"Good hustle out there, boys. Good hustle! Anyone seen my pancreas?"
A Plot: The Dog River hockey team, the River Dogs, are readying for their season opener and need to come up with a plan when their rivals, the Stonewood Saints, try to recruit goalie Brent to their team. In the end Brent stays with the team and, after some mid-game prodding, they agree to let Lacey be their coach.
B Plot: The Leroys' car is acting up more than usual, but Oscar claims he has a handle on it. That is, until his tinkering causes them to miss the big hockey game.
Tropes Referenced:
- Announcer Chatter: Brent loves the way Wanda describes things when she announces hockey.Brent: What is it you call a goal?
Wanda: Twine Tickler.
Brent: Offside?
Wanda: Premature.
Brent: Somebody gets elbowed in the mouth?
Wanda: Bender in the Beer Hole.
Brent: I make a huge save?
Wanda: That's never come up. - By "No", I Mean "Yes":Lacey: They don't want me to coach because I'm a woman? Oh come on, doesn't that strike you as being just a little bit sexist?
Brent: Well, not so much sexist as just... uh, yeah. Sexist is right, yeah. - The Cameo: TSN sportscasters Darren Dutchyshen and Jennifer Hedger play themselves in Brent's dream sequence at the end of the episode.
- Cue O'Clock: Oscar declares that it's "Shut-Up-O'Clock" when he proves Emma wrong by getting the car started.
- Comically Small Bribe: Brent's "compensation package" that the River Dogs put together to convince him to stay on the team consists of some unspecified coupons, a sandwich card that is 2 stamps away from a free sandwich, and a roll of "Police Line: Do Not Cross" tape.Davis: It's got a million uses.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The hockey team, the Dog River River Dogs.Lacey: You know, you are allowed to use other letters in the alphabet.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Oscar thinks the proper retaliation for Stonewood trying to recruit Brent is to burn down their hockey rink.Karen: That genuinely seems like an appropriate response to you?
- Down to the Last Play: Parodied. Stonewood is unable to score in the last seconds, causing the game to be a tie, which Dog River treats like a win anyway.
- Fictional Counterpart: The Pickerel Valley Hockey League that both the River Dogs and Saints are in is likely a stand-in for the real life Qu'Appelle Valley Hockey League, which has or has had teams from both Rouleau (where Corner Gas was filmed) and Tisdale (where series creator Brent Butt is from).
- Foreshadowing: In a Freeze-Frame Bonus moment, Oscar is reading the Howler and the headline reads "Local Resident Concerned About Mosquito Problem". In the Season 2 episode "Mosquito Time", mosquitoes terrorizing the town is a major plot point.
- Innocent Bigot: The hockey team is obviously sexist for not wanting Lacey to coach, but it is because a woman coaching would be new to them and therefore strange. They eventually come around mid-game and let her coach.
- Moral Guardians: Lacey jokes about this trope after Brent admits that the hockey team doesn't want her to coach because she's a woman.Lacey: Oh, this is ridiculous. I mean, is this okay, you and I walking out in public without being married? I'm not gonna get arrested for wearing pants, am I?
Brent: I doubt it. - My Grandma Can Do Better Than You:Wanda: Early into the second period and it's all Saints so far. Dogs are playing like my grandma. Only less physical.
- Percussive Maintenance: How Oscar "fixes" the car. Granted, he's not actually trying to fix it, he's just trying to look like he is so that Emma will get off his back.
- The Rival: "Rocket" Ronnie Raymore of the Stonewood Saints is one to Brent, being the only one who can score goals on him.
- Shout-Out: Lacey claims that she used to call herself "Xanadu", then defensively says it was a good movie.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: While calling the game, Wanda accidentally hits the buzzer sound while saying "Holy s—-!"
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Brent begs Wanda not to use "Who Let the Dogs Out" as the River Dogs' theme music. She changes it to the only other dog-related song she could find on such short notice... a recording of dogs barking to the tune of "Jingle Bells".
- Suddenly Shouting: Davis in the locker room:Hank: Huge crowd out there, boys.
Brent: What do ya figure?
Hank: It's gotta be close to 50.
Davis: Let's not disappoint them, boys. I HATE LOSING TO THIS TEAM! I hate losing in general, but, ESPECIALLY TO THIS TEAM! - Techno Babble: Oscar uses made-up automotive terms while trying to hide the fact that he didn't actually fix the car.Emma: Did you get the car fixed?
Oscar: Uh, yeah. There was a... air pocket in the, uh... flex inhibitor.
Emma: [clearly not buying it] Flex inhibitor?
Oscar: It's right between the, uh... hemiquads. - We Win, Because You Didn't: The River Dogs are absolutely terrible and lose every game, with their proudest moment being the one goal they got last season. When they manage to tie the Saints, it's such an achievement for them that they act like they just won the Stanley Cup.Ronnie: Celebrating a bit much for a tie, aren't we, boys?
Davis: [mockingly] You're just mad 'cause you didn't win!
Hank: Yeah, you poor tie-er!
Brent: Sleep well knowing you don't suck any less than we do!
[The River Dogs all point and laugh at the Saints]
