Four Nations Face Off & This Day in Sports History (Hour 4)

It is the JR Sportbrief show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you are absolutely amazing.

I'll be hanging out with you for one more hour. This show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can listen on the free Odyssey app. You can tune in on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM375. You got a smart speaker, ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network.

Man, we've had some fun here, huh? We talked about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his contract. Toronto Blue Jays said, uh, we're not gonna pay you right now.

They couldn't come to terms on an agreement. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. says he will not negotiate throughout the course of the season. He will be a free agent at the end of the year. Whether the Blue Jays trade him or not. We talked about Netflix looking to get into some more NFL action.

I guess that means your Netflix subscription will go up in a few years. We heard from Cam Ward. This man hasn't even been drafted into the NFL yet. And he's telling everybody, hey, if you don't draft me, you got to face me the rest of my career. Well, damn, he's creating a vendetta against people and he hasn't even thrown a pass yet. We talked about Reggie Miller going to NBC. I don't want to hear that crap.

And then we talked about Victor Webb and Yama. Is he the future of the NBA? Can he be the future face of the NBA? And Stephen A. Smith says, no, says the NBA is an American league. We can't have a guy from outside of America be in the face of the league. And I go, I go, that's crap. That is a, that's a hot load of garbage.

Come on, man. Face of American baseball is a Japanese guy named Shohei Ohtani. When you think about another international sport in soccer or football, players come from all over the world. The best talent for the most part, they play in Europe. Nobody cares where they're from. Nobody cares. Unless in some cases, some of the, some of the fan bases can be racist and tell me about it.

But outside of that, man, these people do not care where the best football has come from. As long as they are out there and they're competing, we have so much more to get into. The rest of the show, the rest of this hour, of course, at the end, we'll discuss a few things that took place this day in sports history.

How about this? In 20 minutes, we're going to have a chat. We're going to talk about some hockey. Sean McKendoo is going to join us.

Covers all things NHL for the athletic. That'll be a fun conversation. Yeah, we're going to talk about the four nations, how the NHL has done their all star break. And Sean McKendoo is going to be here with us in 20 minutes.

That'll be fun. We have more callers here on the line. And then ironically, as we have a conversation about international players, can an international player be the face of the NBA? It's been reported about 20 minutes ago via Chris Haynes that Shay Gilgus Alexander, who is an NBA MVP front runner playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He's from Canada. This man has decided to part ways with his agency. This man has decided to represent himself in future negotiations for his contract. He's in the midst right now of a five year, one hundred and eighty million dollar deal paying him about thirty five million dollars. Wait until that next contract in a few years. Shay Gilgus Alexander is going to break the bank. And I'm not mad at him if you don't want to go out there. He doesn't want to go out there and pay a commission at all. Let's get to some more of your calls. And it's ironic.

How about this? We got Nick Calistolano from the Phillies. He's like, man, I don't need no agent. We have Lamar Jackson, who famously declined an agent when it was time for his contract negotiations.

He was lambasted. Still ended up with one of the best contracts in the NFL at 50 million dollars a year. We got NFL players, NBA players not happy with their deals. And maybe they don't want to pay the three and four percent. The agents don't make as much money as you think. They got to have a lot of contracts on the books.

And typically that's why there's only a few agents, power agents and everybody else is hustling for scraps. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Glenn is calling from Niagara Falls. You're on the J.R. Sportbree show.

Go ahead, Glenn. How are you doing, J.R.? I'm excellent. How are you? I'm doing great. I got a couple of friends with me.

I'm an Uber driver, so I warn them that I might have the famous J.R. pick up. So anyways, I just want to comment about the Blue Jays. And you know what? I'm not an Atkins fan and I've been disappointed by these guys. Ready to hear, guys?

You know, and so anyways, in terms of them picking up or the contract. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. Oh, that's nice. Did they give you a tip? Make sure they tip. They're the nicest people ever. They're from London, Ontario. And I'm embarrassed that I couldn't figure out how to hang out, but they're good people. Thank you, guys.

