WHL Playoff Insights + Broncos Prospect Breakdown w/ Gino De Pauli

2 days ago

Join Couch Potato Diary for a detailed and thoughtful conversation with Gino De Pauli, the voice of the Swift Current Broncos, as we break down the team's 2024-25 WHL season and what lies ahead.

We explore NHL draft-eligible standouts like Peyton Kettles, a defensive workhorse, and Luke Mistlebacher, known for his lethal shot. Plus, insights on Grayson Burzinski and rookie Josh McGregor — all from someone who saw every game up close.

We also examine the 2025 WHL Playoff series between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen, including what's working for Lethbridge and surprises so far in the matchup.

Whether you're a scout, analyst, or WHL fan, this episode brings you inside the game with a sharp, no-hype lens.

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Transcript

00:00very pleased to be joined now by a friend of the program uh back for another go around he is uh

00:07gino depali play-by-play voice of the swift current broncos and all-around awesome dude

00:11uh also man who is part of the most listened to show in the history of couch potato diary so

00:17uh we're bringing the stars back for this one gino how's it going sir wait wait we have the

00:21most listened episode get out of here yeah no i know i um with all due respect surprised a little

00:27bit by it too because it just and it it happened a full year after like people listened the first

00:32time but a full year after everyone's just like hey let's hear this guy's thoughts on stuff so

00:35um not exactly sure how that worked but uh it was uh really big in india so um you know if you're

00:42we're huge there that's awesome there you go um let's get into uh some junior hockey talk that's

00:49what we got you on here for today gonna cover a lot of ground but uh let's start uh with the ground

00:52you're the most familiar with the swift current bronco season uh thank you to you i was able to

00:57to come on and do color commentary a couple times really liked the team um but uh i would imagine

01:01that the season ending a little bit earlier than a lot of people out there would like competitive

01:06conference that's going to happen but um before i just keep leading you in a bunch of different

01:10directions just your overall thoughts on how this season went with swift current well i think with

01:14swift it was an interesting season that starts with gerald manager chad leslie where uh you went for

01:21it last year you had connor geeky come in of course he's playing in the national hockey league with the

01:26with the tampa bay lightning so he's doing some good things there obviously but i think there's

01:31just a lot of 19 year olds what was the direction this team was going to go with the 20 year olds you

01:36had coming back and and chad leslie took a chance to kind of sort of not per se run it back again but

01:43try and get to the playoffs and make some noise some teams that were all in that same boat you look at

01:48the central and then the east with saskatoon and moose jaw last year who ended up being in that east final

01:53uh it was just kind of like you know what let's just see what we can do here and that's exactly

01:58what we did moose john saskatoon kind of pivoted saskatoon still made the playoffs but moose jaw

02:03uh sold and and sold in a very hard way and finished at dead last in the league but the credit to swift

02:10they they kind of stuck with it they found some gems that weren't drafted guys of their own that

02:14were listed prospects like luke misselbacher who ended up being with 93 points he's on an ato

02:19with the iowa wild still can enter the draft but you'd love to maybe sign a pro deal before that

02:24happens because you can it was an 05 and clark caswell had a great season you know what the

02:28seattle kraken pick was uh led the team in assists with 62 uh great captain uh lead by example type and

02:36there's just a really good supporting cast of like rylan gould uh brady bernie uh getting carlin

02:42de zane a calgary kid who you know i was playing prince george went a long run and

02:46when they had reed dick in net especially in the playoffs against madison hat he looked like the

02:51reed dick that got drafted by boston now he's going to be an ncaa guy going to colgate and

02:56he really found another gear in the playoffs so there was a lot of depth a lot of fun with this

03:00team and you know what it just didn't work out you ended up being a one versus eight uh the east

03:05division was kind of a crapshoot in the last seven games and uh certain things happened for a

03:10reason and then all of a sudden you're the eight seed against the well maybe the number one team in the

03:15country right now that is the mass and that tigers and gavin mckenna so uh you pushed them to five and

03:21it probably could have been a six spot maybe minus uh maybe a game for miscue with mental mistakes and

