The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Avs and Bolts on Fire, Next Gen Showdown, and Olympic Roster Spots ft. Pierre McGuire

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

Pierre McGuire joins Jeff Marek on The Sheet for a full NHL deep dive as December begins, breaking down the Chicago Blackhawks–Anaheim Ducks showdown, why the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning are on fire, and which surprising teams are emerging as real threats across the league as well as which teams are completely disappointing. We also dig into early Olympic roster battles, who’s truly separating themselves, and what the next month could reveal about contenders and pretenders around the NHL. If you’re looking for sharp analysis, insider perspective, and context on the biggest storylines shaping the season, this episode has you covered.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Bauer: https://www.bauer.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/ca👍🏼Prime Video: https://primevideo-row.pxf.io/c/5560083/3303015/20020Reach 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#NHL #TheSheet #DailyFaceoff #PierreMcGuire #JeffMarek #Blackhawks #Ducks #Avalanche #Lightning #Olympics #Hockey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the program once again. As we kick off another week, we kick off another month. Welcome to December, folks. And now we're starting to get more of a snapshot of who's actually good. Who's a pretender? Who's a contender? What's a mirage? Who's legit?

What's fools gold? All of the cliches, all of it. We're going to get into it here in a couple of moments. and we have Pierre McGuire a board and that means it will be the quickest 60 minutes in hockey talk, podcast, radio, broadcast, anywhere. These conversations fly. So let's get right to the rundown for the show today

to let you know what's going on and get right to Pierre. The blueprint is powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game. Coming up on the show, I already mentioned Pierre McGuire. He is standing by. And I've got a kind of not a guessing game. I got what I think is a pretty solid opening question for Pierre. How's that for a hook?

So Pierre standing by. We'll talk about the Hawks and the Ducks yesterday. We'll talk about the aves and the bolts, both of them on fire. We'll talk about injuries on the ice and perhaps more importantly for some teams off the ice as well. Some of the young guns around the league and more news and notes around Olympics and rostering of certain players. In the meantime, let's bring aboard the one and only Pierre McGuire. I look forward to these conversations like a few others. Pierre McGuire joins me once again.

Pierre, Salue, how are you? Doing fantastic. Very nice to see you, Jeff. Good to see you, too. So let's see how far we can get into this one. So is the best team in the NHL in the Central Division? Yes, Colorado, and Dallas is going to be close. But here's one of the things that I use all the time.

And I know you have a lot of people that study analytics on your show. So here's two numbers. I want people to think about the gold differential for Colorado is plus 48. The goal differential for Dallas is plus 22. Those are the two best. Yep. Those are two best.

Oh, I know. That is a massive gap. Those are the two best. Think about that. That's a massive gap is right. And you know what? As much as I enjoy watching Ottawa Senators play and I really do, I watched them play last night. That was game six of a seven game road trip. After the first period, they were doing nine. I know Timmy Stutz

his turnover matter, but you watched the complete play of the Dallas stars, they're all coached, they're big, they're deep on defense, they got great role players. If you were to say outside of the Dallas market and maybe the Boston market, because he played at Harvard in St. John's Prep, who Colin Blackwell is, how many people would even know that he's a player in the league? And every team would love to have him as well. And he looks so good playing on this one. Okay, but let me go down this road one more.

So we've established the best team in the NHL is in the Central. Is the second best team in the NHL in the Central Division as well? I think so. I think it's in Dallas, and that's why I'm going to tell you, Colorado and Dallas are the two best teams in the league right now. But there's a team that's starting to really go. And it blows me away that they're doing this without Braden Point. They're doing it without Victor Hedman.

They're doing it without Eric Chirmeck. They're doing it without Ryan McDonough, Tampa Bay. Like John Cooper, I give him a ton of credit in this staff. They're doing it. And what they've done with their defense in particular, Robbie Zettler must be doing magical acts down there. Go look at the names of the players that are playing defense for Tampa right now and see how they're doing.

They're playing tremendous hockey as a group. Really good hockey. J.J. Mosier and Darren Radish are no offense to those players, but that's the top pair for Tampa right now. So maybe that answers my question then because I was going to ask you, is the third best team in the NHL also in the Central Division as well? So you're saying it's Tampa, not Minnesota, even though Minnesota is on a real hot run right now. Jasper Walsh, that's pretty darn good.

And they got a lot of players that are playing with a lot of energy. And I'm not going to say anything negative about Minnesota because my son's part of their organization. So I'm not going to say anything. But I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Hines. And obviously his staff is really strong. And Billy has done. I think Billy's done a fantastic job with their team. and the unseen hand there who doesn't get enough credit is Matt Hendricks.

Matt Hendricks kind of running their farm system right now, and they've had a lot of injuries, obviously. They've been able to call guys up and send guys back, and they haven't missed a beat. So it's all encompassing in Minnesota, but to think I don't see them being the third best team in the league right now. I don't. You see it as a Tampa.

Listen, Tampa had the soft start. It was a one in four to kick off the season ever since then. They've been on a heater, and you're right. But the thing is, like, I can't figure out, I don't think any of us can, can figure out how they are doing this. I mean, injuries are something that every team contends with. You've heard coaches say, well, we're not using it as an excuse, but here's a laundry list of injuries that we have. It seems as if, and maybe it's just because of the battery between Tampa and Syracuse and the American Hockey League is so fine.

And the way they play there is the same as they play at Tampa. So when players come up, it's like an Olympic diver into water, no ripple whatsoever. You go into that lineup. How are they doing this? As you mentioned, like no point, no headman, no McDonough, no Churnack. They had, you know, Anthony Sorrelli on the shelf for a while. How is this possible in today's NHL?

They got this one guy that makes place, his name's Kuchero. Yeah, he's not bad. He is so good. But one thing that stood out to me, He watched their Ranger game the other day. I think they held the Rangers the 14 shots on net at MSG after the Rangers blew out Boston on Friday. And what blew me away in that one, Jeff,

I got to tell you is watch the empty-neck goal that Jake Gensel scores and watch what he does with Yanni Gord. All he does is he can skate right to the net and he's got an empty-net goal. He drops a puck back to Gord and then Gord gives it back to him. It's so Gord can get his name on the score sheet. these these guys are so tightly together they're so plugged in as a group and i that's why i said you got to give john cooper and their staff a lot of credit you know john john knows how to

manage people i think if you were to ask john are you a brilliant tactician i don't think he'd say he was it'd say he'd say i'm adequate at it and that's why i delegate authority um when it comes to that but he knows how to manage people and he knows how to manage a message i think john cooper's so darn good at that, really good at it. Am I maybe overthinking this year? And maybe is the answer, Andre Vasselowski's back? Like, if we're voting on the,

if we're voting on the Vesna Trophy right now, look, Logan Thompson's in that conversation. I think Spencer Knight's in that conversation. The Chicago Blackcock. Scott Wedgwood has made a lot of noise this year for the Colorado Avalanche, although he's really well supported by the entire team and specifically that back end.

