The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Back in the New York Groove ft. Jonny Lazarus & Brian Burke

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Jeff Marek is joined by Jonny Lazarus and Brian Burke to close out the week. Discussing the New York Rangers getting back in the playoff mix, Brad Marchand choking Nick Cousins, JT Miller drama, Auston Matthews calling out fans, and much more...Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/Reach 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/@Flames_Nation🚨 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.

We are in Jasper and thanks to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge people here. We are at the Mary Schaefer Ballroom, North Keeley, alongside the running Latchers from Morning Cup of Hockey. My travel companion, who by the way today had his first sour cream glazed donut. I did not know. We make a lot about the distinctions between Canada and the United States. A lot of it revolves around things like ketchup chips. But I didn't know that sour cream donuts were not a thing in the United States.

It was also explained pretty poorly by Jay. I thought I was biting into what looked like a Boston cream donut with sour cream filling. And I was like, why would anyone want to eat that? So obviously, instinctively, I was like, that sounds disgusting. I don't want to do that. And you forgot to mention that not only did we stop at one Tim Hortons, we then stopped at another Tim Hortons. Just so I think it was selfishly for Jay to have a sour cream donut more than for me to try one. He was really craving it. Jay, by the way, is Jay Doughton our boss here at the Nation Network. We should point out. And I think there was probably an ulterior motive. I think the down just wanted a sour cream base himself.

We were wearing Jasper Bears sweaters right now. The Jasper Bears are a minor hockey association in the North Eastern Alberta Hockey League with the fires last year. The rink thankfully wasn't damaged, wasn't burnt down, but it had to be converted into a community support center. So the kids lost their ice. So one of the things that happened to the nation network, these sweaters went for sale. There's a lot of fundraising done to make sure

that these kids could find some ice so they could play. So here to support the Jasper Bears and here for pond hockey, you can now, by the way, and it is the Jasper Alberta Pond Hockey Tournament 2025. We're representing nation network, we have two teams. You're gonna see how bad of a player I am. I'm very excited. First of all, not only are you playing, but you didn't bring a stick or a helmet.

So Tyler, you're on track, brought me a stick, because I didn't want to lug a stick on the airplane. You brought two. I brought two. You're such a hockey player. I am. In case you break one, in case there's an issue, in case you don't like it,

ah, this one's too whippy for pond hockey, just in case. Ah, you know what am i going to go with the 85 flex i don't want a crowbar 105 like what are you bringing two hockey sticks you know it's fun hockey tournament for i happily did pick one stick over another one in my apartment you are i thought it was too whippy for pond hockey are you serious i swear to god what do you do like taking back scratching slap shots today you never know i mean you want to handle a pass you you want to make a pass. You know all these sticks have different whips to them, different curves, and I don't play a lot of pond hockey so I don't know what I'm used to. It's gorgeous here by the way. This is my first time in Jasper. This is your first time and well I've been to Banff a number of times, been to Albrecht, been to Edmonton a million

times, been to Calgary a million times. I still haven't been to Lake Louise. My first time in Jasper was in Banff in the early 90s, but it is absolutely gorgeous here. Like we're driving through making the four hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper this morning. What did you notice right away? The elk? The elk are everywhere. Yeah. And outside of all of our lodges, there are elk. It's a And outside of all of our lodges, there are elk. It's a wonderful thing. Okay, the rundown. Let's see what's on the show today here on the sheet. Brought to you by Fandual,

North America's number one sports book app provider. And coming up on the program today, we are going to start with, I don't have a return. There we go. So starting on the program today, we're gonna begin as I take this slide. The Rangers, I believe that's a team you're very much familiar with, Johnny Lazarus, if that

is indeed your real name. Are they back like a vertebrae or is this fool's gold? Brad Marshand. You know, Johnny, this is what happens when you get licking out of the game. This is what happens if you want to take licking out of the game. What is what happens if you want to take licking out of the game. What is a man to do other than take his hand out of his glove and choke another man? As we saw yesterday in the Boston Ottawa Senators game. We'll get to that one in a couple of seconds. Brian Burke stops by. It's Fridays.

That means that Burke is along with us to talk about the news of the week and also answer some of your questions, whether it's from the chat, whether you want to DM us, whether you want to tweet in, all questions are up for grabs for our man, Berkey. Also on the program today, a little fallout from Edmonton and Vancouver. I think neither of us got a chance to watch this one. We were on a plane yesterday from Toronto to Edmonton. At times it was spicy by the sounds of things and it sounded like Quinn Hughes got a little bit of a roughen up last night but nothing outrageous other than the Edmunds and Oilers

just tuning up the Vancouver Canucks as their drama continues and speaking of drama and soap opera more on JT Miller as that saga continues as it becomes more and more evident as the days and weeks go on as the Vancouver Canucks fall out of a playoff spot and Dustin Wolf wills the Calgary Flames into one. Vancouver's at a point now where they really need to do something with this situation. And Jasper Pond hockey, that's why we're here. We have one big game tonight

and then we have a couple tomorrow. I'm anticipating your team probably makes it to the finals because that team has brought the ringer, you. I don't know what to make of this tournament. I'm still very excited to see everyone play for the first time. I haven't seen any of the guys on my team, any of the guys that I'm playing against skate before, so I don't have any kind of scouting report and I got to ease into a little bit, right? You don't want to, you know, come out too energetic. It's a pond hockey. It's a long game, 30-minute games. You're. Hang on a second. You're talking about doing like a pregame nap.

I am, yeah. He's talking about doing like a pregame nap. Like do you have your activation ritual all set up? I'll be scratching. You got here like where are we playing? Sewer? Like what's up with you? It's only a pond hockey man. Yeah, but you don't get to have these events or I guess games so often, right? Like this is something that you get excited for, you get tuned up for and you know people out there on the pond are going to be taking it pretty seriously. It's not something you should leisurely walk into. We shall see. If so, my

shifts will be shorts. Really quickly before I get to Brian Burke, listen you go to all the Rangers practices, the Rangers games, you're there to document all of it. Is this team back? Johnny Lazarus. I was hesitant to say so after the Ottawa game. And I only saw about half of the game last time against Philly, but from everything I've gathered, they're back. They're fully back. And I think a lot of that stems from Egor Shosturkin and the success that he's had over his past few starts since his returning from injury. The power play is clicking again. The top guys are scoring again. Panarin, Fox, Lafreniere, the fourth line, maybe the best fourth line in the NHL right now

with your buddy Sam Carrick, your neighbor. It's my neighbor. Great article from Peter Ball yesterday after the athletic. That was excellent, yes. And I just think the energy is there, the jam is there, and everyone just firing in all cylinders, and everyone seems to be pulling from the same rope again. When you first saw, bracket the Rangers for a second.

