Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

PITB on the Radio: The Toronto Raptors and what the NHL can learn from the NBA

Friday Round Table on Sportsnet 650 with Scott Rintoul, Brendan Batchelor, Jeff Hamilton, and Daniel Wagner
PITB on the Radio

PITB on the Radio shares select audio from Daniel Wagner’s appearances on local sports talk radio. The audio won’t be as enjoyable to listen to as Return to Cookie Mountain, but you still might like it.


For the first time, I was asked to appear on Sportsnet 650 in studio, joining Scott Rintoul on the Friday Round Table. While Andrew Walker couldn't make it, the ever-capable Brendan Batchelor, voice of the Vancouver Canucks, stepped in. The fourth member of the Round Table was Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press, the beat reporter for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, in town for Saturday's CFL season opener between the Bombers and the BC Lions.

We covered a lot of ground during the two-hour segment, starting with the NBA Finals and the Toronto Raptors, discussing the impact of their championship across Canada. We also touched on Kawhi Leonard — whether he's likely to return to the Raptors and whether his experience in Toronto will encourage free agents to want to come to Canada — and discussed the difficult questions Doris Burke asked Leonard and Kyle Lowry immediately after they won the NBA championship.

From there we moved on to the Stanley Cup Final: how it was viewed by fans in Vancouver, comparing the entertainment value between the NBA and NHL, and what the NHL can learn from the NBA. What it comes down to, as Rintoul says, "What do we want?" What do we want from hockey and the playoffs? Do we want more goals, more offence, which would require consistent officiating, or do we want the change in the game between the regular season and the playoffs, where physicality and toughness plays a larger role, at the expense of speed and skill?

Then we get into the CFL. The BC Lions have become an afterthought in Vancouver: how can they become cool again? How do they get fans in the door so they can fall in love with the game?

All that and more, including a little discussion on sportsmanship. It was a fun discussion and I hope you enjoy it as well. Click below to listen.

PITB on the Radio: Friday Round Table - June 14, 2019