03:28overtime but uh you know what this that wasn't a one versus eight it just ended up being that way and

03:33you know it was an overall good season i think now chad has a chance to sort of pivot and we got the

03:40draft coming up and you also have the expansion draft for the new penticton v's organization that'll be

03:44coming from the bchl to the dub and they get that pick first so there is a protected list what that

03:51process is i don't know but there is nhl-esque moves to it where i'll give you this guy if you don't take

03:58this guy but we're going to give you something else in the sweetener so oh no good season lastly um for

04:04them uh that building only holds 2890 people there was not a single game not even a lowly tuesday night

04:12in october where there was not more than two or there was more than 2 000 fans per game so it was

04:16an excellent showing by the community yeah it's a city that is very passionate about that that hockey

04:22team and um it does seem like they were rewarded with a pretty good season and it was tough because

04:27like you look at the team and watching them with you and you know online and all those things as well

04:33it was a good hockey team but then it just kind of felt like they kind of got caught up or maybe not

04:38even caught up but just kind of um almost a victim of an arms race in that conference where just

04:44it's like at the around the trade deadline did they dip their toe in a little bit and then calgary

04:47is acquiring everyone and medicine hats making big moves and they have a prospect in the world for

04:53for next year and gavin mckenna too and all those different things it just felt like um they were

04:56okay let's just see what happens and other teams were like trade trade trade first round pick never

05:00heard of her and just making all these big moves and it it felt like it was like let's see how far

05:05this can go while all these other teams are really loading up well and i think uh the broncos kind of

05:10become the bank next year too right a little bit with what they have for really good prospects that

05:15are oh five so they have elite 20 year olds that are coming their way and um you know it's i don't

05:21know what the direction is going to completely be and if i knew anything i wouldn't be able to disclose

05:25that to anybody with where which the organization that i work for from basically september to now

05:31and beyond so uh i i think you just hold a lot of opportunity the 07 group is led by gavin

05:39mckenna for that birth year but there's a lot of 07s and 08s that are really good and now you're kind

05:43of working for that next cycle of junior for an 07 and 08 and now look out oh nines are coming in as

05:5016 year olds next year so that makes me extremely sad with uh when we saw travis moans a kid

05:57play for the broncos this year and yeah i remember moan playing in the nhl when i was a kid so it's

06:04come full circle but you're in that next slot of 07 to 09 with your 05s being overagers and 06s are

06:11going to be the 19 year olds so you're going to have like the berkeley cats the caden lindstroms

06:16you've got clark caswell but the 06 is maybe not the age strength of the broncos right now and they'll

06:22have to do again another slight pivot and again the east i think next year the eastern conference

06:28is gonna be wide open at the end of the day you only need to beat three teams you only need to beat

06:32three and i think the broncos can do that and if they have to do a pivot they will if they don't

06:37want to then chad les is going to do what he ever darn well feels like so i'm looking forward to it

06:43yeah um the the whole age thing like uh i still actively play mvp baseball 2005 and the fact that

06:50it would be an overager now in in junior hockey um hurts my soul a little bit um and it happens to

06:55like calling some of the hn live stuff and silent ice tv out here and it's like yeah you're doing a

07:002012 and under thing it's like well that hurts my soul quite a bit i i could yes we're bordering on i

07:07could be grandparent at this point um given different biological things but um you kind of uh already

07:13answered it for me but looking at next year for the the broncos uh because like you said like they did

07:17have or do have quite a few talented players who are either aging out or getting into that that

07:22overage category but there is still a bit of a younger-ish foundation there that you can be

07:26excited about um it does kind of seem like whatever direction they want to go there's at least somewhat

07:32of a base there that they can kind of build around yeah the 07s it starts with peyton kennels for me

07:37as a really stay-at-home defenseman that you know i i wasn't sure if he'd make the u18 team or not i'm

07:44not sure if that's happening yet uh we'll wait for announcements some of the invites have been

07:49announced for team canada but uh he's going he's ranked uh 26 among north american skaters if i'm