When you first saw Brad Marshand grab Nick Cousins around the throat, what went through your mind? Okay. Let me say something that might be a little bit unpopular. I love Nick Cousins. I told you this last night. He did. He told me this last night.

He's one of my favorite guys in the NHL and listen, I've only been in the media now for like a little over a year and there are so few guys that treat you as an equal and treat you with respect and call you by name. Nick Cousins is one of the few. I don't need to call you by name. I've called you Colby already. You called me twice. But every time I was at the garden the other day when the senators were in town, Nick Cousins walks in and sees me goes, Johnny boy, what's up? Like I've met him three or four times. You know, and to me that's awesome. And I know the- He's miserable to play against by oh yeah miserable to play but

my initial instinct was oh it's just so Brad Martian you know I didn't think anything of it like oh this is a suspendable offense you know throw him out of the game yeah I didn't you know obviously didn't look as closely as how hard he may have choked him I don't know if that's for a second yeah like I don't know if that's something that like is reviewable of like oh well it was one second it was three seconds it was five You know, we got to do something about this. But listen, we had Pat Maroon on the show the other day. He said, you know, spoke very highly of Brad Marsh and Corey Perry. And you love seeing those guys do things differently and be a rat in

unique ways. And, you know, those are two guys that understand what each other are trying to do. And I'm all for it. Do you have a thought on licking and choking? Licking I don't like. Oh, here we go. We got, we got Feriksy back. Hey Brad. Licking I don't like. I said that on sports that when I was doing TV, I said it was a shame. A player as good as Brad Marshawn can be that dumb sometimes.

But if you're picking one of those guys to like, I like Brad Marshawn. I'm sure Cousins is a great kid, but he's a rat too. Oh, I wasn't saying I don't like Brad Marshawn. I love Brad Marshawn. I'm sure Cousins is a great kid, but he's a rat too. Oh, I wasn't saying I don't like Brad Marshawn. I love Brad Marshawn also. I just haven't had the one-on-one encounters with him. That was, yeah, I'm sure he's a good guy. That was not a choke. I'll show you a choke someday. I'm curious because I, I, I, I checked in with someone yesterday. I'm like, is, is he not having a look at this? And the answer was like, meh, no, not at all. Like the howls. I mean, I know that social media is an outrage machine,

why it's very nature. Uh, but when you first saw it, Burke, we don't see choking very often, uh, in the NHL, uh, when you first saw it, woman through your mind. Yeah. Yeah. No big deal. Play on. It's not like he tried to hurt him. He's just trying to make him look silly. And Nick Cousins is an aggravating guy. They both deserve each other. So that's fine. Who is the most aggravating player you ever had?

He asked knowing that you had Corey Perry with the Ducks. Corey Perry. Did you ever talk to him about the role? A little bit because he was young and he would back it up. One big difference, Brad Marshawn will fight if you provoke him and he might spear you, but he'll fight too. He's not afraid. And Corey Perry never backed down from a fight.

So he would start a lot, but he would back it up. So I just said to him, Pairs, you want to play that way, that's fine. Just make sure you back it up once in a while Not all the time. I Used to tell my players that like Matt cook when he played for me fight every 10 games. That's eight fights So if you got a backing up once around if you go every eight games every 10 games, that's 80 80 games It's 10 fights Berkey was there ever a moment with those guys where you just couldn't help but chuckle at something they would have done on the ice? Like if I'm coaching the Bruins last night and I see that happen, I'm kind of laughing

to myself a little bit. Yeah, Brad Marshawn is a great player in our league. Well, not great. He's a very good player. He's a complete player. He kills penalties, he can fight, he plays hard, he's a leader. I love the guy. So, you know, he's going to do cross the line once in a while.

That wasn't cross the line for years. He was aggravated, grabbed the guy by the neck for a second and a half and let him go. The last one was yelling at him to let him go. That's what he did. What's the big deal? Let's move on. I think I texted you, Jeff.

It was a love choke. It was a love, it was a gentle, it was a tickle, ladies and gentlemen. Nothing to see here, move along, move along, move along. Well, we started the conversation off today before you joined us about the New York Rangers. And listen, this has been, there have been a lot of soap opera teams this year. Berkey, the Vancouver Canucks, you know, headline that bill. It seems as if more so now in the NHL we're getting more soap opera teams.

And the Rangers have had their fair share of drama. Are you prepared to say, based on the most recent stretch of games, that the Rangers are back and this is the Rangers we expected at the beginning of the season? Well, two weeks ago, I went on the radio and said that the Rangers and Ottawa would both make the playoffs. So the time when Ottawa was six points out and the Rangers were probably 12 points out. So I believe in that team. I out and the Rangers were probably 12 points out. So I believe in that team. I believe in Chris Jerry. I believe in Peter Levy. I believe in their leadership. I think it's a really good hockey team. So I think they're back, but I, what's amazing to me is that they could stumble so badly. They have to make personal

changes as large as they did to sort it out. Is there something that, is there something that you would have done? I mean, so much of our conversation revolves around what would Berkey have done here? Like, let's say you were Chris Drury this year, even going all the way back to the Goodrow Saga and the Truba Saga, how would you have handled the Rangers this year? Well, I'm not sure. I said this at the time. Like, it's really easy, I think, in hindsight,

when people talk about what they would have done, then people say, they get on TV or radio and they say, I would have done this two weeks after it happened. I like real-time decisions. I would have called them all in and talked to them once. I remember the start of the season in Vancouver one year, we made the playoffs. We started like three and eight. I called in the team and said, look, this is not acceptable. But I believe in this group. I'm not going to change anything. There are two guys here with Ice Time questions, Drake Barahowski and another player that were

worried about Ice Time. We had promised to move them. So I said, other than you two guys, I'm not moving anyone in this room until you sort it out. That team finished with 99 or 100 points and made the playoffs. So I think you can straighten the team out once in a while by talking. It doesn't work often. You can't do it very frequently. But I think you could have talked to these guys and sat them down and said, let's get going. Like Chris Crider, he had a dreadful stretch there. Sat out again. I mean, that's a guy who's an all-star sitting out for a game. Pretty drastic. Trading your captain, I mean, saying the other guy might go too, it's pretty drastic, but it

worked. Whatever it was. I think what you said earlier is the goalie got going and that's number one. They're all taking life off of him now. And Berkey, just to follow up with that too, I think a lot of the conversation when things were going really bad for the Rangers was how can Peter Lavielet survive this? It was day after day after day. How can Lavielet get out of this again? And is there something to be said about Chris Drury and upper management actually trying to move out players as opposed to taking the easy way out and firing a coach?