Anyway, another awesome brother. So this is what I think. I'm not an Atkins fan at all, and Shapiro, but Vlady has been kind of up and down. And he's not Juan Soto. That's for sure. I mean, he's a great player. But don't players usually tend to play their best when they're playing for a contract. So for them, I mean, I don't think we're going to go to the World Series, although we have a lot of older pitches, pictures.

So if we are going to do anything, now's the time. So let Vlady play his best and play himself into a contract either with us or with someone else. So I don't blame them at this point for not signing him.

You know what I mean? Like, well, they could have let him earn his money. They could have.

They could have. I don't necessarily think he's been on an up and down. I think in his first two years ago. Well, yes.

Yes, two years ago. But all things considered, the guy plays every game. He was an MVP conversation the year after the pandemic. The guy had another great season. He just cranked out 30 home runs, 100 RBIs. Like, I'm not outside of his weight in saying, my God, he's going to balloon back to being fat as he gets older. I don't I don't have that concern. I think he's still.

Go ahead. I don't I don't think I don't have a problem with his weight. I mean, he was in grandma's cooking a little too much.

His grandma used to cook from all the time. But, you know, that's not the problem. I mean, even last year, he started out really slow. He didn't get going.

And then when he got going, he did get going. But again, I'm not trying to knock him. He's a great player. But for him, if he is coming to the table, like you said, asking for seven hundred million, I'm not paying him that. I don't think I don't think he's asking for that because nobody's going to pay that. I didn't think Juan Soto would get what he got either. And he did, didn't he?

No. Well, Juan Soto, the numbers have been bandied about. They have continued to escalate since he continued to turn down deal after deal from a Washington who tried to elongate the contract. Spread out the money.

Four hundred forty. They did the same. Well, Glenn, listen, I said the money continued to escalate over the course of years. It started and it started in Washington. It continued in San Diego. The New York Yankees traded for the guy. They knew that the New York Mets were going to be there.

The price continued to go up. And when you have Shohei Ohtani who can say, hey, I pitch and I hit pay me 35 for each part of my arm, then it started to become a little bit more natural. So to expect, you know, that Soto would get almost eight hundred million dollars.

Yes, it's nutty. But I don't think given his age and where he's at and his weight, I don't think he'd be asking for seven. I'd be shocked as hell on that.

But we're going to find out we're going to find out we're going to find out at the end of the year what other teams find his value to be and whether or not the Blue Jays even want to trade him in the summertime. We'll see. All right, brother. Listen, I love listening to you all the time while I'm driving.

I know all of the Uber drivers and taxi drivers, truck drivers. Well, listen, man, you do a great job. And I just want to say that I disagree. And that's when I don't believe the Blue Jays are doing the wrong thing at this particular point in time.

We'll see how much they got to pay him or not. Hey, Glenn, thank you. Call me any time. OK. All right. You are certainly well.

Thanks, brother. Drive safe. Shout outs to Glenn driving around and cold as snowy Niagara Falls. Shout outs to all my drivers out there. Uber, Lyft, FedEx, UPS, Amazon. If you drive and transport and people and if you're in the back of an Uber, if the driver's good to them, if your driver sucks. Well.

I'm sorry, there's nothing else I could do in that regard. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Yeah, it's it's a wild space right now when it comes down to contracts, because everybody sees the money that's getting bandied about, thrown around. I told someone in a private conversation earlier today and I think most of us know and understand this. Unless the world goes completely in the toilet, which is a little bit of a possibility, unless the sports world as a result also goes into the toilet as the contracts continue to rise. How much longer is it going to be? Are we talking five, ten or so years before we have an athlete making one hundred million dollars? You think about all these collective bargaining agreements between Major League Baseball and MLB PA NBA, NFL, NFLPA. I think the NFL might be a little slower, maybe not. We're going to have a guy making one hundred million dollars a year.

It's easy and it's crazy. I just told you a few minutes ago the news came down the pipe that Shea Gilgas Alexander for the Oklahoma City Thunder's leading the NBA in scoring right now at about thirty three points a game. He's going to represent himself in contract negotiations going forward.

Kind of crazy earlier today. Nick Castellanos for the Philadelphia Phillies. This man was sitting at his locker.

