Speaker 1:
Are you ready? Let's go. From AMI Central. Now start playing in the Neutral Zone. Here's a pitch on the way. 36 yards for the win. This. Here comes the big chance, the shot. Is this the tiger? The Neutral Zone. This is as good as it gets. Now, here's your host, two-time Paralympian, Brock Richardson.

Brock Richardson:
What's going on? It's time for another edition of the Neutral Zone. I am indeed your host, Brock Richardson. I am alongside Cam Jenkins for today. I've got to tell you what's coming up on the show. Coming up on today's show, we release the second interview we did at the Canadian Paralympic Committee Summit. This time we hear from wheelchair rugby player, Anthony Létourneau from Quebec. Plus, we chat about the Toronto Raptors being eliminated by the Chicago Bulls in the upcoming NHL playoffs. And with that, we're going to get into this week's headlines.

Speaker 1:
Neutral Zone Headline. Headline.

Cam Jenkins:
We kick things off in the Paris sports community. Wheelchair Basketball Canada is excited to announce the appointment of Marni Abbott-Peter as the head coach of this senior women's national team. The Vancouver BC native takes on the head coaching role as the Canadian women prepare for the IWBF World Championships, which runs June 9th to the 20th and also the Para Pan-American Games, which runs from November 17th to the 26th and staying in the world of wheelchair basketball. The senior men's national team took home the bronze medal in the Easter Chairman with a 49-45 victory over Turkey. Congratulations to both programs.

Brock Richardson:
And we're going to take a look at the 2023 Women's World Hockey Championships. As they concluded, here are your final results. USA wins gold in a 6-3 final against Team Canada. Plus then Team Canada wins silver and Czechia wins the bronze staying in the world of hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins will not make the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons as they held the record in the four major sports with this number. And it's unfortunate to see that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby will not make it, but thems the breaks

Cam Jenkins:
And more. History was made this week with the home of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Center in just the second home game of the season. On April 12th of this year, the Rogers Center roof was open, making this the earliest the roof has ever been opened in franchise history.

Brock Richardson:
Those are your headlines for this week. And as we do at this point in the program, we chat a little bit about a topic that has happened, happened in the world of sports. Today we feature an umpire who was struck in the head during a baseball game as a throw was going to home. Let's listen to this clip for a little more context.

Gethin Coolbaugh:
Major League baseball umpire Larry Vanover was released from the hospital Friday, two days after being hit in the head with a relay throw by a Guardians player during a game against the New York Yankees in Cleveland.
Vanover was discharged from the Cleveland Clinic after being under care for two nights and will remain off the field until he's cleared by MLB's medical personnel.
The 67-year-old was struck on the left side of his head in the fifth inning Wednesday by a throw from Guardians All-Star second baseman Andres Gimenez, who was firing toward home plate on the play. I'm Gethin Coolbaugh.

Brock Richardson:
So for me, when I listened to this clip, I just want to add a little bit more context that clip did not give the umpires on first base, second base and third base where nothing more than a baseball cap on their head signifying the MLB symbol on the front of it. Cameron, I think for me, the question that I have for you is because of an incident like this, should umpires be wearing more than just a baseball cap on the basis or is it just a one-off incident?

Cam Jenkins:
I definitely think that they should be doing that to have some sort of protective headwear. And if they aren't, I don't know if the umpires that are along the base paths, if they have some sort of a chest protector or if they're wearing knee protectors or leg protectors. I think that if they're not, they should be wearing that. And they're definitely wear ball caps and they need to wear some sort of a helmet. John Olerud famously the first basement for the Toronto Blue Jays, he wore a helmet and because of surgery that he had. So I don't see why the umpires shouldn't be wearing that.

Brock Richardson:
No, and I'm not a hundred percent sure either as to whether they're wearing chest protectors or anything underneath their shirt. And the reason being is because we don't see that and I don't expect umpires to stand there and lift their shirt up and show us every time we get a game, obviously. But the fact is, I agree, I think that they should be wearing more. And I can hear the argument to a point, Cameron, of like, well, this only happens as a one-off, but that one-off could hit somebody in a real dangerous spot and it could really cost them their life or the ability to have the life that they do currently. If it hits them in the temple, who knows what that might do. So I can understand the argument, Cameron, of the one-off, but I don't buy it.