Because lately in the NHL, that's been the low hanging fruit, right? It's just getting rid of a coach and expecting some sort of turnaround. But it seemed like they really tried to find the solution outside of the room by bringing different players in. Well, you're going to hear this speech again and again and again. I don't think there's enough patience in our league with coaches or GMs. I think the really easy thing to do is say okay we're not coming out of this let's get rid of Lavi who's a good Hall of Fame caliber coach and I don't say that often because obviously I'm in the selection committee but he's a Hall of Fame caliber coach. He's top five in everything.

I've worked with him. He knows what he's doing. He's a good man. So I think it's great that they showed, that Chris Turney showed patience there, because you're right. A lot of people are screaming, get rid of this guy, get rid of that guy. And the guy, get rid of the coach.

You're really making, giving an excuse to the players that let him down. So when you make a coaching change, it's really a system systemic failure. That means you've failed in all areas. The personnel let you down, your assistant coaches let you down. It should be a last resort. And unfortunately, it's not a last resort anymore.

And on top of that, too, I am a Rangers fan and I do go to every single Rangers home game, like Jeff said. But when you were watching this team play, it felt like it wasn't a coaching issue. It did feel like it was a player's execution issue and a lack of effort at times. But I guess taking the Rangers out of this, at what point when the players aren't executing or when it looks like they're not even trying, does it become a coaching issue? Because it seemed like, you know, even though it wasn't lobby, let's fault at times,

at some point you almost have to blame a coach if the players aren't playing up to par. Yeah, there's usually telltale signs though, you need to make coaching change. Usually the snipers start. Guys call, the agents call up the GM and say, you know, Brian Burke's a dog, you should get rid of him. They call it and

they ignore the first few calls and tell the guy to screw off and ignore them. But then you get the seventh or eighth call and you're like, okay, these are from agents I really respect guys that are talking to me now that I've known for 20 years telling me I better look at a coaching change. Then you got to think about it. Then you think, okay, I'll talk to the team. We'll demote someone. We'll bench someone, we'll sit out a star. And then we have to do that. We lose our bag of tricks. Now we've got to trade someone. So they trade Jake, Truba. And now all of a sudden it gets going again. The number one thing is the goaltending picked up. You can, goaltending hides a lot of bad flaws. Oh yeah. Masks a lot of mistakes.

Okay. Let me ask. I've asked you this one before, but for this audience, should managers vote on the Vesna? Well, I think they should vote on lots of words, but I don't care if they vote on that one. I'd say the word we know the least about is when we all vote on lots of awards, but I don't care if they vote on that one. I had to say the award we know the least about is one we all vote on as GMs. Vote on the other than Jimmy Rutherford and a couple of goalies. You know, the guys, Garth Snow back in the day and the few guys, the few goalies that have been GMs, cause it's not many other than those guys. They don't really understand the position.

We don't. So I've said it all along. We shouldn't vote on the best one, but I think we should vote on five or six other trophies that the media screw up routinely. Okay. Let's pause on that one then. Which one do we get wrong all the time? Is that egregious? They get it wrong. Well, I'm making a joke, obviously, I'm being facetious, but I don't think they get it right. I don't have to see the GMs have to vote. I told Gary this year, I said, I get to vote on the Vezna, which is a position I know the least about. And I get to watch

you guys vote on the most valuable player and the Norris and all the rest of them. And so to me, it doesn't make a lot of sense and I think the the GMs should have a vote maybe not exclusive vote maybe certain members of the media certain people from the league but I don't like the voting system I have taken it took the best of the way I would say fine except for the GMs should have some votes on some stuff. The one thing, and whenever I see the Jim Gregory award handed out, I do, and I think all of us should, think of you.

This was a Brian Burke initiative, and I think it took you 10, 15 years to get it through. Can you walk us through the genesis of the GM of the Year award? Because this was a Brian Burke creation, correct? Yeah, it was. It's not something I've talked about publicly much before, but people have asked me about it and I've addressed it because I want to be truthful. I don't want to get credit for the award. I think the fact that it's named after Mr. Gregory makes it special. But the GM of the Year, it's so hard, it's hard to keep your job now. And

let alone win a major award. They never gave an award for Jam of the Year. And I said to Gary, my first year at the league, I think it was, sorry, 93, I said to Gary, how come there's no award for Jam of the Year? He said, well, the owners will never vote for that, so it just costs the money. I said, well, I don't care if it costs them money. Gary said, forget it. So I kept after him, left the league, went back to Vancouver and moved on to Anaheim and into Toronto. All the while bothering Gary about it on a weekly basis or a monthly basis. And Gary finally agreed that it was the right thing. But the best part of that award is not that I invented it or I'm responsible for, but it's named after Mr. Gregory.

It makes it special for everyone. And Mr. Gregory is the guy that introduced me to sour cream glazed donuts at Tim Hortons. Okay, before we get back to that, do you have a thought on because I didn't know that this wasn't an I didn't know that you couldn't get sour cream glazed donuts in the United States. Brian Burke, share your thoughts on other sour cream glazed donuts or Timbits. Well, I like the donuts better. The the the the sour I was driving from Buffalo back to Toronto with Mr. Gregory. He said you want want to pull over? And I said, I'll run and get some. I said, no, I'll go. And he said,

no, you'll get recognized. People are going to recognize you. I'd only been with the league for about six months. So I said to Mr. Gregory, the only one I hear is going to know who I am. I walk into Tim Hortons right on the QEW. There's about 20 people in there. They're like, hey, Mr. Burke, how are you? Taking pictures. This might have been before cell phones and autographs, but right on the QEW. There's about 20 people in there. They're like, Hey, Mr. Burke, how are you? This might have been before cell phones and autographs, but I got goon something awful. So I said to Mr. Greger, what do you have? And he said, the only thing I could eat, he never orders a Tim Hortons for donuts. Sour cream ways. I was like, sour cream. That's disgusting.

That was my reaction. Yeah. I thought like you did. It's sour cream and the filling. Yeah. Anyway, I ordered one. I took a bite of it with some trepidation. It's the best thing I've ever had. I've never eaten anything else but Tim Warden's. Thanks for this.

I do the birthday cake Tim Bits. I'm a sucker for that. I'm a child though when it comes to my taste buds. Yeah, they're too sweet for me. Yeah, I had like three this morning and I think I take these away from me. You handed them over. Back to the GM of the Year award really quickly and we'll get off this page.

What is your criteria? Because whenever I think about General Manager of the Year, A, it's got to be a successful team, but then I always think about the idea that managers sit on the shoulders of those managers that came before. You've talked about Brian Murray before with your Stanley Cup. How do you judge

the best manager of the year is? To me, it's the guy who's done the best job and that can be incremental improvement over a year before that. There's this quantity and the quality of trades made that maybe don't get you over the hill, but you'll see where that team's going to be in a year. So to me, it's more than a one year award. It's not the guy that does the best job in 12 months. The guy that had the most impact on his team over the last 12 months. Berkey, I do want to put you on the hot seat here for a quick second. So I want you to turn your brain on a little bit

to a more goofy side if you can. But that's- Donuts? No, no, no, no, still awards, still awards. Donuts, oh donuts. Donuts, still awards. Well donuts could possibly be involved in this question if you really think deep about it.