07:55not mistaken and as a defender he kind of reminds me if he's going to make some money he's got to be

08:00big and tough and glassing out i kind of look at an erica branson type sort of shut down and now

08:06maybe peyton doesn't agree with me and that's fine but you've got those 07s like josh mcgregor was a

08:12sign prospect because he had some ncw aspirations he's on the players to watch list and you look at

08:18sawyer dingman as an 08 yeah big strong gonna be like his dad that just scares people one day

08:25and also dax and yurex as an 08 um you know they brought in some really good guys travis or sorry

08:32not travis carter moen is an 09 will have his first full season it'll be a fun young group to watch and

08:37guys like callum brownlee of manitoba uh another 09 and you look you've got aiden sexsmith from

08:44calgary uh jay nalescu out of bc they're all 08s they're kind of coming up at the same time and

08:51trying to run it back i think this is a big year for chemistry for this team and what they might have

08:55as forwards they've signed a lot of late picks that maybe weren't coming before because of the old

09:01ncaa rules and now they're going to come play in the western league so i think chad found a bunch

09:06of steals again as a gm and now just got to try and formulate and put it together and you've got

09:11some veterans like rylan gould grayson brzezinski and joey roja connor dale had one hell of a playoff

09:16for the broncos being a hero and one and almost being a hero again so there's pieces to figure out

09:23what you want to be or you could start here and you might not end where you want to be but you're

09:28going to have your answers by december of next year of where this team is going yeah it's um i think

09:36it's going to be very very fascinating you bring up the ncaa thing a couple of times now and i mean

09:40that could be a podcast episode a podcast series um on its own obviously um how you view that that

09:46partnership i think uh falls very firmly into uh which league you follow um but i do think that it

09:53is it's interesting to see like okay what are maybe not unintended side effects but what are some of the

09:58different ways we can use this and chatting with lauren kelly last week about some flames prospects

10:01and they're like okay well they're probably going to age out of the ontario hockey league

10:05um but they now have this extra thing that isn't the ahl um i think that's an interesting way and

10:11like you said it provides maybe a few more signing opportunities for some teams as well so i've been

10:15fascinated to see all the different all the different outcomes that have come with this new

10:19partnership that we only ever really dreamed of a decade ago yeah and i think the western league

10:25uh got it and sort of made your junior guys and now you're you're kind of tearing hockey for the

10:29first time in a long time in canada yet the western league has always been the number one league i've

10:34never not said that but there was guys that hey you didn't want to go there that's their choice like a

10:40like a holloway a mccarr and uh bernard docker and man i could go down the list like jonathan taves

10:46who knows if he does what he way back in the day because you remember he was a draft pick but never

10:51touched the ice and maybe with austin matthews too but you look at it and you extend runway for older

10:59guys and unsigned guys to go like carlin de zane for the broncos as an example uh was never drafted

11:05signed by the by the tigers the mesonet tigers then traded to prince george traded to swift current

11:12now going to the yukon huskies that sounds like a pretty cool payoff for yourself and i and you you

11:18get to bet on yourself a little bit more and i know you know it's going to kind of pull talents to

11:25certain spots and and now junior a is going to probably be known as tier two unfortunately i

11:30know being from the other side of that spectrum that that's kind of that that's hurtful but

11:35just the way the agreements have you might be a farm system you might be a really good farm system one

11:39day and you still might have a really good idea of where you're going to be like if you're i don't

11:44know say affiliated with like you're drafted by oh let's just say lethbridge so maybe you're

11:51going to be based out of uh i don't tape well not taber they don't have a rink but just maybe

11:57best event or something like that or even for teams like let's in saskatchewan like estevan or

12:03wayburn to moose jaw or something where you can kind of be close by kind of like an ahl team and you

12:09do it that way some teams won't like that but hey it is what it is olds could be the feeder to

12:15red deer i don't know i'm not even suggesting that's what's going to happen because it may not and

12:19ncaa guys are still going to go to junior a because that's where their size or their skill

12:23set needs to be and they'll take that longer time so but again now you're opening up the u.s market a

