The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Avalanche, Rangers, Luke Hughes, and more ft. Conor McGahey & Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Today on The Sheet, Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski dive into a wide-ranging set of NHL storylines that blend league history, on-ice chaos, prospect development, and one of the most consistent teams in hockey this season.The show opens with a look back at the legacy of Bob Pulford and his lasting impact on the NHL, before shifting to recent comments from James Dolan that have sparked conversation around ownership, messaging, and perception across the league. Jeff and Greg also discuss Jacob Melanson’s situation, and the growing edge and physicality highlighted by the Ducks–Capitals fights.The conversation then turns to young talent, including Luke Hughes’ getting booed and Zayne Parekh’s offensive ceiling and long-term projection after an interesting showing at the 2026 World Junior tournament.Later in the show, the guys are joined by Conor McGahey, the radio play-by-play voice of the Colorado Avalanche, to break down why Colorado has just three regulation losses as of January 6, what’s driving their consistency, and how the team is navigating another high-expectation season. The discussion also includes the latest on Gabriel Landeskog, his recovery timeline, and what his potential return could mean for the Avalanche down the stretch.Packed with insight, context, and league-wide perspective, this episode of The Sheet connects today’s headlines with the bigger picture across the NHL.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Bauer: https://www.bauer.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/caReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And dot com, kicking off another edition of MBSW on the sheet for this Tuesday, January the 6th. Oh, yeah. Did you enjoy a nice? I see you got a haircut. That's exciting. Did you enjoy a nice little holiday? It was a very nice holiday. I spent a lot of time with family.

I should tell you that I'm in a professional purgatory right now because I'm at actually on family bonding leave from ESPN for the month of January. So not writing. Like my fingers will not work for a month. But I'm like doing our show. I'm doing all my other stuff. Yeah. So I'm like the last time I had family leave when Iris was born,

I kind of like cut myself off from hockey. I disconnected from the Matrix for a little bit. And now I'm kind of in a place where I will be bonding with my son. It'd be nice to know that he has a dad, I think, in theory. and while also keeping my finger on the pulse of all things hockey in a month where there is clearly a lot that's going to be going on. So it's an interesting difference between the last time I did this. I can't do it.

I've never been able to. I've never been able to unplug during hockey season. Usually in the off season, it takes me two weeks to get comfortable and out of that rhythm. But I always feel, I know a lot like I said, I'm not casting aspersions on anyone else who does. I get it. Everyone needs to mentally recharge when they see fit. I just can't bring myself to do the I'm going to take a week off during the hockey season

because I feel like I'm going to miss so much and like so much of this job is predicated on you better pay attention Merrick to each their own I mean like I when we first met I was in psychotic workaholic puck daddy mode yeah you were too you were burning it buddy I got those 4 a.m. tax

I remember and I used to tell people it was like when Gretzky coached the coyotes where I would look at Leahy and like Jen and be like, why can't you guys do this? And I'm just like, because they're not psychotic like you are. But eventually like I came to a place and, you know, therapy helps where. Of course. Someone needs to tell you the vacation days that they give you is part of your compensation. It's part of the success that you've had is that you have the right to take some time for yourself during a very busy time. And so I've I've tried to take a little time during the season in the last several years.

It's not always been successful, but the trick is, though, is like you do need to take a week because if you are trying to just disconnect from coverage, that usually takes minimum three days, right? And that probably leaves you two days to kind of just like vacation, and then you're back on a plane, like right after that. So in-season vacation should happen, but the reality of it is that you only get like two, two and a half days of actual vacation. mental break because that's how long it takes for you to like not check not check the waiver wire yeah no i know if you're on the on the on the on the slide here if you could just like send me your therapist contact information that would be uh her right a buddy of mine we just had this

conversation not for me of course for for somebody else sorry let's get right to the program here so we had a lot to get to today and some interesting comments from brad marshan which we'll kick off the show with but in the meantime we'll remind you as always that the blueprint is by Fandul. Download the app today and play your game at Fanduel. Do it, Zach, do it, Zach, do it, Zach. Yes, Greg Wischinsky, who you've already seen and heard from.

He is La Prémyre d'Etolde. The first star, as we say in French, the program today. We're going to talk about Bob Pulford who passed away yesterday. And I just want to show some important video going back to 1963 of a fight that changed the course of hockey involving Bob Pulford and Terry Harper. We'll talk about some interesting comments made by James Dolan, the owner of the New York Rangers, amongst other entities.

We'll talk about booing. We'll talk about booing around Luke Hughes. And what could this mean for the New Jersey Devils? Connor McGehy of the Avalanche will stop by, play-by-play voice. The Avalanche will stop by. We'll talk about how dare that goalpost to do that to my favorite player, Gabriel Landisca. Like, what is happening? Everything was going so well.

And have we heard anything definitive as to what the injury is or what the outlook's going to be? I mean, Wedgwood said something about ribs and then McKinnon said something about bones versus tendons or muscles. Like, it's all like put on your injury decodering and try to figure out what the players are trying to tell us. But no, no. I'll be placed in the Olympics. Like, that's my thing, yeah. The avalanche could shut them down and be on cruise control and still win the division. but like I really want to play the Olympics.

So do I. So do I want to play in the Olympics, want to play for the avalanche all the way down the stretch. And I don't think it's a coincidence. I've made this point a couple of times, probably with you as well. It's going to sound like it's a shot at McKinnon, but it's not.

McKinnon runs himself really hot. And when he's the sort of leader in the room, i.e. when Landis Gog's not there, guys are sort of expected to run hot with Nathan McKinn. I don't think it's a coincidence that Landis God comes in as a full-time captain of the team. And all of a sudden, everything settles. and everybody's comfortable in their own skin

and you see it on the ice I always get kind of like when I hear things about oh he's a good guy in the room always great in the room and all that yeah yeah yeah whatever they don't flood the room but when it comes to someone like Landisg

just like how everybody looks so comfortable in their skin whereas when Landisgog wasn't there it didn't Connor McGee's better to answer this it didn't really feel that way does that make sense to you should we should talk to Connor about that's it

I love that theory because we all know what McKinnon and it's capable of, and we all know what he is off the ice. God forbid you eat his snickers in front of the man. So having Gabe there would, I think you're right, would bring down the temperature. And it's like pH balance, right? You need a base to neutralize the acid. And that's kind of how it is with Landis Cog and McKinnon, I think.

Okay. So we're going to get to that with Connor McGehy, who's just tremendous and always I'd like to talk to coming up towards the bottom of the hour. But before then, me and wish you're going to go on about a few. things. And most recently, just before I came on the air, Brad Marchand with some comments. One, referring to the Toronto Maple Leafs fans as running Mitch Marner out of town. Oh, man, no one does it like him. And also saying it was between the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. So let's re-agency. Which one? Let's take the second one first. I think I,

he's mentioned them being in the mix before. I don't know if he's ever been as direct about it being a binary choice. Yeah. But I believe. them like we we spent one of the joys of covering the panthers during this playoff run was that marshan would hold court every round and he would especially hold court for the national guys so like when i'm there cj's there like the you know he he took a real joy and having us come to the room and sit there and just talk to us about stuff and we had lengthy conversations with him about toronto and about their plight and about their potential and about what the way they play and the way they need to play.

And I don't doubt for a second that if things didn't work out financially in Florida, that he wouldn't be wearing the leaf, like for a second. I was told that, I was told that as of like a week and a half before he signed. Oh, he's going to Toronto. He's going to Toronto. I need to know more about the timeline, though, because all of the boys that eventually signed in Florida

all seemed pretty confident they were signing in Florida during the Cup celebration. Like, if you remember the footage of Marchand on the back of the golf cart, leaving the elbow room or whatever, like, he's literally telling fans, he's going to resign their long term. And same thing with Bennett.