But Jeff, Jay and I were talking on the ride up about Phil Kessel and I've been dying to ask you about Phil Kessel. I've obviously never spoken to you before so I had to ask about Phil Kessel. If you were to create a Phil Kessel award, what would that award be for and who would you give it to right now in the NHL? Well, I wouldn't. I don't think there should be an award. I love Phil, but he doesn't deserve a trophy. But you know what? Hang on. Can I jump in on this one? Because and this is always where I've felt the value of Phil Kessel is if you're a team that has to grind for every single goal you know

it's like you played yeah when you have to grind for every single goal it makes hockey games really hard the thing that I always appreciate about Kessel he's like the ultimate luxury item he can skate down the wing and snap in two goals and take all the pressure off. Like, Burke, we've talked before about the value of having someone that can score easy goals come down the wing, snap his wrists, and the light goes off. The value of the easy goal, is that not the main benefit of having someone like Phil Kessel? And not just that.

It's for sure, Jeff, but it also makes teams play on their heels. You've got to worry about Phil getting the puck and dashing around the ice. Guess what? Wouldn't stay a foot farther back. They give up the blue line quicker. It has a corrosive effect on your opponent's team defense. And Phil Kessel's a great kid. Everyone doesn't like him, but I'll tell you what bothers people the most is that Phil Kessel never cared what people thought about Phil Kessel. That drove Canadian media nuts. They're like, this guy should care that I don't think he tries hard enough. And Phil's like, I don't care. People say he should do this harder. He should back check. And Phil will say, I don't care. And

that infuriates people who bought tickets. So that really compounded the problem for Phil in terms of perception. But why did he go back to Pittsburgh? Why did he go to Vegas? people who bought tickets. So that really compounded the problem for Phil in terms of perception. But why did he go back to Pittsburgh? Why did he go to Vegas? Why did he get picked up? Because he's a good player, he's a quality person. I would have Phil back again tomorrow.

And that's kind of what I was thinking, someone who's just like unapologetically themselves in the NHL, like I love that idea almost as an award, even if it's like for the media, like someone who just behaves as themselves all the time with the media. I asked him once he was getting a beating. I took him aside. And I sat down in the stall with him in the dressing room. I said, Phil, you want me to brush the flies off?

I can do a little rant on the media to get them to get off your back for a couple of days. He said, Berkey, I don't care what anyone in the media says. They pointed around the room like this, like they're around the room. Said, who do they care about these guys? The guys in the room. It's all they ever cared about. That's why teammates loved him.

That's why Phil didn't give a rat's butt about anything except the guys in the room. Now I'll tell you another story. Phil will be mad I told him this, but Phil was a cancer survivor. Anytime we had a kid come in the dressing room and was battling cancer, Phil would take that kid under his wing. He'd spend an hour with the kid on a game day. Unbelievable empathy for people with that disease.

I always say that it's a better game when Phil Kessels in it. I don't think that people are on him, Berkey. I think that he evolved into being one of the most beloved players in the NHL. I think people are dying for Phil to play or someone like Phil Kessel to be in the game. I think that... My generation idolized him. Absolutely. Oh, you know what, actually, last week we talked about your disdain for high numbers. Let me see if I can poke the bear with one other thing here. What did you make of Phil Kessel's candy cane stick? I didn't like it. I did it as a kid.

You did it as a kid because of Phil Kessel? Two reasons actually. I did it as a kid because of Phil Kessel. And this is actually kind of funny. I was in seventh grade playing double A nationals. We were watching the triple A kids my age doing the skills competition. Nick Schmaltz also had a candy cane stick playing with the Chicago Mission. And my team, the Long Island Edge,

a bunch of double A hockey players, like, oh my god, this kid's nasty. Like, that candy cane looks sick. Like, we're all going to do it. So we all just kind of copied Nick Schmaltz and Phil Kessel as a mix of the two. Berky any other thoughts on the candy cane? No. Alright. Phil Zotto did one too. Michael did absolutely. Phil's own. Okay a text we get from Colton was rewatching an interview with Berky from Chicklets he did a few years

ago talking about how he would have taken Morgan Riley number one that year if the Leafs had the first pick. Berkey, this was of course a 2012 draft. I mean, Riley was a beast for Moosejaw when healthy, such a high hockey IQ. And when he played in the Western league, he reminded me of Chris LaTang.

That's interesting. But I got to wonder, is that Berkey's favorite draft selection other than the Sedenes? I don't know if people know this, but you drafted Henrik and Daniel. I think we should get that out there. It's actually Brian Berkey. I think that story's been well told enough. I didn't know that. Yeah. Well, I will tell you this. What cracks me up about it is you would never go out and say to the media that we had Morgan Riley rated number one, unless you did.

Because our guys had him rated number one. And he only played about, I don't know, 11 or 12 games that year, because he blew out his knee, and he was free having his knee. So this is a guy who went and got on the bus when the team went on road trips with crutches on, even though he wasn't going on the road trip. He got up at four in the morning or late at night and see the team off. Just a quality person. But I watched every shift that Morgan Rydie played that game twice. We had our audio or video guy cut every shift he played. I watched from start to finish twice. I was convinced he was the best player. Now, look at that draft. There are a couple good players in there, but Morgan was the best. But someone said to me after that, you just said that, right?

And I'm like, did I say that about Nazem Kadri at seven? No, he wasn't number one. But Morgan was and I could show him the list. But I said, you know, why would you say something like that? It wasn't true. Cause you're trying to hype the kid. We tried to downplay all of our draft picks. That was the, by the way, that was the the the nail Yakupov.

Yeah, it was really easy to say no to him. Well, I mean, was it was it you guys that that had him back for a second interview because you couldn't believe how the first interview went? Was that the Leafs? I don't think we had him back for a second. There is I that enough watching the first one. John Lilly, John Lilly, our amateur scout, almost got in a fist fight with Neil Yakopov

and he wouldn't answer the questions. We almost got a fist fight at the draft combine and I told him to finally get him out of here. So we had him on our do not draft list. Every team, I don't know if every team, most teams I know have a do not draft list. So you put guys aside that have physical problems or attitude problems or you just don't like, put them on do not draft because the other teams make mistakes. They say, well, we don't really like Brian Burke. We don't like him that much. So we're going to put him in the second round, even though his talent says he should go in the first round, we'll drop him around. But my But my view is well if you take him in the second round, he's still a jerk

Isn't he doesn't change anything? So we just put him off the list and pray that someone our division drafted him. Yeah Honestly reminds me of Paul Maurice last year anytime that he was asked about the upcoming you have fazed He just call him all assholes. So no one one sign I'm like he downplay downplay guys. It's actually really funny. Like anytime anyone asked that guy, he's an asshole. You would have won them on your team. Yeah.

