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Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabassi are joined by Elite Prospects’ Senior Director to break down Gavin McKenna and the outlook for the 2026 NHL Draft. Plus, what it could mean for the Chicago Blackhawks. The guys dive into the updated details surrounding the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick that was part of the Seth Jones trade, after it reported that the pick is Top-10 protected for the 2026 draft. They discuss the likelihood of Chicago receiving the selection and how it could impact the Blackhawks’ future draft capital and rebuild timeline.
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Yeah, so there we go.
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Speaking of tying the room together, believe Cam Robinson is calling in here.
So we'll get him situated and we'll get right into the discussion regarding the draft.
The guy who is expected to be at the top of it, if unless we're having some technical
difficulties.
Yeah.
Cam, if you can hear us, we can only see the top half of your bottom half of your face.
Okay.
We'll work on that.
Yeah, I don't know if we can hear us or not, but yeah, he's got a sticker over his camera
or something.
And it's not for me.
I don't know why he would do that.
But yeah, to kind of lead into the conversation with Cam, we can give it up to the information
that was buzzing around the hockey world yesterday about Gavin McKenna, the felony charge
of assault has been dropped as of this afternoon.
Right.
He's still facing the minor things.
Yeah, Mr. Meanor and summary charges of the simplest assault harassment and disorderly
conduct.
Yeah.
But the big one, the one that was, oh my god, Gavin McKenna is going to spend 20 years
in jail no longer against him.
All right.
Cam is now ready to go.
He is now standing by.
Cam, Robinson from Elite Prospect.
Senator Meanor with us, man, we appreciate you.
What's going on, boys?
Oh, you know, just another quiet day in Black Hawksland, as always.
What?
But we want to talk to you about this draft.
And of course, the Gavin McKenna situation.
We all got wind of this yesterday.
I'm sure you know by now, we just mentioned that the felony charges were dropped.
How do you see this affecting him heading into the draft?
Do you want my honest opinion?
I don't think it affects, I don't, I don't think it affects him very much at all to
be, to be completely honest with you, as long as the story is what has been reported
out there is true.
You know, I spoke to four or five teams, scouts from teams, within an hour of that
news breaking there.
And basically everybody kind of had the same feelings.
They were like, well, a wait judgment to see when all the information comes out.
But if it's a bar fight, those things happen.
Where do we see it with a player like a McKenna's stature before being drafted?
And then if it's a bar fight where he's defending his mom, I mean, in the hockey world, I don't
think too many people are going to have too big a problem with that, especially now
that the felony charges have been dropped.
Yeah, we talked about it a little bit on yesterday's show.
And the stuff we had seen regarding what you're talking about, the bar fight, the mom being
insulted.
All that was kind of, oh, here's a screenshot of a text or here's like the rumors going
around.
So it wasn't like officially officially reported, but it does seem to be that's a consensus
on what happened.
And like you said, I think most people around hockey see that there's part of me that
even thinks that that helped his draft status with some teams because was there not some
sort of a thought that he's a little bit soft, maybe the way that some people in hockey
think could see that and say, all right, there's a little more fight to him than we thought.
I know it's crazy to even talk that way, but I think I mean, I was I was inundated by
people saying the same thing too, right?
And those aren't NHL executives saying that too.
I'm sure and I should say that I didn't actually speak to any executives about this.
I just spoke to scouts from different teams.
You know, if I was an executive, when that first came out, I would same thing.
I would wait until all the information came out and see where it led to before making
a decision.
But my first concern would have been like, how's this going to affect his standing at Penn
State?
Is he going to be able to stay and play on that at one student visa?
Is he going to be able to travel back and forth across the border, right?
Like if he has a criminal record, like those will be the big, the big questions for
me is that if this felony charge continues, whether or not you agree with why it happened,
you'd be more of the the legality around what's this future going to look like immediately
here.
So now if we can, if we can just put that felony charge away and he's going to still
deal with some other things here and he has that hearing on February 11th, I don't know
if it's going to bump anybody, you know, move the needle for any teams to be like, you
know what?
Yeah, that's the kind of jam we're looking for.
More than what we saw really coming out of the world, junior break, too, is that, you
know, he had four penalty minutes through his first 21 NCAA games.
And then he ratched it off 30 in two games, he had a couple of misconducts.
And both of them were sticking up for teammates, too, which I think that will ingratiate you
more to NHL teams and maybe get into a bar fight and say, like, oh, I can throw hands
at, you know, at midnight versus like, I have some jam in my game on the ice where it
really matters.
So I think he's starting to show that more on the ice, which is going to carry a lot
more weight.
Do you think that, you know, how his season started, how it's been going and, you know,
picking up in the last few weeks that, uh, aspect of his game, do you think that that
is a, something's being said to him about like, Hey, like regarding your draft, whether
it's, you know, coaches or his agent or things, this is like, Hey, people have these questions
about you about your game and that he might be paying attention to that more and saying,
like, well, if I'm slipping down the board, quote, unquote, that he wants to maybe exhibit
some of those things that maybe are question marks.
I mean, I'm not a superstar athlete, but I hear what people say about me, and I'm
not 17, 18 years old, right?
Like these kids, you know, as, as much as they want to be sheltered from the things that
are said in the media and non-social media and things like that, they're not.
They're hearing it, you know, their family and friends are letting them know if they're
missing it too.
So he is well aware.
I'm sure that somehow he put up two points in game with the world juniors.
And suddenly his, his grip on number one had kind of slipped away.
So he's certainly heard those things.
I'm sure.
And I don't know if anyone's telling him to improve on those things or it's just, you
know, he's hearing the footsteps and he's like, I need to show these guys what I can
do.
Because I think if you had a frank conversation with him, he probably wasn't thrilled with
his first half either.
Like the points were pretty good, but I'm sure his expectation was higher and that he
thought, or maybe not, he thought, but he had hoped that he'd be able to run around
a little more and maybe not dominate, but be it like a high, high end player.
And you know, there were some puck luck issues there with Penn State early on and he wasn't
getting all the time.
It even strengthened some of their better players too.
So there were mitigating factors, but I'm sure he expected a little bit more for himself.
And, you know, it's a difficult league, though, too.
Coming out of the West, the NCAA at his age, it is not an easy path to take.
And so when in the summer there, when people are like, could he put up 75 points, I was
like, let's pump the brakes.
If he puts up 45 points, I think that that's going to be a huge win.
And assuming that he doesn't get suspended from the team or miss any time due to this incident,
I think he's going to get there.
I think he's going to break 40.
I think he can push up close to 45 with a strong back half as he lead up to the NCAA tournament
here.