Cam Jenkins:
Yeah, no. Whether it's a one-off or not. When something happens like that, you've got to be proactive and you have to make changes. And because like you said it's only going to take one where someone gets blinked off the head or a ball gets hit really hard and the umpire can't react quick enough and it might hit them in the chest and then a heart attack or who knows what could happen. So they definitely have to do it and that's how change is made, is when something happens like that and it's a one-off or it seems to be a one-off, but change needs to be definitely needs to happen.

Brock Richardson:
Sure. And I mean you look at in baseball, the down the first and third base line, they now have netting that protects the crowd to a point. And this is because point one-off incidences have taken place and have really heard somebody. And to me the umpires are in a very vulnerable position when they're on the base paths. And there was a situation last week where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Was leading a ball towards first base when the pitcher was to get it and the umpire collided and the umpire hit the deck and got up and made the call, made the correct call I may add. But these are all incidences that can happen. And they aren't just supposed to be projected as, "Oh, they're just a part of the field of play." They are human beings as well.

Cam Jenkins:
In hockey recently we've seen a gold tender go down and fall backwards and hit their head. And that could easily happen on the play of field in baseball as well. Saying that, "Yes, they may have grass or they may have AstroTurf." But especially if it's an AstroTurf type play field that that's still really going to hurt if you have fall backwards or if an umpire falls backwards and hits the back of their head, in my opinion. So I think that yeah, you want to be able to think of everything that's going to happen. And when baseball's been around for what a hundred years major league baseball and umpires have never worn helmets to the best of my knowledge. And I think it's time for them to wear some sort of a protective helmet and there's nothing wrong with doing them.

Brock Richardson:
I think what sort of baffles me and all this is you look at first base coaches, third base coaches, they are wearing helmets and...

Cam Jenkins:
Oh yeah, that's a good point too.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, it baffles me that umpires don't I. They're within about maybe three feet of each other from one place to the other, the umpire to the bass coach. And it puzzles me why the umpires don't wear more protective gear than what they do. Umpires at home play home played for obvious reasons, wear more and they should, but I don't preclude umpires on the basis to injury as well.

Cam Jenkins:
And depending on the situation, like the home play umpire has a baseball mask on. So if they ended up leaving that on and the baseball went towards them, they may hit them in the mask. So at least they're somewhat protected and if it's going towards their head, maybe they would be able to move out of the way quick enough to get it to go towards their face mask. Like who knows, it's just in today's day and age, you can't think of everything and I appreciate that. However, when something happens like that, then you better darn well do something about it to protect, in this case, the umpires and it's just protecting everybody at the end of the day. And you can't think of everything but when something happens, you've got to talk about it and you've got to come up with a solution. And the easiest solution is for them to wear helmets of some sort.

Brock Richardson:
Absolutely. If you want to get ahold of us on Twitter, here's how you can do that.

Speaker 5:
And welcome back to the Neutral Zone AMI broadcast booth and we are set to get this ballgame underway. The first pitch brought to you by Brock Richardson's Twitter account @NeutralZoneBR. First pitch strike and hey gang, why not strike up a Twitter chat with Clair Buchanan for the Neutral Zone. Find her @NeutralZoneCB and there's a swing at a chopper out to second base right at Claire. She picks up the ball, throws it over to first base for a routine act. And fans, there is nothing routine about connecting with Cam and Josh from the Neutral Zone @NeutralZoneCamJ and at JWatson200. Now that's a winning combination. And this organ interlude is brought to you by AMI Audio on Twitter, get in touch with the Neutral Zone type in @EMIAudio.

Brock Richardson:
Today we released the second interview that I did at the Canadian Paralympic Committee Summit. We speak with Anthony Létourneau from Boisbriand, Quebec. Enjoy the interview.
You started wheelchair rugby within the last 10 years. Can you talk a little bit about your journey and how you've enjoyed the game, picked up the game, that kind of thing?