12:29little bit more to bring u.s players in that you draft but you know they they want to play for the

12:33development team which is still a really big thing for a lot of american-born players or guys want to

12:39go to north dakota but you know hey you could still go to north dakota but why don't you play here

12:43first and if they really like you you're gonna be a really good hockey player and you can be

12:47convinced to go play at the ralph anglestad when you're 21 or 22 instead of at 18 where if you're

12:55a true freshman college hockey is an absolutely beast of an animal where the structure and there's

13:01not a whole lot of scoring at times i know the ncaa final had western michigan winning 6-2 but

13:06that rarely happens yeah in the frozen four so there's so many angles and guys want to play and

13:13it doesn't matter where you go i know there was the desirability of not going to certain cities and

13:17i know markets that you know what they lost out on a lot of times but a lot of good markets did too

13:22uh kale mccarr was listed and drafted by mass and hat didn't play a game went to umass so but he was

13:28drafted by mess and hat so now i don't think you'll see that as much and you know it'll just be another

13:34way of you know recouping the best talent that's why you're seeing expansion teams like penticton

13:40and potentially chilewack i know they've been announced but i don't think there's a full ownership

13:43group and now you got to kind of spread out the conference a little bit again and does the east

13:48get a couple more teams where the rink's gonna go but that is another podcast for another day

13:52yeah it's i mean with hockey in this country it's a never-ending cycle and i mean you've been to

13:58a lot of the same tournaments i've been to and stuff like that and obviously you've done

14:01um a lot of work in the alberta junior hockey league with uh with the okotoks oilers and

14:06everything like that and just my my whole thought and again we don't have to go down the road too

14:10deep but there's there's a lot of very talented hockey players around and some of them just because

14:14of a numbers game don't get an opportunity and i just feel like maybe it doesn't lead to well this

14:19kid's gonna be sydney crosby one day but it's just more opportunities to play this sport for people

14:23the better and the longer you get those opportunities i think better as well and so i think this one just

14:28gives more opportunities and maybe a couple of teams and a couple of leagues have to

14:31pivot what they're looking for but ultimately i think it is a very good thing for a lot of the

14:36players involved um looking i'm apparently very choked up about it though um looking at the uh the

14:42draft eligible players here for the swift current broncos you mentioned the ones um kind of mentioned

14:47in the uh the midterm rankings from nhl central scouting you kind of touched on peyton kettles

14:51there before but just like an absolute minutes eater for the swift current broncos you kind of gave a

14:57bit of a scouting report on him before and what he would need to be successful what did you see

15:01from him this year and what would an nhl team be getting if they they drafted a peyton kettles

15:05they're getting a guy who's a really good stick it sounds really weird to say it but because

15:11you know peyton still has not grown into his body yet and he's six foot i think he's six four six five

15:18right now he's the only kid on the team that can stare me in the eye and it's it's kind of crazy how

15:24much more ceiling he has to go when he develops he probably he was playing with hunter mayo in the

15:29playoffs i think they were racking up 30 minutes a game against mad hat and that was tough

15:33assignments against mcana weisblatt writer richie all drafted and one maybe on a potential nhl deal

15:40one day in weisblatt for the tigers and they were trying to shut them down they kind of did it at the

15:44end of that series the last couple games kind of kept them in check but they still were able to score

15:49but uh he seems if he makes a mistake his backpedaling he's not the most fleet of foot skater

15:56right now but again that stick just yoink that it's always it's incredible to watch him just

16:02put out fires really fast and again he is a you know pk1 defender uh you know what yeah like

16:11gabranson's one like it sounds weird but a hell gill he really reminds me of just like a hell gill type

16:17where it's defense first and if he could develop his shot great but you you could really start

16:24there with just how big strong uh he can he can shed he can throw him uh he didn't as much in the

16:31second half because i think you needed him to stay healthy in the lineup he wasn't injury prone but

16:35had a couple injuries due to fighting so what do you do when you get hurt all the time you fight you

16:39stop doing it uh but again still tough uh he's going to be mean next year he just has to get to

16:44get meaner and stronger and again fill into that body that he has because you know he's a top 10 pick