Do we look at this and say, look, Zezna Vasilevsky's back and maybe we should think no further than that because he's been outstanding for them he's been really good I'll throw a couple more guys in there Jeremy Swainman for Boston's more good than bad and then there's a guy in L.A. that I think he's going to make Canada's an Olympic team Darcy Kemper so there's a few guys but no I like what he said this Nevaselowski's back he's back he is he's back no he's back I agree with that.

That's a great one. Even if he doesn't play, Johansen goes in goal and he plays well too, even though he doesn't face as much rubber, he goes in there and plays pretty darn well too. And you know what? One other thing, you know, I'm remiss on this because I like the player so much.

I had to work. I liked the person, too. I had to work with him in Ottawa. And I was not part of trading him away, by the way. Nick Paul. Nick Paul's back now. And you watch Nick the way he's starting to play, that big body presence is starting to come back

And that makes a big difference for Tampa, too. That was a theft. Like that was, that was, man. I remember seeing that train, like, because I mean, listen, I admit my bias. Because I loved him playing with the battalion. I'm just like, oh, Nick Paul is this. Nick Paul is that. And I'm just, holy smokes.

What, like, what am I missing here? What am I missing? yeah it was a money thing it's a convoluted story i prefer to take the high road not the lower road so i'll just say that there were some issues in terms of dollars and how they wanted to be spent internally and so i think that affected the whole outcome with the nick paul situation well tampa's the beneficiary of it and um you know the uh the thing about nick paul and isn't the thing about the entire tampa bay lightning organization is they do everything together You know, Anthony Stewart, Anthony Stewart's dad is one of the most interesting people that I've ever spoken to.

And he has a saying, and it goes like this. He talks about, and he, like, Mr. Stewart is fantastic to talk to. He always looks at teams and he says, are you a team or are you a club? Are you a team or are you a club? And I look at Tampa and when someone get, like, let's say, I don't know, pick a player, Jake Gensel gets run from behind. into the boards. Everybody on the ice attacks, right? It doesn't matter who you are.

Everybody right away, bam, is on that player. And I look at that and I go, that's a team. Some other teams that happens, everybody counts their feet, a couple of guys cut their skate laces, look up at the stands. That's a club. That's a club. But I look at Tampa and I go, that's a team. Everything is all together.

Think about what happened on Saturday afternoon at MS. Brandon Hagle hits Adam Fox. Adam Fox. Adam Fox is on an L-T-I-R now. Was anybody for the Rangers going to respond? And don't tell me because Matt and Rappi's got an injury that they don't have him doing anything. I wouldn't believe it. It's what you're saying.

One team's a club and one team's a team. Yeah. Then the thing is like, sure, you know, Tampa has. Curtis Douglas, but it doesn't matter. Like, it doesn't, well, whoever is on the ice. We've all, both of us and everybody listening and watching is all seen like guys like Anthony Sirelli go on the attack. If someone have, like that to me is a team.

By the way, I don't know if you got the same. Maybe I'm just looking at this too much. But one of my favorite things that I've ever seen is before, I think it would have been before Sochi. David Backus of the St. Louis Blues went on this like team Canada destruction path where he was trying to fight everybody who was going to play on. He got Perry, he got Taves. There was one more that he got, too.

Who was it? I can't remember. But every time he was playing against someone that's going to be on Team Canada, he fought him. And I saw Hagel take a run at Adam Fox. And I'm like, I get that it's the game. And it's Saturday. It's against the New York Rangers. And I get it.

But I wonder if in the back of his mind, he's saying to himself, one, I need to be physical. I need to catch the attention of Doug Armour. And two, if I get a chance to get a good lick in here on an American defender, I'm going to do it. Yeah, and also, whenever you play the Rangers, because Fox plays almost 25 minutes a game, his number gets circled. And you make a point of emphasis to make sure he's taken care of. You know, Jeff, another thing that's really important on all this, Hegel knows that he's in the crosshairs. I think he's more of a lead pipe cinch to make it than most. but if you look at what's going on right now with Sellebrini

and you look at what's going on with Connor Bredard and you look at what's going on with Tom Wilson and the potential for maybe Shifley and the consistency of Tavaris. Like a lot of guys are played in the Four Nations, Jeff, they might not be playing for the Olympics this year. I agree. I agree.

I know that I kind of have this rule. Like if I'm going to say like this guy's going to make the team, in my own mind, I'm saying, well, I can't just do one half of it. I have to talk about, okay, so if this guy's on, I got to do the uncomfortable. half of and that means this guy is off and even though he's played better lately I don't know that there's still a spot for Travis connecting here I don't oh no listen I I watched Travis connecting with as a kid playing for the Ottawa 67s and I really thought the

world of him as a player and I did most of his games early on in his career with the Philadelphia Flyers and he didn't have a lot surrounding him and that guy played every single shift like it was his last so I have a ton of respect for him I really do But to realistically think he's going to be on this team right now, I think it'd be a stretch. Yeah, I don't disagree. Listen, you mentioned Celebrini and Bedard, and Sunday night was a real treat.

I mean, we're looking at the hawks and the ducks, and you throw San Jose into that mix as well. And I think you should also throw Utah into this young mix, too. Like, this is the next 10 years of the league. You know, and like the ducks go up, three cob, here we go. They think they're going to be blasting the hawks. And Connor Bedard starts to be. go to work and he's got four points and he's got a highlight real goal and he's barking at the

Anaheim bench and I'm saying to myself like this is the next 10 years like these are the teams that we're going to be watching it this is like pierre is it's safe to say this is the beginning of the changing of the guard in the NHL and every time those teams mix we're starting to see it San Jose Anaheim Chicago and Utah the future of the west for sure but how about Montreal in Ottawa in the East. And I think Philadelphia is going to be one of those teams that's going to cause some problems as long as they can continue this proper path.

I think Rick Talkett, obviously I'm just going to be transparent. One of my favorites of all the players I've ever had the privilege of working with is Rick talking. Every time he goes somewhere, I just want him to do really well. And he's clearly doing a real good job right now. So I'm really happy for Rick and his staff.

But I think Philly could be one of those teams. And I know they're off to a slow start this year. and I don't know how sexy it is to watch Columbus playing on a night in and night out bases. But you can't tell me watching Zach Werenczi or watching Adam Fantilli isn't exciting. Like those guys are must watch TV. I think they're going in the right direction too.

So you're right. Passing of the torch. And I'll also throw one team in that you talked about before because they have a lot of good young guys too as Minnesota. This Matt Boldie, if you have like, how many people really know who Matt Boldie is, honestly? You know, you know he was a good young player, but how good do you think he is?

Then you watch him playing. You're like, this guy's really good. The other thing about Minnesota, Pierre, is they just, they have, and Vegas has been like this too. They have a way to play. They have the different styles of game.

And so, like, you're like me. Like, we're all over the place watching games every single night. But I find myself this year more so maybe than ever stopping for longer on Minnesota games. And it's not just this run, although this run is really pronounced. I love watching this team right now. These games are flat out fun to watch, Pierre.