Anthony Létourneau:
Okay. I first picked up the game actually at the hospital. When I was at hospital, one of the workers there showed me what wheelchair rugby and I was like, "Ooh, that looked real nice." So when I got to adaptations, I was like, "Hey, I want to try this." And at the adaptation center, I was in contact with the Montreal team. So they sent me to the Montreal practice in the middle of the adaptation, I was not even done adaptation. I already start playing and they put me in a will beach rugby chair and for the first practice there's like a circle in the middle of the court and I don't think I went off the circle because when they were pushing Juan, I was just at the tip of the circle and then start pushing on the other end. So I just turn around and go on to the other side and touch the other tape of the circle.
It's like, "Ooh, it's already going on the other side." So turn back and I'll practice during one hour, one hour 30 and after that I was like, "Ooh, time to get back to adaptation." And my shoulder was so much... I worked out so much just to get at one tip of the circle at the other that I did nothing for the two days after. It's like, "Oh, I'm too tired." And two days after it's like I'm still tired, it's practice time again, better get going and just keep going. And now before I know it I was already approached by the national team and the national team's like, oh, I'm getting pretty good and I think, "Do you want to come to training camps?" And I was like, "Yeah, sure. I can come to training camp." So in training camp, I got carded and I just keep going from there.

Brock Richardson:
When did you recognize through all of that process, when did you really recognize and say, "Hey, wheelchair rugby can be something that I can do and do really well." Can you talk a little bit about that? Was there a moment where you really thought to yourself this is going to be something?

Anthony Létourneau:
At first I was just trying to get on the same level because at club practice people were so much better than me, so I was just trying to get to the same level as them. It took me really not that long to get on the same level as them. It was like they were playing for eight years and I've just started. I'm just one year in. I wanted to get at their level so maybe I can push it further down and I just keep going, after one year it's like, "Oh, I'm getting really good at this."

Brock Richardson:
Love it. You talked about the recovery time and you talked about it at your first practice and you said this is hard. How have you managed the recovery time given your disability and how have you gotten better with I need to do this in order to recover and be at my best?

Anthony Létourneau:
You'd be surprised how much the human body is much more capable than we think. I was just tired and was like, I feel like I can move, but I still went to practice after the two days and I still hurt my shoulder to just going keep going because I really enjoy doing it and it's like I'm from hockey, so the locker room ambience and everything was the same in rugby. I just love it. So I keep going there and since I'm there, I'm going to push my chair and just keep pushing my chair. And so after a couple of weeks it's like, "Oh I'm fine after one day." And to another couple of weeks, "Oh, practice is starting to get easier, I should train more than just that practice." So I feel like it's just the human body's going to cover way faster than you think and you just can do way more than you think, I think.

Brock Richardson:
I love that you went to your first Paralympic games in Tokyo. Can you talk a little bit about that, what that experience was like for you? Were you kind of, eyes wide open? "Wow, this is the Paralympic Games." Can you speak to that a little bit?

Anthony Létourneau:
It was my first Paralympic game and was at the Covid Paralympic Games. So everything was restricted if you say so, but even with a lot of stuff restricted, it was just overwhelming. There was just so much stuff going on and I was just impressed and amazed at how the logistics went, how big it was, how much people they were. And I just feel like par I'm going to feel the same thing as Paris because it's going to be the first one. It's not restricted by Covid. I feel like even though it's my second Paralympics, I'm still going to learn from a lot from Paris and it's going to be a lot different in Paris.

Brock Richardson:
In your first games, you scored seven tries, so I learned. And can you talk about how challenging it is to score seven tries and a try for those out there is a score in wheelchair rugby, how difficult is that?

Anthony Létourneau:
I didn't even know why I score seven tries. We're not counting them when we're on the court. It's just maybe it's not that it's hard, it's like maybe this game I score seven tries. But sometimes my job is to do some spacing on top and I'm going to be open for the goal, but it's not because I'm better than anybody else. The place that we run make me open for the goal. So it's really a team effort because if I'm just taking the ball and trying to score seven tries by myself, I will not score that much. So I feel like it's just team effort that bring you to score that and we don't even realize how much we score. I'm pretty sure if you ask our best player in the team how much tries are scored and what it means to Zach if he scores like 20 or 40 tries in a game, it's like he probably wouldn't care either.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, no, I think as athletes we don't care about the stats, we talk about stats in media because that's what we do, but I think the end result is that did you win? What did you accomplish? And I think that's the biggest part about it. And the numbers don't necessarily matter. The question's going to be, did you do what you needed to do and get to where you needed to get to?