And same thing with Ecklad. Like, they all seem pretty sure that they were going to resign. Now, granted, that might be optimistic. They also might be on their 10th or 9th or 10th. I was going to say, they're all buckled coming out of the elbow room. And that's going to be like, okay, well,

Brad Marchan said so. Okay, well, part of Brad Marchan said, that part of you and i blood said that you and i've been buckled enough to know that sometimes that could be truth serum and i guess what i'm trying to say is like i would love to know when they actually knew i would love to know when they actually knew because they all seem pretty convinced it happening and the way that that marshan portrayed it today was that it was a bit more tenuous than maybe uh we we all thought it was because at one point it kind of seemed just like a foregone conclusion they'd all resign what did you make of of running mitch marner out of town and that

that comment about the fans okay first of all nobody embraces being the heel better than Brad Marchand. Brad Marchant is one of the smartest people in the NHL. You know, it's funny. It's having a conversation, actually, I was having a conversation with a pro wrestler a while ago, and we were talking about heels versus faces. And he was, I was bringing up the point about how, you know, one of the issues has always been, nobody wants to be a heel, everybody wants to be the baby face.

And this wrestler, who shall remain unnamed, said to me, why do you think that is? And I said, I have no idea because if I were a pro wrestler, I would love to be the heel. I have everyone hate on me nonstop. Like, you're doing your job. Like, old ladies stabbing you with hat pins. Like, yeah, man. Like, that's, you're earning. How many times you get stabbed?

How many times you get stabbed? That's how good I heal you. Like, you judge it the old school way. And he goes, I'll never forget this. He goes, you know why everybody wants to be a baby face? And I said, why? He goes, because you sell merch. That's it.

You sell merch. You sell stuff. Everybody wants to buy stuff from the baby face, not so much from the heel. at all we're not we're not doing the whole pro wrestling thing but that's that that's one of the reasons why cody roads has never gone heel is the idea that if you're the face and you have the belt you're going to be on top of the card whether it's television or a house show and and sell merch and make money i mean there's a logic to it but that's why i've always respected the heels because they've said you know what i'm going to leave this money on the table because i love being hated so

much, right? And that's Brad Marchand. That's the guy that doesn't care. Well, people think about him in other markets, right? He doesn't care what they say in Toronto. He doesn't care what they say in Philadelphia. He doesn't care what they say in Tampa. He really embraces being the heel. I don't think that that's a frivolous comment. There is not going to be a, well, what I was trying to say before my words were twisted was you will never get that from Brad Marchand. I admire because that and that is that's a sore spot and always will be

for Maple Leafs fans because let's face it too. Normally normally normally and we're starting to see it now with Morgan Riley. Maple Leafs fans always pick a defenseman to run out of town. It's like a hobby and it goes back to Larry Murphy and it goes all the way through to your Ackybergs and your Corey Crosses and your Brian McCabe's and your Jake Gardner's and like all of them

they always picked a defenseman but they really did get on Marner. Now did Marner do himself any favors at times? No but I think what really stings for Maple Leafs fans is he was

one of their own from Toronto, grew up there played in the GTHL probably should have gone down as the best Toronto-born Toronto Maple Leaf ever, and it didn't work out? I just think that it's called a relationship with fans because it's a two-way street. And you can't absolve Marner for the lack of the performances in the postseason. You can't absolve Marner for the familial influence in contract negotiations and how tough

those things went and it's not as if there weren't some things happening on the other side of the equation that influenced what was happening with the fans. I'm not saying that some of the behavior the fans were pulling was justified. And I'm not saying that Marcian's wrong that ultimately that relationship may have what is what may put have pushed Mitch out the door. But I think there's probably a little bit more nuance to it than the black or white of it all that Marchand is spelling out. But what do you expect? So you're saying that the Panthers don't have a problem with him saying something like this. There's not going to be a text chain with like Forsling and Reinhardt

in which they talk about how they need to discuss Martians' comments. No. Because, you know, they have to make sure that it's team first. No. They're not going to do that? No. That's just reserved for young rookies in Calgary. Do you think, yeah, I was going to say,

I was waiting for you to get to Zane Perak. Do you think for one second that all of the Alexander Barkoff, you know, on the massage table, on his phone like, oh, hey, hey, Brad, we got to talk about this. You kidding. Not a chance. Not a chance. You want to bring this into Zane Perak?

Absolutely. I find this story to be absolutely fascinating that Perak, you know, gave an interview where he talked about how players in the NHL are robotic and they show no personality. And then, you know, a scant what day or two days later had to give another interview apologizing for saying that. And in a zero personality robotic way, apologize for his comment. to his team and his teammates. Now, I read Eric Francis's...

I would like to apologize for my comments, which were taken out of context. Out of context. I read Eric Francis's story on this on Sportsnet, and I... Much of my chagrin. And I found a couple of things interesting. One, it did seem like it was...

The comments resonated within the team. To what degree, I don't know. But, I mean, the fact that it is a rookie speaking at a turn and the team noticed it, I mean, makes it a story. but the most interesting stuff in that story that Francis wrote was from Nazim Codry because Nazim Codry

is somebody who's been outspoken since he was a rookie in the same way that Perak has been. And his comments were interesting, which is that he defended him and he kind of said there's nothing wrong with what he was saying, but he did say that there's a certain maturity that comes with maybe

knowing when to say it or knowing how to couch it. And it was really interesting to hear from Nazim because I feel like he's sort of an expert on the matter in this situation. Here's the thing. The words themselves may have been awkward or phrased in a way that will get the backs up of a lot of NHL veterans, certainly a number of Calgary Flames, but it wasn't wrong.

He wasn't wrong. He may have said it differently to soothe all the sensitive, the sensitive egos. But I think the part that, like, whenever I see a team get too up, upset about it. I always think to myself, the reason you're getting upset about it is because there's more than a kernel of truth in it and you know it. That's why it lands, right? Like, that's why it land. Like, if it was completely outlandish, it had, and had no, like, it didn't, it didn't, it didn't, it wasn't even like, you know, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, you don't want to stay in, to have a conversation, but just kind of nod. Like, as, as, as you, as you, as you, as you, as you, I just

nodding acquaintances. Like, this was it, this wasn't even, like a nodding acquaintance. with truth. This was like, players would read that and go like, I know he's right, but it doesn't have to say it. Now, there's a reading of it that is calling his teammates boring. And by the way, if the Calgary Flames at all offended by that characterization,

my God, you people used to employ Sean Monaghan. The boredom of Sean Monaghan became... Boring Sean Monaghan was a Twitter handle. Yeah, exactly. Was that Brian McGratton, by the way, that ran that? Did we ever get a definitive on who ran boring, Sean Monaghan? Is it McGratton?

I think we'd Benoit that to find out that it was McGrath now. Look, this call comes back to hockey culture and how much it sucks and how once again, the one thing keeping hockey from being immensely popular in North America is hockey. And, you know, I think the flames are saying that, you know, kind of diminishing the impact of this and saying it's not a big deal and it's just a rookie kind of speaking out turn. But like, why even get upset about it? Who cares? Like, why does he have to answer the media's questions about this and issue an apology and do all this stuff? Because then it becomes, you know, It's like we, the media always gets yelled at when we take on a controversial comment and make a big deal out of it.

All the fans come to us and say, oh my God, they're scared little deers. If you're critical of what they say, they'll run away and never say anything interesting again. I think this has much more of an impact, which is that when another rookie sees a really talented young player get pilloried for speaking the truth and not saying anything pointed, not mocking an opponent, not doing anything really out of turn. But saying something that may have ruffled a feather or two on his team and then having to apologize for it is like as chilling as anything that could happen for a young player. Like other young players in the junior team will see this. Other young players coming up will see this. God forbid you stay anything of interest, you may have to then stand before everybody and apologize. And then, you know, before you're allowed to get assimilated back into the board collective because they are robots at the end of the day.

there are four words that have done a lot of damage to hockey do you want me to say them ignoring heated rivalry daily don't be a distraction yeah how many times have players heard that growing up yeah in through hockey don't be a distraction don't be a distraction don't be a distraction Don't be a distraction. It has kept everyone's mouth shut, except for Brad Morshan. Like, I think it's probably like to the point where I had conversation with people about this, it's one of those things that's probably kept players from coming out. Without question.

The idea of like, oh, I can't be a distraction. Oh, I can't come up. I can't be a distraction. I can't be distraction to the dean. Even if, even if they have acceptance in the room, like they have people know. Absolutely. To go public with it is the issue. To go public with it is the distraction.

Not who they are or anything like that. It's having the media comment on it. It's becoming a cycle of coverage would be the issue. Yeah. It's done so much damage for so long. Don't be distraction. It truly has. Be yourself.

Think about the NFL. Think about if like the best young wide receiver in the NFL said, you know what the problem with this league is? There's too many guys that are just robots that have no personality in interviews. And like the starting left tackle. and his team started a text thread that's like, we've got to really rain this guy in for what he said.