And I think that that should be considered a really strong season.
He just happens to run into a player in Eva Stenberg, who is also having a historically
strong season in the SHL, which has now made this a two horse race.
If Eva Stenberg had 13 points for Ferranda, this wouldn't be a discussion.
People will be like, oh, you know, McKenna's not lightening it up.
The way we liked or expected or hoped, but he's still number one.
It's just that Stenberg has closed that gap with his great season.
So that was actually the next question I want to ask you.
And you do have Stenberg as your number one on your consensus at elite prospects.com.
If we're taking away all the off the ice stuff about McKenna out of it, how close is
that gap for you between Stenberg and McKenna?
And you know, when you talk about just the hockey on its own, can you compare the two players
for us?
Sure, yeah, as far as how close they are for me personally, I mean, it's, it's razor
thin.
I did the scout pull where I, you know, I pulled 10 NHL teams, six had Eva Stenberg
a number one, four had Gavin McKenna at number one.
So, you know, looking at that too, very, very tight, just a 10 team sample, but still,
I think it gives a good lens.
As far as on ice play goes, McKenna has a superior pure offensive upside.
His vision, his playmaking ability is notches above what Eva can do.
Stenberg, he really drives play, he, very skilled player, don't get me wrong.
Like he, he's very talented, first line type of skill.
But he also, he generates things through will and effort alone too.
And so as an 18 year old playing against men in the Swedish hockey league here, is that
he is able to do that at that level, and that's really, really impressive and indicates
that it's going to be translatable to the NHL too.
So, and if I'm looking at pure ceilings, I think that McKenna, you know, I think it's
still there that he could be like a Nikita Kutroff like player, where you're not maybe
going to love all of his off-puck habits, you know, his defensive zone efforts at times.
But when you get him the puck in open ice or you put him on the power play, he's going
to make you hurt.
Whereas Stenberg, I think, will impact the game a little bit more at five on five, maybe
becomes even chips in on a penalty kill or something like that.
But just a little more responsible, a little heavier, a little more physical.
And then also brings that kind of point per game upside when we're looking at offense.
So both really quality players and it's kind of, you have to look at what your team needs.
And then organizations obviously have to decide like, do you go a little bit safer and
take the sweet or do you swing big on the big upside and see if you get yourself some
of you could put up 115, 120 points one season.
As you look at the top of this of this draft, you said it's, you know, two horse race
between Stenberg and McKenna, do you envision any team allowing McKenna if he's not the
number one pick to fall beyond two?
Like do you see anyone beyond those two guys that would make any kind of compelling case
to be ahead of McKenna at this point for on ice?
Well, yeah, I mean, before all this came out, you know, after the world, juniors, he
was number four on one team's list.
So I'll say that, not saying that that team's going to be picking in the top three.
But I think that there is a world where there's a team at the top one or two that really wants
a defenseman.
And maybe they slide back and they get him, but maybe they just go, you know, nuts to
this.
We're just going to take the guy that we really think is going to be the best defense
because we see it every year at the draft teams can't help themselves center and defense.
They want it badly.
It's rare that you see wingers really jump up high and hold up high positions.
Now at the top of draft, I think it's a little easier to make that concession when you
feel like this is a tier.
The top tier has Stenberg and McKenna.
Well, we'll just take whichever one sitting there if you're at number two, but if you're
like say your San Jose, who desperately would love to get another like blue ship defense
man in that pipeline, they really missed out on Maddie Schaefer there last year.
It's unfortunate for them.
But, you know, could they could they do it?
I mean, potentially be a bit of a surprise because I do think it is legitimately like
a full tier drop down and you get to Keaton Verhoff and Chase Reed and Albert Smiths and
Carson Carls and Caleb Maholchra and Tyne and Lawrence and all those guys.
They're kind of in that next bracket down.
Well, right now, as we look at it from the black hawks angle, if everything falls away,
it would be mathematically favorable.
The hawks would pick sixth.
You have right now Chase Reed defenseman from the Sue Greyhounds as your six rated prospect
for the draft.
When you're looking at what Chicago has already on the blue line, it's Brinzel, Vlasek,
Levchenov, Kaiser, Domastro Quarchinsky, up front, you've got Badard, Frontel, Cancer
of Nazar Lardis.
Where do you think the hawks should be looking at that point and what sort of player do you
think compliments what they have?
Best player available.
I mean, Chicago is pretty deep right now, right?
Especially in the pipeline and then, you know, you 22 players on the roster is that you
got a bit of everything.
And I think that there was a mandate for a few years there.
It's like, let's just load up on speed and skill.
Size be damned.
And I think that that's shifting maybe a little bit.
All right.
Now we've got a lot of speed and skill.
Now let's load up on some heavier players who can still play, right?
Like the Anton Frontel pick.
I think that that was perfect for them is that he's a big, big body.
And he also has a lot of skill quality person too.
So now it's just just just take who's who's number one on your board.
And if it's if it's a coin flip and you think, hey, we've got a little more defensive depth
in our blue line and our pipeline than we do up front.
Wow, then we'll take the center maybe.
Maybe it's time and Lawrence at that spot at number six, who's having a bit of a trouble
adjusting to the NCAA.
But maybe just go with chase read because there's a world or chase read becomes the top defense
man in this crop.
And I think that's a very realistic outcome.
We really, really like him to lead prospects.
He's got sides.
He's got skating.
He's on the right side.
He could be a top power play guy.
So there is certainly going to be a bevy of options at that number six.
And I think that that's a really unique spot too because when you, like I said, is that
you look at that top two.
And then after that, you could probably bunch eight guys in right after that all the way
to number 10.
So that sitting at six, you're going to have a pick of a handful of players that you
should probably be very interested in.
Well, at the moment, the black hawks have two first round picks and that has kind of changed
over the last 24 hours.
But with the Florida pick, if it's outside the top 10, black hawks keep it.
When you look at the first round, let's say Florida doesn't make the playoffs and there's
someone within that 10 to 15 range.
Who do you like the most in that in that range as a guy that maybe is not getting that
top tier attention, but is deserving of it?
He's starting to get a little bit of buzz in that top 10 discussion.
But because of his season, so I'm going to say Oscar Heming is a really interesting
player.
You know, he had the issue with the Finnish ice hockey federation and wasn't allowed
to play here.
Wasn't allowed to play there.
And now finally, he's made him his way to call a chalky and hasn't scored a goal yet.
I believe he's just got eight assists.
But he is big.
He's fast.
He's super young for this class.
I don't know if he has like cleared first line upside, but like top six upside.