I want you to hear this. He was sitting at his locker today. He's showing up for training camp. He just gave Scott Boris the boot. Yes, Scott Boris could be the agent for Juan Soto making seven hundred and sixty five million dollars. But Nick Castellanos was sitting down in his chair and he was asked, hey, why did you get rid of Boris? And he's just like, man, I'm old enough to represent myself. I don't need this guy.

Listen to this. Why did you decide to represent yourself? You were with Scott Boris before.

What went into that decision? I think that just now I probably would want the opportunity to say like I'm not not ever going to be represented again. You know, it's not like I'm against having an agent. I just think that where it was with Scott, I was at a point where I just wanted the opportunity to speak for myself.

You know, I have no malice towards the Boris organization at all. I texted him congrats when that Soto contract came out. He's very good at what he does.

But I think that as far as now, if anything pertains to my career, I'd rather just have that conversation with, you know, my employer. Now all of a sudden everybody wants to just go out there and and do the work. It's like what I need Scott Boris for. I mean, we heard the story even today.

Pretty hilarious. Steve Cohen of the New York Mets, he's the owner. Peter Lonzo just got a contract. Steve was like, man, we couldn't come to an agreement. I said, why don't all of us sit down instead of me just having a conversation with his agent? How about we have Peter Lonzo be a part of the conversation to let's just do a meeting where we can all be a part of it. And Steve Cohen pretty much said that Boris sat in the meeting and didn't say a word.

Imagine this. He's been a great man for a long time. He's a fan favorite. And I thought there was a real opportunity to sit down with him and kind of hash it out. And so David and I flew down to Tampa, had a great conversation over a few hours. And frankly, Pete did all the talking. I mean, Scott Boris was there and Scott didn't say a freaking word the whole time. And it was like I turned to my goal. I just want to make sure your pulse is, you know, you're still breathing over there.

OK, because that's not easy, by the way. Yeah, that was like I was surprised. Yeah, well, who needs an eight? Well, Scott Boris, come on. He's kind of getting kind of old.

You think about some of these deals as players have tried to get over the past few years, they've been shorter deals with opt outs, three year deal, opt out after two, opt out after three. And Scott Boris doesn't need to work. Well, let's just be clear.

I know he has Boris Corp and represented everybody from Alex Rodriguez to Juan Soto. Not everything lasts forever. I think he may have to had his time. Might be done. Let's get to another call before we get to Sean McIndoo from the athletic. Yeah, we're going to talk some NHL. Joseph is calling from Kentucky. You're on the JR Sportbreeze show.

What's up, Joseph? Hey, JR, thanks for taking my call. Quick shout out to Lamar for setting a trend for those individuals trying to create contracts on behalf of themselves. My call was about what the NHL, the NBA means to our nation. Now, if you look at what the Major League Baseball has done throughout its history, it allowed those individuals internationally to come into play. They set the trend coming from racism across the board. But when you spoke of an individual like Gwen Binyama becoming the face of the NBA, it's not going to happen.

Not in this nation. These individuals, they grow up, they play basketball, they want to be the face. So my concern would be, could the NBA reach out, go overseas, and then make this an international game collectively? Not just the NBA, because if you want these players to be resounding heroes in this nation, it ain't going to be, go ahead, I'm listening. I'm confused. The first part of what you said, and we don't got a lot of time to get into it.

We may have to have this conversation tomorrow. I don't think Victor, I don't think Victor Binyama, who grew up in France outside of Paris, said, I need to be the face of the NBA. I think Victor Binyama grew up with parents who both played basketball and said, I want to play at the highest level of basketball that is the NBA, and I want to compete to win a championship. I think there's a difference between that and wanting to be the face of a league. In the NBA, he may naturally be the face of the league, but your statement was, why would Stephen A. say that he cannot be the face of the league? No, I didn't ask why Stephen A. said anything. I said what he said is stupid, because I think in its purest and simplest way, trying to look for justification for what he believes is a waste of my time, because I think at the end of the day, people appreciate and they respect talent.

