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Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Sports, Strategy, and Standouts with David Pivnick of McGuireWoods LLP 10-30-25
00:19:14
In this episode, David Pivnick, Partner at McGuireWoods LLP, joins Scott Becker to cover the World Series, the resurgence of the Chicago Blackhawks, and early NBA season insights.
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- [00:00]
A
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Private Equity and the Becker Business Podcast. It's been a remarkable month of downloads and we're very thankful to our audience for that and to our great guest. Today's discussion is with a brilliant lawyer, David Pivnick, who's valedictorian from his law school class. One of the beauties of David is he's extremely bright, broad range of subjects. So we often have discussions with him about sports and other things versus truly business subjects. So if you're not interested in that type of stuff, sports and so forth, you probably should have listened very further. If you want to hear a little bit about the World Series, which has been an incredible water series so far, or a little bit about hockey, which it's been. The Chicago Blackhawks are off to a terrific start, as is their now third year star, Connor Bedard. We'll be talking about those things, so, so join us if you'd like. We understand if you're so business centric and don't want to listen today, we get it. But many of us are broader than that and have a broader palette than just business. So that's today's subject. David. Blue Jays versus Dodgers. People expected the Dodgers with their almost $400 million payroll. Shohei Ohtani and more to roll right past the the Toronto Blue Jays, no people don't know, is David, in addition to being brilliant and number one is local class and a brilliant partner at McGuire woods, he's also a Canadian and what that means, he's an expert on all things Toronto Blue Jays, the Royal Mounties as well as about hockey. So we ask him about those subjects. David, what's happening in this World Series? What, where do you see from here?
- [01:47]
B
Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity. Chat Scott, and always happy to talk baseball. Blue Jays at hockey. I mean, look, first of all, great World Series so far. I mean I, I think you're spot on that. Almost every expert, not all, but almost every expert thought the Dodgers were going to just walk all over the Blue Jays. And I, I remain very cautiously optimistic that the Jays are going to win it. But even, even if they don't, it's clearly been a very closely competitive series. You know, the Jays have absolutely thumped the Dodgers twice. I, I had the pleasure of being there on in game one when they did it. I also had the less pleasant experience of being there when Yamamoto shut the Jays down in game two. And game three was obviously an all time painful game if you're a Blue Jays fan from the fact that lasted six and a half hours and was 18 innings of torture while the Jays didn't score a run, compounded by the fact that they also managed to be in a situation where we pulled five of our regulars from the batting order and we're left with a very weak and diminished batting order for nine innings. But it's just been fascinating to watch. Shohei Ohtani is clearly far and away the best player in the world, maybe the best player ever. And what he's doing is insane. I mean, he's just an unbelievably talented player. But. But the Jays as a whole team are getting contributions up and down the lineup. Not, not much from the bench, but up and down the starting lineup. They've gotten some hits from just about everybody. The defense has been very good and the pitching has been good enough. So I think there's reason for optimism. And I think if you're a fan of baseball in general, I don't think it gets much better than this World Series. Two good teams that are both generally likable, playing really high level baseball.
- [03:41]
A
No, it's fascinating to watch into. The Lakers stand to be great for years to come. Or is there potential softness there? I mean, they've spent a crazy amount of money and they've got this great starting rotation. They've got some great hitters as well. What could make them? I mean, because what happens is, and I don't mean to be a schadenfreude type person, but when a team is spending 400 million a year on their payroll, I think it's 394 million, I can't help but cheer against them. What is it? Are we stuck with the Dodgers being great for years to come or can there be some, some problems, some challenges there?
- [04:16]
B
Yeah, I mean, look, I think the short answer is they're going to be very good for years to come. I think your point on shot at Friday is also legitimate. And ultimately cheering against the team with the highest payroll in baseball is a perfectly rational response to how they've approached team building. But you know, Ohtani is the best player in the game and is going to be there for the foreseeable future. They've got other superstars or guys who are close to it like Freeman and Betts, who will be there for several years to come and are signed long term, particularly bets this case very long term. Those guys haven't played at their historic levels this year, but are still elite and guys like Will Smith are very good and the rotation is just dominant and every one of their starters is signed for several years to come. Plus they've got Roki Sasaki pitching out of the bullpen right now, who will be a good starter for them likely in the future as well when Kershaw retires. So it's a deep and talented team, and where they have gaps, they're going to spend money to fill those gaps. So, short of injuries or just a bunch of guys having to get down here at the wrong time, I think the Dodgers are going to be good for the foreseeable future.
