeah. Yeah. Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne. Damn, man.

45:01Dwayne Carter. Lil Soon. Isn't he like an Ivy League grad Lil Wayne? He's like Mensa quality intellect. I don't know. Maybe. He just puts on the persona of Lil Wayne and puts out smash hit after smash hit and enjoys hockey. That's kind of a nice touch. Love some, love some hockey. Over to the gridiron NFL season kicking off last night with the past fall in a Seattle 13 to 10 in the Pacific Northwest. Both clubs, however, suffered substantial losses in the game from personnel perspective. Sam Darnold, QB of the Seahawks left very early in a AJ Brown, not a very long time later, also to part of the game of the two. If either or both guys is going to have a extended absence and I'll put that at, you know, more than a week or two out of the line of, I actually think AJ Brown's absence from the Patriots will be more prominent or hurt the team more than Darnold's will to Seattle, which seems a little crazy to say because the quarterback is the

46:04most important position in maybe all of sport. Go ahead, Bell. I'm out on that one. I think Darnold proved his worth last year to the Seahawks. I don't think they're the same team without him. Yeah. And, you know, Drew Locked last night, he was, he was okay. Okay enough to win. He was okay enough to win. But I mean, the past to to NIGBA, I mean, he did all the work. He puts that, he catches that in what middle of three or four guys and he just outruns everybody. So to me, like, is that on Drew Locked, is that the play that we're like, man, Drew Locked captured and he, he was a guy that changed the game. I don't think so. Yeah. I think that NIGBA helped him obviously with with the rack. Yep. So, I think that Darnold will be a bigger loss and will be felt more than Brown. And the reason I, I think that is that the Patriots didn't have Brown last year. Brown makes them better, but they

47:06didn't have him last year and they still went to where they went. So you take and remove Brown from the equation. Well, it's just the same team you had last year. I'm out on it as well. And listen, not that it's impossible, but it's very hard to replace your quarterback with a guy of equal or better caliber than it is to find a receiver of equal or better caliber. As good as AJ Brown sometimes, sometimes guys emerge or like a cute, like, baby Drake may find a new target that becomes his go to that all the lost offense you would have had with AJ Brown is made up for with this new favorite guy that becomes a go to. Yeah. And take it from a guy that's had bad quarterback play for his favorite team for the last couple of seasons. I know, I know what it's like to have a quarterback that can't get it done. So you can have all star receivers on the outside. But if you can't throw past five yards, what's supposed to do? So bad quarterback play is probably a bigger issue

48:12than having a star receiver out. My only justification for this is that why did the Patriots go and get AJ Brown? Because they needed a premier pass catcher. Yeah. Yeah. That was clearly the missing ingredient. And and I this isn't a slight at Sam Donald saying anybody can do what he does inside that Seattle offense. I don't believe that to be true whatsoever. I'm a big Sam Donald fan and proponent of his plays a quarterback. But it was one game. Drew Lock manages the offense well. You want him to be safe with the football. It is a really good team that the strength of it is still their defense. And they even had a couple guys out of the line up most maybe notably, uh, M and Worry, uh, in the middle of it. And what he can do to to help dictate both on the rush and in coverage. So if you get him back and things like, can you win a few games with your defense and Drew Lock managing the game offensively? Whereas the Patriots without brain off, uh, brown offensively looked lost. Right. It was just check down,

49:12check down. And Rwanda Stevenson's very capable run in the ball. But if Drake made your best player, you want him dictating the play and without a receiver Romeo dobs in his debut as a Patriot. Sure didn't look like he had he had the jam. How much of that was Seattle's line and the pressure they got on Drake. And then the poor decision making. Oh, I've made displayed. That absolutely matters for sure. And so if you want to go to that route, the next group of games for the Patriots, the Steelers, I think they got a pretty good pass rush. If I recall correctly, TJ Watt, Youngst others, the Jags, pretty solid D as well. Bills, you know, up front, they're, they're okay. And then you get the Raiders, uh, who have Max Crosby. Not much else. Yeah. But yeah. So that's just the next four games beyond that. I mean, you get the jets, the bears, uh, jets up front might actually not be too bad. But besides the point, I just, man, I'm still, I was waiting for the Patriots to kind of prove me wrong last night,

50:13because I've been continuing to question them even after the run of the Super Bowl. And they didn't really, they look still like the team that I thought they were, which is just an okay team. They'll probably be battling for a wild card spot come seasons in. Do you think they just got lucky last year in their run? Lucky no, they had, they, like, no joke. They had a soft schedule. For sure. But you still have to win the games and they did. And then they beat three really good defenses, uh, or two really good defenses. One pretty good defense on route to the Super Bowl. The Texans offense. So was terrible. Was terrible. So the Broncos were playing Jared Stidham. The chargers. That's how I'm asking. Like, did they get lucky? Yes, you got to go win the games. But like the defense for the Texans was unreal, unbelievable. One of the best in the NFL, if not the best in the NFL at that time. But their offense was so anemic that you just basically put too much pressure on your defense. And so you keep giving these guys chance to chance and chance to put up points. Eventually, it's something's going to happen when, you know, you're

51:15four and out almost every single time. So is that why the Patriots got to where they, they, they did this might sound like a cop out because they are synonymous. I would say they were fortunate, not lucky fair. If, if that counts at all. Okay. At least for I'll take that. Sure. Tonight the season continues Thursday night football from Melbourne, Australia, where it's technically Friday morning football down under currently, the LA Rams favored a three and a half points over the San Francisco 49ers. And Tom Bellsie, I don't just like the Niners to cover these points. I like them to win this game outright. Who wrote this question? You were Montana to rice. What can I say? Guy knows ball. When it comes to his very specific San Francisco bias. Listen, he texted immediately. Yes, Duke. Yes, at a boy, baby, Duke. Let's go. I understand McVeigh and the Rams thought process like the sleep science and all this stuff.