I've never seen that for the NBA. Like a top rookie in the NBA is like all the other players in his league are robots have no personality. Like the backup power forward is just like, I don't know about this guy. It's just a, it's a hockey thing. And it's so stupid.

I'm so tired. It's 2026 and we have people having to apologize for having the audacity to say, this is a boring league that's way too safe and none of the players want to exhibit any personality. I don't know, man. This one really bugged me. Really bug me.

Then let's use that to transition to another topic, booing. Luke Hughes, Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes and the subsequent reaction slash potentially overreaction to a lot of it. First of all, do you have an issue with what New Jersey fans did to Luke Hughes on Sunday? So this is great because this reminds me of like when your favorite band, starts to get more interest from people and then they start talking about your band in ways that shows that they don't know anything about the first two albums. That's kind of how the Luke Hughes thing strikes me because there's been so much talk about

this in places from people that have absolutely no context as to why this is happening or the meaning behind it. So let's get into it. They're booing him because he scored two goals for the other team. Let's start there. One of them was directly in. Another one was an absolute bonehead play where he skates the puck. in front of his own goalie,

Taylor Hall takes it off his stick and he scores. Any player that scores two goals for the other team in a game in which the home team is losing, there's a high probability that their player gets booed. And I may not get booed every time he touches the puck, which brings us to the Luke Hughes of it all. There are a lot of underlying things happening with Luke Hughes and Devils fans. The contract where, one, he misses camp,

and I think that it's safe to say based on a lot of the numbers that we're seeing the season that Luke Hughes, is this year's Jeremy Swayman, where missing camp has adversely impacted his first half of the season. When you're young, just a quick aside, when you're young, it can really kill you. Like, Dowdy did it before and it didn't crush him, but when you're young, man, missing camp hurts. Sorry, go ahead. Completely. And offensively, he's done some really good things.

I mean, part of the irony of what happened against Carolina was the day before he helped fuel their comeback against Columbus. But, like, his underlying numbers this season have been absolutely a train wreck. and he's not played well. And he's got that big contract that he earned through not going to camp. And a lot of Devils fans were upset at that contract because they feel like it's money that he hasn't earned yet. It's for services yet to be rendered.

Which brings us to the other part of this. Why did he get that contract? Well, a lot of people feel like he got that contract because his brother happens to be the franchise player. And this is where we start to get into the booing of it all. There's a perception amongst Devils fans that Luke Hughes in his first few years in his career has played poorly enough to warrant a benching,

to warrant a scratch, to warrant, hey, spend some time down in the H.L and work on some stuff. Those are all the things that happened to Simone Nemich in some of his early seasons, but never happened to Luke Hughes. And the thought has been,

the reason it hasn't happened to Luke Hughes is because he is Hughes, comma Luke, because of his last name, because you don't want to upset his brother by singling out Luke and punishing him for poor play. And so there's a certain entitlement to the way that he's been treated. And by the way, check his ice time in the third period.

There was absolutely no repercussion for scoring two goals for the other team in that game. And so all of this is kind of like the pressure underneath the volcano that led to the booing of Luke Hughes in that game against Carolina. To answer your question, Merrick, I've got no issue with it. I've got no issue with it. Oh, it's fine. It's fine. As long as it's self-contained. Let me see if I can throw another log on the fire here.

Yeah. Is part of that booing? Because again, like the nameplate says Hughes. Is part of that not just because of the performance. And like, listen, Taylor Hall is a veteran player. He's really smart. The puck's around there. He's getting a stick on it.

The other one, he just, it's just to bring. cramp happens, especially young players. Is part of that because Quinn Hughes is not on the New Jersey Devils now? And is part of that, is part of that eventing towards Tom Fitzgerald? Because Tom Fitzgerald's not on the ice for them to boo. Is that their way of doing it? And essentially, Luke Hughes is the Tom Fitzgerald proxy on the ice. Yeah. Is that part of it? Yes. I think the Tom Fitzgerald proxy part of it is right, but I don't think that fans, by and large, are blaming the existence of Luke as the reason they didn't get Quinn, even though there was this notion put out there, that why would Quinn come to New Jersey and take his brother's ice time? That obviously is going to be an issue.

I've put that forward. Wherever. I've put that forward to you weren't the only one, but you weren't the only one. And I think that's an issue no matter where the three of them play. It'll be an issue in 2030 when Jack and Quinn are in Minnesota and they trade for Luke. Like, that'll be an issue wherever they play. But I do think there's something to be said for like fan discontent. I mean, listen, the fans are pissed off. It's kind of insane to me that we've heard from James Dolan more than we've heard from Tom Fitzgerald in the last like two months.

Like, do you know how rare that is or how insane that sounds? And so there's probably a part of that too. But listen, I got no problem with them boo and Luke Hughes. He had a terrible game. I have no problem with them booing Luke Hughes because he's had a terrible season. I will have a problem with them booing Luke Hughes if this carries over past one game. If it becomes a thing, then we start to get into the who would want to play in New Jersey if this is the way they treat one of their best young players.

You know, I wonder to, it was Patrice Breezebois, whose nickname in Montreal became Breezeby. That's right. Montreal, remember that one? Oh, Patrice Breezeby. Montreal Canadiens fans got on Breezebois hard for his playing his own zone to the point where, and this is rare you don't see this for obvious reasons mainly owners don't like it Bob Ganey who was the general manager of the habs of the time came out and said if you're going to boo our player don't come to the game like went out there publicly to defend his

defenseman and I'm going to think it was George Gillette who would have owned the team at that time was probably like telling people not to come to the games like hey Bob that's a line but it's Bob freaking Ganey who's telling Bob Gainey who's telling Bob Gainee what to say. But Ganey went out there and said, if you want to boo our defenseman, if you want to boo him, don't come to the games.

Don't come to the Bell Center. Do you think that, like, what would happen if Tom Fitzgerald did the same? Like, if it happens another, one game self-contained to your point, if it keeps happening, could you see Tom Fitzgerald doing the Bob Ganey and saying,

you know what, if you're going to boo our guy, don't come to the games. So that can go one of two ways. that could go the way of okay your tickets are really expensive and you are two teams from the bottom of your conference

advice taken or it could be the thing that I think has defined Devils fans through the years and I think defines them in this moment on Sunday which is a real

burr in the saddle defiance towards people that's what I think would happen saying something like that and encouraging it it and now but now you're gonna then you then you've got heat on on fits like now it becomes about fits now it now it's like all about that comment and that guy and and the lack of success for the team on the ice um and it becomes laser focused there so i don't know it's it's it's

it's always interesting times in jersey but i i my my point on this is that i i've read a lot of coverage and i've seen a lot of comment about it and i don't think people really understand sort of the underlying stuff with luke in new jersey that contributed to that on Sunday but I'm with people that are like if this becomes a thing and I've heard people say hey next next up home game give the kid a standing ovation like if he's in the starting lineup I don't I don't get some bad idea at all the team rallied around him he's he's you know an important part of this team going forward contractually but like it's okay to let somebody that know how you feel about their season and certainly let someone know that when you're playing with that was a really

important game man that sure was team in your division and Luke Hughes spotted him two goals Like, literally spotted them two goals for a team in Jersey that doesn't score all that much. So, who the hell out of them if you want for that? Like, there's nothing wrong with that. All right, a couple more things here. We'll stand by here for Connor McGeehan. We'll get into some Colorado Avalanche issues. What did you make of?

Now, I thought it was going to be McElrath going at Jacob Trubber yesterday, but it wasn't. It was Brandon Duhame. So the Anaheim Ducks visit Capital One Arena yesterday. We're all wondering about the Ryan Leonard hit, which I had no problem with. I didn't think it was a dirty hit, didn't deserve any supplemental, and didn't get any. But nonetheless, you hit our kid. We're going after you. Brandon Duhame goes at Jacob Truba, and Dylan McElrath found his fight against Ross Johnston.

Yeah. That was, it's happening more and more, but that's how things used to always happen. Like, that was, didn't matter what division you're in, Smyth, the Adams, Patrick, or whatever, it didn't matter. That's the way things used to happen on a consistent basis. Doesn't matter if it's a penalty. We just didn't like it. We're going to do something about it. Got a quick thought on that one.