- [05:32]
A
No, that. That Freeman has become just. He seems to show up in the big games, doesn't he? I mean, he seems to always come through in big, big moments.
- [05:41]
B
That's what you get when you have a Canadian baseball player. Just great work ethic. And they show up in the big moments.
- [05:47]
A
I did not realize he's Canadian. He actually. It's so funny you say that. He seems so smart and so talented. I had no idea that he was Canadian as well. That is. That is shockingly interesting. Who knew?
- [06:01]
B
Yeah, I think he was raised in the States primarily, so maybe that explains your kind words for him. But he actually plays baseball for Team Canada, and as a result of that, him and TE Oscar Hernandez were the only two Dodgers that got a very warm welcome up in Toronto in Games 1 and 2 last week because they. Oscar was a beloved Jay for several years and ready cream in place for Canada.
- [06:25]
A
So fascinating. No, thank you. Lisa got a nice, nice welcome in it. So it holds true that the Canadians are still very, very nice people. Talk to us a little bit about hockey because both with the Chicago Blackhawks, they are just playing much better hockey. They've had two games where they have had eight goals and seven goals. They've got a better than.500 record in all these rankings where they're always ranked perpetually as a 31st or 32nd team. People are now putting them more in the 20s someplace. Talk about the improvement you're seeing there. Is the coach. Is it Spencer Knight? Is it Connor Bedard working on his skating in his speed? Is it Frank Nasser? Why are things suddenly going right in Chicago in terms of hockey?
- [07:10]
B
That's a great lead in. And you nailed the main reason. I mean, first of all, things are going right. It's a great time to be a Blackhawks fan. Unfortunately, I don't think the city has gotten the memo yet. Now I'm. I'm guilty of that as well, because I have season tickets that gave up my tickets last night so that I can watch the Blue Jays and then was thrilled with The Jays win and mildly disappointed that I missed Betsy's first hat trick because I wish I had been there for that. But I can't be in multiple places at once. But you know, they only had 15,000 fans yesterday, so I think the fan support is lagging behind. But I think the team itself has a real bright future and I think the future is starting to arrive now. I think Jeff Blasshill not the coach I wanted, candidly. I wanted to hire away the University of Denver's coach in Colorado. I think that he has built a wagon. Blasio had a rough tenure his first go round as an NHL head coach in Detroit, but he seems to have resonated with the players. He's got the work at heart in practice. They're not taking any shifts off. They're a lot more combative on the ice. They're finishing every play and they compete every game. And I think the head coach deserves a ton of credit for that. I think Spencer Knight, the second guy you mentioned that was going to be the first place I started. You know, this is a guy who was the best number one goalie prospect in the world for years and it just didn't really come together for him in Florida in large part I think because he was always a backup because Bobrovsky's great. But Spencer Knight is just unbelievable in his own right and he's got a top five goals against average in the top five save percentage this year in the NHL and he's doing that behind the defense that is kindly developing still. They're not there. They've got a lot of pieces but it's developing.
- [08:54]
A
But there's some interesting things there. I'll give you two interesting things. I was watching last night and I remember several years ago the Hawks were in the playoffs against the Nashville Predators. This is some time ago, of course, already in Nashville. I remember in that series was so much faster than the Blackhawks. So much fast. You could see it noticeably on ice how slow the Hawks look compared to the Predators that year. And what was amazing to me watching last night, it seems like for years now the Hawks have been the slower team on the ice and it's noticeable. And last night they just looked at their attacking. They're for checking, they're moving, they're covering ground and it was really remarkable to watch the speed at which they're moving at compared to some time ago. Second thing I'll point out is he's often rostering seven defensemen to give the the guy who was the first round pick this past year or last year, some ice time. 2. And it seems to really be a smarter coach than we've had in years since Quinteville, of course. But Quinteville got in trouble for, you know, a whole long story, but it does seem like he's actually got a thought on what he's doing. He's actually thinking, and it seems like we've not had that in the coaching ranks for years now.