They really are. They are. And Boldie's a big part of that. No question. Getting Zuccarello back. I don't know how much that's talked about was massive for their group, really massive for their group.

But Brock Faber, I think everybody kind of knows his name because he played in the Four Nations last year, and he was an integral part. of the University of Minnesota when they went to a national championship game and lost to Quinnipiac, Brock Faber's a real deal. Like, this guy's a really good player. Zeph, William, just continues to get better all the time.

And he's got some stuff to work on defensively, but he's getting better all the time at that too. Minnesota's must-watch TV, I would agree with you 100%. I don't have them in that upper echelon yet, but I think they're getting darn close to be in there. A couple more teams here as we bounce around. I want to ask you, it's funny, I was having a conversation with an official about something that I want to ask your opinion on here in a couple of seconds.

But you mentioned the Philadelphia Flyers, and there's a few things there. I think Dan Vlodar, and it's not getting a lot of headlines, but Dan Vlodar has had a really nice season for the Philadelphia Flyers. I still maintain that Sam Murs in the last couple of years has been really overworked. It's out of necessity. We understand it. But Dan Vlodar has come in and has been excellent for the Philadelphia Flyers. But I know there was a tough turnover against New Jersey on the weekend, but Trevor Zieg. You know, leads a team in points.

He looks like, he still looks like he's having fun, but he still looks like he's a more mature hockey player. And if there's, if there's, if there's a more automatic player in the shootout, then Trevor Zegris, I haven't seen the guy. It's, he's like the, the new T.J. Oshy, you know, as funny, I was having a conversation with someone over the weekend, like, do you think USA takes Trevor Zegris just for the shootout? Well, if you ever go watch the tape,

of the USA Russia game from Sochi. I was doing that game with Eddie Olcheck and Doc Emmerich. And they said to me, we were going, Doc was going, Eddie, who do you think? Pierre, who do you think? And I said, all I can tell you is the only reason T.J. O's on this team because he's a shootout specialist. That's all I said. And then I, you know, I didn't know that they were going to use them the way they used them, obviously, but he goes out there and just rins it apart, Jeff.

I think you're pointing a lot of validity to it because I think USA hockey, remember. exactly what was going on with TJ and what he was able to do. So I think there's a lot of merit to that. But the one thing about Trevor, and I'm shocked about this, I am, and I don't want to pick a fight with anybody. I can't believe, like 2016 and 2017 is not that long ago, Jeff. It's not that long ago. The Pittsburgh Penguins won two Stanley Cups.

I know Mike Sullivan was a coach, but Rick Tocket was the assistant coach, and they had one guy in there that everybody thought was the ultimate enigma. and they had to figure out how to get him going. His name is Phil Kessel. Yeah. And I'm telling you right now, Rick Tocke did more to help Phil Kess. I was there. I was doing the games.

It was unbelievable. And you should have heard, like, I wish we had microphones that we could actually utilize at that point with inside the glass to hear some of the stuff that would go on between Malcon and Kessel. The interplay, like, there was some bad stuff going on. It's a little bit like we used to go on routine and taves. I mean, people don't realize they would challenge each other back and forth. And Rick would kind of be the peacemaker with this, you know, like Phil Kessel's stuff in Malcolon.

And I look at Phil Kessel and I'm saying, okay, American-Born, really good college player. Yep. And I'm looking at Trevor Ziegress, American-born, really good college player, left early, got hung up, had some problems, obviously, in Anaheim. And he's in Philadelphia now. and there's one common component. It's Rick Tocket with Kessel and it's Rick Tocket with Trevor's egress.

And I can't believe nobody's connected the dots in that one. I'm really surprised by it. But you know, part of it too, and I'm not going to discount or discredit Rick Tockett's influence

because the evidence is before us. But you've seen plenty of players that are resistant to change. This is the way I've been successful. This is what got me through college. This is what got me through the CHL. This is the way I'm going to play.

How many times have you heard a player here say, this is my game. This is how I play. And generally, that's a, you know, that's a track that screams right into the wall. I can't help but say like something, like a light went off in Zegrois's head.

Whereas like, I need to do something different here. Like, trust me. Like he's still out there having fun, right? I still love that he's like the new Kuznets off with that shootout move where he comes in super slow and inch, inch, inch, inch, and then turns on the burners. Like, and he's like a 60% shot in the shootout. But something changed in Zegris. Like he looks like, and that doesn't happen just by a coach.

Like that's got a, like part of that is the player buying into what Talkett is selling here. I agree. I think there's a lot of merit to that as well. part of that too is you hear the noise you hear the noise around your name when you're going around the league and one of the things you heard around Trevor Ziegress's name was underachiever not coachable not a great guy's true to be around if there was a lot of noise i've known Trevor listen Trevor and Spencer night played for mid fairfield okay and i was there a lot watching them practice because my son would go on an hour later because he was younger than

them by a couple years. And so I lived in the same neighborhood. I watched all the games. Trevor was dynamite. Spencer Knight was off the charts good. And those teams never lost. Like it was crazy how good those teams were. The point being is that Trevor was all, he's ahead of his peer group.

He was always ahead of his peer group. And I think that made the game easier for him. But then you get to the NHL and everybody's just as good as you. And, you know, it comes down how coachable they want to be. Jerry York, the Hall of Fame coach of Boston College, I'll never be able to thank him enough for asking me to come to talk to his team from time to time when he was at Boston College.

And he said something to me once in his office, I'll never forget. I much prefer to have a great player who's a good person than a great player who's a bad person. I said, coach, that's not really that complicated. And he says, yeah, but here's why. The great player who's a good person is coachable. The great player who's a marginal person can't be coached. They don't want to be

coached. And so if you look at all the great players, starting with Rob Blake and Gary Galley and all the players at Coach York's at overtime, George McPhee, go look at all the great players at Bowling Green, go look at Dave Taylor at Clarkson University. Like I can go add infinitum on all the great players. Here's a man that actually understands the principle of how develop great players. How do you do it? You find people that are really good people that want to listen, that want to be coached.

All right. Pause for one second because when we return to the conversation, I'm going to be talking about here, one of the teams that I want to talk to you about. So hold on to your thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets. This segment is a presentation of Prime Monday Night Hockey. Prime Monday Night Hockey streams all national regular season

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Download the app or go to Prime Video.com. Let me ask you about the Winnipeg Jets. I look at this team without Connor Hallibuck and I say, man, great goal-tending can really mask a lot of issues. And now without Connor Hallibuck, two things stand out to me. Let me know if you're seeing the same thing.