Don't touch. Well, hang on. You did, um, correct me if I'm wrong, Berkey. One of your great, one of your great stunts, uh, was to leave phony draft lists around the hotel lobby true or false. I only did that once. That's good though. That's good., that's good.

Give us that one. Well, Dean Lombardi had the second pick in the draft. That was the Alexander Day one, number one. And we wanted to draft Chris Brown. We knew we'd never get him at six where we were drafting. So we paid a real steep, Dean Lombardi's the smart man. We had to pay a lot to get the deal to Chris Brown or move up, but we made the right choice obviously, he's in the hockey allopane.

But that would be the question earlier, besides the twins, who's my best traffic? It's pretty easy. His name is Proner. We traded up, but the night before the draft, the LA Scouts were in the same hotel as us, so I dropped the phony draft list. I had one of our assistants type up a phony draft list that had the sequence different and dropped it right by our room, right by where someone could have got it. But I asked him later, you ever saw it? And he said, you don't think we

would have figured it out, you idiot. We did see it. So but we tried anyway. We tried anyway, we tried every day. It was kind of a dirty trick. I like it. I like it. We're here in Jasper. Oilers are certainly a headline issue after the situation with Connor McDavid this week. The nice thing about having you on the Friday is it's a nice sort of wrap on the week that was in the NHL. How did you see the Connor McDavid, Tyler Myers situation,

both the incidents and the subsequent suspensions? I mean, you've worn that sheriff's badge before. Well, I don't think they had a choice on the suspensions because Connor just got away with one of those in the week earlier, chicken wing. So I think they're giving three to Tyler Myers. They're giving three to Connor. I said this earlier today, start with a basic premise that not everything that happens in a hockey game is worthy of a penalty. Certain amount of interference and body checking is allowed away from the puck. So that's number one.

So a player has to put up with a certain amount of that. And players, the star players have always been asked to put up with a little bit more of that than other players, the star players have always been asked to put up a little bit more of that than other players have. Sid, go back to all the great players who had to fight through some of that. So to me, the thing is, I think players should be allowed to self help at times. I wish that I wish that Corey Perry turn around and punch Connor Garland in the face. Probably would have got nothing or maybe a two minute penalty, but cross check a guy in the face, once you break the law, they've got no choice. They have to suspend you.

And the suspensions were so similar in character, you can say that Connor was provoked, but Connor got away with one earlier. So to me, three games made sense. You can say it might be high, but my rule on arguing about how high a suspension is, you can't argue plus or minus one game. So like I used to give a guy three games and someone said I should have done four, should have been two. I'm like, screw you. Who cares what you think? So plus or minus one, I don't say a word. So maybe they could have gone away with two, but then Tyler Myers had to get three. I think his was

unprovoked and right in the face of much harder. So I'm happy with it. I don't like the fact that I wish Connor just taken into his own hands right before it happened because it should have been a penalty. It should have called the penalty on Connor Garland and it might not have happened that way. It might have preempted all of us, but it should have cuffed him. Like turn around and smack the little person. Bastard. And I like Connor Garland. I just said hi when I played in Toronto last week, but he's a good kid. But I think he was being, you should be able to punch a guy there, smack him. But turn around and cross check him in the face. You're going to sit. It's that simple. You're going to sit. And there's 17 cameras. So you can't argue, oh, I slipped or anything

else. And I slipped or anything else. And I like Connor's response he said I don't agree with it but it is what it is. What else are you going to say? I didn't do it? I got 17 replays that show you doing it. Yeah and Connor Garland probably wouldn't have done anything differently going back. He was doing his job. I agree. Let's not sanitize this game too much, folks. We need guys like guys who are like cousins. He's a bit of a rat. There's a role for him in our game, too. I thought Zach made the best point of the week.

Zach said earlier, I think it might have been on Monday's show that if you want to make it like the NBA NFL and you watch LeBron James and Patrick Holmes, you talk about protecting stars every time I think the line was every time LeBron's elbow gets breathed on, there's a foul. I know. That was a great point. You don't want that. You don't want the NHL turn into every time McDavid gets touched at the penalty. You don't want that. So that was a great point.

I like the fact that Connor has been such a great player in our game. He never complains about the officiating. Never, never says a word. But I wish he'd turn around and smack Connor Garland. Maybe he would have got a one year, a four minute penalty, but it would have stopped and he wouldn't have got suspended. But once you cross the line, once you break the law, guess what? It's over. It's not like it's the same thing in the justice system in the US or Canada. You don't get a free bank robbery. You commit a bank robbery, you're going to prison.

You don't say, oh, Connor, you cross check from the face, but you're a really good player and a good kid to let you go. It's not how it works. You don't get a free bank robbery. So, so here becomes the question that I'm earlier on this week, I showed the and you remember this, Berkey Philadelphia, New York Rangers, Dave Brown, Thomas Sandstrom. So that was 1987. I mean, you've been there to watch the evolution of suspensions from that cross check in the face to Conor McDavid on Connor Garland. Do you have a thought because you've been there bird's eye for all of it, how we got from a cross check in the face being 15 games to a cross check in the face being two slash three. Is that what managers want them lower? That's what I've always been led to believe. Well, I don't think the managers want them lower. The key here is Dave Brown was a client of mine. He's a friend of mine. That was a vicious cross

check. That wasn't Connor McDavid. It was much more violent and much more vicious to me. It wasn't a smoke It's Connor. I kind of kind of garland didn't even get cut It was in a facial cut on that one But so compose he didn't even like react. I know I mean we cross-check someone the face that's happened to me Usually get cut almost automatic or you get a couple of teeth knocked out. So it wasn't that violent Dave Browns was violent So I'm not going to argue 17 or 15 versus seven, whatever, seven versus three. But when I took over and did discipline for the league, stick fouls were our biggest problem. And then we went after that hard.

In my five years as a spending guy, it's probably three quarters of them were for stick fouls, slashes, two headed baseball grip slashes, crosscks to the head. We basically took that out of the game and now it's become more headshots. So it's rare to see cross-checking or stick fouls that lead to suspensions, but they got that one right. Everyone, you can't say, I mean I'm being repetitive, but you can't say, hey he's a great player. Like I saw at home said, I get someone dry sell said, I guess I don't care if the best players play. Yes, we all want the best players to play. We don't want them to have on free license, unlimited freedom to cross check people in the face. You don't get a free bank

robbery. Doesn't matter if you never robbed a bank before. Doesn't matter if you're citizen of the year, you don't get a free one. I agree. I think we have a new great line from Brian Burke. You don't get a free bank rob. I agree. I, it's a great way to put it. I, I like that one.