And if you have the talent, if you have the temperament and you work hard and people can make mistakes along the way, but if you have one and two, people respect you. There's a reason why Shohei Ohtani is the most popular player in the United States of America. I truly feel that the NBA needs to do something different. We've all watched the weekend.

We've all understood the results. I truly believe that going forward, if you want this game to expand, it's got to be a truly international game. Well, Joseph, I got to stop you and then I have to go ahead and get to our guests. So please feel free to call back tomorrow.

Thank you for calling from Kentucky. The NBA, the game is international. That's it. The NBA can't go ahead and decide to take and snatch up, you know, the EuroLeague. The NBA has had discussions there. The NBA has grown the game into being international. The game is still a domestic league in the United States of America, no different than the EuroLeague is a collection of teams that play in Europe amongst their domestic leagues.

The NBA has grown ridiculously over the past 30 to 40 years, which is why we have talent like we do with the Victor Wibanyamas, with the Jokiches because of their exposure. It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We are going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk some NHL.

Sean McIndoe is going to join us from the athletic. It's the J.R. Sport Brief Show, the Infinity Sports Network. You are listening to the J.R. Sport Brief. The only thing that calls, you made me laugh my ass off. I nearly collapsed on the floor with laughter. Call him now at 855-212-4227.

It is the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. There's so many conversations about what the NBA has done, what they haven't done in regards to the All-Star break. It looks like the NHL certainly has gotten it right over the past week, especially with their four nations face off.

We got to wait until Thursday when we see Canada take on the United States of America to talk about how the NHL got to this point, what we can expect on Thursday, who may play, who may not play, and all things going on in the world of the NHL. Joining us right now was someone who covers the league for the athletic. Sean McIndoe is joining us. Sean, thank you for the time. Hey, right on. Thanks for having me.

No doubt about it. So we've taken a lot of calls that people have bashed the NBA and have elevated the NHL. How did they get to this point of saying, you know what, let's take some of the best ranked countries and actually have them play a tournament over the course of the week?

What led them to this point? I got to tell you, as a hockey fan, it is very funny to watch the league getting all these flowers because they had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing this. The NHL for years and years, their midseason thing has been an All-Star game, the All-Star weekend, the skills competition, everything like that, very similar to the NBA. And like the NBA, it stinks because nobody wants to be there.

Nobody's trying. It doesn't look like hockey. So meanwhile, fans have been begging for some form of what we in the hockey world call best on best, which basically just means international. We're not talking about the world championships that happens every March where a lot of players can't be there because their teams are still in the NHL playoffs. We're not talking about the world juniors where it's the kids playing.

We're talking about Conor McDavid, Austin Matthews, Sidney Crosby, go down the list, all the best players who are available being able to face each other. The NHL used to do this fairly often. There used to be something called the Canada Cup. It eventually became the World Cup.

The NHL started going to the Olympics. For a while there, every couple of years, you were having a best on best tournament. It was great.

We loved it. And then 2016 was the last one. So we're talking almost a decade where the NHL just did not get around to putting something like this together. Like I say, the fans were begging for it. The fans are saying, please, we will sacrifice the All-Star game.

Give us something good in the middle of the season or before or after, whenever you want to do it. They finally did. We weren't completely sure how well it would work. It's exceeded everyone's expectations. And now the NHL look like geniuses for doing what they probably should have been doing for years and years by now.

Sean McIndoe is joining us, courtesy of the athletic. When we think about the finale that we're going to have between Canada and the United States, certainly a lot of current beef. If you look outside of the world of hockey right now, what can we expect in this matchup on Thursday, especially given some of the injuries that the USA is facing right now? Yeah, I mean, I'll start with what I would not expect, which is I don't think you're going to see quite the level of fireworks that you saw on Saturday. Obviously, everybody saw the clip, three fights in the first nine seconds of the game, both the Kachuk brothers, the crowd in Montreal booing the anthem and then just going absolutely crazy for all of the scraps. I don't think you will see something like that here, partly because it isn't the Canadian crowd that the Americans are going to be responding to. This game's in Boston now, so it's going to flip the script a little bit that way.