- [10:03]
B
Yep, I completely agree. The speed thing is, is it's not just a sort of loose observation, although I agree with you completely. Watching the games, the team looks faster. But, you know, starting with Bedard, who, you know his speed last year he got criticized for looking slow. I watched a lot of Blackhawks hockey. I don't think he looked slow, but I think there were times he certainly could have looked faster, if that makes sense. And he made it a point of emphasis. And, you know, he spent the summer bulking up, getting a little bit heavier, getting in even better shape, but also working on the speed and it shows up on the ice. You know, watching them play these games, not, not just Bedard looks faster, but they measure the, the speed that these guys are skating at, as you would expect. And Bedard is consistently hitting the fastest stride on the team. Or Nasar, who's always been fast. And so you've got two young guys like that that are just electric. They're great with the puck, they're great without the puck, and they absolutely fly on the ice. That's usually helpful. And I think it's a real credit to Connor. Bedard, you know, comes into the league as the top prospect, much heralded, huge expectations. The fan base has sort of rallied around him as it should. And you know, he had a year last year that was not bad by any stretch, but probably not what he was hoping for. And he really took it to heart. And he spent the off season working hard, training with other elite players like Backlit Celebrini from San Jose and working on the weaknesses in his game. And I think that's what truly great athletes do, is they make themselves better by figuring out their weak points and fixing them. And that's exactly what he's done. Mazar, the same Lev should have the young first round pick last year you referred to. He's a great skater. I think he's still figuring out the game at the NHL level, but he's going to be great. And we've got a lot of other guys who can move. And then outside the NHL, you know, our team in Rockford Our AHL team, they're absolutely dominating. They look terrific. Kevin Korchinski, another first round defenseman, looks rock solid. You know, we've got a few guys down there. You know, Oliver Moore was a first round pick the same year as Bedard. He's the fastest guy in the organization. So once he gets going, he is the fastest player we have and he is absolutely torching the HL right now. He'll be up, I expect, this season for sure, but maybe by the new year. And then Nick Lardis, who is a third round pick two years ago, you know, the guy scored 70 goals last year in the AHL. Sorry, in the OHL, in Ontario. That never happens. The other guys who have done that are guys like John Tavares, you know, like all time great. Who are scoring 70. Well, this guy, Nick Lard has did it and he's now leading the AHL in scoring for our Rockford team when people weren't sure how his game would translate with bigger older players. So he's just destroying them. So we've got a lot of young talent coming up as well.
- [12:59]
A
And what's amazing is for the first time in a long time they're having a hard time finding playing time for some really talented players. I know they got rid of Lucas Reiko for almost nothing because they just don't have the room for him if he's not going to develop that much faster. And he was having a good start of the season. So it really is fascinating to see this talent coming up and what they've got going. It's the first time in a long time I've been tuning in. It's electric to watch. It's really remarkable. I'm going to take you through one more sports discussion really quickly. As long as we have a moment. Is the Chicago Bulls. And I apologize to our entire audience for being so Chicago centric and so Canada centric today. But give me the Chicago Bulls also. They've come out of the gate three and oh, I mean they've got a solid team. Not a spectacular team but. But what do you make of that? Is it just we should enjoy what wins we get or can they get to 4550 wins? What's your thoughts there?
- [13:56]
B
I think you should enjoy the wins that you get. I think if they were playing basketball in the desert and looking thirsty, we call this a mirage and we'll see. Maybe they'll surprise me. They've got some interesting young pieces and I think some of the guys are going to develop well. I like Bruise Ellis I think Kobe White is a decent player, but I think this is a team that has a future that's starting to look a little brighter and a presence that the 3, 0 start doesn't accurately reflect. I don't think they're going to make the playoffs this year and I think 45 wins seems ambitious even after a 3, 0 start remains to be seen. And to be fair, the Eastern Conference is far weaker this year than it's been in the past. There's some injuries that are going to soften up the conference a little bit, particularly in Boston and Indiana. There's been some players who have gone out west to the Western Conference, but I think it's a general statement. The Bulls are sort of at best a.500 team and I'm not convinced they'll necessarily get there by the time it all shakes out.