Berkey. I want to ask you about, uh, listen, you were here in Jasper, um, again, in Alberta, I want to ask you about the Calgary flames and specifically about Dustin Wolf. Calgary wins again last night. Like, I'm sure at the beginning of the season, Craig Conroy, Jim Wolf. Calgary wins again last night. Like I'm sure at the beginning of the season, Craig Conroy, GM of the Calgary Flames, looked at this year and said,

you know what, I'm expecting to get a phone call from, you know, Darren Ferris at Cortex about Nazam Khajri at some point this year. Maybe we're going to hear something about Rasmus Anderson as we continue to rebuild. But, and I know it's not just because of the goaltender, but Dustin Wolf is doing something real special right now. And I know everyone's crazy about Macklin Celebrini. They should be.

I know everyone's crazy about Lane Hudson. They should be. But as we talk about awards, where do you put, no, Michikoff, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Michikoff. What do you do with Dustin Wolf who is not single-handedly, but he's a huge part of the Calgary Flames being in a playoff position? Well, first off, that's a great thing about our game. We have stars come in every year, not one or two, three or four or five or six. God bless the CHL, God bless the NCAA, God bless the Europeans.

They keep turning out players that make our jaws drop. And Wolf is one of those kids who I remember watching him film on in his draft year. Everyone said he's too small. I think he's 6'1", right? Yeah, small. And I just played at the Calgary Flames poker tournament on Tuesday by the way, just back in Calgary that was outstanding. They raised 600 grand for one charity event and Dustin Wolf was there. He didn't, I didn't meet him but he was there playing cards. The whole team was there playing cards. So the guys I knew I saw like Rasmus Anderson, I saw Nas, but they do such a great job with Flames too.

But anyway, Dustin Wolf is small, not that small. He's not like 5'10", like the goalies back in the 80s. But he is small, but he's athletic and competitive as hell. His glove hand is remarkable. So yeah, it's not single-handedly. I think it is singled handedly. I think he's a reason we're talking about the Rangers turning things around. Guess what? It's just turk inside. The reason the Calgary Flames are in a playoff spot today is because of Dustin Wolf, in my mind, nothing else, because they're playing well enough to stay in there. But this goal is saving them games. Well, knowing that, if you are sitting in their GM chair, do you reward these guys by trying to add a piece at the deadline and get them into the playoffs?

Or do you have to be a little bit realistic and know that you're probably not a real Stanley Cup contender here? Well, I'm going to give you the line that they do with the trade deadline every year. It makes all the people in hockey laugh. They can add a piece at the right price they should. They can add a piece that makes them really, really better. It doesn't cost them anything. They should do that. Thanks, genius. Thanks for the tip. So that's what they say at the deadline every year, it drives us nuts. And Dave Nolans is going to send me a note saying, I told you so. But realistically, they shouldn't pay a high

price to get better because they're already playing with house money to a degree. No one thought they'd be this good. So they're already playing with house money in that regard So I wouldn't pay a exorbitant price to try to get better because I can't see them getting better enough to win at all That's the only reason they want to pay a high price. They get improve and win around that's worth some price But not a high price so they can some, and Craig Conroy knows this. He's laughing at these watches and saying, thanks again, idiot. Um, the fact of the matter is they'd like to add, you always want to give your players hope, right? You can add a guy, especially a rental and you say, okay, give us a little lift

and not take meaningful pieces out of your lineup, then they're going to do that for sure. Berkey. I don't want to like change gears here. I want to stick with this theme, but just talk about a different team. I'm not sure if you saw it, but about an hour before we started on the show,

Tony D'Angelo signed with the New York Islanders. And I'm just kind of curious what you make of that. And if you can, let's say, put a player's perception previously. I know Tony isn't the most popular guy amongst people in the league, maybe fans mostly.

But if you think a guy can really help you win, do you almost put that aside? And again, like I'm just curious what you thought of the signing. I remember talking about Tony Giaz. I don't know him. I remember talking to the Rangers players about him when he was playing there. They all said they loved him. Like he was very popular teammate, which I know people don't believe that, but he got into a fight with Georgiev, I guess. He got into a little scrap with Georgiev and that was a problem. But he got along with his teammates.

They liked him. A lot of teammates speak highly about him. He's said some dumb things this time, but a lot of people have, I have. And he was said most of them when he was young. So hopefully he's learned from experience that he can't say some of those things. But as far as his playing, he's a good player. He can run a power play. He's a good penalty killer. He's a good top four defenseman for me. So it makes some sense. You have to just, when you sign guys that have some baggage like that, you have to have a meeting with your owner and say, we're going to get some noise here. There'll be some blowback. We don't think it's

unmanageable. We think we can manage it. We want to run the risk and then you sign them. I wouldn't have done this, but I understand what they did. I think a lot of it too, Berkey, is the Noah Dobson injury. I mean, that looked awful when it happened and it doesn't look like it's not going to be short term for Noah Dobson here. That one kind of seems hand the glove and A to B that Dobson's out. They had a hold. They're not giving up on the season. They needed a defenseman. And at the end of the day, like, you know this, and Edmonton just did this with John Klingberg. Free player. Free player. Not costing you an asset. Yeah, I agree. It's a free player that they watch play in the division. They know them. Yeah, I agree. It's a free player that they watch play in the division. They know them. And I think they realize young players make mistakes. Sometimes they deserve second chance and there are teams that believe in second chances in their league.

Let me let me close on this one. And thanks for sticking around long today. Much appreciated. You mentioned cards a couple of seconds ago. I'm going to throw a dart here. I hope I get the name right. Was it Joe Depenta? They used to pull out of card games with Anaheim. Oh, just once. He came up late in the season. I look, I always walked through the plane once on the plane and it was a long plane ride and we had plenty of those. I'd walk twice. I wanted to see who's sitting with whom, who's playing cards, who's drinking too much. Just kind of a reconnaissance. I go back, I talk to the players, I'll interrupt their movie. How's it going? How's the baby? How's the dog? And just a reconnaissance flight. Just keep a temperature

on the team. Talk to your captain because Scott Niemeyer never played cards or talked to Chris Braugher and Joe Depenta was on they just joined the team he played at BU and we had him in Portland so he came up and I look at he's playing in the card game I tried to take the late Kramer's fence lay out of the card game too but I took Joe out for a different reason I took him aside I said, you're playing a game where people are losing four and five thousand dollars. You're not even going to make that much this month. So I'm taking you out of the game and Joe DePenta said it all seriously. He said, Berkey, you can't do this. I am making more money as a card player than I am as a hockey player right now. I'm cleaning up on these guys. Please leave me in.