One, they need a legit second line. center, and two, they need one more puck-moving defensemen. Are you seeing the same thing out of the Jets? Yeah, we are. And part of that is everybody focuses in on Josh Morrissey, who's had a tremendous start to this season, obviously. So it's a tougher game for him to play. And then the other part is everybody knows if you shut down Shifley and Kyle

Connor, it's really hard for them to win. And so they're getting a lot of steady attention. So there's not enough diversity through the lineup in terms of insulating those better player. So I think that's been a bit of a problem for him, Jeff, on those two fronts. And then you take Helibuck out. It's like there's no room for error. So everybody wants to win this race to three in the NHL. It's always you get to three first. You usually win. I don't know if you can say that in Winnipeg anymore. I just don't know if you can say that. Yeah. And listen, as we talked about at the top of the show, like that division is not

getting any easier. If anything, that is now, that that's a division of death. And you fall out of it quickly and it's really hard to claw back. And that's why you wonder. Like without Connor Hellebuck, I don't think you can expect to play above 500 without Connor Hellebuck and this Winnipeg Jets team. But if they can kind of hover around that area until he gets back, they have a chance. But every game without Conor Hellebuck in there is a further step away from relevancy in the Central Division.

It's a tough slog. Colorado, Dallas, now Minnesota, other teams as well. Listen, man, Chugga Blackhawks are in a playoff position right now for growing up. Utah. Let's not forget Utah. Yeah. I mean, it's all tough. That's so well said.

It's really appropriate, too. So I'll try to take it to an eastern bent. Okay. When Brady Chuk went down, it's a totally different position. But when Brady went down in Ottawa, they were relying on Lina's Allmark. had to be really good. Jake Sanderson had to take his game up another notch, which is unbelievable to say, but

he has. And Timmy Stutzler had to go to a whole other level. So I think Timmy's done that too. I know people are going to say, yeah, McGuire, sure. Did you see the turnover last night to Jason Robertson? Yeah, I watched the game. I know. Take that out of the equation. They all make turnovers. We all, everybody, it's ever played

the game makes turnovers. So it was a bad play by Timmy. But how did Ottawa overcome Velocca Chuck? Certain guys elevated and they needed three of them all mark sanderson and stutzel and they were able to do it so what happens in winnipeg you need other guys and it just can't be morrison it just can't be shifely because everybody going to load up on those guys and they just don't have enough to overcome the loss of the goalie that was a perfect mascara to cover up all the blemishes that they might have

on their back end um so the other team the winnipeg jets are playing tonight are the buffalo Sabres at the Key Bank Center. There are times where Buffalo looks like they've really got it together. Listen, I know that I'm talking about a last place team here, but there are bright spots in this lineup. I think that Noah

Oslin's going to be, and already is a good player, I think he's going to be a really good player in the NHL for a long time. I really liked what Tage Thompson did last week with Stefan Nason, taking things into his own hands and say, you guys aren't going to settle this for me. I'm going to settle this

for myself from the hit last season. No one likes the three-headed goaltending rotation. Nobody likes the three-headed monster. And front and center are all three goaltenders. They don't like it. I know this team has blemishes, but if you're, like put it this way, if you're doing the quarterly review right now

on your Buffalo Sabres and you're Terry Pagula, what are you seeing here and what are you thinking? I want to know why Owen Power is not better. they need him to be better you know he's a first overall pick i want to know what we're doing with alex tuck are we keeping them or are we are we moving them i think that's a big issue for them contractually um are we keeping tage thompson removing them i think anything besides keeping them would be fundamentally flawed and if i'm the owner i want to know how rasmustalin is dealing with all the stuff going on in his life and still playing at a very high level they're not deep enough

on defense right now. I love what you said about Noah Ostland. I saw him play so much for Gerrard. He played Liam Ogren, man. I'm telling you, those two guys were just running over people. It was unbelievable to watch those two guys in particular in Juror Garden. The first time I went over to watch them, I talked to Barry Smith, who was coaching in Gerrard at the time, and then he lost his job and Barry and I worked together in Pittsburgh. So I said, Barry, anything I should be looking up for him? He goes, oh, yeah, there's an undersized guy. He's a guy. His name is Noah Ostland. Watch this guy.

This gigantic guy that's probably the fittest guy there. His name is Liam Ogren. And I went and I saw both guys. And this was before they were drafted. And to see them in the Jurgarden building in particular, pretty special. And now, you know, both guys obviously playing in the NHL. And Noah's really, as an undersized player, Jeff, you got to get that kid full marks. Like, he's been really good.

I'll tell you what, the other thing that I would wonder about, and I'm I'm with you on Owen Power. I'll throw another name, too, considering he was supposed to replace the goals that left with J.J. Paterka, I'm wondering about Jack Quinn. So their night's where he's really good. I think you would agree.

And their other night's not as good, which I agree with you on. Again, a lot like watching other players when they play junior, watch Jack play for Ottawa 67s, man he knew how to find the back of the net i mean he just did that's just was his calling card and whether it's the injuries whether he got rushed in the league too soon as a young guy he's not at the level i was expecting at this time of his career but i want to be fair to him too

and think that you know it hasn't been easy for him you're on a if you're a if you're a good young player on a marginal team or a non-playoff team it's hard it's hard and then you get hurt it becomes even harder. So I still, I'm not prepared to write him off yet, but he's definitely got room to grow. There's no question. You know,

you mentioned Alex Tuck and there's there's one almost, I don't want to say identical, but more similar than different comparable that's out there and they're the exact same age. And the point production is almost the same. One has more goals than the other. And it seems as if that's the number. Adrian Kempay.

And are you prepared to do $80 million on Alex Tuck if you're the Buffalo Sabres? Because that to me looks like, like that to me makes that, that's the number for Tuck to stay. So here's the one thing that I think separates them. Adrian Kempi runs a power play as a forward on the back end. So he's doing what Mitchell Marner used to do in Toronto. He's doing that in L.A. So he's about a point of game player. I think you would agree.

And I think a big reason why it's because he, He can control the tempo with a game up there. I don't think, if I were negotiating against you, the one thing I'd say is, Kempi runs a power play. Tuck's not running any power play, and he's not running it from the back end. He's not running it from the front end either. He did not run in the power play. Maybe he's going to be the guy that's going to post up in the slot.

So I think there's a premium on guys that can do what Marner can do or can do what Kempai can do. But I also think, again, I'll go into the Kachuk negotiation a little bit in Ottawa. Svechnikov was the comparable. Svechnikov was a comparable on Kachuk, if you look at it at that time. And Brady got a little bit more because he had one quality that Svetznikov didn't have, and that was the hitting component. And so he got more money, you got more money than what Andrei Svechnikov got.

That's fine. It's all right. It's good. It's a good comparable. It's fair for both sides. And then you work off of that, I think, tuck to work off, if you're negotiating, to work tuck off of Kempi would be hard just because of the power play thing. That's how I would counteract your argument.