And then, and then to read the comments about De Hame after the game, a lot of the boys were like, it fired us up to see him step up and make a statement against the guy. It wasn't much of a fight. It wasn't rarely a comeuppance. I think Jacob Truva is feeling fine. But, but again, like, just to have it happen, I think within hockey code is a rallying moment for the team. And it's, it's nice to see. someone step up and try to get some plumuppance for what the team wasn't happy about,

even though I agree with you on the hit. That was done for one person. That was done for Ryan Leonard. Yeah. Like that was like that that's all it is. Like fired up the bench. Oliver Carberry can talk about, you know, what it meant for his team. That was Brandon Duhame.

That's love letter to Ryan Leonard. Don't talk. Don't call us robots, you little shit. We'll stand up and fight for you if you get hit. I just want to say. I know we have our guest is almost here. I just want to mention Dylan McElrath, man. Like, I was there in 2010 when he was taking 10th overall, and we were all like, what?

It didn't make any sense then. It made it made less than sent. But again, the key praise, 2010 draft, this dude is still playing in the league in the league in 2026 with the Washington Capitals. Still fighting in the league. Still fighting in the league. Is he like the league? last guy that's kind of remained

like a tweener relevant guy to fight his way into the NHL on occasion? I guess you've got guys that still fight like Reeves and stuff, but someone like McElrath who's kind of like with Washington, he's like played six games and gets in there to throw to Chuck Nucks. He's

such an anomaly, but dude, what a survivor. This guy is, I think he's considered to be a draft bust. He's hung around forever. He never actualized into an NHL defense one of any import. but he's just like stayed around to serve a role and damn it, he's still playing in 2026.

Final point that I want to make on McElrath because I want to talk to Connor McGee here about the Colorado Avalanche. When you're a tough guy, one of the hardest things to do is go from team to team to team. Because if you're a tough guy and you stay on one team for a long time, you can coast on the rep.

Everyone's already seen you do it. You can surf on the reputation. That's fine. When you're a tough guy and you go to another team, you got to prove it all over again to that fan base. and then you go to another team and you've got to prove it all over again to that is hard.

That is tough. That's why he's earning it the hard way and he's gone to a lot of teams and everywhere he's gone, he can't surf on the rep. He can't. Again, man, it's got to go prove it, man. It's like seeing someone who was in WrestleMania

in 2012 still taking bumps in the Indies in 2026. All right, that's usually my cue to transition. Connor McGeehee is standing by Play-by-Played Playboy Voice of the Colorado Avalanche to talk to us about The one thing, Conor, and welcome back to the program, the one thing that I am sure of in the NHL, like here we are at the midway point,

I'm only sure of one thing. The Colorado Avalanche are awesome. After that, I don't know. I have no clue what to make of this lead. To that point, what say you? Well, I say that it's hilarious that, I mean, we're spoiled. I think we have been in Colorado for some time to watch the talent that we have on the ice,

But to see it come to fruition with three regulation losses through 41 games of the season is almost unheard of. I mean, since the NHL went to 80 games in, I think, 74, 75, this is the best 41 game stretch that any team has had. So I think the complaint list is about zero, and it should be. I would complain about losing two main pieces in the past two games for the Colorado Avalanche. But results-wise, it does not get any better than what it's been through 41 games for Colorado sitting at 69 points. Wish. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I was going to ask you about Wedgwood and Blackwood.

We ran our NHL Awards watch today on ESPN, and Wedgwood is right up there in the Vesna conversation, which is mind-blowing to think about somebody who's bounced around the league a little bit in the last five or six years actualizing as a Ves-Nate candidate this late in his career. But, you know, for me, the work he did when Blackwood was injured really sort of like was a stabilizing force and allowed the avalanche take it off at the start that they did. And now Blackwood comes back. And as someone, one of the voters for the Awards Watch noted, he's kind of building a Linus Allmark record. Like when the Bruins had that season, and Allmark had that insane record. It seems like Mac Black is kind of doing the same thing. How vital has the goaltending been to this start? Because I feel like sometimes it gets overlooked.

Well, it does. And if you go back, wish to last season, where the avalanche started with Alexander Georgiev and used to Zahnem as your gold-tending tandem, they realized that that was not good enough, wasn't even close to good enough. So you get to November and you make the trade first for Wedgwood from Nashville for a song, and he comes in and then 10 days later, something like that, you secure McKenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks. And from that point on, the trajectory of the Colorado Abelian's turn from

uncertain to more certain last year. Obviously, you have to run into Dallas in the first round, which should never happen. That's a discussion for a different day. But the goaltending has been one of, if not the main reason that Colorado, I mean, aside from Mason McKinnon being on pace for 70 goals and 150 points this season,

the story has been the avalanche goldtening. Scott Wedgwood leads the NHL outright with 18 wins on the season. McKenzie Blackwood only has one of those regulation losses. After coming in, I think he's won five games in a row now. Not on this trip. He's a little injured. We'll get an update on him when we return tomorrow as the Avaline shows the Ottawa

senators on Thursday. But without the goaltending, I don't think this initial run for the Avalanche stands. And Colorado doesn't make it into where they did last year either. So I think it goes all the way back to last late fall, early winter, and all the credit in the world of Chris McFarland for just being, able to recognize that something needed to be done and taking the steps to go out and do it. And if you look pieces that moved around for both of those goaltenders, it's really a very, very small price for getting what is arguably the main piece of your team in order to go forward

and win in the goaltending position. Let me ask about a couple of key injuries here, the reference off the top. Gabriel Landisog and Devon Taves. First of all, awful. As I've said before, probably to you, Gabe Landiscaug, selfishly here, editorializing here. He's my favorite player in the league,

and he has been for like a long, long time. I have all day for Gabriel Landisog, and that goes back to when he was, when he was beating the brakes off, Jake Muzon and junior hockey with the Kitchen of Rangers, playing against a suit of St. Marie Greyhounds. I say it like that to make Greg Wichinsky laugh. Do we have anything close?

Anything close to an update on either of these players? We did get a little bit one that was confirmed from yesterday from Jared Beddard this morning. both Gabe Landisog and Devon Taibs are back in Denver. For Landisog, it was described he's going to be out for weeks, and Devon Taves is week-to-week. This is not as serious as Gabe Landis-Gob. If you watch that play where Landis-Gag gets hurt,

and by the way, we need to investigate the goal situation in Florida because first says Jarvis and now Gabe Landis Gogg. Clearly, clearly. Yeah, let's open up an NHL investigation into how deep those holes are drilled there in the ice. But if you watch that initial play with Landisog, fellas, I thought it was another neat. Because how many times have you seen it or you've experienced it yourself? You catch that inside edge and there goes an MCL. So initially, especially given the history of Landisog, everybody doesn't want to assume.

But I don't want to say it's good news in regards to that. We don't know exactly specifically, but it could have been a lot worse, I think. So it was described by Jared Bedrnearn this morning as weeks for Gabe Landis Gogg. It's poorly to tell if the Olympics are still in play or not. But that aside, not being able to compete for your country is a bummer. However, that's a natural cushion built in for healing if you do, in fact, need it to go and push for your second cup in four years. So Taves, I think, will be back before Gabe Landis Gogg,

but it has been described as weeks for the avalanche cap. I want to ask a question that Merrick posed earlier in the show, which is one of the reasons the avalanche have been able to do this is that Gabe is back. And they need Gabe to balance out Nate off the ice. It's like you need the base to neutralize the acid for pH balance. You need Gabe to neutralize the intensity and the Nate dog of it all from McKinnon. And that beautiful alchemy between those two leaders is the reason why the avalanche are the avalanche this season. What are your thoughts on that?

I think there's some truth to that. I will give McKinnon a lot of credit that he has grown significantly all around as a human being and as a player. And I got to give him a lot of credit for that because we've seen from far away or up close some reactions. and look, give me a player like that all the time. Give me a player who cares that much and wants to win that much that much and wants to be the best that much. I will take a player like that

to lead my team every single day of the week. And different teams and different groups have different leaders and leadership styles. But I think Gabe Landis God, as you mentioned, it's the perfect mix for something like that. I don't think that as much base is required to counteract the acid as you put it. But just because I think that that Nathan McKinnon has matured a lot,

McKinnon has grown up before our eyes. So, but I do think that Landis God coming back is, we talked about the goaltending. I think Landis God, being around is one thing. Being in the room on the bus, on the plane, on the ice is a completely different animal when it comes to leadership. And that's where he's led by example. I think more example than with words most of the time. And that's what makes him one of the longest tenured captains in the National Hockey League. And in my opinion, one of the best captains in the National Hockey League.