You know, we were having a discussion in the Slack there at EP and, you know, somebody
brought up Alex Tuck and I was like, that's an interesting comparable.
Maybe maybe a bit of a less goal scoring version, maybe like the 25 goals scoring version
of Alex Tuck, where he, you know, he flies.
He can be heavy on the four check.
He can make plays and like the way he's making plays right now at BC.
Boston College, it's been really, really impressive, especially for a super young player
coming in mid season, really impressed with him.
So if he's sitting there hanging around that, you know, kind of 12 to 15 zone, I think
he'd be a great pick.
Six, four, one ninety eight.
So tall and Linky for now, but he's only 17 years old.
And you'd imagine playing for a program like Boston College, he's going to bulk up.
He's going to get that full, you know, the, all the nutrition, all the attention you
need to fill out that frame.
That is very tempting.
I'm a big fan of Vigo Bjork.
I thought he was amazing in the world juniors.
I know he's a, a smaller forward on a, and if we're talking about the black box here,
you're looking at an organization full of sort of small forwards.
Uh, talk me into him or out of him, depending on where he thinks he's going to be.
So I'm not too crushed.
I'm never going to say a bad word about Vigo Bjork.
I love this kid.
I got, I love the player.
I love the person.
Um, he's everyone I've spoken to about him to.
And I've been around him a little bit myself as they just rave about him.
You know, Marcus Cougar over there and he plays with him in your garden.
He's captaining that team.
And I had a chat with him when I was over and sweet and earlier in the year and he was
just glowing.
He's like, this kid is 17.
He's racing out of practice to go to geometry class and he's the hardest work on the ice.
He might be the smartest player on the ice on any given night.
Um, I loved him at the world juniors too.
He was my vote for MVP.
I think he is a terrific player and that if you're going to bet on an undersized center,
I'm betting on him all day.
The problem is is that he's an undersized center and he doesn't have electric feet.
So you know, I got like Marco Rossi when he came through, he had great speed too, right?
Whereas Vigo really, really relies on his brain and it is a big brain.
So he, it's, it's working.
He's doing well.
He's playing first line minutes for your garden there over in the SHL.
I think he's going to be a player.
But if you're going to have him, it's either you got to find a way to put him on the wing
or you need him to be kind of behind a really heavy number one center.
And so with Baudard there and Anton being there too, it's like, you know, you know,
he doesn't fit the third line center role.
So you're going to have to carve out a spot for him on the wing somewhere.
But again, I bet big on talent and smarts.
I imagine there's going to be a few teams that are hanging around kind of that eight to 12 zone
that are going to take a good long look at him.
I was a little surprised that NHL teams rated him so highly on that skill pool too,
because traditionally teams shy away from those type of players,
even if they're really talented like he is.
But there's numerous teams who had him in their top 10 too.
So I don't imagine he's going to last too long,
but we'll see once the playoffs kick back in and teams are reminded like, oh, right.
You need to be big and heavy and the whistles go away in spring.
I could see Vigo stock slip in a little bit.
Well, you had a chance to keep a close eye on Anton Frontel.
World Junior, he was great named forward of the tournament.
We expect him to join the Hawks this year if your garden doesn't go far,
which I think would be a bit of a surprise for people.
What have you liked?
Let me ask you this like since the draft,
how is your opinion changed on Frontel?
So first off, like he might be the favorite player I've ever been around,
like just hanging around.
Like him and Victor Ackland are just a hoot.
They're so much fun.
I got to hang out with them when I was in Stockholm earlier in the fall.
They were so gracious with their time.
We were out on the ice together, fiddling around and I'll tell you one thing.
That guy shot like until you're on the ice with them,
feeding them one time.
It's like I was like, oh my goodness.
And like he's doing one handed back hands from like the top of the circle.
And they're going, I can't even get it off the ice.
I'm just like embarrassing myself.
My God, I thought I had like old man strength on you.
You're 17 years old.
And they're like, well, how is this even possible?
He is so strong.
He's so talented.
I think he's doing very well with your garden this year.
He's just, I think it's just going to be a little bit before we see the finished product of them.
And I've always felt that way.
You know, he's, he's a very physically mature player,
but I think his game is going to need some rounding out.
And it's going to take some time.
He's going to take a little bit of adjustment.
But when he's, you know, 24 years old,
I think he's going to be an absolute horse for the black ox.
Like he's going to be one of those guys at teams are going to be game planning against.
Like how do we get away from him on the matchup defensively?
And how are we going to stop that shot on the power play or off the rush?
Because it is just such a lethal weapon.
And when he figures out like that,
he can really dominate physically too.
I think it's going to be scary.
He's going to be a very, very good player.
I'm excited for it.
Yeah, absolutely.
Cam, thanks so much for your time, man.
We greatly appreciate it.
Make sure you're following Cam on Twitter at hockey underscore Robinson.
And of course, subscribe to Elite Prospects.
We are still in lottery pick mode as black ox fans.
Elite Prospects is the most valuable resource.
I'm on there 50 times a day.
So Cam, we appreciate your time, man.
Thanks so much.
Yeah, thanks for having me on, fellas.
All right, that's Cam Robinson from Elite Prospects.
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Remember, FDIC, in today's hubbub,
a little bit of a note I saw.
Scott Powers wrote a little blurb for the athletic,
went through some line items, news and notes.
Number nine of 10 from Scott Powers today said,
the BlackHawks weren't likely to draft
Geven McKenna before he was even charged
with felony assault.
It's even less likely now.
Now Scott is almost always right
when it comes to what the BlackHawks
are thinking with the draft.
He was the one two years ago that was left,
left, left, left, left, left, left,
left, left, left, left, all the time.
Pretty sure he was also the one saying,
Frandel will be the pick.
Yes.
So for whatever reason, it seems like
based on what Scott Powers wrote today,
that they were never too high on Geven McKenna
in the first place.
Now trying to get to their mindset,
what we just heard from Cabramansin
from lead prospects who in our minds
is right up there with the most plugged in people
when it comes to prospects.
Yes.
The concerns with McKenna are off the puck play, right?
Is he going to be a liability defensively?
And you already feel like you could peg Conor Bedard
as that, even though he's made adjustments to improve.
His defensive play, he is always going
to be a defensive liability.
I don't think there's any question about that.
It's not going to be a silky winner.
So is there thinking we've already got Bedard
who checks those boxes?
And we're very happy that Bedard's here.
Don't get this wrong.
But adding another one of those
might be detrimental to the overall building of the roster.
Because that's the only reason I can come up with
why they would not be interested in Geven McKenna
even before the charges.