And there's just too much on the line. That game on Saturday was important, but this game is a winner-take-all. So I don't think you're going to see anyone showing up saying, hey, I'm going to drop the gloves right off the bat, maybe get myself out of the game for five minutes or even longer than that, depending on how the referees feel about it. I think what you're going to see is a real good hockey game, two fairly evenly matched teams, some injury question marks, maybe more so on the US side, and then ultimately what it could come down to is so often does in hockey is goaltending. And if that's what it comes down to, that's very, very good news for the Americans because they got the best in the world, and Canada very much does not. So if it comes down to that, if it's a low scoring, who's going to make the biggest save?

Then that's really good news for Team USA. If it's a more high-scoring offensive game, that's when the Connor McDavid and the Crosby's and the Nathan McKinnon's on Team Canada will have a chance to go and make their mark on this championship game. Well, Sean, you talk about injuries. Can you explain this Quinn Hughes situation to us? He was hurt, he wasn't available, now he might play.

What's really going on? This is a fantastic subplot because Quinn Hughes, if people don't know, is one of, if not the very best defensemen in the league. He won the Norris Trophy last year as the best defensemen in the NHL. He's American, and he was expected to be a huge part of this team. But he's been hurt leading up to the tournament, and eventually in the days before there was a bunch of will he, won't he drama, will he be available?

And he said, you know what? No, I can't go. I'm not healthy enough. I owe it to my team, the Vancouver Canucks, to be healthy for the playoffs. I can't go and play this four-game tournament.

I'm just not ready yet. Which is very unfortunate, but it happens. That happens to every team in this sort of thing when you're doing it halfway through a season. Some guys are going to be hurt. Well, Team Canada, in their very first game, they have one of their defensemen get hurt. So they go to the organizers of the tournament and they say, we want to bring somebody in, somebody to be ready in case we lose another guy.

And eventually there's a lot of back and forth, and they go on over the rules with a fine tooth comb, trying to figure out if they're allowed to do it. Eventually Canada gets a thumbs up. Okay, you guys can bring in a new defenseman.

They do. He ends up playing. Everyone's happy on the Team Canada side. Well, what happens in this most recent game Monday night? Team USA loses Charlie McAvoy, another star defenseman. Now they're down a guy. Now they're saying, hey, we want to bring a guy in.

Okay, everyone's waiting around. Who's it going to be? Who will be the guy that Team USA would reach out to? And as you say, it's Quinn Hughes, the guy who was too injured a week ago.

He is now looking at it saying, you know what? I wasn't healthy enough to play four games a week ago, but a week later, could I play one game winner take all? Yeah, I probably could. Now we don't know if he's going to be there or not because Team USA still has six defensemen. And the rule is they would have to lose one more, but Quinn Hughes is a really good defense man. And if he is available and he can, they can get him to Boston, I would not be surprised if one of the existing six defensemen comes down with a cold or stubs their toe or something like that. And they're out of the lineup and Quinn Hughes is in.

And if so, that would be huge for America. Yeah, we got all the drama. The final is going to be on Thursday, the Canada Team USA on ESPN. We're being joined by Sean McIndoe, covers all things NHL all across North America for the athletic. When we think about the action that's going to restart on Saturday, what can people anticipate as we move closer towards June in the Stanley Cup? Yeah, it's I mean, the first thing to anticipate is it's going to be a real adjustment going back to regular mid-season NHL action, which is, you know, usually the hockey is viewed as a really intense sport and you know, all of this and it usually is. But compared to what we've seen for the last week, it's going to feel like a letdown. But the playoff races are very tight, especially at the Eastern Conference. Almost every team is still in it. We got the trade deadline coming up in a few weeks.

Typically, you don't see the sort of massive deals that you saw in the NBA a few weeks ago, but usually a lot of action, usually a lot of the buyers and sellers kind of separate themselves. That'll be the big focus. That's the first week of March. And then after that, it gets down to the playoff race. And once we get in the playoffs, we've learned over the years in the NHL, 16 teams make it, 16 teams don't.