So both him and Devon Taves are very similar in that with how they lead. Taves, where's the A once in a while as an alternate captain for Colorado? But I will end up with saying that McKinnon needs a lot more credit for growing as a player and a person. I would say probably in the last three seasons when Landis God wasn't around. I think McKinnon realized that, and he realized that he needed to grow up a little bit, and I think he absolutely has food to him. My high school chemistry teacher is out there smiling somewhere for all this acid and base. Like, I remembered something.

I remember like one thing. I failed chemistry miserably. So this was a struggle for me. Well, listen, when there are lockouts, we all become like amateur actuaries as well. Like, oh, we've studied, you know, a pension law. We understand all these different things. So don't worry, we play amateur chemists here at the same. time. Let me ask you about Josh Manson. Let me ask you about Josh Manson. Let me ask you about Josh. So he

looks like a different player this year. You know, we talk about, you know, Landisog beating the breaks off of Muslim back in, back in junior. When I'm watching Avalanche games and something gets frisky, like this is like old school Josh Manson who like straightens things out like he's 24 years old again. What's different is it, is it completely healthy? Like I'm trying to figure out like first of all for the avalanche it's awesome but like we're watching a guy go back in in time here like this is that younger josh manson that we saw not too long ago what's the difference well i think the difference is is 100% health because whether it was on the surface or underneath he'd been struggling with some things really ever since the cup mark ryecroft and i

were going back since we're in tampa today and looking at that entire stanley cup final series versus the Tampa Bay Lightning and looking at how individuals worked, how the power play worked. And Josh Manson was a goal and assist for a plus six in that series. A huge difference maker that nobody really talked about. And now in his last eight games with points, all assists, three of them he's had multi-assist games. So not only can he defend as a big body as a natural pair with Brent Burns

on the second pairing for the Colorado Avalanche, but he's also attacking. He's not afraid to bring the puck up the ice. He's not afraid to distribute. That shot from the point is more deadly than people realized to get a deflection like we got in Florida on Sunday. And so I think for a player like Josh Manson, health leads to confidence, which leads to production,

which is exactly what you're seeing this season. This is the Josh Manson that was acquired from Anaheim in the spring of 2022 to help propel the avalanche to the third Stanley Cup and franchise history. And again, you need all these chemicals, staying on theme, to go back into the pot to create our nice little looking cake, which is what it'll turn out to be at the end of the day. And I think a deep pairing that produces as well as defense, like all three do now for the Colorado Avalanche, led by Josh Manson, is a rather pleasant chemical in that mix. man i i'm my mind is is is is reeling right now thinking of how many old guy without a cup story is or is going to be written about brent burns as we get closer to the playoffs like

that is going to be the guy that is going to be the guy we all rally around to see him try to win the cup at the first time last what hang on a defenseman goes to colorado to win his first cup really i've not that you to me i don't i can't think of anyone who's happened before to mind you know we we talked earlier about my therapist uh we worked really hard for I'll help me forget about that season. Exit 16W. You'll never forget, Greg. You'll never forget.

And I will always forget. Now listen, let's, I want my last question to you is, is a philosophical one. And I don't know if, I don't know what the answer is, to be honest to you.

I don't even know if there is an answer, to be honest with you. Does this season happen if the ranton and trade doesn't happen? I don't know. Boy, that's hard to say. We would need, uh,

an Avengers-like machine with some, PIM particles to go back and figure out an alternate universe if that's the case you're not. That's really fascinating. And I would love to see the alternate universe where that's still here. I will say this, that Marty Natchez has turned into an unbelievable fit on this team. Because not anybody can play with Nathan McKinnon. Not everybody can skate with Nathan McKinnon. Not everybody can, you know, finish each other sandwiches like with Nathan McKinnon, right?

So to be able to think and play with 29, that list is very, very short in the National Hockey League. And Marty Nachis, we were talking about just his pure skating this morning, an effortless skater. It's smooth, it doesn't take any energy whatsoever. So for him to be able to do that, and Miko Ranton are not the best skater on the planet. And a great shot, I can always finish the puck, but every other piece seemed to always be trying to catch up with Nathan McKinnon. And Marty Natchez is, for the most part, step for step right there with Nathan. to McKinnon all the time, which makes him a natural right winger up there, a natural on the first power play where he'll be back tonight. They moved him down the past couple of games

to try and get that going a little bit. But I will say that the production for NACIS personally and then for the team has just skyrocketed and a career year upcoming for him. So I think it has worked out the exact way that it was supposed to work out for everybody. If we play it out, though, money they save on Rantan, theoretically, goes to resigning Brock Nelson in theory, right? And like after a real, and Nelson is right on too right now. Yeah, yeah. He had a rough start, but like you watch him play like the last month and it's like, okay, maybe they did solve 2C finally with him.

So if you got Natchezus and you got Brock Nelson. And a guy like Jack Durey who can win faceoffs, traditionally a problem that the avalanche have had, I think only one game in his last 18 for Jack Dury that he's been below 50% from the dot and he takes a lot of draws every single game so and he's had two goals in his last four so the production is starting to come there so you get arguably three players for the price of one and for a team that depth was the question mark after the 2002 cup run that it's almost like Chris McFarland knows what he's doing once in a while which is all the time they had to get that freaking bum ranting off the team and then uh that's stiff that's

Stiff. Okay, 1976, 77. I'm going to go historical here with my final question for you. I love when you

do that. The Montreal Canadians have that historic season. They only lose eight games. Three to the Boston Bruins,

two to the Buffalo Sabers, one to the Maple Leafs, one to the Rangers, and one to the St. Louis

Blues. So we're comparing Colorado to like the elite teams of the past, obviously. So again,

Boston 3, Buffalo 2, Leaves Rangers and St. Louis Blues won. Who gives the Colorado Avalanche their toughest game this season? Who is that team? I mean, it's kind of already happened. We lost by three, six to three at the New York Islanders,

which started out a four-game trip at the beginning of December. And for whatever reason, the Islanders at UBS Arena, on the island in general, I think the avalanche have only won three games on Long Island, But that's always a tough out there for whatever reason. That was one of the only games all year where you thought, how about this? I will say this with confidence. That's the only game all year where I felt that it was out of reach for Colorado to get a point. In 41 games now, that game at the New York Islanders was really the only one.

All three regulation losses have been on the road in the Eastern Conference. The Avalanche versus the West have been nearly unbeatable. they'll have plenty of time to figure that out until the Stanley Cup final when that beats the most. And Brent Burns finally gets his Stanley Cup. Kind of, thanks. Oh, wouldn't that be something?

It would be, I just want to, honestly, I just want to see a picture of Brent Burns holding the Stanley Cup right beside Ray Bork holding the Stanley Cup. Like that right there is one for the ages. Anyhow, a lot of hockey until we get there. Kind of thanks as always for stopping by.

I really appreciate it. Thanks for calling, boys. It's good to see you. There is. The great Connor McGee, play-by-play voice of the Colorado Avalanche. You like, you want to see him hold a cup up next to Bork. I want to see him take the puck to the ranch and have like, like, he, like, he's probably

got like a dinosaurs in it. We want to see snakes. There's some animal we don't even know he has. on that ranch. Wow. I want to see that animal eating out of the cup, like a dinosaur, Nessie,

like something's on that ranch we don't know about. Lizards and snakes in the cup. I wonder if there's ever been a snake in the cup. There would snakes that have won the Stanley Cup. There are a lot of snakes who can't draw in Stanley Cup. But I wonder if there's actually ever been a snake in the Stanley Cup. I mean, that's,

we'd have to probably call up one of the keepers of the cup and find out. Have you ever had to take a, have you ever observed a snake in the cup? Yeah. And then to my previous question, who is the biggest snake to win the Stanley Cup. I think we talked about it before on the Panthers. I think there are some owners who have their names on the Stanley Cup,

Greg Wischitzki, in the history of hockey. They had their father's name on the Stanley Cup, are you trying to say? Well, listen, it's not exactly a secret that the history of this league is like this. It's the only professional sports league where the owners have gone to prison more than the players. That's true. You're absolutely right. All the way back. Speaking of owners, we got to talk about James Dolan.