Yeah.
Oh, I think that that's, I mean, that's just,
it seems like a non-factor now.
If they land at one, I think you and I are both in consensus
that Evar Stemberg is the guy that I think we would go with.
Well, as I said very clearly in yesterday's show,
if he's number one on their board, they should take him.
Wherever they pick, if he's the best remaining player,
they should take him, no, I'm saying McKenna.
If he's the highest player remaining on their board,
take him.
Even before the phone, he was dropped.
If they do their due diligence, which they should do,
with every player they intend on drafting, by the way,
that's what being a general manager and whatever.
All the people that work in hockey ops,
that's their job is to find out who these people are
before they invest time and money in them,
from top to bottom, right?
So if all those things check out
and you're comfortable with it, then take him.
I said that yesterday, I don't think there's any,
I prefer Stemberg.
I did before yesterday, I continue to,
but I have no hesitation about taking McKenna
of Stemberg's gone.
Yeah, no, I don't either.
I think as Cam laid out, those top two guys
are the top two guys.
If the Hawks are sitting there at number one
and they feel they felt Gavin McKenna was number one,
take him if they don't, they don't.
If they're at two and I have our Stemberg's off the board,
I don't know what we're doing
if Gavin McKenna has passed up,
because I, Cam confirmed the thought that I had
about the draft in that, those are the top two guys.
Yeah, like, yeah, Keaton Verroff is those two
and everybody is a really good defenseman.
He mentioned Chase Reed, Albert Smith,
like all very good defenseman, Caleb Mellholtrub,
very good top six center,
gonna be a second line guy probably.
But Stemberg and McKenna are the guys
that are the franchise changing type of players,
the franchise, like cornerstone type of players.
A potential Nikita Kutcher off.
And yeah, if he's saying Nikita Kutcher off potential,
like, I was, I wanted them to take,
I have in Demadov, I understood,
and the rationale with Levchenov and get it,
I'm behind it, I'm not, you know,
I'm not, I'm not dumping on Levchenov.
We did a show weeks ago where we said,
you know, if you go back and do it again,
I'd still want I have in Demadov.
Sure.
This is, I feel like another situation
where it's like that, where it's just like you get a guy
who can be at the offensive level of Conor Bredard.
And maybe Anton Frandel can be that too,
but I just, I just think as much as you've put
into the defensive group, they're all,
they're all figuring it out at the NHL level now.
You can get a defenseman with that second first round pick
you have in theory, or with one of your second round picks.
Or you trade up, or you trade up into the,
into the first round again, and get a defenseman like that.
You can get another guy that's like a Sam Renzo
who was a late first round pick,
that you can say like, hey, maybe there's, you know,
some time for them to kind of figure it out.
And you've got time to develop.
You don't, none of these guys know.
You don't have to rush it in.
Yeah, you don't need a NHL ready defenseman
out of the draft, which is very unlikely
that you ever find that.
Matthew Schaeffer's are not grown on trees.
So I just, I'm confused by the never being,
never being, and not being interested
in giving them kind of anyways.
I'm very confused by that.
Well, at some point,
you gotta stop making the safe pick, right?
Like, take a swing.
And I think if Kyle Davidson were listening right now,
he would say, I did take a swing.
I trade it up for Mason West.
That's different, right?
Like, I hate really getting the Devonov-Levich
down thing, but it has to be talked about
because Devonov at the time was a riskier pick
because of the, you weren't sure
if he was gonna come over from Russia.
You haven't really been able to see him play
in person very much.
Or in like a top league.
Yeah, he wasn't in the tie.
He was in the secondary Russian league.
So what could you make of those numbers?
But like, man, the stuff you saw, it's really good.
But, you know what?
We feel that Artem Leshov's gonna be a really good defenseman.
He's right there at Michigan State.
We can go see him all the time.
We feel with the number two pick.
We're gonna make a safe pick.
Fine.
Anton Frandell, really good pick.
I've got no problem with it.
But were there flashier players
that maybe they could have taken instead?
Maybe, maybe that have higher off-fence of upside?
Fine. I like the Frandell pick.
Now, the other benefit of stockpiling these assets
that the Hawks have been stockpiling since 2022
is that you can take one of these even high picks.
These lottery picks and say, you know what?
I'm not convinced this guy's gonna be a perfect player,
but there's part of me that feels like
he's gonna put up 120 points in this league.
So I'm gonna take him.
Yeah, you take him.
You figure it out.
You take those guys.
You figure out the rest around him.
Patrick Kane was not a defensive stalwart.
No, they figured it out with guys around him.
And, you know, you got the dart,
who I know is not a defensive stalwart,
but I think if you have guys that you can put around
your line up, either on the same line together
or split them up, you know, even out your lines,
even out your attack,
with guys who have point for game
or better potential in the NHL.
That's, that Hawks team had that too,
where we had the discussion about, you know,
very in-hose of first and second line guy.
Patrick Kane first and second line,
like you had those guys on the wing
that could be first and second liners
and both of them are Hall of Famers.
Like if you could have a guy like that in McKennau
who, you know, I'm not saying he is going to be
Nikita Kutraov, but Cam put it out there.
Nikita Kutraov's had 140 point seasons.
He's had 100 assists to seasons.
Like that's a style of player that gives you
that offense, that offensive attack that just-
And you've got two way players in Frontel.
You've got a two way player in Blavaire.
You've got Nasar, who's a willing penalty killer.
Oliver Moore is a two way player.
Like so you've got guys that can make up for
the deficiencies that the dart and mechanic
of potentially bring defensively.
It almost feels like, I mean, it's completely tongue-in-cheek.
The Kyle Davidson would have taken James Van Riem's
like over Patrick Kane, just because he was safer,
just because he plays a more reliable game.
I get that mindset to an extent,
but sometimes you got to have the nads to take a swing
and draft the guy you think and score 130 points.
Damn.
Yeah, I hope that they're either not in a situation
to actually pass them up unless it's to get Ivar Stemberg.
Or for the very, very rare,
as rare as Matthew Schaefer style defenseman in the draft,
that Scott Powers is off.
I don't think that's the case.
I trust Scott more than pretty much anybody
on the Black Hawk's media circuit, but I don't know.
I would be set up for another round of being upset
if the Black Hawk's willingly pass up on Gavin McKenna.
I don't really see anybody else right now
at the top of this draft that I'm like,
okay, make sense.
I can be talked into it right now.
It's Stemberg and McKenna.
And if you're not in a position to draft either of those guys,
then you have that conversation.
They're like, all right.
Well, it's like, it's like they're trying to get,
you're trying to get for offensive help.