- [15:01]
A
Thank you. But this Josh Getty is a real player. I mean, he's a nice, nice player. He's a serious player in a couple other guys are doing fine, but. But there's not enough depth there to be really tough. That's your point. Bruce Ellis also looks like he could be a real, real player too. Let me ask you one more question because obviously so much discussion last year about Luca Doncic and what's going on with the Lakers and the Mavericks and so forth. What is your sense there? How does that look so far? How is Doncic doing in Los Angeles?
- [15:32]
B
Well, I think he already got hurt, so not, you know, I think, I don't think it's a long term injury, but I think he's already been bagged up. I think the Lakers will be an interesting team to watch. I think Luka and LeBron will be entertaining, if nothing else, and compelling. I don't think they're a contender yet. I don't think they have enough on the defensive end and I don't think they have enough of an interior presence to be a winning basketball team just yet. But I am confident there'll be an entertaining team. I don't think LeBron's done yet and I, you know, I think Luke is one of the best players in the world and certainly one of the most talented, I think in the west in particular. I'm very interested in the San Antonio Spurs. Wemby looks absolutely insane to start this year. I think his future is incredibly bright. I know that's not exactly saying anything earth shattering or radical, but he's just such a talented kid. He's so young, he's getting bigger and stronger and he can do Everything. So I think the spurs are going to be a force. Thunder are great. I think the Rockets with Kevin Durant are going to be much improved. I just, I think there's too many good teams in the west for the Lakers to even make it out of the conference, let alone to win a title.
- [16:45]
A
Well, I think that's almost like cheering against the Dodgers, quite frankly. You can't cheer for a team that stacks up so much talent at so much cost. So I like to see the Lakers struggle a little bit. You also famously a Milwaukee Bucks fan. What, what's going on with that franchise? How are they doing?
- [17:03]
B
Yeah, I think I'm more famously a Raptors fan, but I did have buck season tickets for years. And like the, I, I think the Bucks, I mean, look, Giannis is off to a great start and I think he's going to have a really great year. I, I think Damian Lillard and Giannis, for whatever reason, it just didn't work out very well. I was incredibly excited for the Bucks when they acquired Lillard and I thought championships were coming. They just didn't sync up well together. And I think the roster right now where it's Giannis on the floor at basically all points in time with four guys who can knock down the three, including Miles Turner. The new center they brought in is incredibly entertaining, but also really effective. It lets Giannis control the paint, he could drive the ball. His mid range is looking better. He's in great shape. Miles Turner is much more athletic and active than Brook Lopez was. And they've just got a bunch of guards who are unselfish, decent passers. Mostly active on the defensive end. Not all of them, but mostly. And all of them are great three point shooters. So I think it's actually the most interesting lineup the Bucs have had in several years. It's young and they're hungry and you know, they beat the Knicks last night and last year they simply couldn't beat any of the top teams in the East. They couldn't beat the Knicks, they couldn't beat the Cavs, they couldn't beat the Celtics. Well, they beat the Knicks yesterday. They barely lost to the Cavaliers by I think two points or three points last week. And so I think they're going to surprise a lot of people this year. You know, I don't know that they're going to compete for a title, but I think they'll compete for the Eastern Conference and are a lot more entertaining, will be a lot more entertaining than they've been in years past. And I think Giannis is going to put up a very strong MVP contender season, although I think Wendy's probably going to win it.
- [18:45]
A
Fantastic. David, next time we'll talk, but we'll talk two things. We will talk business some, and we'll talk football as well. We really didn't cover football today, but you've done an incredible job bringing us up to speed. And both the World Series, an amazing series, the Blackhawks and hockey and basketball. I appreciate your expertise so much. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Fantastic to visit with you.
- [19:10]
B
Thanks for having me, Scott.