Yes, we do. We run at a time here. Yes, we do. Gives his first media availability in forever to the afternoon show on WFA and in New York. Yep. It's in the middle of a Nix, like, season, and then they go out. And I think they got, like, blown out last night or something after Dolan speaks. But they ask him about Chris Drury, and he gives him, and Mike's,

Sullivan, what I would, I mean, I, tell me if I'm wrong, but it gives him a vote of confidence about and not only like, yeah, not just the vote of confidence, but the vote of patience. Because he's, his, his reason for it was they're trying to change the culture here. This isn't just like, yeah, we need to, we need to win more hockey games. Like, he frames it in a way that's like, we're in for the long haul here. like when you realize like you know in 1914 trench warfare we're not going to be home by spring we're in here for the long haul like that's what I that's the big thing that I took away from it again owners can change their opinions just like that and all of a sudden it becomes again

about wins and losses and everything changes but it sounds like he's like not only does he have the vote of confidence but Drury has the vote of confidence for a long time because this isn't just about wins and losses that's what I talk the two think the two takeaways from me is he called Chris Jury a guy who hates to lose and he's a winner. And I'm just like, my God, are we still feasting on that Little League World series? Are we still doing it? It sounds like we're still doing it. He did.

He did win the Little League world. He should put it. For those who don't know, Chris Jury, excellent baseball player growing up to and did win the little league. Literally has been living off that reputation for the entirety of his hockey career. And the second thing is you're completely right. Like the way that James Dolan portrayed the Rangers was that they are trying to change the culture, and it takes a while to do so.

And the only thing I could think of, Merrick, was he's parroting the words that were given to him by Chris Drury as justification for the things he's trying to do. And he's spitting them back out to explain what is happening with the team. Now, he called Mike Sullivan, like one of the greatest culture builders in the NHL. I'm still trying to wrap my arms around that. I think the culture in Pittsburgh probably came from 87. Not necessarily from the coach. Am I wrong on that?

No, you're not wrong. But here's the thing when, again, like you got to put on like your owner's decoder ring. When you talk about, when you talk about culture, what you're talking about is winning. Like that's it. Right. Like how many,

like how many teams can you look at and said, oh, this team's got great culture, but never won. It's only a great culture when you win. Like is it possible to have a, what's that? Carolina So far Yeah probably On ice culture

Oh okay I know I know on ice culture The owner through the years Whenever But like the Rod Brindamore culture I think might be the only example Of one that the culture is right

But they just haven't won They haven't won yet That's actually a good example Anything more on James Dolings I want to show something here real quick No I just I just found it to be really interesting and I know there's a lot of Ranger fans that aren't happy with the direction of the team,

but like it was a pretty ringing endorsement that Drew is going to be there and he's going to see this thing through. And like right now, he's his hands on the wheel as far as making the changes to the roster he thinks needs to be made. So, I mean, we'll see where it all goes. I'm not all that inspired by the things that they've done, but it's his team. It's scary to see Shish Turk and go off the ice like that too, hey? Oh, it sucks. And it wasn't even like, it didn't even look like Paturka really made contact with him.

No, Petrka didn't touch. He fell back. Patricus stops in the crease, but he doesn't hit, just jerkin at all, which are always the scary ones for me when there's not an obvious, like, well, he didn't get hit, nothing happened, yet the goalie can't even put pressure on his left leg going off. Those are always ones where I'm like, oh, man, it's going to be so bad because there's not an obvious injury. He has spackled over so many holes in that team this year for them. And, like, that just sucks.

I know, I know. Okay, something I want to show here. So yesterday, the hockey world lost a giant in Bob Pulford. Hockey Hall of Famer touched a number of different organizations, both as a player and a coach and an executive. I think of the Toronto Maple Leaf Police. We think of the Los Angeles Kings where he won the Jack Adams. The only L.A. Kings coached everyone in the Jack Adams.

We think certainly about the Chicago Blackhawks with Bob Pulford. So he passed away at the age of 89. But Bob Pulford, if we can roll the video, if you have it all fired up here, Zach. So this is 1963. So this is Montreal and Toronto Bob Pulford fighting Terry Harper Okay

knocks him down All right Harper comes back up It's like the curtain back Fight ladies and gentlemen Curtin back knocks down Harper once he comes back up again Harper gets knocked down twice

That's for you old school fans So they get to the penalty box Okay And Harper's already in there Pulford comes in Now Harper says something to Pulford And this is the way the penalty box used to be the guy sat beside each other

They just sat next to each other That's the way penalty boxes used to be in the NHL. This is 1963. And Harper starts coming back. Now, Pulford has, Pulford never said what Harper said to him to initiate this fight again. They're just being the hell out of each other. Yeah.

In the penalty box. That's the way it used to be. So this event is what finally ushered in the NHL separating the penalty boxes. Now, this happened previously. is 19, I want to say like 44 or 45, Rocket Rashard, much rock names playing against the New York Rangers with a guy the name of Bob Dill,

who they fought on the ice, Rocket knocked them out. They went to the penalty box, shared, and Rocket knocked Bob Dill out again in the penalty box. The incident was referred to in a great title. I know you'd love this one as the pickling of Bob Dill. Is what the incident is referred to, if you want to look it up online.

But it was that fight, that fight, finally the NHL was like, forget it, we're separating the boxes. And to their credit, I always love this about the Montreal Canadiens. When they finally separated the boxes, there was home and visitors. But instead of home and visitors, you know what sign they put up that they had to take down? Good guys and bad guys. In the old forum. after that in 1960 it only lasted a few weeks in hl was like you just put that down and just for like

home and visitors do you have any like what was the thinking in just having two guys sit next to each other like it's just how it was always done like there was never any concern about well penalty boxes are the okay i'm glad you asked this because penalty boxes were at that point too like a relatively new invention like when you had a penalty generally you know where you sat on your own bench behind it they would set up chairs okay they would set up chairs behind your bench and that's where the players would go and then they came up with the idea of let's have a penalty box to put all the bad players that have done a bad done an infraction it's the island of misfit toys the island of misfit toys we're going to get a box for them all to go in

not thinking ah you know what just because they opened a gate doesn't mean like the animosity is going to start and a couple of it's right again like the pickling of bob dill was a famous one But then it was the Palford and Terry Harper fight, which finally ended it. By the way, it was, Pulford never admitted it. But Harper said something about Bob Pulford's sexuality that set him off. So times have never changed in the NHL. But anyway, yeah, so that's all they used to. They used to just have set up a chair behind the bench, like behind the coach, like in the aisles, like where the fans walked by.

that's how that's where the bad guys who did a trip or did a slash even went that it is that it's easily one of the most archaic things I've ever heard about hockey the idea that those guys just and I apologize if this is like common knowledge I maybe I learned it one year and didn't forgot about it because I learned another skill and like Homer Simpson I learned one thing and forget another but like the idea that that it was just commonplace for these guys that used to literally assault each other on the ice, which is sit next to each other. And I guess it's like a gentleman's agreement that we're not, we won't murder each other, sitting next to each other for two minutes.

I just can't even fathom that in the context of today's game. Did I ever tell you that God Save the Queen's story? Please do. I've never told you this. So the way that they used to, this all started in Nova Scotia. We've been talking since 2010. I'm sure at some point you've told me this, but I don't remember it. So it's all started in Nova Scotia,

but it spread its way out across Canada. So when they would have mainly in junior hockey, would they have brawls? So before, oh, Canada, our national anthem, you know, God save the Queen or God save the King, was the National Anthem of Canada. And the law was, when you heard that, you stopped whatever you were doing,

whether you were like, I don't know, like going grocery shopping or doing a podcast. I guess you didn't have a podcast. You would have to stop what you were doing and stand in attention while the song played, right? And the only way they could break up brawls, you know, Halifax is playing Moncton or whatever,

and the only way they could break up a brawl is to actually play it over the loudspeakers. Part of me never believe that. Part of me always felt like, eh, okay, that's just a story. Until I watched a Memorial Cup, actually you watched it too, the Memorial Cup. Yeah, that's where I remember it from.