Of the 16 that do, sometimes it just feels like, you know what, mix it all up again, forget about the season, forget about who finished where. And it's a sprint for the Stanley Cup for two more months after that. And it's the best time of year most years to be a hockey fan. You could argue that maybe the last week has been the best time of this year to be a hockey fan, but the playoffs will be something to look forward to and the intensity will go way up again.

And we'll see a lot of these same players button heads again. Well, Sean, should we expect for the Panthers to go ahead and try their best to hold on to that championship and grab it again? Yeah, I mean, they are a team that has, they've been good this year. They have not been as good as they have been in recent years. And you're never quite sure as a hockey fan is that because, you know, maybe some of the weaknesses are showing and maybe, you know, the teams start to figure them out. Or is this just a case of a team that's been on some long playoff run thing?

Hey, man, we don't need to have our foot on the gas pedal the whole way. We can just kind of take it easy. We're going to make the playoffs and then off they go. And obviously, Patrick Ochoa is the big star there. He's been the big name in this tournament, the big hero and or villain, depending on which side of the border you're on.

And I'm sure he'd love to keep sucking up some of that attention in the Stanley Cup playoffs. A lot of good teams in the East. It's going to be a tough road for Florida, but don't count them out. They've done it two years in a row now. They've gone to the final, including winning last year.

So until somebody could knock them out, they should maybe be the favorite. Sean McIndoe is joining us, covers hockey for the athletic. I got to ask you about something I feel is real close to my heart.

I like a lot of people. I grew up watching The Great One and I know records are made to be broken. Couple of years ago, we saw LeBron become the NBA's all time leading scorer. Alex Ovechkin is knocking at the door of Wayne Gretzky to have the most career goals of all time. Is this something that's going to stretch into the beginning of next season or Ken Ovechkin? I don't know.

Knock down another. What does he need, another 15 or 20? He's getting pretty close to the teens. If you look at the numbers and you say, what's he on pace for? He's not on pace to make it this year.

It would stretch into next year. A big reason for that is that he was hurt earlier in the year, which is something that's almost never happened in his career. But he hurt his leg and he ended up missing a few weeks. If he doesn't get there this year, that'll probably be the reason.

But you know what? You can't count him out. He can get hot. Certainly, the Washington Capitals are a very, very good team this year, surprisingly good team. But they know what the deal is. They are trying to get the puck to him every chance they get.

And if he gets close, this is the guy that in previous seasons, if he's getting close to 50 goals or 60 goals or some milestone, bet on him to get there. He's just got that sense of the moment. And you know what? All the other best players in the world are out there. The banging and crashing for the last week or so beat themselves up.

And meanwhile, Rush is not there. Alexander Ovechkin's had a week and a half off. He can get healthy, get rested up, get ready for the stretch run and take a run at some history that we never, ever thought we'd see anyone get close to. And it may happen, if not this year, early next season, sure looks like.

Well, we'll see what happens the rest of this season for him. We'll see what happens the rest of the season for everybody come June in the Stanley Cup Finals. How many years has the NHL committed to this Four Nations face-off? The Four Nations face-off itself is a one-time deal. And this was sort of to bridge the gap from what used to be the World Cup and then get them back to the Olympics. They haven't gone to the Olympics the last few, partly due to COVID, partly due to some other reasons. But they have made the commitment that they're going to go to the Winter Olympics next year. And they have made a commitment that they're going to bring the World Cup back as a mid-season event in 2028. So the Four Nations, we probably won't see again under this name. But basically, the Four Nations right now is just a slightly stripped-down version of the World Cup.

That is coming back. And like I say, it's all about best on best hockey. We're going to get plenty of it over the next few years because we've got this tournament right now with the championship game on Thursday. We've got the Olympics next year. And then we'll be back in North America for a World Cup in 2028. And then in theory, every two years after that, Olympics, World Cup, back and forth. Now, we'll see. The NHL found a way to screw it up before. Maybe they will again.

But seeing as the reaction is to this tournament, I wouldn't be surprised if they stick with it this time. Well, Sean, thank you for coming through to break everything down, what we got in front of us this week between USA and Canada, what we can expect the rest of the season, what we can look out for for the next few years. I appreciate the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work with the athletic? You can find me at the athletic?

