The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Blue & White Piñata ft. David Pagnotta

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

David Pagnotta joins Jeff Marek on The Sheet. Breaking down the Maple Leafs embarrassing loss to the Florida Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers closing out the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas and Carolina with an opportunity to finish their series, the NHL coaching carousel, and much moreShout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Ninja Kitchen Canada: https://www.ninjakitchen.ca/products/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system-zidFN101CGY?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=olv&utm_campaign=25Q2-Crispi&utm_content=en👍🏼RVezy: https://www.rvezy.com/owner?utm_source=cross-channel&utm_medium=multi-media&utm_campaign=canadian+hosts👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_enReach 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.

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Out Eastman. Anyway, congratulations, Oilers. Gonna get to you. Don't worry. That was impressive Stuart Skinner, just awesome too. And that is of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I'm trying to think about, okay, so what has everybody listened to so far? What has everybody watched? What, is it my job to sort of articulate rage, articulate apathy, maybe just turn a mirror on everything? I don't know, should I be part of the pile on

with all of this? Last night's performance was a lifeless dog of a game. That dog barely with enough energy to lift up its hind leg and piss in the fans face. Like, do I do stuff like that? Or do I say things like... And this is how I really feel. At this point, after everything that you saw last night, and so much of it happened on the very first goal of the game, and we're gonna get to that in a couple of seconds, there's only really one person

that I think is important in all of this. There's one person to hear from. As far as like people that can affect change. Like this morning on Morning Cup of Hockey, Jackie Redmond was effin' brilliant. I always encourage you to watch that show either live or in archive on podcasts on YouTube. If you can, if you're watching live, hop in the chat.

It's one of the best chats we have going. Jackie Redmond this morning was spittin' fire. In a way that only Jackie Redmond can. She was outstanding. We're gonna hear from Nick Alburga later on. We're gonna hear from Anthony Stewart later on. Dave Penauda's gonna be dropping by in a couple of moments as well.

Hockey Insider, editor in chief of the fourth period, he's gonna stop by live. We're gonna have those clips, as I mentioned, we're gonna hear from, like what we wanted to do is sort of put a collage together today of where we're at throughout this day because it very much feels like it's almost, if you've ever, okay, if you've ever lost someone

close to you and I've lost plenty, you know you go through a number of different stages. I'm just curious where Leafs fans are at right now. Like what stage of grief are you at right now? Like first of all, like the patient hasn't even died officially yet. Although after last night it very much feels like the patient that dies, that has already died. But there's one person, and we're not gonna hear from this person for a while, but there's one person that holds the keys to all of it and that is the CEO of MLSC Keith Pelly. And I think we can all remember the press

conference last year where Keith Pelly when he took over that role talked about you know here for winning, accountability, etc. And we all sort of got the opinion or all of the opinion and got the feeling that if it goes off the rails if this car skids into the ditch the changes will be swift the cuts will be deep and deliberate and there will be change now I know a long time observers will laugh at that and we'll say We've heard it all before America we've heard this thing for the last nine years This happens every year it'll be different next season

But now Keith Peli's around and Eventually when this thing ends, and listen, I'm very much of the mind and agree with Colby Cohn this morning, I'm warning Cup of Hockey, like this thing is over, even if it goes back to a game seven, we know the inevitability that this is marching towards, like this is what this team is. These are who these players are. You've heard me say it before. Cows don't make ham. All right, cows don't make ham. You're expecting the Toronto Maple Leafs to be something that they are not. Here's another one you've heard from me before. Things exist in two states. They exist, and this is specific to sports, although really it's true of life and human beings. Things exist in two states.

They exist in a state of potentiality or actuality. And for the longest time, you could have looked at this Maple Leafs team and said, this is still a team that exists in potential. There is still hope. There is still growth. These young men will develop into something that is greater than them individually. Well, quite the opposite has happened. You know, as one person mentioned today, to me, you know, this really still isn't a team. You know, Anthony Stewart, Anthony Stewart's father specifically, has a great saying. He said, are you a team or are you a club? There's a big difference between the two. I don't think that anybody watching that game last night in Toronto thinks that

this is a team. And if the answers are not more obvious to what the issue is with this team, last night in a must-win game for the Toronto Maple Leafs, this team falls flat on their face, they get booed off the ice, and even though I don't like it because these things are expensive and I'm sure there's a kid somewhere out there that would love to have a number 34 Toronto Maple Leafs jersey as much as you may disdain it, we saw saw a jersey on the ice and I know there are people that were expecting and perhaps wanting waffles you didn't get your waffles but there was a jersey on the ice last night and I'll tell you before we sort of get the show really rolling here with Dave one thing that I thought about as I was walking down

stairs here into my studio thinking like okay so who are the big winners here like sure the Florida Panthers are winners, they're probably gonna go on and win this series, but pardon me, and you may say, oh man, that's really cynical, but you know it's true. You know what the Maple Leafs are doing here right now? They're in the process of making two, maybe three players very, very wealthy. Because as it becomes more and more

obvious that this team cannot compete at a high level in the playoffs, skilled as they want to be in 82 games, and that's wonderful. But when the playoff puck drops, we all know it is heavier than a regular season puck. There are three players that the Maple Leafs are about to make very, very wealthy. Maybe even with their own money. Those players are, in no particular order, Aaron Ackblad, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand. That performance last night just raised the value for those three players because if you are Brad Trilliving watching what you saw last night, you're probably saying to yourself, we're going to have some cap space here folks. And I think I know where we should dedicate said space. Is that too harsh? I know compared to some of the fire that we've seen all day long, Zach, and maybe even from you

last night on After Dark, I know you were a little bit frisky. That too harsh or is that fair? The only person that really matters right now is Keith Peli. It's not Shanahan, it's not True Living, it's not Berube, it's not Marner Matthews, Nylander, any of those guys. It is Keith Peli. It's not Shanahan, it's not True Living, it's not Barubei, it's not Martin Matthews, Neelander, any of those guys. It is Keith Peli. That's it. He decides all of this. Not too harsh. You might have actually gone soft here, Jeff, on them. I just watched the Maple Leafs. Can you blame me? Can you blame me? It's like the morning, the Leafs morning take, guys, they started the show a minute late today intentionally because they said, well, the Leafs didn't start on time.