So we left them in. Did he ever give you, because I know that the Depenta family made an incredible pasta sauce. Did you ever get any of the Joe Depenta pasta, the Depenta family pasta sauce? No, he must not have liked it that much. Well, he kept pulling them out of card games where he was doubling his salary, if not tripling it. Berkey, thanks as always for stopping by. Johnny, you got a last one for Burke? I have one more. Yeah.

I have one more that I'm really interested to ask because I don't think I've ever asked this question in my life. Oh. Um, you know, for a GM, especially too, obviously when you are drafting a player and you have the number one overall pick, there's probably a little bit of less pressure because there usually is a consensus on who should go number one overall. You drafted Bobby Ryan after Sidney Crosby, having the second overall pick.

Is there a lot like the pressure that comes with the second overall pick? We've seen a lot of second overall picks lately that have been labeled as I don't know if they're the guy. And this is not new to Bobby Ryan. I'm just saying that you drafted a second overall guy. But the pressure that comes with having the second overall pick, I don't know if we talk about that enough. I never thought of it that way. It's a good question, Johnny, but I never,

I never felt any pressure. We all knew who was going number one. Once we lost the lottery, we knew that Pittsburgh was getting said, then I think the shifts to is there any way to trade for that guy? And then they were like, no, it's not happening. So I remember with Garth Snow and he had the first pick overall. JT went there, right? John Tvaras. And I called and I said, would you trade the pick? And Garth Snow said, no. I said, what if I give you 10 first round picks? He said, no. I said, of course you do that. Don't be stupid. So what if I gave you five?

I'm not giving you 10. What if I gave you five? Would you do that? And he said, no. I said, don't be stupid. You do that. But what if I give you three? And he hung up on me.

So all you can do with the first overall pick, which I had once in my life for approximately 11 minutes. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round.

We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick from the first round. We got the first pick with the first overall pick, which I had once in my life for approximately 11 minutes. We got the first pick from Rick Dudley in Tampa and traded it through to Atlanta to Donnie Waddell for the second pick overall. So we had it for maybe 12 minutes. What draft was that? That was an awesome draft.

I can't remember who you took there. We took these Swedish kids. You heard of them. But having the first pick is you find out right away if people are serious about dealing or not. Cause you can make a hell of a deal if you're willing to. You have the balls to trade the first overall pick and leave or lead and take a chance on a lesser player that takes some balls. I encourage you guys to do it. Yeah. Yeah. It could be one of those career limiting moves. Um, as we like to say, Brookie, this is great. Uh, as always enjoy your weekend. We'll catch up in seven days. Thanks,

Bill. Okay. Thanks guys. Thanks, Johnny. There he is. Uh, Brian Burke, who joins us weekly. He is one of my favorite people in the world to talk to hands down. Yeah. And honestly, I got to credit Vic, the producer of Morning Cup of Hockey. He gave me that second overall question. Yeah. Vic, Vic's been texting me. Obviously feeding your questions. You get that. He gave me a little bit of notes. I came into this unprepared. So, uh, I always go to zip when I need help. Great guy.

Your producer helps you. What does that feel like? But that's, but that's the overall concept. Zach's unbelievable. We love you you Zach. Snaps for Zach. But that second overall question like You are deciding essentially who the next best player in that draft is like I think back to Carlson over Fantilly like the whole year Fantilly pretty much up to the draft was the consensus number two and you have the pressure much up to the draft was the consensus number two. And you have the pressure to decide who it, it's a unique position to sit in, I feel like that. It isn't really discussed ever.

It's an interesting question because I don't think that most times managers should get credit for drafting first overall. Oh yeah, I drafted Conor McDavid. Wow, bravo, wow. Incredible that you made that pick. I mean, you backed into first overall. Yeah.

You got it. Like, to your point, I'm much more impressed that, and it's a matter of like the lottery balls, of course, but just giving people credit for a lottery ball, which is first overall. But you're right. Like the first actual pick in a lot of these drafts is second overall. So you can bobble ahead and nod like it's your own question, but good on you. Well, I actually, it was really about Bobby Ryan and I made it into my own questions. So that was just teamwork. All right. He said I owe

him lunch though, but that's not happening. All right. There is one thing, by the way, that I do want to get to, and we'll use it in our last segment here. I hope you enjoyed that chat with Brian Burke. Here we are in Jasper. I want to get into the games around the NHL this evening. There are four of them, proud to promote FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them.

FanDuel are good friends of the program here. We thank them for all of their support. And four games on the go. So Flyers and Islanders. Man, Flyers took one last night. Who beat them again? Oh baby, we're back. Ice Tilt was Flyers though. Yeah, how, okay, explain Ice Tilt quickly. So it's just basically the momentum of the game as it shifts and the Flyers, Brant actually sent it to me and Vic earlier this morning, Brant Berglert from the NHL, and it showed that the Flyers dominated the second and third period, but when you think about it, when a team's chasing the game, that's probably gonna happen. So it wasn't really a big surprise, but Ice Tilt is all about keeping the puck in on the

other team's blue line or over the other team's blue line and how that shifts momentum in a game. Okay, so we have the Flyers facing off against the New York Islanders this evening, the Vegas Golden Knights facing off against the Dallas Stars. Listen, Vegas and Edmonton here are, do you just get that feeling that the Vegas and Edmonton are just going to flip flop one two for the rest of the way? Probably, yeah. And- I think Edmonton wins it though.

For the, for the good of hockey, please, we don't want to see it again. Just have Edmonton win so we don't get Edmonton Los Angeles in the first round. Are you done with that matchup? I'm done with that matchup. Well, I think the public opinion seems to think that LA has their best shot this year and how would that go over if LA wins that first round series? Listen, those series have always lived up to the hype. They're always six or seven games.

So I'm all for it. I'm about it. And you have, Judy Oudy re-entering the chat as well. Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against Chicago Blackhawks. I am firmly convinced that once again, like I've always said, it's the fool that bets against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nobody wants that team in the playoffs. Find me the team that's like, oh yeah, bring it on. Maybe Florida actually. Florida might be the only one that I get, cause I don't think that Tampa lives in their heads anymore. Not at all. You get that same feeling that once upon a time Tampa did and that's gone now. I think Tampa lives in everyone's heads.

I don't think you're wrong. Now here's the one that I want to get to as we close out the show today. It's part of our conversation last night that bled into this morning, that bled into our drive with Jay Downton from Edmonton to Jasper. Utah faces off against Winnipeg. Now if you're naming Utah, what are you calling them? Vic is gonna laugh at me. I tweeted it I think you know a couple hours ago but it started as a joke but now it's become a real thing. I actually talked myself into that. I've talked myself into it. I like incorporating the into the name.