52:20I just not sure I can get behind it. I'll believe it when I see it. It might work. The Niners are creating. The Niners are a good team. They are. Right. And the injury bug continues to play them. I'm just out. You're out. Yeah. I'm out. But you're a Rams bootlicker. You're just a little chalk. They'll win the Super Bowl. They'll win the Super Bowl. Super team. Yadda Yadda Yadda. Yeah, I said that. You did say that. I did say that on our social media. Check it out. Sports 1440. I'm out on X. The true Super Bowl last year was the Seahawks and the Rams. That was a true secret. I agree. And you have a team that has been upgraded from that team that was, you know, bounced by the Seahawks. Miles Garrett on the outside is unbelievable. I understand that Donald's not playing. But you drop in Garrett on that team. That defense. That's another level. Brock Purti. I have my question marks about Brock Purti. I think he's a good quarterback.

53:23I think he's an ultimate game manager. And I don't say that. Give him some love. I don't say that as a disrespect. I think you have to is the game managers are valuable. Because guys throw the ball and they don't turn it over. Kind of in most people need want that. So I'm not saying that as a disrespectful comment. But to me, I don't think he's the guy that's going to go out and beat you. So if you have a group that like the Rams and the defense that they have, where they're going to be putting pressure on Brock Purti all game long, I don't think he has the ability to just go out and flat out beat the Rams by, you know, using his legs and using his arm, like he manages games more than he's the guy that can go out and say, I'm going to run for 100 yards right now. It's fair. The Rams are really good team. They're like, they added Garrett up front. They also added Trent McDuffy in the secondary. Yeah. They're good. They're really good. But

54:24maybe this is a hunch. I think this is again, the Niners take off them because of situation. Being being down there for the week a little more acclimated. Now, what is the effect coming back to the Rams have a better next couple weeks as the Niners trying to readjust back to Pacific Times on maybe. But for this specific game, I'm going to be on the Niners tonight and I'm going to be on them money line. That's a bold strategy. We'll see if it pays off after I pretty much went over last night. So that's great. Finally, today's national school picture day kids return. They're back for a week and change. Maybe at this point to their respective institutions in high school. I'm not sure there was any more stressful day as a young man or woman than picture day. Well, I went to school in the States. School dances were very stressful. Because you didn't want to show up to that school dance without a girl. Oh, not sober. Not a problem for you. That's not an issue. Yeah, you didn't want to show up without a girl. So that was stressful.

55:31Because you wanted to go find like, you know, best looking girl school. Of course. The best you can get. That's what you can get. It's a level. There's levels to this thing. So when you're walking into school as a Canadian and there's only five of you and it's all football and you go try to find the cheerleaders. That's stressful. Hello. I'm not worried about that picture day. I mean, either I'm out on this most stressful days for me were test days because Tom Tom never studied and never did really good on tests. Yeah, see, that's a problem. Maybe this is a unique to me. Yeah, made it in Delburn, K to 12 school. But the high school call it common area where you know, you go, you sit down, eat lunch like the little metal tables all through to in that area is where every year's composite was. And so your school picture, everybody can look at it every single day. Yeah, that's an issue. And we legit not worried about that. We would go down like when you're bored or you're trying to kill time and you're supposed to be in class, you go there and

56:34you run down. You're like, Oh my god, look at this. Gibroni. Look at their picture. Everybody's a Gibronian. Yes. But when you think in, but when you're in high school, Tom, you don't think that way. You're like, look at this, Gibroni. I'm cool. So that you want your picture to be good. I'm out. All right. All right. Because what like you can talk about Gibroni moments. But like if you're the Gibroni that can't dance on that first dance. That's way more stressful. Or if you're the Gibroni like Tom Gazzoli, you know, back to school, don't want to be a fool. Oh, I was a fool in school. I was terrible. Yeah. Bad. You cheated on the test, Tom. I did cheat on some tests. The most famous person I ever cheated on a test with was Mike Robertson, Canadian silver medalist. Oh nice. You cheated on a test with him. Yeah, or you cheated off of it. We cheated in tandem. But really? Yeah. With our buddy Jeremy Price Day, if you're listening, hello, boys. Three under the bus boys. Yeah. That's a matter of

57:36I think the statute of limitations is probably expired. I don't think Mr. Melon gives two Ayodas. He probably knew we were cheating off each other. He's like, these idiots are going to pass actually. We have to get the hot. He prodigy Tom through. So we're not going to. That's exactly how you analyze it. Yeah. He probably just felt pity on me. It's dumb dumb. He's so good job. Good job, Brando. That was inner out brought to you by our V Wars. This weekend, visit RV Wars.ca for details are going to be at the premium outlet mall, like getting rid of their stock. Five different brands. Okay. Routy Rottie says 31 10 49ers book it from Routy Rottie. Hello, Routy Rottie. What was this? 31 10 for the 49ers. Stop that. Are you drinking already? Routy Rottie? It's only pre Friday or Friday. Yeah. Montana to Rice likes everything Brandon said. And then Norman and Combine is talking about the Texans saying they should have one. All right, Norm. Go Astro's buddy.

58:40We're going to step out for a quick breather. We need to get to sports 1440 update. And then we're going to catch up with we got Gordon Wilson stop and buy from Ottawa telling us about the sends as well. This sports 1440 update brought to you by Evolve Wheels entire Edmonton's premium wheel tire and vehicle accessory specialist. You take pride in your truck SUV or car. So does evolve from expert fitment to professional installation. They take the time to get your vehicle right. Visit Evolve Wheels dot C.A. Or stop by their showroom in the West End Brando.