Anthony Létourneau:
I did what I needed to do mostly, but I still make couple of rookie mistake and I don't know if it was the pressure or if it was the overwhelming experience of the Tokyo, but I make some mistake that would class [inaudible 00:18:28] . I'm like not myself usually when I generally make those mistakes. So I was a bit disappointed in that. But aside of those small mistakes, I feel like I did play really well and I was getting the job done.

Brock Richardson:
As athletes, we have teammates that we learned to grow with and we learn to love. Sometimes they're like brothers and you argue and all those kinds of things. I know that your teammate, Shane Smith is going through some difficulties with health. Can you speak to what that's like and the brotherhood and how you can help Shane get through what he's going through at the moment, as a teammate?

Anthony Létourneau:
It was a hard thing to learn from everybody when we learned that he had some medical issue. But firstly I want to say that for now he's doing a bit better. So we're all glad and we have a, because we're not centralized, we are from all over Canada. Some of us in Vancouver, I'm in Montreal and he's from Toronto, so we have a group chat and we're just on top of the group chat and if you need anything else you can speak to us and we're just on top of the group chat and when we get together we are just on top of it too. So that's how we try to stay connected and stay as a family too.

Brock Richardson:
What does your team need to do to be where they want to be at the podium going into Paris 2024?

Anthony Létourneau:
That's what we're figuring right now because in Tokyo and past worlds, thing didn't go as planned for us. We didn't finish as we wanted and the world's one was a big slap in the face because we really feel like we had at least a podium team and with the deception, everything we... And because we have a bit of time, we could take the two, three months after off and now we are cracking down with the team meeting, trying to turn all the stones to leave none unturned, and just to really try to crack down on what's happening and what we can do to make it better. Because sadly we don't have an answer right now because I don't think it's a black-and-white answer. It's not. If it was that easy, we probably already figure it out and just do it. But it's just something we're trying to crack down right now too.

Brock Richardson:
It's easy for outside people to sit and say, "Let's do this, let's do that." And if you do this then you should get the results you need. As a former athlete, one of the things that I couldn't stand was when you get this whole thing of like, "Oh, this team should do this and then you don't do that." And everyone's like, but why didn't we get there? And I think people forget that there's an internal battle that goes on in your team and everyone's trying to do what they need to do. Can you speak to how important it is to shut off social media, not necessarily shut it off, to ignore social media when things aren't going the way that it should?

Anthony Létourneau:
Yeah, what you need first is all to be on the same page with your teammates. So whatever the social media is saying, you need to know and be on the same page as your teammate. And because when we've been practicing to do this thing for years together, it's a process and what we need when everything goes wrong is to trust the process. We need to go back to what we do for four years and trust the process. And that's how you do it. It's rely on what you've been practicing, what you've been perfect in for all those years and just like you say, shut in on social media, just give it away. You're not playing with social media on the court, you're playing with your teammate and even if your teammate does something, you just go with it.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, and it's true. What does a day today for you mean in doing this? Why is it important for you to be here today and do a bunch of interviews?

Anthony Létourneau:
Important to, I'm just trying to give back what the community gave back. So much sponsors gave us the chance to perform at the highest level, CPC helped us with finance and everything. So if I can give back a bit of my time to tell my story, maybe inspire some people here and there, I'm just happy to do it. I'm just more than happy to help.

Brock Richardson:
People look at wheelchair rugby and they say, man, there's a lot of impact and I don't know whether I want to get involved and maybe I do, maybe I don't. What would you say to the person that's listening to this interview and saying, should I, why should they push them over the edge?

