Episode #6
The Knee Jerks Podcast - October 5, 2026 - Ken Kal
Detroit sports podcasters Greg Eno, Big Al Beaton, and Nick Milanovich are The Knee Jerks! This week's episode features our annual visit with Detroit Red Wings radio play-by-play man Ken Kal. To say it's been a tumultuous off season for the Red Wings would be an understatement. Paul Woods, Ken's partner in the broadcast booth, retired after spending 40 years as the team's color analyst. He'll be replaced by a rotation of former Wings. Dylan Larkin requested a trade and had his C revoked. He's still on the team, and it doesn't appear there will be a resolution to the situation anytime soon. In June, GM Steve Yzerman was either removed or stepped down from running the team. He's now a special assistant to the owner. A search for Yzerman's replacement took most of the summer and ended up with owner Chris Ilitch changing the status of acting GM Shawn Horcroff to interim GM just days before the start of the season. A new GM may not be hired till after the end of this season. RFA Simon Edvinsson has yet to sign a new deal with Detroit, and has returned to Sweden. Latest reports claim the 22-year-old D-man would prefer to be traded. The Red Wings started the 2026-27 season 0-2, struggling mightily on offense. Ken will give us his thoughts on the controversial off season, and tell us what we can hopefully look forward to from the current crop of younger Red Wings. Topics covered in the second half of the episode include: The contract stalemate between the Detroit Pistons and their 22-year-old RFA center went down to the final hours. But saner heads prevailed. Instead of signing a $9.8m qualifying offer, which would make him a FA after next season, Duren agreed to a guaranteed 5-year, $200m deal. Duren stated that any rumors stating he wanted to leave Detroit via a sign and trade were not from him, and he wants to be a Piston for the remainder of his career. The Detroit Lions dropped to 2-2 on the season after the defense came up woefully short (again) in a nationally televised 32-26 loss to the Panthers. The Lions have the worst defense in the NFL (statistically and via the eye test). When asked about the status of DC Kelvin Sheppard, HC Dan Campbell refused to discuss his job security, saying they are looking at internal options/changes in the defense. The Cowboys acquired CB Joey Porter Jr from the Steelers for 2nd and 6th round draft picks. Notable for the risk-averse Lions, as CB has become a position of desperate need. Campbell said the Lions had discussions on dealing for the disgruntled corner. We also play Greg's birthday game and name our Jerks of the week! Subscribe to The Knee Jerks Podcast on Apple Podcasts , YouTube Music Podcasts , Spotify, Amazon Music , iHeart Radio , Deezer , Radio Public , Gaana . We also live-stream video of every episode on YouTube and Twitch . Our homepage is TheKneeJerks.net . Visit us on Facebook @TheKneeJerks Follow us on Twitter aka X @TheKneeJerks Nick's TwitterX: @NickMilanovich Nick;s Instagram: @CatUpATree Greg's TwitterX: @GregEno Greg's BlueSky: @GregEnoThe Knee Jerks Podcast Greg's Substack: @GregEno - Out of Bounds Al's BlueSky: @Albeat