You show me the video. With the Derek Sanderson. And in the background, as they're trying to get the kids to stop fighting, the plan God save the queen like all these archaic ways of trying to break up fights

this is what's all talking about like in today's NHL if there's like a line brawl we need to play Chapel Roan's Pink Pony Club we'll start we'll start having a torch song experience with the chorus as one does and it'll all calm down on the ice

that's good people sit each other in a penalty box right beside each other the rest of the week yes and but you know what though and generally nothing generally nothing happened like the guy I don't know how

but like there's no way you'd ever have that dude could you imagine the 80s could you imagine the 80s or the early 90s could you imagine Detroit and in Colorado you're going to you're going to shank them

like one of the inmates on Oz that's actually a really good point we have a new feature here yeah because you didn't ask me if i'm going to say it anyway yes i'm upset about robertson yes i'm upset about fox yes i'm upset me you're of our lord twenty twenty six the u.s is still building its team like this great great great yeah do you think for one second that the teams that we're seeing announced right now are the teams that are going to italy hopefully not not hopefully not no they're not

look what happens like right what happened like right away right to Lendoscah horvatt Taves like bam bam bam bam bam bam bam right away like I that's why I that's why Seth Jones that's why I look at that man I got a puck right up in the head that's why I look at everybody losing their mind over the snubs and this and I get it like I'm in this industry it's talk radio fodder I get it I understand it but I can't get upset about it because I know that at the end of all of it. You're upset about Adam Fox not being there? Adam Fox's probably going to be there.

You're upset about Jason Roberts and not being there? I'm upset. Every year since the miracle, they've taken the wrong lesson from the miracle and they feel like the U.S. has to be some lunch pale blue collar bullshit team and the first time we ever have the depth of talent.

It's like I wrote about when we did the roster breakdown. They built a team to beat Canada instead of being Canada. And we have the talent to be Canada now and they've decided. You know what? Hang on a second, though. Like, part of the, it's funny you say that because as a Canadian, the conversation up

here is, do we just build the team just to beat America? I'm serious. Like, when you want to talk about, like, you know, where's Mark Schifley in all of this? Okay, like, where's Matthew Schaefer in this one? Where's Jacob Chikrin? Like, you can. Tom Wilson is an anti-Kichuk deployment system. Yeah, exactly.

The Kachuk neutralization system. Like, it's, I think it's the same thing. You know, so I asked Berkey this. Okay, so Berkey was on, like, right after the announcement in Minnesota. And I said, Brian, and I'm thinking that he's going to say, well, no, Merrick, you're a dummy, like he always says. I said, like, does it seem to you, like, the announcement we just heard from Doug Armstrong, and the players are going to be going to Italy here, does it look to you like Canada has put together a roster just to beat the United States? And he said, yes. and he said

because of that that means they can also beat all the other teams which I thought was an interesting point and probably like a really flattering one too like the idea being

if you can beat the United States you can beat anybody just like if you're the United States you might be thinking yourself if we can beat Canada if we can put together a roster they can beat Canada we can beat anybody

now I know the Swedes is going to throw a wrench into that heck the Latvian is probably going to throw a wrench into that the Finns are going to try to throw a wrench to that is going to try to throw a wrench into that, certainly. But I thought it was an interesting perspective from Berkey.

He goes, yeah, of course they did. But if you beat America, you can beat everybody. I thought that was an interesting thing. I'm sorry I stepped on your department. No, no, no, no, no. We just got a new feature here, the sheet line. So you can leave your comments and criticisms, and in this case, corrections, I guess. SpeakPipe.com.

By the way, speakpipe has been sitting there for a long time and finally someone used it. God, that's a great term. SpeakPipe.com slash the sheet to leave a, audio correction or a comment or a question for all of us here. And I believe this one references you as well, Greg Wyshinsky. So let's hear from whomever's on the sheet line here. Hey, Jeff. Hey, Zach.

It's Fish. Oh, Fish. I thought that I would be correcting the world's greatest hockey history knowledge nowhere. It's not true. It's not true. It's not about you. No, he's not.

Fortunately enough for me, I am. A couple episodes ago, you said that Austin Matthews was born in L.A. In fact, that is incorrect. As he was born in the same hospital as I was in San Ramon, California. A little unknown fun fact for you. Thanks, guys. Love the pot. Fish!

There you know. Thank you. I always thought it was Los Angeles. How close is San Ramon to Los Angeles, by the way? That's a good question. That I don't know. But the reason why I thought this was interesting is we all play the, I don't know if you play this in the United States, but in Canada, you know, the idea that hockey is

everywhere and everyone is proud of their hometowners. You know, I'm from Owensown, the home of Harry Lumley, right? Curtis Sanford or from wherever. So you're always like, pipe back or clap back, like all the players that were born in your hometown. I like the fact that fish, if that is indeed your real name, that fish brought up the fact that Austin Matthews was born at the same hospital, which I always remember when I was a kid growing up, I was born at Wellesley Hospital. It's not there anymore. Wellesley Hospital, which was the place where when Maple Leaf's players got injured or anyone else playing at Maple Leaf Gardens, that was the hospital. took the players to and for whatever reason when like your boy jeffy was seven or eight years old

i always thought that was the coolest thing in the world oh valakette just got injured he's going to wolsey hospital and they would say it on television i'm like wow i was born there and that's where the sending the players to go get stitched up that's so cool you look you look quizzical you have a puzzle look on your face gregg here's an interesting thing i've come to find out san ramone is actually just east of oakland five hours and 20 minutes drive to the former Staples Center in Los Angeles. So he's a, he's a NorCal kid.

Really? Oh, okay. Well, see how again, like, do not position me as some, like, great historian. I don't do, I don't, I don't publish peer reviewed papers. I just spit out Terry Harper, Bob Pulford, hockey fight facts

for 1963 and goes, oh, I know it's history. I just happen to like it. I just happen to drive. We got one more. We do have one more on the sheet line here for you, then we'll let you get on with your day. Hello, Zach and Jeff. My name's Matt from Atlanta. First, let me say I'm beyond excited about the return of Atlanta to its rightful place

in the NHL in the next few years. I know we have a stigma to break, but rumors of our apathy have been greatly exaggerated. Ever since the thrashers left, I've made it my purpose to be an irrational champion of Sunbelt hockey, so here's my hot take. It is an act of profound cowardice that the NHL did not have the lightning and Panthers play each other in the Winter Classic. They are established franchises nearing three decades old. They're

competitive with multiple championships between them and most of all, Jeff. They're full of grumpy hockey players who hate each other. It could have been an immensely entertaining game that would have fanned the flames of a relatively fledgling rivalry and almost certainly resulted in a raised

profile for the game in Florida and probably some supplementary discipline. Instead, the NHL felt the need to shoehorn in big market teams I get that they were chasing the almighty dollar, but it sends a message to Southern fans that they still don't believe in the Florida teams and that they need an original six crutch

to be worthy of the league's attention. Instead of growing the game and the rivalry, the league kneecaps future growth out of jealously guarding what profit they could make right now. I'm interested to hear your thoughts, thanks. Matt, thank you. Matt from Atlanta, he's, well, Well, first, when he said return Atlanta to its rightful place to the NHL,

I assume he means in Quebec City by 2040. Wow, wow, wow, no, no, that's sorry, Matt. I'm not going to happen, but there will be a return to Atlanta for the NHL. To the point about, it's interesting, you know, the Sun Belt champion, I think we all understand why the Rangers were there. I mean, you want to try to get as many eyeballs on this as possible. The other thing that I'm not sure how much this got concert, but before they bought the Florida Panthers,

the Viola family, like, to a person, were huge Rangers fans. Yeah. Like, I'm sure part of this is like, yeah, we own the Florida Panthers. Choose your rival for the Winter Classic. Like, that's a family that grew up adoring the New York Rangers. And whenever they were in Florida,

it was a big of Panthers, It was a massive deal for that family. They've tried to figure out a Rangers Panthers game at West Point forever. Part of that is Viola's history with the Army. Part of that is also the Rangers of it all. Yeah, to Merrick's point, like, there's not only a television aspect to it. Obviously, I work for a rights holder. Let's just put that on the table.

Having Boston in an outdoor game is going to bring a huge audience that otherwise would not be watching a Battle of Florida game. Same thing with having the Rangers. in that kind of game. On top of that, you are talking about two areas of the world that have a certain migrant pattern towards Florida. There are a lot of Bruins fans of Florida, and there are a lot of Rangers fans of Florida that won't have to drive all that far to go see their team in an outdoor game.