16:51in the western league for a reason and this i think the sky's the limit where he can go and how

16:56he wants to go about his business it's the kind of team that wants him is going to be interesting like

17:00is i don't know if he's going to be going to a high flying offensive team at the time he's going to

17:04have a team with structure you you look at maybe some like a carolina approach is kind of one i know

17:10they have some really good skaters but you you can't teach huge you can't teach big so everybody wants

17:17one like that and that would be the big that's the big one for me coming out of the draft is pain

17:21yeah yeah that size um as was said by a dude who ended up not being that great of a guy uh you can't

17:27teach that um yes but uh no i mean it it doesn't seem like the sexy thing like you're not growing up

17:34playing ball hockey thinking about how great you're shutting down the top line um but then you look and

17:39oh hey that guy's a millionaire and has played for uh seven to ten years in the national hockey league

17:44um like it's it is not glamorous but it is also a required trait and and one that can be

17:49not rewarded as well as a 60 goal scorer but one that you can make a living off of that for a really

17:54long time well you can you can feed families you know what you don't have to make 20 that but you

17:59don't have to make 20 million a year or 13 i don't know i know the the cap everything's going to go

18:04up and peyton if he does it right it's going to make a lot of money uh being a defender so that's

18:09where you see that the rest of the group it's going to be interesting because they're all

18:1205s except for josh mcgregor so i i think if somebody takes a flyer on it i know uh the two

18:19manitoba kids people actually all three of them actually actually all four of them are from the

18:23province of manitoba uh i think for sure i look at a guy like brzezinski as an 05 had a career year

18:30winnipeg kid i would love to see the winnipeg jets draft him just for his sake because he loves the

18:35jets and you want kids like that in winnipeg i think and i think that'd be the same for anybody

18:40gets drafted but a winnipeg or going to winnipeg i think is extra special um yeah i do want to get

18:46into to misselbacher here too a little bit like a play-by-play guy's dream because he has a missile

18:51of a shot and his name is misselbacher so it just it works there um you mentioned that the birth

18:56certificate makes it maybe a bit of a unique situation but um he is at least someone that

19:00i think can play at um at least one next level and there does seem to be some uh certainly pro ready

19:06traits uh to steal some scouting terms what did you see from him uh this season missile was an

19:12interesting player i think he has a great snapshot wrist shot style that can make him elite he does

19:18have hands he does have boots it's just more getting it together on maybe a more consistent basis

19:26and okay seeing that motor going he can fly with the best so if he can get going uh get engaged and

19:33you know be be an absolute menace like he's got some of the best hands in the league

19:37at times yeah you look at some of the goals he's scored especially in three on three overtime which

19:42i know is a really bad sample to set but those you just look back at any game against the moose jaw

19:47warriors or the medicine at tigers this year and you'll see what kind of player luke misselbacher is

19:51because he just ran rough shot in the regular season against those clubs and he just he just has

19:57he's a gamer and i don't think he truly understands how good he is yet and i think that's just something

20:04that when you're a signed pick no one you know what you're coming from the other side and nobody

20:09wanted you a few years ago but you're still playing in a league and career year with 42 goals and 93

20:15points uh the last guy to death for the broncos was was connor geeky the year before and uh a 40 goal

20:21score the first time since josh film and then uh new jersey devils pick who he played with and is

20:26another you know shocker all three of the guys i just said they're also from the province of

20:30manitoba so there's a lot of manitoba it's the manitoba mafia and swift current so um i you know

20:37this guy it i think luke controls his destiny where he wants to go and how high he wants to go or

20:43somebody takes a flyer on him that's kind of the thing i've noticed with drafts is um you're looking

20:48okay do i need to burn burn a pick on a player or can i wait and invite him to a development camp and

20:55keep that relationship going then i can maybe sign him later see how he does and maybe he goes to

21:00college and or gets into a pro spot and then you can still keep that runway going a little bit for

21:06luke so right i see the the shot and you can be a gamer he could be the game changer at any given

21:12moment yeah like the the two closest viewings i had were out here in calgary and obviously those games