Sure. The only thing that I would be coming at is coming at from a from a from a from a tuck point of view is that's fine but there's somebody else out there that will pay that number in free agency because you're the Buffalo Sabres you're competing against however however many other teams, Edmonton, Vancouver jumped to mind right away that might look at paying that come free agency now that now now that all the big boys are off the board now all the big boys are off the board very fair so here here let me throw this out you because I think we talked about it the last time I was on so John Tavares took a hometown discount I'm not saying Alex Tuck has he's not from there he's from Syracuse New York and his

parents live up in the Thousand Island so he's not from Buffalo but he like I think he likes it there And I think he really likes being around Tate's Thompson and some of the Brassmas Staling. So John Tavares chose to go from the Islanders to Toronto because it was his childhood. Mike Matheson didn't get to choose, but he got traded to Montreal. But he's been one of the most amazing citizens in Montreal for that team. His wife's an American, actually from Buffalo, who played in the Olympics for Team USA. She was an amazing hockey player. the reason why I'm doing this story is I watch John Tavares give Toronto hometown discount to stay

and I just watched Michael Matheson give a substantial discount to stay and I'm not saying that Alex has to give a discount but I think sometimes grass is always greener in the other pasture and I think the grass is going to be pretty green for him in Buffalo if he stays I think it will and I'll throw in the wrinkle that his wife is from out west she's from British Columbia he had a lot of success in the Western Conference

not that I'm trying to completely detach Alex Tuck away from the Buffalo Sabres here but when you're considering where you're going I get it but the other thing is it might come down to how do you feel or where do you feel this Buffalo Sabres organization is going right now. Like he's 29, he's 29 years old, right?

Where are you going? You got one more chance to ring the bell here. Where do you want to do it? No, and you know what? He watched his mates in Vegas who he went to the final with and they didn't win. They lose to Washington. And then he gets traded away and he watches his mates pull up, his old teammates pull up the Stanley Cup.

Yep. Yeah, I get it. I get what you're saying. I totally do. But, you know, you've raised a good point before. What's the division of death right now? The division of death is a central division. But what's the division of death coming up with Anaheim and with L.A. and with Seattle, with Vegas. Just think about it for a second. You know, where he is right now in the Atlantic, Florida's getting older, Tampa's getting older, even though it's mind-shattering. what Tampa is able to do. Boston's in transition, and I think Swainman's helped him. And how about Morgan Geeky? I think of what they're doing in Boston. And what Morgan Geeky has the same amount of goals as Nathan McKinnon. He's got 20. I know. And in the calendar year, he's got the most of anybody in the NHL. It's ridiculous. I know. Anyways, so what I'm saying is the division that they're in right now in Buffalo might actually be one where you might be able to see your way out of it because the metro

I think is going through real big turmoil and turnover in the metro so I don't know we'll see you know I'm really I'm glad you brought up Morgan Geeky he's he's one of my favorite stories right now I think he's a lot of people's favorite story right now because it's it's incredible what happens when a player finds a place where he's comfortable and rewarded like make no mistake about it Morgan Geeky could have got more money again we'll go back to the Mike Matheson, he could have got more money. He's comfortable, he's happy, he's productive, he went through being left exposed in an expansion draft.

I kind of give Carolina a pass on it because I don't know who else was available and I don't think anyone at that point knew that Morgan Geeky was going to turn into this. The one part of the geeky story that I still, maybe you know, because I don't. I can't get my head around is how did Seattle not qualify the guy?

like he goes to Seattle in the draft and and then not qualified Buffalo picks him up for a song for a song and he's turned into one of the top goal scores in this NHL. Now, do we think that he's going to be right there with Nathan McKinnon and Leon Dreidel and, you know, and all the rest of the usual suspects by the end? Well, he'd like to think so, but odds are probably not. But I just can't wrap my head around, especially a team that's like dying for goals, how they wouldn't have at least qualified Morgan Geeky. That one I can't get my head around. No, that's a really good question. I don't know the answer to that.

And that's something Ronnie and Francis and obviously Jason Botry will have to answer to. But it's a fair. It's not an unfair question. I don't know. I got to tell you, I don't know the answer. But here's what I do know. That kid's playing his butt off. The Bruins are in the discussion.

And look at, they're dealing like serious stuff. The Charlie McAvoy injuries is, how would you like to be the American GM right now when you're dealing with McAvoy and facial injury and now Adam Fox? Yeah. You know, so wasn't there a big outcry before that Lane Hudson wasn't invited to their summer orientation camp?

Yes, yes. Oh, okay. I think he might have an opportunity to make the team know. Yeah, I think that, I think there were a lot of Canadians when Lane Hudson's dad talked about maybe not playing for America. There were a lot of Canadians that made have suggested, okay, so this is just the long burn trade for Brett Hall, the Canadian that went and played for America.

We'll take Lane Hudson in exchange for Brett. That was the future considerations in the Brett Hall deal. We'll take Lane Hudson in 2026. Let me ask you about the Detroit Red Wings, and one player specifically. Speaking of defenders. Quinn Hughes. Now, I think we're all marrying Quinn Hughes to the New Jersey Devils.

And dollars a donut says he probably ends up there if he goes. But I look at, first of all, I look at the market on July 1st. There's no one there that's going to significantly move the needle. We thought there might be, and maybe the Detroit Red Wings could go shopping there, but that well has run dry. They've, the Detroit Red Wings have been in the, as I like to call it, the green banana business for a while. lot of prospects, a lot of pros, some high-end guys, too.

If you're the Red Wings and you know you need a push here, like we don't even call the, we don't even call the building a new building anymore, and there hasn't been a playoff game. If you're Isamid, do you not take a real swing at this if slash when he becomes available? Family lives there. There's ties to the state, obviously. Ties the University of Michigan. Do you not take a real swing at Quinn Hughes?

Yeah, like Dylan Larkins there too. I mean, you know, there's a lot going on there. So the answer is yes, J.T. Comphers, another one, you know, that's there. So the answer is, yeah, you do. I still think New Jersey is probably leading the pack. We all do. Yeah, I agree. I agree with that.

I would say Detroit, Detroit's got to be in the mix. If that's what Steve wants to do. You said, I forgot. I wanted to address it too because you said something that was really good about Tampa. And you were talking about how Tampa's got this Wolfpack mentality. And, you know, it really started when Steve Eisenman went there in 2010, right after the Olympics. It really did.

And, you know, Julian was hired. Julian Breezeball, one of them was his assistant. But that whole Tampa thing switched when Eisenman got there. And that's no disrespect meant to the guys that came before him. It's just a reality of the business. And Steve did an amazing job there. And I think he's trying to put his footprint on the Detroit Red Wings. but I think he also realizes they've developed, as you say, the green banana business.

They've done a real good job. Yeah. Prospects and getting prospects and getting prospects. But some of those guys have been able to take the next step, and some of them haven't. And I think they probably need some help right now. And what would that do to that marketplace? It hasn't played a meaningful game since 2014, 2015, really, so almost a decade. Yeah.