Sure.
Or you could go that route.
You weren't going to get celebrini,
so I'm not mad that they don't have celebrini.
They didn't pass on him or anything like that.
Right.
But if you're not in a position to get either of those guys,
then yeah, you're opening it up to somebody else.
And I'm all for figuring out who,
beyond those two guys, makes the most sense
and is the right fit.
But right now, if they're one or two,
it needs to be one of those two guys.
100% has to be.
All right.
We are late for the break zone.
But guess what, everybody?
It's the final break zone of the show.
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All right, we're back on CHGO Black Hawks.
All right.
If you missed it this morning,
Frank Sarah Raleigh put out a tweet
with the latest draft odds
from 1 to 12.
And a little note on number 10.
So Florida Panthers says top 10 protected,
3.5%.
And we all said, what?
We are all of the understanding
that that was not top 10 protected.
And the condition on the pick had to do
with the Matthew Gachok Calgary trade.
And if that trade,
if that pick didn't go to Calgary,
then it was solved.
Apparently, everybody had it wrong.
From everyone locally,
everyone nationally,
except for Frank Sarah Raleigh.
Apparently.
Yeah, he had it the whole time.
You big idiot.
You didn't know that?
Look, I've had a lot of times
where like, just yesterday,
I mentioned what Frank said on his show.
And about the mechanical situation.
And to see that today and be like,
hey man, I don't think that's true
because no one has said that.
And for everyone to basically be like,
yeah, that's not true.
No one's not protected.
And then for him to come out and say,
I've got this new website.
Check it out.
And also, by the way,
here's an exclusive.
That pick is actually protected.
What?
That's super confusing.
The timeline of all that is super confusing.
It's been 11 months since that trade.
And this is the first time that I've heard anybody say
that it is explicitly a top 10 protected pick.
And to what Frank has pointed to
from a daily face-off article.
And what many other people are saying
is, no, this is saying it's top 10 protected.
It's the verbiage of what was written in the daily face-off.
This is written March 2nd, 2025 by Anthony Trudeau.
Analyzing the trade was,
it's the Blackhawks pick so long as the Panthers own it in 2026.
And something along the lines.
Do you have everyone here?
Let's see.
If Knight is the headliner of this Jones return and unprotected
2026 first rounder doesn't hurt either.
Unprotected.
There's where it says unprotected.
The pick is conditional in name only.
It will go to the Blackhawks so long as the cats don't have a top 10 selection.
So it says it says unprotected.
And it will go to the Blackhawks as long as it's not top 10.
As long as they don't have a top 10 pick.
So that sentence contradicts itself.
Right.
It's not unprotected.
And it's right.
So I think if you're pointing to that as saying like,
no, we said it the whole time.
Then, okay, it's not a very clear.
I'm going to read this again.
It's not a very clear wording of that sentence.
I just want everyone to listen to what I'm reading.
I'm going to read the sentence verbatim.
Listen closely.
If Knight is the headliner of this Jones return and unprotected
goods, so I could have enough rest.
Next ten, ten seconds before Willow goes to,
going to a digital screenshot,
Bitcoin, to wherebee'isha ends up the2019ot first rounder
doesn't hurt either.
The pick is conditional in name only.
It will go to the Blackhawks so long as the cats don't have a top 10 selection.
The word unprotected is right there in front of 2026 first router.
So that is the daily face off adding to the confusion.
not Frank Cerevali. I don't know who who was a Anthony Trudeau. Yes.
And you released an adjustment. I don't know. He's dating Katey Perry too.
But so that's not Frank writing that right? Cerevali has he put on Twitter.
Here's the trade details. The day it happened right? That's his job as the
newsbreaker, the insider, all that stuff. He did instant reaction videos in
which it's never he never says it's a top 10 protected 2026 first round pick. I
don't think I've seen Elliott Friedman say it. I don't think I've seen Chris
Johnson say it. Darren Drager. Go down the line of all the the national big name
top insiders. I don't think I've ever heard them refer to it as a top 10
protected pick. Also, there's an ecosystem of information, right? These trades
happen. NHL front offices have all this information, GM's have all this
information. I'm not going to lie to you. Teams pick which of these national
insiders that they like to feed information to. Those guys have sources.
Those people have their sources and they vet them and they work on them. That's
a thing. But at that level, teams will go and say, we're going to give this
guy some information. It's not all secret hush hush whisper whisper. Who's the
who's the source? It's like I'm not putting that veil on anything. So if this
was a situation in which. You know, this verbiage was only given to one
person, only given to Frank Sarah Bali, but between him Barry Zito and Kyle
Davidson or whatever. Frank, I don't know how many times he's been on Black
Hawks broadcasts on CHSN. He's I believe he is compensated by the Black Hawks. I
don't know how many times he's talked about the Black Hawks on his various
podcast appearances on his own show or other shows. I don't know how many times
he's tweeted about written about whatever concerning the future of the
organization and this upcoming draft and how the Black Hawks are set up. And I
don't think he's ever mentioned. 2026 draft top 10 pick panthers all that
stuff. He's on shows with people like the crew at CHSN that are talking about
the future of the Black Hawks and the draft and having two first round picks
from the Black Hawks and the Panthers. And they talk about it. We talk about it.
Scott Powers and Mark Lazarus talk about it. Ben Pope talks about it. So on and
so forth. And that hierarchy of that chain of information comes
it comes trickling down. The NHL doesn't publicize in trades. The lawyer's
speak of trade details, right? Nope. That's all disseminated from those top
insider guys people. And that's the way the league wants it. That's how it
that's how it goes. Well, the league doesn't care about contract
information. According to Gary Batman, fans don't care about contract information.