Anthony Létourneau:
It makes a lot more noise that it actually hurts. So it's like a bumper cart, lot of noise, but you don't actually get hurt. And if you're playing at club level, people won't be usually as fast as me or as big as me. And if we know you're new, we going to take care of you too. But you see, while I started playing wheelchair rugby, I just become much more independent. I'm much stronger from my shoulder, everything. I start travelling alone now. Before starting sport, I said I will never be able to travel alone or do stuff alone. And now after doing sports, of course I can travel alone. Me and one of my buddy went to Korea just to person in wheelchair, just trolling in Korea and just having the time of their life. So I think if you start sports it's just going to get in better shape and if you're in better shape you can do more things in life.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, I've seen wheelchair rugby and I've been in places where there's games and the first thing I smell when I go in there is burning rubber. If I don't roll into the venue and smell burning rubber, does that mean that something's not going right? Is there a need for the burning rubber smell in wheelchair rugby for you guys to know where you're at?

Anthony Létourneau:
Even if you're not as competitive as you want, if you play sport, if even if it's not wheelchair rugby, if you do sport, I'm just going to be glad. I think sport is just important in general for your well-being. So I think it's just, do sport. It doesn't need to smell burning rubber. It doesn't mean to topple over. I did my rugby chair, but I think if you just play sports it's going to be life-changing for you.

Brock Richardson:
That was Anthony Létourneau and I sat down with him at the Canadian Paralympic Committee Summit and he's from Quebec. If you liked what you heard, please get ahold of us by voicemail. Here's how you can do it.

Speaker 1:
Hey, if you want to leave a message for the Neutral Zone, call now 1-866-509-FOUR 5 4 5. And don't forget to give us permission to use your message on the air. Let's get ready to leave a voicemail

Brock Richardson:
As we continue on in today's program. We always love getting feedback and we tell you how to get ahold of us on Twitter and then how to get ahold of us, us by voicemail. And this week we got some feedback from a Twitter listener. Cameron, can you give us the details of that feedback?

Cam Jenkins:
Yeah, absolutely. One of our valued listener, Claude Dextra had made some comments in regards to the episode that we did a couple of weeks ago, I think now about anxiety and in sports. And Claude had said that, "For me sports has always been a microcosm of many aspects of life and a safe place to encounter and learn from adversity, anxiety and sports maps directly to our real lives in many ways professionally and personally. Thanks for the frank discussions." So thanks very much Claude for your feedback, and for listening to us and for commenting on a very important topic in regard to anxiety in sports

Brock Richardson:
Here hear to that. And I echo those same sediments that Cameron gave. We appreciate it, Claude, and we hope that you continue to listen to our program. Sometimes you get into discussions and you just hope that they're going to go certain ways, and you hope that you're going to talk about teams moving forward and progressing in playoffs. And this back half of the program is going to be playoff related, but one of the topics will be the fact that the Toronto Raptors were eliminated by the Chicago Bowls 109- 103 in the nine versus 10 game in this play-in tournament that I really don't like, but I am seem to be in the minority of this in society because everyone likes more competitive games in the late season. I get all that.
Cameron, I do want to get your thoughts, but first I just want to give you two sort of statistics that stuck out to me and I want to know which of them means more to you in the Toronto Raptors and what ultimately took place in them getting eliminated. So the first one is this, the Toronto Raptor's biggest lead was 19 points at one point in the game and the Chicago Bulls had a lead of, wait for it, four points as their biggest lead. And the second statistic is that the Toronto Raptors missed 18 free throws. 10 of those were in the second half including Pascal Siakam missing two of three free throws in the last couple of minutes of the game. Which of those two statistics mean to you more that they lost because of them versus the other?

Cam Jenkins:
Oh, to me it's the free throws and that's why they lost the game. When you're in the playoffs or whatever you want to call what they were in the play-in game, you've got to make your free throws. And you could probably, half a dozen to a dozen areas where, oh, Siakam missed this shot or Fred Van Vleet missed this shot or just regular shots. But the free throws thanks to DeMar DeRozan's daughter, maybe that was a factor of her screaming and maybe that's why they missed a few more free throws than they should have. But when there's that many people in your barn in your arena, somebody squealing or screaming shouldn't bother you because there's what, 20,000, 30,000 fans in the, I was about to call it the ACC, it's no longer that it's Scotia Bank Arena like that. That shouldn't be a reason. But I thought that was an interesting side story that DeMar DeRozan's daughter was screaming. But yeah, it's missing the free throws because if you made some of those free throws, you would've won that game.