You bring in news, you ignite that marketplace. And I think the illiches have been amazing stewards of the first. franchise there, this would cement, cement, whatever you want to say. That would be a huge addition. It's a huge addition for Detroit. That one, that one would be a huge addition to Troy. One more thought on one more team and a couple of players on it. We've already discussed them a little bit, but then I want to get

It's our favorite segment when you're on, and this one involves the Montreal Forum. The Dallas Stars, like as you mentioned Sunday, they just ran all over the Ottawa Senators. And Wyatt Johnson was fantastic. 12 power play goals leads the NHL so far of this kid. As much as he struggled in the playoffs and was anxious about it and was frustrated about it,

like he's taking his game to another level so far this season. And Jason Robertson, I know that the Dallas Stars don't want to pay him ranting in money, but every game that goes by, he just fills the net and continues to indicate to both the Dallas Stars that he's worth the money and to USA hockey, that he's worth the call for the Olympics. You've had a thought on the team. Do you have a thought on these two players specifically? Wyatt Johnston and also and by the way that was a great Joe McDonnell for I mean that was COVID year too so you don't get a chance to watch Wyatt Johnston play and where they got him and how they got him and how they were like resolute that this was our guy like that's one of the great picks that we've seen in this generation thought on him and a thought on Jason Robertson right now first of all so cool that you brought up Joe McDonnell's the name Brian Burke when I work for Brian brought Joe in as a guest coach Joe is working and coaching in Kitchener at the time yeah

and brought him in and you knew right away Joe's a really good hockey man so I love it when you bring up those guys do the heavy lifting on the road that don't get nearly enough credit so that's good Wyatt obviously is a great opportunity and knows how to create ice for a smaller guy he's been doing it for a long time his release is electrifying um his hat trick last night was great obviously for him and for Dallas I love the 12 power play goal point that you make because it's spot on so that's obviously really good. In terms of Jason Robertson, he might be one of the most underappreciated offensive players in the league. I don't think enough people talk about it. I don't know how many people watch the Dallas starts playing unless they're playing on a national show. I don't

outside of the market, I don't think too many people are watching them, but they're a complete team. I give the coach and staff a lot of credit. I know there was a lot of question marks after Pete left, beat the board left, but Glenn's got in there. Goletson's got in there and done a good job with his staff. And it's great to see him interact with Alain Nazardine last night. I think Nasra Dean's done such a good job with that entire defense. You look at the development of Lubbushkin. You look at the shutdown capabilities of S.

O'Dell Miro Heskin. I mean, they're a tremendous team. You know what, Jeff? They're really good. I think Robertson in particular and obviously White Johnson are going to be really important for those guys that go along in the rest of the schedule. A couple of things on Robertson here. 13 goals in November

that is number one 26 points in November that is number one yeah how many people talk about them my man no I know but here's the but here's the thing like Dallas this whole time is like

no no one's getting rantin no one's getting rantin and money and listen rantin has been fantastic too but no with every goal he's I mean, the intern, so one of the things that happened in the league for a long time is Lou Lamarrella ran his business unbelievably well in New Jersey. And I'm just going to talk about the Jersey component. And there was an internal cap.

There was no salary cap for good portions of the time that he ran the devils. But he had his own cap. And if you played a certain position, let's say it was goal, you weren't making more than Marty Breder. And if you played defense, you weren't making more than Scott Stevens. And if you played up front for a short period of time, you weren't making more than Joe Neuendike. That's just how it went. And so I think a lot of managers saw that and said, we got to do our business a certain way. Because the devils did their business a way different way than the New York Rangers did.

And it worked a lot better for the devils than it did for the Rangers. And a lot of people in the league watched that. A lot of people in the league watched that. Well, you'll recall, like the Boston Bruins under Harry Sindon did that with Ray Bork. it doesn't matter who you were no one's getting more than more one's getting more than Ray Bore no and then

people and I'm not taking a shot at anybody people found out what Brian was making leech with the Rangers and they were saying Raymond what are you doing bud you need to make more

that was before there was salary disclosure wait a second Raymond we need to make more but man can you imagine back in the day both those guys were playing against each other all the time. I'm watching that last night, okay? Yeah. Probably like you were, Jeff, and most of your viewers.

I'm watching Meryl Heskin in for Dallas, and I'm watching Jake Sanderson for Ottawa. Yeah. And I'm thinking, this is Scott Niedermeyer against Brian Leach. This is Raymond Bork against Brian Leach. You know, I'm watching this going, this is unbelievable to watch these two guys play at the same time on the same ice. You know what one of the issues with that is, though,

with those two players specifically? they live in the era of Kail Makar. Like, I always think about, like, great defense. And Brad Park's a great example. Like, Brad Park should have won Norris trope. Brad Park's a great defense, should have won Norris trophies. But there, yeah, but there's like, Orr and Podfan and Robinson. It's like, good luck.

And you're playing in the shadow of, everyone's playing in the shadow now of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, and Quinn Hughes. It's like, I think Hayeskin and should have won a Norris trophy by now, but good luck. And I look at Sanderson, I say, there's got to be a Norris trophy in there somewhere, right? I don't know. Cail McCar ain't slowing down. Maybe Matthew Schaefer is the next great hope. Who knows? Geez, by the way, and I know it's not sexy to watch the honors.

I get it. You got to watch the Islanders to watch that guy. And another guy you got to watch there is what Bo Horvats doing right now. Bo Horvats play phenomenal. He's like, I'm telling you right now. We talked about all those guys maybe for Canada. I don't know if Bo Horvats name in there or not. I don't know, but Bo Horvett deserves some recognition there.

He's playing great hockey. Matthew Schaefer, to me, of all young guys I've seen in a long time, I knew he was good. I really did. I knew, and I think a lot of people knew how good he was going to be. I didn't think it was going to be this fast, Jeff. I didn't. I'm going to be honest with you. I just didn't think it would be this fast.

After what he went through last year, I didn't think it'd be this fast. I'm being honest with it. I'm the same way. At the beginning of this season, I'm like, I don't know, is he going back to Erie? Is he going to stay with the Islanders? like he barely played any hockey last year. Only too happy to be wrong. Emil Heinemann has been great there.

I actually really do enjoy finally watching the New York Islanders. How about that Kyle Palmary play, by the way? How about that Kyle? What, what, like, just nails, just nails, even just like to have the presence to even try to think of this thicklift as you're on your way to the bench as your knee is just blown up. Play of the year. for me play the year for me he was always a really good player and a tough kid he's a jersey kid

and went to st jo's monfield before he went to notre dame and uh that's that's he's from a tough he's a tough kid and i really respect i've always respected him louislamorello thought the world of that player think about where he's yeah where he's ended up and louis always found a way to get him to be with him you know always did never looked the same clean-shaven though i always look like Oh, no, that's a guy that's dessert. Come on, Lou, can you have, like, can you look the other way on one guy? You would be in Lou's doghouse right now. No, I know I would, clearly.

Okay, let's get to Crave the Stats. Crave the Stats is 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, during, and after the game, Uber Eats is. assisting every fan's hockey experience all season long.

All right, Zach, what do we got today? Okay, I brought a few different ones to feature for today. So we're going to start in 1924, December 1st, the Montreal Forum opens and hosts its first game as the Habs defeat the Toronto St. Pat's 7 to 1. In 1977, Stan McKita scores goal number 500. And that's his 500th career goal becoming the ninth. player in NHL history to reach the milestone. And then in 2006, Jerome McGinla makes Flames history, scoring twice to become the fourth player in club history to reach 300 goals with the team.