Yeah, absolutely. That's where you can find my written work. It's where you find my podcast. I'm hopping on tomorrow morning, actually, with my buddy Sean Gentile and former NHLer Frankie Corrado. We're going to break all of it down a lot like we just did and maybe even make a few picks. Hey, Sean, thank you so much. We'll catch you on down the line. Enjoy all of the hockey, OK? I will. Thanks.

Thank you so much. That's Sean McIndoe joining us courtesy of the athletic to talk about some NHL. Yeah, if you wanted to see how things can actually be competitive, make sure you tune in. The finale four nations between Canada and the United States of America.

It goes down in Boston this upcoming Thursday on ESPN. It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Phone lines open if you want to give me a holler before we roll out eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Of course, on the other side of the break, we're going to take a look at a few things that have taken place this day in sports history.

We'll do that before we get out of here. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief. J.R., you always be saying keeping it moving. So I'm gonna let you know something you're not aware of, man. The energy you bring to your show, bro. You always sound like you're ready to return a kick, man.

Is there any truth to that? Well, listen, I'm quite the athlete. I could bust some ass out here. J.R. wants to hear from you.

Call him now at eight five five two one two four two two seven. It is the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, what a fun show. Thank you to Sean McIndoe for joining us. Covers all things NHL for the athletic.

It came by to break down what we'll see on Thursday, the four nation final finale between the USA and Canada. It's going to take place in Boston. Not a bad place to be, right? Want to be a patriot? Want to support?

If you're up in New England, I suggest you go on by. Thank you again to Sean McIndoe for coming through. It's not often that we dive deep into hockey, but I appreciate an expert like Sean to come through and break it all down for us.

Thank you to everybody who has called up throughout the course of the show. We've discussed a lot. We have talked about Vladimir Guerrero Junior. Pretty hilarious. Stood in front of the media today, said that they didn't come to terms with a new contract.

And he gave us a word that is universally understood. He said no when asked whether or not he was close to a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. We'll see what happens with him. We talked about Kim Ward, who said that any team that does not select him in the upcoming NFL draft, they're making they're making a mistake and they're going to have to see him throughout the course of his career.

Which, let me remind you, his career hasn't even started yet at all. So we've had a busy show. I can't wait to be back with you tomorrow to talk about. Well, I'll give you a top six list. We'll see tomorrow what it is. But before we do that, this is that time of the show.

Well, I'll do this in a second. We'll talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. But before we get there, I want to tell you about something that came out not too long ago. You know, we talked about Jimmy Butler accepting that trade to the Golden State Warriors and then accepting the one hundred and twenty one million dollars that comes along with it. Kevin Durant actually spoke to the NBA today and he said the reason why he didn't accept the trade back to Golden State is because he didn't want to move.

It's as simple as that. He just wanted to see things through in Phoenix. He did not want to move midway through the season. He wants to see what the Phoenix Suns can do. I don't think they're going to do a lot based on the talent that they have on the team or the lack of talent or the diminished skills of Bradley Beal.

And so I'm sure we'll talk more about this tomorrow. In addition to the fact that Kevin Durant also said he understands that the Suns, well, they looked to move him when they couldn't move on from Bradley Beal. He says, hey, you got to ask the front office about that.

I never planned on leaving. I didn't ask for trade from Phoenix. But obviously when you pay so much for a team and we're not playing up to our expectations, somebody has to go.

There you go. Kevin Durant making some sense, not fighting with fans on Twitter. It's that time of the show. It's time to take a look at a few things that took place this day in sports history. Back in the days when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore.

But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again. It's time for this day in sports history. You see, back in those days we had radio and you couldn't see anything.

And it was primitive and lousy and we liked it. On the J.R. Sport Brief Show.

I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass. It is the J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Today is February 18th. The year is twenty twenty five.

But if we go back to nineteen ninety five, I wouldn't mind it to be nice. John Stockton became the first player in NBA history to record ten thousand assists. The Utah Jazz, they went out there and beat the Boston Celtics, a final score of one or eight to ninety eight. And what a shock.