And I love the name, the Utah beast. I think it's unreal. I know you've come around to it. Well, no, you know why? Cause I love the definite article. So the, yes. So definite article, put it in sports. I'm down with you.

The Ohio state, you know, the Ohio state university, like it has, it has some sort of swagger to it. It does. So it is the Utah... The Utah beast. The Utah beast. Just let the gravity of that settle in for a second. Because originally when you said it to me yesterday at the airport, I was like, eh, shrug it off, like whatever, he's gonna forget about it in two seconds, cats and laser pointers. No. You stayed on it and I'm warm. I'm not there yet, but I'm, it's getting warmer. But I do like the definite article. I think the in front of Utah just makes it pop in front does pop Ryan Smith.

If you're paying attention, listen to that. What'd you name it? I like Yeti from the get-go. I like Yeti, but then again, I'm the guy that also wanted Seattle to, Seattle to call themselves the, uh, the Sasquatch. The Seattle Sasquatch? Yeah, man. And you know what the logo is? What? I just, I, how could you take anyone seriously? Like, Yeah, come on. It's fun. You don't think you can have a lot of fun? Like sell jerseys to kids.

Who'd you lose to in the first round? It was that damn Sasquatch. The Sasquatch. Every time the Sasquatch sticking it, stickingys to kids. Who'd you lose to in the first round? It was that damn Sasquatch. Damn Sasquatch. The Squatch. Every time the Squatch sticking it sticking it to us. That's funny. You're half kidding about that right? There's no way. No Sasquatch. I want like legit. I wanted Seattle Sasquatch. That's really funny. Do you want to bring up our uh we had another conversation. Which one? The penalty kill one. The TikTok video that I told you about that you texted Dave Jackson about. Oh okay yeah go for it. I want you to do it. I can't do it. The justice that you can. So I saw a TikTok video that I explained to you. Yes. So here's, here's the idea. This is what, so Johnny and I were bored at the airport yesterday and just BS and

about hockey and different scenarios and what would you do and blah, blah, blah, blah. So here's a scenario that Johnny laid out before me yesterday. Team is killing a penalty. They ice the puck and when they ice the puck, all four players leave on a, on a wholesale change, but they leave their sticks in the defensive zone, in the defensive zone, on the ice. Is there a penalty for that? Four new players hop on, they have their own six and the four players that go go for the change just get their extra stick from the trainer and go back out after. So...

Eat the sticks in the passing lanes. Take away space. I thought it was like the smartest thing I've ever heard in my life. I thought that was genius. So, the message back from Dave Jackson of ESPN, rules analyst. He's of the belief that you would call them all for interference or penalty or you can call them for USC on sportsman like conduct. So you can either throw interference or on sportsman like conduct USC and go to the bench tell all four players if it happens again, that we are going to hit you with the USC. Yeah. But they do have jurisdiction over calling. It's the blanket.

Like referees have like this right bower, this Trump card. They can always play if they just don't like something they can say on sportsman like conduct or conduct detrimental to the game of hockey. Yeah. It's like the scene semi pro and they do the all you can, you can, you can, two files. But what, who can, you can use that. But what, who was the goalie again that you told me would when they would pull the goalie, they'd leave the stick on the goal line. That was a Roger Nelson invention. Roger Nelson impacted the game in ways that we still feel today.

So what Roger would do when he was coaching the Peterborough peats in the early seventies, actually, Greg Millen might've been one of the goalies he did it with. I'll have to check with Greg Millen on that one, but, um, and this rule has been changed and was changed because of Roger Nilsson. When he pulled his goaltender, he would instruct his goalie to leave his stick from post to post. So a shot coming down was going to be stopped by the stick that had been left there. That is now a penalty because of Roger Nilsson. And then I mentioned Ron Stackhouse, the old Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman, where he played for Roger Nilsson with the Peterborough Peets on penalty shots.

He would pull the goaltender out, maybe even Greg Millen, pull out Greg Millen and throw in Ron Stackhouse, the defenseman. So as the penalty shot starts, the defenseman skates out the challenge, the forward. Yeah, I thought that. And, and I love those kind of ideas. You can't do it anymore. But that's, that's the thinker that, that Roger Nelson was. So we've got some pond hockey tonight.

I don't know if I'm playing on your team or against you. But if I'm playing against you, what should my strategy be against you tonight? Oh, I mean, four on four pond hockey. I don't really have much experience out there, to be honest. I would just try to slash me in the shins. That's what I would do. How on a scale of one to 10,

how pissed off would you be if I went out there as the stick smasher? Because Tyler, your umtruck brought me a stick for this one. I wasn't going to lug my own all the way here. If I just went out there tapping sticks. That's why I brought two. I was going to say, I know you brought two. But like one of the big peeves always in beer league is the guy that goes out there smashing sticks. I got to be honest though, I've never played in like an intense pond hockey environment. So I don't know what pisses me off or not. Like I usually just go out with some friends on the island, you know, and we just mess

around. Like I've never played in like a tournament. So I don't know what's going to piss me off or what won't piss me off. And again, people who know me, I'm not easily bothered. You know, I usually let stuff go and I'm like, whatever, dude, like you want to try so hard, trust someone do. Okay. To piss me off.

Yeah. What can someone do to make you game seven? Johnny tonight? Oh man. Chop the ankles cowbell between the legs. What, what is it? Colby text me and I'll get that simple. Colby text me something.

I'll just get this stuff. Morning cup of hockey Monday. Although you're traveling Monday, right? Yeah. It's a travel day for you, but Morning Cup of Hockey, Monday to Thursday, here on the network, our daily face-off YouTube channel, 9 a.m. Eastern daily face-off live at noon, and then the sheet at 3 o'clock. Listen, I know I kind of ignored the chat today. I apologize, kind of different being on location, but I would always be staring at it here and it's funny as usual.

So thanks to everyone who took part in there and I see Vic is in the chat. Call him Colby. Yeah, you know what, that would piss you off. You know what Vic says? Call you Colby a few times. Yeah, he's done it twice. Why not?

I don't know, why am I default to just look at you and call you Colby? He's the one who's insulted, not me. Oh, very well. He's like six foot four, I'm like 5'11". Thanks to everyone here at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. A beautiful place, very much looking forward to pond hockey later on this evening and all throughout the weekend as well. Enjoy your weekend, enjoy the games. We'll talk to you again Monday, three o'clock Eastern. Again, morning cup of hockey, Monday morning, nine Eastern daily face off live at noon. and then this little act that me and Zach have. Thanks in the chat. Thanks to everyone listening on podcast, watching here on YouTube. Have a great weekend. We'll talk to you in a couple of days. I can't get out my head Lost all ambitions day to day

Guess I can call it a ride I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, no, man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself, and how this gon' be fixing my mind Thanks for watching!