The Tom Gazzola Show - Sept. 16th, 2026 - Mario Tirabassi

0:00Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance, and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new workday. Do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one, for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization? Well, it's easier than you think. We're Acast, and we give you the platform to do it all yourself. Browse thousands of popular podcasts. Choose the shows that match your perfect audience, set your budget, and launch. And if you want a hand, our podcast specialists are there to help you launch with confidence. This is podcast advertising without barriers. Get started at acast.com slash advertise. On a Chicago, we've got Mario Terabasi joining us again from CHGO, covering the Black OX, obviously, and yesterday, Connor Bedard, named 37th Captain in franchise history.

1:02Mario, good morning. Hope you're well. And was this the obvious move? Is it the right move? Could they have gone to Patrick Kane for a year or two? Yeah, I think this is the obvious move. And it is the right move. I mean, you could have put the C on Connor Bedard today that he was drafted. And not many people would have batted. And I mean, the Black OX were always going to be his team. And I think the organization did the right thing by waiting to put him in this role. Because, you know, if you guys had a chance to read the player's Tribune article he did, but in it, he kind of talked about how the first two seasons for him, he was trying to be like perfect and do everything for everybody. And that's a lot for a kid who's 18 and 19 years old, trying to navigate the NHL to do. So I think they did a good job of making sure that the captaincy wasn't also on his plate at that time.

2:06And having that buffer time and having Nick Solino be in that role, he actually helped the guard a lot, kind of get out of what was a bit of a funk that he was in after year two. And we've kind of saw how last season went before he got hurt. Like he was a different player. So I think it's the right move, you know, you're ushering in this next generation of Black OX hockey and the dart of the face of it. So I think it's definitely the right move and the right time. So I guess how huge do you think it'll be for a kid like Anton Frontel coming in to have, you know, a batard kind of showing him the ropes, letting him know what to expect, what to do, what not to do. That's our thing. Yeah, I think it'll be really good. Like this group has a lot of young guys that some of them have gone through a full season in the NHL. So have just had a taste of it. But a lot of guys that are in similar boats.

3:07So it's good to kind of have them to kind of lean on each other. And then, you know, with the dart, it's, you know, year four for him. So either guy that can, you know, as now captain, like be the leader amongst his peers and, you know, be somebody that can help these younger players kind of get used to the league and kind of figure things out there. And the good thing for Frontel is that he had a taste of the league last year. So he's not, he's not coming overseas, getting the first chance to play in the NHL, you know, cold turkey basically. Right. So he's starting this season. He had a number of games last year. And, you know, he improved as those 12 games went on at nine points and they played in both that wing and at center. So there were some growing pains. I think he's, he's coming into what will officially be his rookie year with a little bit of a head start, which is good for him. And I think to like, you know, teenage kids that play professionally overseas, like the

4:10learning curve is a little bit different for those guys than it is for, you know, someone making the jump from college to the NHL or, you know, the junior leagues to the NHL, like having played against, you know, grown men before probably gives you a little bit of a sense of at least the strengths and speed of the guys you're going to be going up again. So it would be fair to say that expectations are a little bit higher for him. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think both for front del and for Roman cancer of two rookies for the Hawks this year. Like, I think expectations, at least around Chicago, are that those guys are going to be driving factors in the offence and, you know, could both be in the, at the end of the year in the conversation for, you know, the, the, the calder and, you know, be some of the top rookies in the league. There are high expectations for those guys for sure. We've got Mario Terabassi with us from CHG in Chicago covering the black Hawks and, um,

5:11I'm just, I'm going through the roster and I'm looking at some of the pieces. I was going to say who are some of the guys that will be, uh, counterbidard supports when it comes to leadership. And then I'm also looking at the roster as I was doing that going, boy, there's a lot of young talented players on this roster. What kind of team are the black Hawks going to have and what is Kyle Davidson's vision with this group as well? Well, yesterday at the, uh, press conference introducing Badard as the captain. They also officially announced that Tyler Bertuzzi and Patrick Kane were going to be the alternate captain of the walk side of them. So you have now, you know, the, the second youngest captain in black Hawks history, um, a leadership group with two guys who are, you know, veterans, guys that are respected around the league and obviously Patrick Kane, you know, have to go through his resume as, as an NHL player, especially in Chicago. Like he's going to be a guy that looked at as a leader amongst that young group.