21:17the ice was kind of tilted a little bit at times with how the hitmen were playing but he just had that

21:21shot where um everything would be down in the the broncos end for a while and then he would rush

21:27back with it and the pot like if you want a definition of the puck jumps off of his stick

21:30it's that one and he just he has a shot that can just change a game in an instant and that is

21:35so difficult to find now in the nhl like i call it like in basketball scoring from distance to to be

21:41able to to have that kind of weapon you're right if you can again if you can kind of piece all of those

21:45things together there there certainly seems like there's something there uh with that kid um a couple

21:49other ones uh grayson brzynski and josh mcgregor uh brzynski it's funny um that they're if you

21:55average them out they have an average amount of experience with the swift current broncos uh

21:58brzynski with swift current for a while mcgregor taking the scenic route to to get to swift current

22:03with this being his rookie season uh just give me a couple thoughts on these two guys

22:07uh brzynski is kind of like a a no fuss about it kind of offensive driving defenseman uh kind of

22:16he would be if you were to kind of put him in an nhl spot like you know a high like a high second

22:21pair with some offensive flash but still again over six feet tall and he's able to compete that way i

22:28think he can make a good first pass out of his own zone and that's also a skill you you can teach but

22:34you have to develop it over time so i think that's a guy that's smoother like not flashy but you know

22:40kind of stealth under the radar and i think for josh mcgregor's intelligence is what makes him

22:45special it's just that he can read plays but he's still working with the junior game sometimes his

22:50thoughts are faster than his body even though his body is also extremely fast and that's just going

22:56to take some more maturation for him that you're going to try and see he has the tools i could saw

23:01it a little bit the playoffs and down the stretch in the regular season where he's playing a little

23:05bit more and the shots will come but i think just a full year under his belt it was a great year for

23:10the broncos in that aspect that they had the vets and the right rookies with a mcfall or uh burzin

23:17or sorry um dax and yurex or also josh mcgregor that that got some serious time in and i think you're

23:24just going to add to that pile when you you get into next season but those guys will take a step but

23:29i i don't it won't shock me that those two won't have a camp invite somewhere um let's shift gears now

23:36um after the bronco season came to an end uh your commentary did not as you uh worked some color

23:41commentary with the the lethbridge hurricanes for their matchup with the calgary hitmen and again i

23:46remember watching this hitmen team following them down the stretch it's like i just i don't know

23:50how you consistently beat this team and lethbridge is like well we've done it twice now um has anything

23:56caught you off guard from from what you've seen from the first two games of that series

23:59i mean jackson unger has been a legend in the first two games a a calgary kid shutting out

24:06the hitmen in game one and nothing was getting past him i don't think it was just how he played

24:12and i saw this with moose john i didn't get to see him too much with lethbridge because we had played

24:15all our games with lethbridge except on jan 10 and it was just a back and forth game but jackson unger

24:21gives his team a chance to come back at any time so uh and you know what they've been in front of

24:28them the whole time they've never trailed in this series yet and they've won the special teams battle

24:33uh throughout and their defense has just been a hair better on the back end for lethbridge you

24:39look at caden price who's a another kraken pick uh voitek port a underrated anaheim ducks pick was

24:47one of those key defensive components for moose jaw last year when they won the whole shebang

24:51and then you just noah chadwick who's their captain of leafs pick uh logan mccutcheon and then we also

24:59saw grady pochette play extremely well okotoke's kids so i definitely have to give some props to that

25:03and then all of a sudden oh right uh brayden jaeger plays on this team who team canada um i i've

25:11haven't i would like to see brayden take his game to the next level but he doesn't play a bad game it's

25:16just you'd like him to maybe be that game breaker but lethbridge's system is so sturdy uh it doesn't

25:22matter if it was uh you know brent kissio or uh now with bill peters at the wheel they have a system

25:30that they put in and whether you like it or not it's successful for them and they don't shear away

25:36from it and they broke the hitman in that first game calgary really got back to what made them

25:42successful throughout the season in game two they dominated lethbridge at times but they couldn't