It's quite like six websites dedicated. Yeah, which I'll get to that in a
second too. So through that chain of command, like there are people like us
in the local media, the local beat that work off of information brought on by
other people. And the chosen the chosen insiders, right? Those, those, those
deemed they're inside those top inside. Yes. And we are not newsbreakers, you
know, I don't want to be in that in that world. I don't claim to be in that
world. It's not the life I want to be. We're, we're, we're talking heads on a
podcast that we are able to also have a connection to the organization, be
able to talk to the players and Jeff Blaschle and, you know, have
opportunities to be in those press conferences with Kyle Davidson and
everything. The people, we use information coming from Scott Powell, we just
did it with Scott Powers, right? They're within the local media, there's the, the,
the chain of information. So beyond that, then is the fan base. And the people
consuming all this, the people that subscribe to us as die hard, subscribe to
the athletic, they subscribe to the sun times and the Tribune. And they pay
money for jerseys and tickets and all these things. And they subscribe to
CHSN and all that stuff, like there's all this people that consume in the
media. And they, they put their money into it. And they engage with it, they
engage with conversations. And because of that, because of the fans, because
of those conversations, then that cycles back to us. And it cycles back up the
chain up to the people who are these insiders that go on these shows, the
NHL teams, all of that. So there's this circle of life, like the Lion King of
how this information comes out. And it just seems like to have the
mentality of, well, this was all public information. We all knew this. What are
you talking about? Not my problem. You didn't know this. What do you, what
that is? That is where you lose me. That's where you lose me. Just like this
wasn't the case. Black Hawks fans, Panthers fans, and Bruins fans are reacting
to this with the same, you know, energy, but just in different ways. Panthers
fans are more or less shocked. Like, oh, you mean we still own this pick. Tank
baby. Here we go. We're going to get McKenna Bruins fans are like, yo, yo, yo, I
thought we were having. That's a Bruins fan impression. I thought we were
having that 2027 first round pick in the Martian trade. Well, now we've learned
it potentially could be 2028. That messes up with their, with their
organizational path. And with Hawks fans, I mean, you've seen it like for
11 months, we've been under this impression that they have two first round
picks in this, in this year's draft. We've talked about it. So many people
have talked about it. Fans are talking about it. And for it never to get
corrected ever on any platform is, is wild to me. And, and, and, sorry, and
we, we know that we have, you know, a working relationship with the, with
the Black Hawks. We, we understand people in that organization pay attention
to what we say and listen to us. We've had those conversations. And we've
talked about the Black Hawks having two first round picks in the 2026 draft.
That panthers pick being the second one. And it's never been corrected. And
and it's just, it's, it's, it's, it's just confusing. I think, I think today's
reaction is just, is just confusing that we'll go almost a year under this
assumption. And I see people in the chat, people online kind of talking about
like, well, why didn't you guys know this? Again, I go back to the, the
ecosystem information, we don't, we don't get the facts from the league, F A X, of
this is the trade. These are the conditions. Here's the pages and pages of
stuff. It's, it's on the, for that information to get out, the important
things, the important notes of conditions and all this stuff, for that
information to get out, it's, it's coming from those top people. It's coming
from the teams themselves, honestly, like, when teams put out, they're
informing their trade information, they're informing their fans, they're
informing their media, they're all that stuff. So that, that never came out into
into the public sphere, into the ways that you would. And as Steve Smart, you're
very smart, Steve, points out tankathon, updated their website, tankathon, the
tank spins. Remember those we did those, they today were like, this is news to
us. Puckpedia updated their information. This is news. Those are the, probably in
my mind, the two top sites for contract information and, and draft
information, right? Tank TD and, it's a thorn in Puckpedia, tankpedia.
And cap, we just, it's pretty good too. And they had, they had a
port track, all those teams, all those sites. It's news to them that this
happened. Right. Like, I don't know how many more people need to be like, how
many more institutions need to be like, this is news was, this is news was, this
is news to us for us to like, be like, wait, can we agree that this is
confusing and odd? And where did this come from? Kind of thing. So you said it
very clearly, but just, just to restate it, people are like, well, why don't you
guys just call Kyle Davidson and ask him, we don't have that access to
Kyle. If we could have Kyle Dave, as Kyle Dave, we can come on this show, we
would, we have officially requested Kyle Davidson to come on this show, at
least a dozen times. At least we started being on the air. It means to
dozen. After a while, you just stop asking because it's clearly not going to
happen. Another thing you alluded to, my anger is more directed toward the
league and the team, because this makes everyone look bad. All the outlets
you're mentioning, Ben Scott, Mark, everybody, us, yeah, it makes everybody
look bad. This makes everybody look bad. The league could have some
transparency and say, because when they send the press release of the trade,
they acquired a conditional first-round pick list the condition and have it
published on NHL.com or have the black hawks should put it in there. Because you
said it, I'm going to say it too. Anytime we say something that is somewhat
offmarked or offstried, the black hawks flag it and contact us. They've had
no problem telling us, hey, you're off base with this. And I actually appreciate
that because I don't have every bit of information. I just don't. Right? We are at
practice. Players aren't sitting there like, hey, here's what's going on. Here's
a scoop. We tried to work through sources. I have said on this show many times
and I think it was gigging these earlier in a show said that I broke news
years ago. I did. And that source dried up because Kyle Davis keeps things
shut. Oh, yeah. There are no leaks. It was a Nate. Thank you. Nate Crumple
said it. As soon as Dan Bowman was let go, that source changed dried up. Oh,
yeah, completely dried up. Other people sources also changed. Right. Yeah. So the
people that get stories from the hawks are Scott Powers. And by the way, Scott
earned it. Oh, yeah, Scott does great. We're not mad at Scott for it. He's
certainly earned that reputation and earned that credit. And Frank Cervali,
they get the hawks news. But what frustrates me is, as you said, we've been
talking about this trade for 11 months. We've been talking about it being not
protected for 11 months as everyone else around the league has been doing. And
did they lose the text number then? Because if they've known about this all
the long, I'm sure we'll receive a text or email later today. And that's
fine. If we're wrong, tell us that's fine. I'm happy and we have come on
here and said, Hey, you know what? Said something yesterday, we've got some
new information. I think those of you who are with us all the time, which
is a lot of you. And we appreciate it. You know, we are not here to be hot
take artists. We're not here to like, all right, Mario, you come on today,
you're going to rip Cervali and I'm going to tear the hawks a new one and it's
going to get viral. Like, that's not how we operate. That's how I've ever
operated. It's how you operate when Chloe came here, I told her it's not
genuine. The way I believe, yes, I was on the score twice, two weeks ago,
talking about this very thing, what drives me crazy is hot take broadcasting.