6:14And, you know, last season, like Tyler Bertuzzi really emerged as a team of favorite, uh, in the room and, you know, speaking from a media standpoint, uh, we rarely ever got to talk to him. Um, that's just, he cares about playing hockey and not really doing much else. But in the room and, and, you know, from the coaching staff, like he was revered as a guy who took on a leadership role. So it wasn't surprising that they, uh, put him in that again, now naming the Dardist captain. So he's got some veterans to help him in that spot. But they also have, like I said, like a robust group of young players that they've kind of been able to stretch their legs in the lead a little bit over the last few years. Um, so it's, it's, it's going to be a good, a good mix. The, the energy is, is useful. So I think around some of the veterans, they can kind of pick up on, on that and that excitement and, um, it's, it's going to be a fun group. They're going

7:14to be a, an interesting team to watch, um, with how they're built the speed, the skill, uh, that they have in their young group. And then they have a couple of veteran players who are going to be like, the size, uh, to the, to the group they got Jordan Greenway as part of the bull environment trade. They had a cold Smith. They had a team. Cold, like, these are some big players that I think are going to give them a little bit of that physical edge, whereas more or less, the focal point of their team is going to be young guys. Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new work day. Quick question. When was the last time a display ad changed your mind? Now think about the last time a friend told you about something they loved. Different feeling, right? That's how podcast advertising works. A host who's built a real trust with their audience

8:15talks about your brand and their own words and their own voice. It doesn't interrupt the experience. It's part of it. With Acast, you can access the world's largest podcast marketplace. Choose the right shows, the right audiences, the right format. Then watch the data tell you it worked. You're not buying impressions. You're buying influence. Learn more by visiting acast.com slash Advertised. Well, let's talk about the backend a little bit. Obviously, Boen Byer, I'm the signing race of my browser. He's not the highest paid demon in the league anymore, but making some good coin. What are some realistic expectations for him? You mentioned Ian Kohl, other than him, a pretty young decore. How much of the load is he going to be expected to carry? They signed Boen Byer to be a number one defense. They're going to play him as such. I think the shock of what they gave up to trade, to get him the extension they gave.

9:22I think it was a lot of shock for a guy that's never been in a role like that, but they're going to give him that opportunity. From all accounts, from people in Colorado, people in Buffalo that have played alongside him over the years, he has the capabilities to do it. He's played behind Kel McCarrer. He's played behind Rasmus Dalin. He just hasn't had the time and ability to really do it. The expectation is he's going to be power play one. He's going to be top pair. We've seen the last few seasons. He's had 40 point years. I think with the amount of time he's going to play, the role he's going to play, the power play group he's going to be on. He can put up 50 points in the defenseman. I don't think that that's a crazy stretch. That impact is going to be huge for this block-ox team because last season, they saw improvements in the standings of 11 point, rather 11 point improvement

10:25in the standings. They did it with a defensive group that was led by Louis Crevier and points. You add Bowen Byram to that group who could potentially double that point output from the back. That's going to change the dynamic of the team a little bit. I think you look around the league and you hear from former teammates, you hear from coaches, there's a lot of belief in Byram. He's a guy that has a lot of self confidence as well. I think that that's something that is going to really benefit this group is to have a confident player, more of a swagger to him in a prominent role. That can influence the group too. Mario, it sounds like you got a little one there. I'll just fire one more question at you while you get to Daddy Doodies, obviously. What would be considered a successful season in Chicago this year? From around the locker room and what we heard from the coaching staff and

11:31management, all off season, the word playoff has been thrown around a lot. That is the expectation. They expect to win. They expect to surprise a lot of teams. Kind of a dirty yesterday at the press conference. If they don't win, that's a disappointment. They are beyond the rebuild the expectations. Just be in some games. The competitive, this team is expecting to win games. He said it again and the players should be an article. He said the group last year started to get mad. There was an anger when they would lose, which was different than his first two years. I think the expectation is that they are going to compete, that they are going to win some games that they hadn't in the past. I've seen some over under projections or anything like that around 79-80 points.

12:32I think they're going to be a team that's above that 80 point threshold and could be playing a wild card chase type of game in March and April. That would be certainly a step up. I know Chicago is a great hockey city. That franchise has gone through some turbulent times. In general, it has been a very strong one. When it's homin boy, there's nothing better than a game at the United Center. We'll see how things go as the team progresses. Mario, thank you for the time. It's born and meant great to catch up with you and be well. We'll talk again soon. Yeah, anytime. Thanks for having me on. Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance, and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new work day. It's fall in Jeep country and during the drive into fall sales event, get a great deal on four by fours that refuse to be contained, like Jeep Wrangler,

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