Now, that being said, it may not be the best for television, and it may not be the best for revenues. It would be the best for hockey fans like you and me, Matt. Matt, right? Yeah, Matt. Battle of Florida Round 1 in Miami Battle of Florida

Round 2 Stadium Series in Tampa That would have been really cool Well here's the thing though Those two teams play outdoors twice in the same season And two different parts of Florida Would have been really cool Here's the problem though

Network time is very expensive And if it were Tampa and Florida The game would still be going now that's really, really expensive. I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun, but the game would still be on. I hear you. I hear you.

And it's, again, like, I think variety is the spice of life and having the same two teams play twice in the same season in stadium series games, or outdoor games, rather, probably doesn't make sense. But look, to your point, yeah, sure. Those teams have earned the right to have their own outdoor game. but part of the math of these things is these franchises hate each other, who gets to have it?

Do you think the lightning are all fired up about playing in Miami? I think the Panthers are like, yeah, we should definitely support our brothers in Tampa and be the guest for their outdoor game. Like there's a certain amount of politics involved there too that you have to remember as well. Good point. Good point. Okay, got a couple more things to do, but you need to get released because you're on parental leave, sort of.

I am daddy duty. Who is your daddy and what does he do? Who's your daddy? What does he do? He watches hockey games and he comes on and he does impressions. We'll have a whole discussion one day about like my eldest daughter discovering my entire career over the last couple of years. Oh, she finally clued into what you do? She's very clued into what I do now that she's like a huge Devils fan.

But like it's been fun to see both the recognition of my accomplishments and befuddled men as to what it is I do. My wife said to me once, she said, you don't actually do anything. All you do is talk about things that other people do. I was offended briefly until I realized you was right. I've often thought about the zombie apocalypse. And could I carve out a niche for myself creating a podcast to entertain the survivors?

Or would I be one of the first people eaten by the people that are now starving? We'd both be one of the initial casualties. we'd be the front line to the thriller video. That would be us. Especially, I'd be dinner and leftovers. Like, you're kind of, you're kind of a waifish sort. Hey, how dare you? How dare you?

How dare you, Greg Wischinsky. offend me like that. All right, be off with you, Father Wichinsky. We'll talk to Thursday. There is Greg Wischinsky from ESPN at ESPN.com. A couple things to fly through here. Hungry for Hockey History. I like this one.

I really like this one today, Zach. Hungry for Hockey History, a presentation of Uber Eats. Uber Eats is enabling fans to maximize their fandom all season long with exclusive game day deals on the app, from Game Day Eats to paper plates and napkins, if you're hosting, to all the ingredients you need to make your favorite game day dip before or during and after the game. Uber Eats is assisting every fan's hockey experience all season long.

Our favorite game day dip is Zach. What do you got for Hungry for Hockey History today? Zacharoo? You said the favorite game day dip is me. Yeah. You're my favorite dip. Okay. Today we're looking back to 1968.

Jacques Plont's 300th win. Jacques Plum became the first Canadian goalie to record 300 victories, blanking the New York Rangers 6-0. He was only the fourth goalie in league history at that time to reach that mark. One of the best of all time. I don't think we spend enough time talking about how great Jacques Plont was. He was the original Martin Bordor in a lot of ways. He was the first goaltender.

Not the first to do it, but the first to do it consistently and as a tactic. Play the puck outside of the crease. Wander a little bit. And here is the thing that I always... And by the way, there's a great book. If you're interested in Jacques Plont or just looking for a great hockey book. Todd DeNoe is a great hockey historian and researcher. His book on Jacques Plont.

It is called The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey. Todd De Noe. Jean Belive, who actually wrote the forward for the book, is excellent reading. But you know what I always think about when I think about Jacques Plont? You know what he did on the road? Well, other players were off cavorting and drinking and doing who knows what to who knows who. He stayed in his hotel room and he knitted scarves and socks and hats and sent them back home. Also, this popped up on my feet, one of my men.

mini hockey feeds that I follow on a regular basis. It's funny that today is Jacques Plont Day for Hungry for Hockey History because his old Miller-Light commercial from the 70s popped up. Do you have, did I send this here, right? Do you have this?

Okay, let's find it. This is Jacques Plont and Boom Boom, Jefferon and another great hockey-inspired Miller-Light commercial from the 70s. Enjoy this. I'm called Boom-Bum-Jafri-Rion. I'm called Jat-Ten. You're all two

the ancient players of hockey. And we buvon the beer light of light because she has a third

more light because she has a good because she has a good magnificent. A good magnificent.

It's a magnificent. Sacri, you believe this guy? You shavire. But you're a fool. The beer like the

Miller, all that you desire of one beer at mine. You know we need the NHL now, Zach?

We need commercials with hockey players arguing about beer. Yeah. That's what we, those Miller-like commercials, oh, man, like the one with John David's, like, they used to do awesome, awesome hockey commercials back in, back in the day. Anyhow, yeah, Jacques Plont, the book is called, if you, if you get a chance, you can find it online. The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey, Jacques Plont, written by the great Todd Donough, who also did a great book on the Montreal Canadiens Red Army tie, which many call the great. the greatest hockey game ever played. In the meantime, we'll wrap up with this one and stay with us here, Zach, because this is your shine spot.

Spotlight ready to go to center ice and Zach Phillips. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fanduel. It's the NHL season and Fanduel is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Bet Slip, we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game.

Miss Puck drop, no sweat with a live same game parlay. You can build up your bets until the final buzzer. Download Fan Dual Sportsbook. today and play your game. Please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Zach.

So my roommates and my friends the other day were talking about superhero movies and movies they've seen and which ones are good and stuff, and then it got me thinking. The line with great power comes great responsibility. Oh, Spider-Man. Not only that, but with powers, if you use your powers for petty, it comes with cons. Elias Pedersen, Owen Power. I threw in there, and then Andrew O'Connor, Pedersen, Owen Power, and Drew O'Connor. Your petty powers comes with cons.

No? $5 to win. I was going to say, get us to the pay window here. What's five bucks going to get us? $668 tonight. All right. What is again? Petty Powers.

Using your powers for pegs comes with cons. That's right. Using your powers comes with cons. Have you heard any feedback from Fanduel on your pithy little parles? You're pithy parley. Maybe that's it. That's the new title of the segment. Zach's pithy parlays

Brought to you by Vandal Yeah that works for me I think that that's fair Putting some nonsense out there Hopefully people are having fun with this So I'm just waiting for one to hit I honestly I am just waiting for one to hit And I will giggle

Like you wouldn't believe Vic just text me right now And said that was awful Jeez if any If even Vic is like Man you got to calm that down Like, this is Vic saying this. Like, when Vic is saying, like, have some shame, man.

You know, you've really done something here. So the interactive ways to get involved. Comments, questions, spicy, takes, insults, and corrections. The sheet lines, speakpipe.com slash the sheet. Please use liberally. And the email, the sheet at the nation network.com had a couple that I wanted to get to today. But time was not our friend. We'll get to them tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for dropping by the program today. Can I tell you something? thing before you go on Marshan's. So he was asked about Matthews by Lance Hornby. Just wanted to throw this out there. He was asked about Matthews in the scoring records and setting future scoring marks. And Marshawn, and specifically with the Leafs, and Marshawn ended his interview with if he's still here and then walked off laughing and doing the stir the pot emoji or motion.

It's the best. Just wanted to throw that. because that was one funnel on the way out. What he should have said was, well, he'll either do it here or in Los Angeles. Or San Ramon. Oh, no, no, no, sorry, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles. That's for our boy fish.

Yeah, thanks for being part of the speakpipe.com slash the sheet line. Thanks to Connor McGeehey, play-by-play voice for the avalanche for stopping by and his always on Tuesdays here, Greg Wischinski from ESPN and ESPN.com. You have yourself a great rest of your day. We're back tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern for more on the sheet. No pithy little comment. Just, that's it. Talk to you tomorrow. I said 16 hours last night every day this week, every day this month. I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day because you can call it all right

I went to the dark man and tried to give me a little medicine I'm like now and that's fine I'm not against those methods but I knew it's me and myself and how this is going to be fixing my mind I do on the bracket

I turned on the music I did want to break up The time of the music That's the nothing about that you're sometimes losing Have been on the days that we're wrong