What a surprise. John Stockton's ten thousandth assist. It goes to no one other than, you guessed it, Carl Malone.

I want you to take a listen to this courtesy of the NBA. Stockton left side underneath the crowd without putting up. Ten thousand assists for John Stockton.

The bucket counts and a foul and a play charge there to the Celtics. That's Carl Malone, the first player in NBA history or rather to getting the pass from John Stockton, who becomes the first player in NBA history to reach ten thousand assists. And I guess like rightfully so it goes to Carl Malone.

We worried about that. We were wondering about that at the beginning of the basketball game. Would it be Carl Malone that would get the ten thousand assists just like it was when he broke the record? Of course, it was going to be Carl Malone. Pick and roll all day.

Pick and roll all damn day. That was nineteen ninety five. Since then, we've had six other individuals who have surpassed ten thousand assists. Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson, Steve Nash, LeBron James is fourth on the list and climbing. Jason Kidd, Chris Paul is second all time and assists.

Twelve thousand three hundred and fourteen, three hundred and sixteen. John Stockton, number one, fifteen thousand eight hundred and six assists. I know Chris Paul is still playing. I know he's going to want to continue playing. I don't think he's going to catch John Stockton.

This may be the only reason why he's playing outside of a championship, which I don't see CP3 getting unless he's carrying Victor Wabunyama's bags. Hey, this day in sports history, not a good thing. Also, February 18th, 2001, Dale Earnhardt, senior, passed away at Daytona. You might recall it was a final lap. He had that crash.

He was forty nine years old. We know Dale Earnhardt, Jr., one of the most beloved figures in racing, even now, still after racing post retirement. He was on Graham Bessinger's show and he talked about being able to accept going back to that track.

Listen to Dale Jr. I had a couple of decisions to make. I could sit there and go, I don't ever want to come back here again. I don't ever want to be near this place again. This is where he died.

Screw this. Keep me as far away from this freaking track as possible. Or, you know, I could embrace it and go, this is where he died. This is a special place. This is now a place that brings me closer to him. You know, when I stand in this spot on the racetrack, I feel closer to my daddy. This is where he lost his life. Breathed his last breath right here. And so that's what I decided to do because I knew I was going to keep racing and I knew I was going to have to keep coming back to that track.

And I couldn't let that be a miserable experience every time I went. Hey, look, give him credit. He won Daytona in 2004. He won it again in 2014. He didn't let the fact that his dad passed away at the track slow him down. Rest in peace to Dale Sr. and much love to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who I've had on the J.R. Sport Brief and I've met him and interviewed him multiple times. Always a pleasure having a chat with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He's certainly a cool dude. You can understand why people love him just all across sports, period. Anyway, those are a few things that took place this day in sports history.

We have talked about a lot. Cam Ward, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Victor Wenbanyama. Man, you could say that this show is about athletes in the future.

Cam Ward hasn't played a game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., despite his daddy's famous name, this guy's still a youngster in the game trying to get his money. And just a real interesting conversation about Victor Wenbanyama and whether or not he could be the face of the NBA. I've never heard and I've heard Stephen A. Smith say a lot of crazy things that that might be one of the wildest takes. And that was pretty civil of one.

International player can't be the face of an American basketball league. OK. All right. Whatever works. If you've missed a minute or second of the show, you can go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. You can catch me tomorrow back at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 Pacific.

You can find me online everywhere at J.R. Sportbrief. Hey, Nick, thank you so much for coming through. I heard Hickey is sick, right? That's what I heard. So I hope you're feeling better. Does he need to lick a toad or something like that?

I don't know. OK, I'll pass that on to him. Lick a toad and see if you'll feel better. We'll be back tomorrow 6 p.m. Eastern 3 Pacific. Like I said, I'm at J.R. Sportbrief everywhere. Wherever you are, please be safe. Be well. Be cool. Be smooth. The J.R. Sportbrief show on the Infinity Sports Network is done. But don't go anywhere. Don't move. Bart Winkler is coming up next. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Nick.