So the one that I want to focus on here, Zach, thanks. One of the one I'm going to focus on here is the Montreal Forum. And what I love about, there's a lot of things I love about the forum. And you've got more stories than I do about the forum. But one of the reasons I've always loved the forum is in Canada specifically, and this is like in small communities, the main center for the community was always, has always, is still the center of the community. That's where everybody goes. Everybody goes after work to watch kids play. Maybe you're going to beer league.

Maybe you're just going to have a cup of coffee after work. Maybe there's a bar and you can have a beer with the guys before you go home. or the women's hockey at night, like the community rink is the central point for all of it. And what I loved about the Montreal Forum, and this all started in the mid-30s with the passing of Howie Marens, it was the first NHL rank to have a funeral.

And I've always maintained, and this is what I always sort of impress on my kids, you can miss marriages and anniversaries, never miss a funeral. Like funerals in a lot of ways, like really bond. a community together and the Montreal Forum was the first one that really bought and it's it's still and it borders on as you know Pierre it borders on the religious that really brought community

together the Howie Moran's funeral at the Montreal Farm so I'm getting kind of macabre on a on a building but I really feel that way about the Montreal Forum because it was more than just a place we're going to go watch hockey games and there's going to be the occasional concert and may look at the bagpipers are here this week, like this was a place for where life happens, not just your distractions from life, but where life happens. That's why I always admired and still to this day, love the Montreal Forum. Yeah, in Montreal, it was definitely a gathering spot and it doesn't, you're not full of hyperbole. It really bordered on the religious. You get to Atwater and Domaziniv and Atwater and St. Catherine, and that's where the Montreal Forum was, and the backstreet was Fort.

And on fourth, there used to be a restaurant called the Texan. It was in the back, right beside the Texan was a place called Norm Silver's Mustache. I'm not kidding you. And he was a great magician. But I remember as a little boy going down in the 60s, I don't know if you remember, but in the forum, there used to be steel poles that would go up. Oh, yeah. And there were a lot of obstructed seats. but what happened was they decided you know we're not going to have obstructed seats anymore

because it's hurting people's ability to watch the game so if you drive in the downtown montreal now and you look above the superstructure of the building even though the building's still there it's not the form it's tv it's movie theaters and bars and grocery stores and that kind of stuff now but there's a steel superstructure above the actual building and that's so they could take all those steel poles out and have obstructed views gone there was no more obstructive view. So when I was a little boy, I remember going to the building when there was obstructed views and then going to the building when there were no obstructed views. And you could go to the forum and buy, I think a standing room ticket back in the day was

a dollar. And you could go into the form. There was a line and you pay your dollar and you'd go in. And there was a great trumpeter in Montreal. His name was Dutchie. He's long passed away. And he would play all the trumpet songs and get the fans going and he would always be in this panning room section. It was awesome. Best hot dogs in the league outside of Quebec City. I always thought Quebec had a little bit of an edge, but best hot dogs in the week. Shinsho, shensho, baby.

Cheshaw, Shishu, but one of the things I tried to do with our team in Hartford in particular was we'd go up a day early to practice in the form. And the reason why we did that is so the players could actually appreciate being there and understand what it was. and I can tell this story now I said to Jeff Sanderson he was ripping it up too Sandy was ripping it up

he was playing so well he played on the line with Pat Verbeek and Andrew Castles was actually drafted by Montreal and we called it the CVS line Castle Sanderson Verbeek and I went to Sandy in the practice I said Sandy

you're just crushing it man you remind me of the rocket and he looks at me totally And he says, hey, Pete, who's the rocket? Oh, no. Maybe it's my fault. I should have said Rocket Richard, but he goes, hey, Pete, who's the rocket?

So I said, come with me. And I don't know if you remember, but back in the day, you could walk around on this rubber-eyed flooring at the floor. Oh, yeah. And that all the oil paintings by the section, by the ticket booth. So I took them to where the oil paintings were, and I pointed at the rocket. I said, that's the rocket. And I think he knew. But Sandy was so good, man.

On that ice, too, in the form. You see him going full flight, Jeff Sanderson? Wow. Because he ever skating. I was always told that Montreal, but even more so, the Colisei and Quebec City, had the stiffest boards at any rank, that when you got hit there,

it was... Montreal was really hard. Bobby Carpenter had a terrible leg injury there. I don't know if you remember. remember he went into the boards and shattered his leg bobby carpenter was so the caps uh was yeah from the it was happened when he played in boston or new jersey i think i forget okay but it happened it was after the caps uh but it was a horrific injuries to your point it was because of the the boards hard what i remember of all the hits though in montreal as a little boy growing up was robinson on dornhofer

and Larry hit Gary Dornhofer so hard it broke the boards those hard boards you're talking about the boards actually broke and they had to stop the game I like this happened 45 or 50 years ago I remember it clear today it's one of the legendary and listen Larry Robinson with it with a couple like the Dornhofer hit was a massive one but to me when I think of Larry Robinson well one I still think he's one of the most underappreciated superstar defense that we have ever seen

and we don't talk about Larry enough. The other one is that that bench clearing brawl at the end of a period between the Flyers and the Montraugh Canadians, Larry was already in the room and he came back out and he made a B-line for Dave Schultz.

Dave Schultz. And grabbed him and started filling him up and that began the and as soon as like Dave started to buckle like all the flyers jumped on Larry. But that was the beginning of the end. of the toughness era of the Philadelphia Flyers. And that was Big Bird.

I'm so glad I will listen to Larry Robinson's stories all day long. One of my favorite, I always say he was Chara before Chara. He could play it any way you wanted. One of the most skilled defensemen, one of the most tough, the toughest players, like all of it. I still maintain like you can make arguments for where he ranks to me. he's right up around the top in the history. Go look at career. I know plus minus is a stat.

Some people like other people don't like. Go look at career plus minuses. Oh, it's insane. Yes, I know. I've done it. I know it's crazy. But this is the one thing about Larry. I wish more people would recognize that he was part of that St.

Louis team on the coaching staff in 2019 when they won the cup. And the impact that he made on a player like Alex Petrangelo and the impact that he made on a player like Colton Perrako, and the impact that he made in a player like Justin Falk, you know, he did such a good job there. He never wanted to be in the line weight that was, you know, obviously Craig's team, and he didn't want to be anywhere near that. But I know, I know what he did with all those players, and he made a massive impact on that team, massive.

Perfect place to end. Always appreciate it. You're the best. We go all over the place, and it's fantastic. Thanks for the great stories, the memories of the forum, the Shinshow, and all of it. Pierre, you the best. We'll chat soon. You are an amazing friend.

Thank you, Mon Ami. Take care. Have a great rest of the week. Thank you, sir. The great Pierre McGuire, who stops by on a regular basis here on the program. I can listen to hockey. By the way, there is a wonderful book. It's a large coffee table style book called Architecture on Ice.