I hate it. I will always tell you what I know. I will always tell you what I
feel. Okay. So to like, this is just, it just drives me crazy. I'm very happy
if I get information that says, Oh, you know what? Okay, thank you for pointing
that out. I was wrong. I will correct it on social media. I'll correct it on
the next show. Sure. I'll do both whatever. I have it to do it. I'm happy to
get the new to be corrected. But all of us for 11 monks have been wrong. And the
hawks haven't caught that at all. For that to be unchecked is crazy. Yeah, I just
I don't see how that could have fallen through the cracks. I don't. So if it
was some information that only Kyle Davidson and Barry Zito and they're not
Barry Zito, Bill Zito. Bill Zito. If it's only information that those guys
knew and Frank sir of all you knew, then yeah, then I think to just sit on
that and not not have the public discourse be able to be informed not to be
it. There's there's people that, you know, anyone who makes a dollar off of
NHL information, they need to have that information be correct. And I'm not
saying and that that goes from people who are, you know, bloggers that get paid
a dollar, you know, per week. All the way up to, you know, people that run
podcasts that are, you know, money cranking machines and they're sponsoring
NCAA prospects and, you know, they got thousands and thousands of viewers and
fans and all that stuff and they are counted on for public information and for
conversation, everything. That information has to be correct. And for 11 months
of that information not be correct is just, it's just crazy to me. And I know
there's a lot of people being like, it's just a pick who cares or all that
stuff. Like I understand the trade itself doesn't change. You still got
Spencer night. You still got a first round pick. Who knows if it's, if it'll be
this year or next year, best case scenario, the panthers finish 11th. And then
when we're, we don't, and you're just done with it then, right? That's fine.
But I feel like I'm from Bob's burgers here. It's like, it's the principle of
the thing. It's the principle of this information, not being out there or not
being corrected when the conversation for 11 months was contrary to whatever
this information was. It just doesn't sit right. And I think, you know, then
then there's a few people online that have said it. There's one person who's
harping on it in the chat about like, well, why didn't you ask Davidson
yourself and blah, blah, blah, all these things? Do we need to explain the
ecosystem for the third time? Very freaking clearly. When it's to the same
person that can't seem to get any concept of what we talk about ever?
Sure. Ever when it's, when the information is put out there by the team, by the
national insiders, that is a trust, right? That is a trust of like, this is the
information I'm getting. That is what we need. If, if we had gone out and said, you
know, when Kyle Davidson does his post trade deadline, press conference last
year, if we had sat there and be like, are those really all the conditions on
that pick? We'd look like idiots. Like, what do you, what? Yeah, I don't know
where people have confirmed it. I know it's been confirmed by the team and by
all these other sources and everything. But are you sure? Are you lying to us,
Kyle Dave? If we had said that, you know what we probably would have gotten
our credentials for what? For how dumb of a question? But I'm going to say, from
now on, I am, when trades are made, I'm not, I'm not published anything about it
until I get word from the team. And because of this, that has now become what we
all have to do. We can no longer go with the agreed upon league standard for how
news leaks in the NHL because they refused to publish it. Teams refused all
its proprietary information. But here it is, two people. And you guys bear with
everybody will just do it that way. That's the way it's been going on for the
last 20 friggin years. But now because of this one that failed, the now the
team owes it to us to you made a trade with conditions. Tell us we need to know
that all of us because there is a chat labeled Blackhawks beat where Blackhawks
PR communicates with us and everyone on the beat when that trade is made, what
are these specific conditions? And there can be no longer those are proprietary
team information. No, because you're going to give it to a couple people. And we
all need to know what it is. I'm sorry. I mean, I get again, Scott power is
earned every bit of access he gets. Yeah, every bit of access he gets. But now if
you want, if you, if this is how it's going to be, where it's select information
given here and there, I think that the, we're not in the P, the P H W
professional hockey writers. Yeah, because we have hawk stuff on set. So we
can't be fine. But the, the leaders of those organizations locally and
nationally should say, okay, because of the situation now, the NHL needs to be
specific about conditions. You know who used to lead that?
Frank Sir Rally. Yeah. As you look, I, yeah, I just think I think between between
us and the team specifically, it's, it's been very amicable to waste
street. We've gone to them and say, like, Hey, are we wrong in saying XYZ? And
they've either, you know, confirmed it or said, actually, this is the case, blah,
blah, blah. And that that's been very much appreciated because we want to, we
want to be informed about what we're talking about. We don't want to just come
out here and spout random things and incorrect things because that doesn't
serve anybody properly. So yeah, I mean, I, I really feel like, you know, this,
this changes kind of the, the trust from, from media up and down, changes the
trust from fans. And, and I think you just, in the grand scheme of things, does it
really matter extremely? Are there other things in sports and in the world to
blow up about? Sure. Yes, obviously. We're going over time by the way. Switch over to
Toronto. But I just feel like having been a fan and worked in, have, and have worked in
sports through all the iterations of what social media and, you know, the consumption of
information and everything has been and how it's changed. And, you know, people hinge on
the shepherds and, you know, the, well, I guess it's shams now, but shams and woes and
shepherds and, you know, it freed men and before him Bob McKenzie and like, people that,
uh, Jeff Passon in baseball, like, people that hit, hang on their information. It's, it's
just across the board. So you, you have to be able to kind of trust those, those people
in making those, uh, in, in getting out that information and being able to, being able to,
for, for people like us, do our jobs better. And for people who are strictly fans, people who
are not working in sports media or anything like that, people who just want to, you know,
fan as best as they can, it behooves them to be informed as much as possible. And if, and if
they're not informed or if they're, if they have a mistrust, it's, it's, it's how you can get
some people to stop paying attention so much to teams or to sports or anything like that. And,
as, as the NHL goes, they need to have as many fans as possible. Like that's, every league wants
that. And the NHL needs, needs to, you know, grow more fans and be able to, you know, have their,
their fan bases be able to engage in things and, and because it, it, it, who's the league,
because if fans are engaged in your product, they're going to consume more of your product and
they're going to put dollars into it. And if, and if they don't, if it's, I know it, in the
grand scheme of things, it might seem small, but you, you have a, a break in trust of, of information.
And who's to say what's, you know, what's the next kind of break in trust? I just, I just feel like
it's, it's just weird. It's just weird how it all went down. Apparently, you know, it's,
this is what we're moving forward with. So now it's instead of rooting for the Panthers to lose
every possible game. Now for the, for the Hawks, it's just like, well, I hope they win a few games,
but still miss the playoffs. And then I hope the lottery balls don't go in their favor. And if
you really want to get into conspiracy, I know we kind of talked about this earlier today before
the show. If there's a team that is going to uncharacteristically miss the playoffs,
in a weird situation, hey, they do actually have their top 10 pick protected.
And then the lottery balls are the lottery balls. Florida Panthers are a team that would fit that,
that description. Florida Panthers are a team that would benefit a couple of those breaks going
their way in a season that they didn't expect it to. I don't know. I'm not, I'm not going that far on it.
I don't think it's a conspiracy or anything like that. I think it's misinformation when I just,
you know, it's just weird. It's just, it's just, it doesn't, I'll get over it eventually.