Brock Richardson:
For sure. And I mean even if you made half of those free throws, you still ultimately win the game by one or two points and you, you're off and running. To me, I was always taught in sports and I played Bocci for those of you that might be listening for the first time and in Bocci you are in your own playing area, you are in a box and nobody is touching you, contacting you are by yourself. And one of the things that I would get reminded of is that, don't get too stressed out because it's not like somebody's going to come after you and grab your bocci ball and throw it the other direction. And the same can be said about the free throws. I can understand the crowd, the banging sticks. I don't know if there's the actual term for those sticks. The thunder sticks.

Cam Jenkins:
Yeah, the thunder sticks,

Brock Richardson:
But I got... Bang sticks sounds better to me. But yeah, that's what we're going to go with on this edition.

Cam Jenkins:
This is the PG boom. Come on.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, fair enough. The thunders sticks, that's fine. You see them in every arena. And I not for a second do I believe that DeMar's daughter got had anything to do with it. I think it's an interesting side story. I wouldn't even call it interesting. It's just a side story that we all want to use and talk about and say, "Wow, this was part of it." Whatever, I don't agree, I'm not a fan, whatever. You missed your free throws and it's that simple to me in my opinion.

Cam Jenkins:
Oh absolutely. And like I said, you can take a look at the game. They were up 18 and yes, I know in basketball there's lots of runs and meaning that runs as far as getting 10 points in a row or 12 points in a row and then the other team does and back and forth it goes. But when you're up 18? 18 and you still lose? I don't know, that's just horrible. And I don't know if we're going to get into it later in the discussion, but there's going to be a lot of UFA's or people that are on contracts that are player options and the Raptors, they might be in a world of trouble come this offseason if they're not able to trade some of the players that are on those types of contracts and I don't know what the heck they're going to do. It's just a mess.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, I want to believe in Masai and I want to say that he's going to do this, but he and the organization are in a real corner with Fred Van Vleet.

Cam Jenkins:
I think he's one of the ones that has that type of contract where it's a player option, it's not a team option.

Brock Richardson:
And it's just like you could go going to be be a real discussion we have and over time we'll keep you updated. We're not going to get into the minutiae of each player today, but there is going to be that difficult decision and that's why Masai gets paid the big bucks and Bobby Webster because they've got to figure out the contract situation that they put the team in because at the end of it all, we do have to recognize that this is the decision that management put everybody in and said, "Wait, we're going to give you a player option and you make the decision." And right now, if I'm a player for the Toronto Raptors, I'm out. If I'm Fred Van Vleet, I'm out, I'm done. I'm moving on to someone that's going to be a championship team in a year or two. The Toronto Raptors are far, far away from being a...

Cam Jenkins:
I think t Trent Jr's another one that may have a player option. I could be incorrect about that, but I think there's two or three players that have that and they just... Why would a team go and do what they did in regards to trade for Poeltl, which I think he is a good player and that has helped improve the team. However, they should have a fire sale when they had the chance, a third trade deadline and they didn't. And now I think they're going to have a world of hurt because they aren't going to get as much for some of the players.

Brock Richardson:
But the hope with Jakob Poeltl was, "Oh, we're going to sign him long term..."

Cam Jenkins:
Oh, the great way hope.

Brock Richardson:
And I'm not sure that if I'm Jakob Poeltl, I'm wanting to sign here long term. So it will be very fascinating. I'm going to give you an option here. I'm going to ask you, do you want to talk Nick Nurse and some of the stuff that he said or do you want to get right into the NHL playoffs as we have three Canadian teams vowing for Lord Stanley's Cup?

Cam Jenkins:
You're giving me a choice. That's very nice of you.

Brock Richardson:
I know, isn't it?

Cam Jenkins:
It is. Well I think we're probably going to get into the Raptors off season probably in a later topic, probably within the next few weeks. And as the time of recording the NHL playoffs are starting tonight. So why don't we talk some NHL playoffs and maybe some matchups in what we think.

Brock Richardson:
Let's do that. Let's begin out west. There are three Canadian teams vowing for Lord Stanley Cup. If you've been living under a rock, here are your three Canadian teams, the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's start out West Winnipeg Jets versus Vegas Golden Knights. Thoughts from you on this series? What say one, Cam Jenkins?