And it's written by Howard Schubert with great old pictures and descriptions and stories. about the history of the hockey arena in North America. I know I like to do a lot of book recommendations here on the program. And that's one that's high on my list as well. If you're interested in things like this, if you're interested in the history of certain buildings and how they came to be and why they came to be and why they were the way they were and why they had the change, et cetera,

architecture on ice is one that I highly recommend, Zacharoo. Highly recommend. I um you would be familiar with these that i don't think the chat would be as much what's that you know obviously here in the in the o hl there's some of the newer big arenas that are awesome london oshua etc my favorite one not because i think it's uh the most exceptional experience from a uh modern technology standpoint but like owen sound oh the owen sound arena was just tight the roof feels lower it's old it's cold dark like everything about that arena um you know the uh the brampton excelsiers uh the lacrosse yeah lacrosse there i don't know if the junior a

hockey team might have moved into there uh as well i don't know for sure but the lacrosse team plays out of yeah wood beams arching across crisscrossing through like those kinds of arenas And again, small, tight, low roof. Like those ones, it just feels like very nostalgic. Every time you play in those kinds of arenas, it's fun to be in there. For those that don't know, that is called the Harry Lumley Bayshore Arena. And I'm with you, Zach.

It's one of my, it's one of my favorite ranks. And as Sam McKee from SportsNet 590 always maintains, and he is right, the best fries in the OHL at the Harry Lumley Bay Shore Arena. Find me a better fry. It's funny. I've talked to. So Dale DeGray is a general manager there.

And we're talking about this a few years ago about like how great the fries are at the Harry Lumley Bay Shore Arena. And he said, you know what? It's funny you mention that. I said, why is that, Dale? He goes, the guy who's responsible for the fries here, I just drafted his kid. No way. Are you serious?

He goes, honestly, it's just a coincidence. I swear it's just a coincidence. But the guy who does the fries, I just drafted his kid. So the guy who's responsible for the fries, the Hey, Lumley, Beecher Arena, his son was drafted. I'll call Dale and find the name again. But, yeah, Dale DeGray drafted his kid for the own sound attack. I thought you'd like that one.

That's funny. Yeah, that's good. That's funny. Full circle moment. I got to, it's like, it's like a. Full circle fries moment. Yeah, fries moment. Um, I've never been to play a game, uh, watch a game, excuse me, at Owen Sound.

I've only played at the Owen Sound arena. So I have not had the fries. I cannot speak to that experience. Got to do it. Got to do it. There's a, there's a, there's a French, oh, HL French fries trip in your future, young man. Do it before you have kids. Okay.

Do it before like the rest of your life just crushes you. Go do a French fry trip. Ah, I'm going to go to every OHL arena, just to judge the, fries see if anyone can beat owen sound you can ask my girlfriend yeah you want to take a trip or then uh owen sound and sudbury and might you know slip into flint and sag enough i'm feeling romantic enough i'll see yeah yeah that's that's that's that's that's that's that's when you know that's that's gonna be yeah she goes yeah exactly that's that's how you know and someone Somewhere along the way, you're going to have like a ring at the bottom of the French fry cup for your lollipop there.

It'd be a very romantic way to propose. Make sure you choose the right arena as well. Kitchen looks fair. They're the great renovations in kitchen. You might want to do that there. That's my recommendation to you. Anywho, a couple things here. 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 Batslip, 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 sports book 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 1-866531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. We got five games tonight, Zach. We got five. We got five games. The best bet that I've come up with for today, I was watching one in a cup of hockey, and I was a little bit annoyed, not because I was like, oh, this is going to be a copycat, but because the Johnny Jinks has been in full force recently.

And when I heard him utter the words, by the way, to talk about copycat, all of a sudden this guy's got names for his bets that he's giving out here now. I wonder where that could have come from. Well, Zach, yeah, we know what they say in the business. greatness boroughs but genius steals good on you johnny lazarus good on you so he because he says and i'm i'm watching last night's game and i'm like okay i got something for tomorrow based on who's playing we're gonna we're gonna fall this up and then i hear johnny say anything you can do i can do better and i went oh no so he gave out macklin celebrini anytime goal in the same theme of what i'm

doing jeff return of the mac so mac Celebrini tonight against Utah. I have Celebrini goal plus on 60, Celebrini 3 plus shots on goal, and the sharks to win here tonight. It's on a scene carbon copy. Sharks are playing Utah, by the way. You might want to throw that one out there

for a little bit of spice. Sharks are playing Utah, just outside of Return of the Mac here. Sakaru. Yeah. I just kind of feel like there has been a little jostling all season long and it's like

all the sudden you see you know one guy does one thing we saw the hat tricks games where they both did that and then we saw now it's like it's just kind of anything Badar does game winners OT winners shootout goals the next night or later that day whatever it's like Celebrini is doing something

on par or better or just right up there even if he falls short of it where it's just like these guys are just going shot for shot all season long it's a really fun to watch but i was like well how can we turn this into something fun for the fan dual segment today so return of the mac it is and hopefully i don't even know i i shouldn't be making fun of the johnny jinks because i am the most um i i've been just absolutely suering everybody

that i've been putting in these so it's if it could be me it could be johnny maybe we can combine forces where the jinks from both ends is so bad that it just turns it and we win this one tonight but that's the bet that I have. Okay, so return to the Mac tonight. The San Jose Sharks facing off against the Utah Mammoth. We'll pay attention to that one. Boko and Mama, by the way, has been called up by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Playing the Philadelphia Flyers tonight, although I don't think Nick Deloree is in the lineup. Blue Jackets and Devils this evening, the ducks and the blues. Winnipeg Jets facing off against the Buffalo Sabres. That is your prime Monday night hockey game right there. Okay, Zach, great job. Dismissed.

And I want to thank Pierre McGuire. for stopping by. I want to thank everybody for stopping by the chat, everybody for the downloads, for lending us

your ears, letting us your eyes, and maybe hitting subscribe on our daily faceoff YouTube channel that is always appreciated. Thanks to everybody who chimed it on the

rink fries thing that I did on Twitter on Saturday. I think I might just keep doing that. Why not? Bored sitting around watching hockey games

just throw up random thoughts over the course of the evening and tomorrow is Greg Wischinski we'll find out about the deep fried turkey, I do understand things went well. And Greg is still in one piece unlike, you know, Listerane and Torupchenko and Jack Hughes, who are having all of these

horrible accidents, either at restaurants or at home, preparing or being around food. So we'll get the time of the temp from Greg Wysinski tomorrow. And in the meantime, enjoy the rest of your night or your day or your night or morning, depending on when you watch or, or, or, you'll watch, listen to this thing. Five games on the go around the NHL this evening, and then tomorrow we're back to the more robust Tuesday 10 games sked. And we'll get into all of it tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern, right here

on the sheet. You're dismissed. We're talking 23 hours. My head lost all ambitions day to day Because I'm caught all right I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like now and that's fine I'm not against those methods

But you It's me and myself and how this is going to be fixed in my mind I'm too on the back I turned on the music I do want to back in it up I turn on the dark night I'm using

It's to melt there I don't get you sometimes losing I've been on the days that went wrong In the dead dark night