It just doesn't sit right that that it went the way that it did. That's, I think that's the,
the biggest thing for me. And then, you know, individually with, with Frank going on his show,
and, you know, not taking any, not, not blame, but like basically passing the buck of like,
well, if you didn't know this information, that's not my problem. You are the information
disseminator. Like you are the guy that puts out the information. And that, and the thing that he,
thousands and thousands of people, yes, and the thing that he, the thing for this information,
he's using a dunk on people too. The daily face off article from March was not even written by him.
So there's nothing that he has, if he had tweeted that out once, he would have found his own
tweet that said that pick is protected top 10. Right. But guess what? There is no Frank
Sarah Raleigh tweet that says that because it was never sent. So if he's going into an article
from his former website, from a different writer to dunk on people. Yeah. That's, I, I don't like,
look, and, and fine. I just don't like that he's like, oh, you didn't know. No, nobody knew
because everyone went with the ecosystem, which has been right 99.999999999999999% of the time.
Right. And it, and it's, it wasn't a trade that it was like so small that only a few people
even cared to talk about it. Well, I think it was just, there is a part of it though is like,
oh, well, if it, I could see how if it was top 10 protected, people would have scoffed that
on anyway, because like, well, that's never going to happen. The panthers won two cups in a row.
They went to the final year before that. They're not going to have a bottom 10 finish. So it's
irrelevant. I think Ben Pope today, when he apologized for not knowing this, which I think is,
that's very, that's, that's, it's nice to do that. I'll do it as necessary. Ben is more of a,
of a story newsbreaker. That's a capital J. I'll ever hope to be. Yeah. So for, you know,
for Ben, I'll, I'll apologize for spreading the wrong information. But that was the information
that I was presented with. That was the information that we all were presented with.
The consensus information. I had no inkling to be like, to dig and to dig and be like,
is that all the conditions? Are you telling us all the, why would I? So,
dear Kyle. Yeah. So for, for Ben, you know, commendable. And a couple of people saying,
are we sure that this wasn't Frank Serevali that did it? No, because I have Frank Serevali blocked
because I don't need deep fake insiders. Frank Sereval one. No, no. I don't, I don't, I don't,
I don't, that's it. And to my point, I don't need the wrong information getting in front of
my face and getting into my brain and thinking, Oh, is that, is that that happen? Yeah.
Is because this looks like a Frank Serevali account. And this talks like a Frank Serevali account.
But it's not. So any of those fakes as many as I can ever see, I block and I make sure
on my Twitter lists and all that stuff, all the accounts that I know and trust are in little tabs.
I have a CHG01, I have a Blackhawks one, I have a broader hockey one, I have trade deadline,
newsbreakers, draft and prospects, news, you know, news people analysts, all that stuff.
So I make sure that the information I'm seeing is coming from those things. And that's part of
what we do for our job to be informed and to be able to do our jobs better. Yes. But we do rely on
the information from the information gatherers. Yeah. And the newsbreakers. That's it. So like I
said, from now on, when the Blackhawks make a trade with the condition, I am going to reach out
directly to the team for the condition. Sure. I'll do it myself. Hey, want to clear it in this
condition so we don't get it wrong again for a year. A number of times I've over the years,
I've talked to the person, I should get their name, be a better friend. But I've talked to the
people that run Pupidia and be like, do I have this information correct? Is this, you know,
whether it's CBA stuff or contract stuff or anything like that? I went back and message them
today. I said, is this news to you guys as much as it is to us? And they said, yes. This and
that was right as they were, you know, changing the information on their website. And I remember
going back to them March 1st. I said, quick question about the conditional first in the Seth
Jones Spencer night deal. Yep. It will be the 2026 first if Florida doesn't make any other trade
involving that first round pick because they still technically own it until this season is over.
Is that correct? And they said it is traded conditionally to Chicago, but they can swap it
for 2027 and trade it elsewhere prior, that was prior to the 2025 draft happening. Yes.
That condition was resolved. And that was the end of things with the conditions at that point.
That was 11 months ago. So why would I question anything else? Right. Still a good trade though.
Fantastic trade. Like it's still very good. And you know what?
Because we all assumed it wasn't going to be top that anyway. Yeah. And you know what? If it does end
up being a 2027 first, you live with it. You might as some Panthers passing away of natural
causes by then. And that will help the draft, you know, just age because they're in a
scene peacefully in a sleep. Yuck a surrounded by friends and family walk a walk. Yeah. I just
I don't know. It's just it's just such a such a weird way for this for this to transpire today.
Just so weird. You are right on the timing is odd. Why? Yeah. I mean, it's like Panthers are on
the outside looking into the playoffs. She wants it into damn hats. I'm not putting the hat. I'm
just saying I made foil hats for you. I can tell you make foil hats. Yeah, you did. Okay. I'll put my
leftovers in it. Okay. Um, Chloe made foil hats. Are you want to show them on screen? No, I don't
because they're actually really bad. As soon as I started doing it, I was like, I don't even know
how to make foil hat before the effort. There are conspiracy newsy caps. Yeah. Yeah. There you go.
So they fit. Yeah. Good effort. Thank you. Yeah. Um, what was I going to say? I don't know. Let's go home.
Just yeah, just everyone else on the beats on the beach. Well, Ben is good for him. But we, uh,
we continue. We continue to grind it, add it, continue to try and be as informed as possible
for Black Hawks fans and hockey and joyers because that's what hockey is supposed to be enjoyed.
Yeah. And just to, you know, reiterate the point we made earlier about no hot takes, no
manufactured opinions, always giving you honest. We always strive to have the right information.
And when I saw this thing today this morning, I texted the person at the Hawks, I can text,
and I said, Nope, Frank is correct. And I got the information. So that will be my lesson learned,
I guess. I guess is that we just, there's no more trusting the trusted sources because the trusted
sources can't be trusted anymore. We'll work with it. I was enjoying some arts and crafts time at
the local library with my daughter. And, uh, he's got some alerts on my phone and was just like,
what? Yeah. What is going on? And then I saw how it all played out over the course of the afternoon.
And it's just freaking weird, man. I was watching Chekia and Switzerland women's hockey.
What was that? Went to the shootout. Switzerland won. Good game. Good for Switzerland. Chekia was all
over them early and then it was, I think it was three one because I caught it. They were down when
I tuned in and then they tied it and then really action packed over time and then, uh, shootout win
for Switzerland. Nice. Very cool. All right. All right. We good? Yeah. We'll talk to you Monday.
Consider this resolved. Sure. Plus you three o'clock on Monday. One day you want to do a mailbag? Sure.
Mailbag Monday, just like the old days. Yeah. Of last off season. All right. We'll talk to them
and see you to your black arcs.
CHGO Chicago Blackhawks Podcast