Cam Jenkins:
Well, I think from last year they had the exact same series and Vegas came out on top and I think that this year they're going to have Mark Stone. So I think Vegas is going to pull it out, but I think it's going to go seven games because I think it's going to be a tight series and you never know with Hellebuyck, he's probably one of the best goalies in the league, at least top five and he can seal the game for you and possibly a series. So I think it's going to be tight, but I'm going to go not Winnipeg's way.

Brock Richardson:
Does it bother you that expansion teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Seattle Kraken, which we're not going to get into today, does it bother you that they're having as much success as they are because the design allegedly of these teams is that they're supposed to be bad for a number of years? Well, Vegas went to the Stanley Cup final in their first season and the Seattle Kraken in there for a season have made the playoffs. Does this bother you or do you like it?

Cam Jenkins:
No, it doesn't bother me at all. With the Kraken, they went in a different direction as far as how they built their team compared to the Vegas Golden Knights, Vegas Golden Knights, they got a lot of contracts. The GM at the time, it escapes me who that was

Brock Richardson:
George McPhee.

Cam Jenkins:
Thank you very much. With George McPhee, he was holding everybody hostage in regards to the players that people wanted to get rid of in order to be able to get draft picks. And when he did that, he's like, "Yeah, I'll take your overpriced 5 million player that's only scoring two goals a year, but I also want two first-round draft picks." Or whatever he did. And he was able to really build that team that way and also get really good players as well to be able, because he had so many first-round draft picks and draft picks overall he was really able to do a good job. Seattle Kraken didn't go that way. They didn't hold a lot of people hostage with the trades that they did make and they went the draft and development route. So yeah, it's two different ways. But if the Kraken, I really enjoyed that they made the playoffs this year to be quite honest with you because I feel that they're doing it the right way.
Air quotes for people listening to us and not on YouTube is what I just did there. So yeah, I think the Kraken are a good organization and I think they're drafting and developing the right way. And with Vegas, they've got a lot of unrestricted free agents too, but then when it didn't meet their cap expectations anymore, they just got rid of them. So Vegas, they ended up being a team where a lot of people were like, they're ruthless, they're only keeping you around for maybe one or two years and then they're going to just trade you for someone better, which I guess every team does that, but from what I heard, they were just a bit more ruthless than other teams. And Marc-André Fleury I think is one of those people right there that I'm specifically talking about because with Marc-André Fleury, he won the Vesna Trophy and then got traded. Who trades a Vesna Trophy winner? Come on.

Brock Richardson:
And that was the...

Cam Jenkins:
I know situation with Alan Walsh, his agent, and because was it runner? I forget who the other gold tender was, but that's where the other gold tender went in. And then Alan Walsh, he put like a sword through the back of Fleury or there was some picture of that and yeah, that was just a whole fiasco. So yeah, I don't know. I think players, they don't necessarily want to go to Vegas as much as they used to, and that's because they just kind of get rid of their players just like that and I think they're starting to get a bad reputation.

Brock Richardson:
And I think the novelty of Vegas may have sort of won worn off to of like, "Oh, we're in Vegas." But you're in Vegas to play. You're not in Vegas to do other Vegas things. And I think that novelty has worn off. Quick comments from me in regards to the Winnipeg Jets. Vegas Golden Knights, I'll tell you that they have Mark Scheifele, Nino Niederreite, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor, all of those things, all of those pieces that will help them. But the question is are they going to be consistent enough to beat the Vegas Golden Knights? And I am thinking not.
Another repeat matchup this year. If we look at the Canadian markups match ups as I speak English, Edmonton Oilers versus La Kings, for me Cameron, there's lots of talent up front here as well for the Edmonton Oilers, when you think of Connor McDavid all that, he's going to be hard to stop. There's no question about that. But for me it's goaltending that's really going to be the question here. And what are we going to get from goaltending? Are you going to get really good goaltending? Are you going to get really crappy goal-tending? It remains to be seen. What are your thoughts on this series?