25:47solve jackson under at all until literally three minutes left in regulation time so it took a long

25:53period of time to finally solve him and then boom the next shift uh cooper gizowski two game winning

25:58goals in this series already so uh just clutch moments for lethbridge they just they're not scared

26:04and they don't play scared and they're going to get heavier and meaner all the time and that's

26:10something that calgary just has to kind of overcome uh you know i haven't seen the best from carter

26:14yakom chuck in this series or maybe even caleb parker the forwards and veterans and gold they've

26:20checked every box lethbridge has won all it's it's a narrow margin when you go to game two but you know

26:25when you go from a long sort of um sample of data that's what you have is what lethbridge has been

26:31able to do for basically 120 minutes hold the calgary hitman to one goal yeah that's wild to think

26:38about when you see the scoring depth of the calgary team um i was going to ask well what does calgary

26:43need to need to do to play better and i guess that the answer or to get back into the series and i

26:47guess that the overall answer is just kind of be better at hockey like to just play maybe a little

26:51bit better is that kind of it or are there a couple of not not saying that they're bad at it but just

26:55like kind of get back to what they've been doing is there something specific that you've seen

26:58that they need to to do as this series heads a little bit further south here in alberta

27:02i mean i'm not sure i think it's just you kind of got goalied for two games like i look at their

27:08third period in game one was really good they were down they were down three nothing at that point so

27:13that's a hard comeback in junior to do two is easy three is hard and but even in game in game two

27:20they outshot and outplayed lethbridge in that first period 11-5 but lethbridge never bent they never gave

27:25up a goal like hunger was terrific and the third period again calgary kind of came out swinging and

27:31again jackson hunger just happened to be right there ben kindle i think played a really good

27:36game he ends up with the goal and that's not why he played a great game and said but you know what

27:41didn't see i haven't seen oliver talk at his highest so maybe there's some underlying injuries there

27:46uh daniel hauser did not play in game two um and andrews miller who came in relief was incredible and i

27:53would guess that miller is going to start game three because we see that hauser is hurt again it all goes

28:00through there but maybe you found something with with anders miller and that's something that brad

28:03curl and i talked about i said is miller the real deal i said well he hasn't ever really played

28:07horrible this season for the hitman and he's a draft eligible uh goaltender this year so i could

28:14definitely see a flyer on that one as well for whoever would like to take a chance on him he was

28:19an ncaa commit and then when the rules change boom ends up in calgary so it works out really well for

28:26him in his favor and yeah i i if you're calgary you're just you're hoping eventually what you've

28:32been doing right which they have done a lot of things right just finally outweighs what lethbridge

28:37has been able to do right it's gonna be very hard in the end max or sorry at the visit lethbridge.com

28:42arena for the next two games and if they could get on a crowd that's going to be rousious it'll be

28:486 000 plus that building has always been loud even when it's been so-called you know not a very good

28:54night in in lethbridge so lethbridge has a really good chance here i think you take two and you're

29:00either going to see this go back and calgary runs it back a pair and then we go back to what we were

29:04going to see or else you know lethbridge will just run over them yeah it's going to be very

29:09interesting and like you said i mean at playoff time we see this a ton where uh okay we're pretty

29:13happy with how we played in that game um but now we can only lose one more time or a season's over

29:17um it's quite a bit of pressure and then you add like you said electric atmosphere in lethbridge

29:21and it's 18 19 and 20 year olds playing some of the biggest games of their lives it's it's what

29:26makes this chaos so much fun um and i i'm looking forward to seeing how it all kind of plays out

29:32uh gino this has been a blast man like i said you are a beautiful human being uh enjoy the off season

29:36even though it did come a little bit quicker than you would like hopefully i get to see you at the

29:40ballpark um out in okotoks a time or five this season but uh thank you for for everything you've

29:45done for me uh congrats on a i would say successful first year in the province of saskatchewan and

29:50uh looking forward to chatting again my pleasure pk anytime thank you

29:54you

WHL Playoff Insights + Broncos Prospect Breakdown w/ Gino De Pauli

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