Cam Jenkins:
Well, Skinner, he's been playing phenomenal for Edmonton all year and he took the job away from Jack Campbell who Leaf fans will know, and he's gotten paid $5 million for five years. So that's pretty expensive backup that they have right now, Edmonton. And if Skinner goes down, I don't have a lot of confidence in Jack Campbell, but on the other side of the center line, you have the LA Kings and I believe it's Korpisalo, that they have and since he's joined the team, I think he has over a nine 20 save percentage. So I think if Korpisalo can turn back the clock a bit and be a gold tender like he was in Columbus when he had that great run in the playoffs, I really think that the Kings can win and beat the Edmonton Oilers even if McDavid goes off because the defense in Edmonton is better ever since they got Ekholm. But I just don't trust the defense of the Edmonton Oilers and I think that I trust the defense in the gold tending of LA a lot more than I do of Edmonton.

Brock Richardson:
We got about four minutes left. I just wanted to ask you quickly about the Toronto Maple Leafs versus Tampa series, but then who's under more pressure? So let's start with the Tampa Bay Toronto series and then out of all the Canadian teams, who's under the most pressure, go on the series.

Cam Jenkins:
Go on the series. Wow. Okay, so Toronto, they loaded up at the deadline, the Lightning, they have a few players hurt. I don't know how much, but they have players hurt. And I was seeing on YouTube today, I forget which one I was watching, but if you look at the first game, the lineup that the Leafs had compared to this year, it is day and night and it's such a good team this year compared to last year. Last year you had Kase, you had Engvall on one of the lines, you had Simmons starting, the fourth line was horrible for the Leafs last year.
They had Simmons, they traded for a guy, I forget who was on there, but they got him at the deadline and oh, they had the guy... That was with the New York Islands, but it was also with the Leafs and he was kind of a tough guy and his name escapes me, but he was on the fourth line too. And if you look at the fourth line that the Leafs have now, if they don't go past this round, I don't know what to say and I think the Leafs will win it. And I said Leafs in five, so I'm going Leafs in five. And then, sorry Brock, I was so getting agitated with that. What was your second question?

Brock Richardson:
Who's under more pressure? Leafs, Oilers or...

Cam Jenkins:
Leafs.

Brock Richardson:
Oh, he is not even giving Winnipeg sniff at that. He's saying the Leafs are under the most pressure. I agree with you. The Leafs are under the most pressure. If they do not win, there is going to be some big changes. Here's the second question to this then. Is one series enough for people to keep their jobs? Because let's be real, if they win the one series, they're matching up against Boston who set records this season?

Cam Jenkins:
Record schmecord. If the Leafs pass the first round and if Boston gets through, they're going to beat Boston too, but they have to get past that first round. And if they do, and if Boston gets through, because I'm predicting Florida will win that series actually.

Brock Richardson:
Ooh.

Cam Jenkins:
But for Boston, if they do get to the second round and the Leafs, do I predict that the Leafs are going to win that series. So...

Brock Richardson:
How far do the Edmonton Oilers go? Do they get to the conference final?

Cam Jenkins:
Oh, Man.. A lot of people are talking for them to get all the way to the cup and I just said that LA's going to beat them. So I don't think they're going to make it to the cup final, like Minnesota Wild. You might think about them going to the Cup final to be quite honest with you. And then in the East, I guess I said Toronto's going to beat Boston if they meet. But if they don't meet, I think Boston's going to go all the way if they get past that first round. Boston and the Leafs don't get past Tampa Bay. I think Boston's going all the way to the Cup final. So I guess I'm saying Boston, Minnesota Wild.

Brock Richardson:
It's been 10 years since the team that has won the league has won the Stanley Cup, and I think this is going to be another one of those situations. I think if any team can do it can be Boston, but will remain to be seen. The NHL playoffs are the hardest ones to win. Playoffs in general are hard to win, so it's going to be a wild ride and they will have gotten going at the time of this recording and we'll be chatting with you guys as the time goes on with how this is going to be going. So enjoy them. That is the end of our show for this week. I'd like to thank Cam Jenkins, Jordan Steves. Our regular technical producer is Mark Affolo. Our podcast coordinator is Ryan Delehanty. Tune in next week because you just never know what happens when you enter the Neutral Zone. Be safe, be well.