Clever, clever, clever, clever. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. All right. I like that. I like that. Smart dudes. Yeah.

No, in all honesty, I think that's where a lot of people are looking. I know this isn't over, but it's over. That's it. And I'm getting texts from people this morning like, well, you know, I don't think that, I don't think that at this point, you know, you can say that the Leafs are for sure going to make changes here. I'm like, there's someone I want to hear from because there's someone new here in this organization, as you just pointed out, that I think most of

Leafs Nation is just waiting for. Waiting for him to come out, waiting for him to speak, waiting to hear the philosophy, all of that kind of stuff. Because that's the one thing that is the word we love to use in this city, Jeff. Different about these guys. You know, and normally I always say like, you know, at the end of the season, when it goes sour, you know, don't rush to decisions, take your time and think about it. No, no, no, no. I don't think that the, I don't think Maple Leafs fans want anything but a swift, quick decision on what's happening with this team.

All right. Daily outline, uh, presented by our friends and partners at FanDuel make every moment more with North America's number one sports book. And today is going to be a doozy. And again, like I know the Maple Leafs are sort of dominating the conversation as they tend to do and suck all the oxygen out of the room. I understand it. But congratulations for topic number three. And that is the Edmonton Oilers advance in very impressive fashion and really happy for Stuart Skinner. Dave Peñora is going to stop by here in a couple of moments probably already standing by. Hockey insider and

also the editor-in-chief of the fourth period. Oh yeah look at that same old Leafs. Zach hates getting the text from me after all these games. Same team, same team, same team. One of the things we're gonna get into with Dave, the coaching carousel as that continues and some do or die games around the NHL this evening. Backs against the wall, Winnipeg Jets, I'm looking your direction. Ditto Washington Capitals,

probably without the services of Lars Eller. Let's get right to Dave. He is a noted hockey insider. His work is must read, must watch, and must listen. He is the editor in chief of the fourth period. He is Dave Pagnotto and he joins me on the sheet now. Dave, how are you? Before we get to all the fun and games about coaches and general managers, etc. We'll paint with a roller here, not a brush, but I'm sure we'll get to that.

Wide brush thoughts, the floor is yours on what we saw last night between the Maple Leafs and the defending Stanley Cup champions. Ooh, starting out strong, eh? Okay. Why not? So, all right. All right. Yeah, that was, that was ugly. It was an ugly performance by the Maple Leafs. It was a great performance by the Florida Panthers.

You're the cats, you're the fans of them. You're loving every minute of this. It was, it was just, I don't want to categorize it as a lack of effort, but it definitely showed that there wasn't clearly enough oomph in any of their game. They did not have their dial cranked all the way up at all in this game and almost out of the gate. I know Paul Maurice spoke after the game and indicated in the first five, know, five, 10 minutes, he thought it was a solid flow. Both teams were playing well. Well, Craig Borube didn't kind of share the same sentiment. See, he said his team was not great in the first bit of that game either. And you know what? You saw it. There was just, again, it looked like a

lack of effort. I don't want to say that's what it was. Um, but they looked down on themselves. They, their play was lax at times, especially as the game progressed. They couldn't bury certain chances. And it seemed like after every one that wasn't buried, they kind of just deflated them a little bit. That's, that's, that's how they played. I, you know, first of all, to Paul Maurice, as you all know, Paul's one of the more

brilliant coaches. Like there's no way Paul's going to do anything other than compliment the Maple Leafs and say, well, you know what, the scorer was too generous for us. That's it. He's given them nothing. Like you, everybody knows what Paul Maurice is doing in that, in that situation. And I don't think we'd expect anything else out of, out of Paul Maurice. in that situation and I don't think we'd expect anything else out of, uh, out of Paul Maurice. Uh, I, I do think, like, um, I'm like you, like,

I'm a little bit shy of like always questioning effort, but you're right. Like it looked like very much. And the, the one play where you really saw it was on the Marner Spinarama backhand play. Like, okay, cool. Like, no, Colby Colen brought the point this morning. I think it's the right one. You have to have more leeway for star players to try stuff like that because they can do it. Like sometimes it works, right?

Like star players and highly skilled players are just wired differently. But when the puck turns over, it's that wave your stick at the, at the, at the parade as it goes by, like we're just watching it here. Like it's again, it's like wave your stick at the parade as it goes by. Like we're just watching it here. Like it's again, it's like no garbage, just reach out your stick.

And I'll tell you what, like there was a, the very first goal of the game, I'm getting Zach to run highlight after highlight here, but the very first goal of the game, to me that is the entire game, right? So if you watch on this one, like no one wearing a blue jersey engages physically at all. It's all long sticks, long sticks, long sticks, long sticks.

Like is anyone engaging physically there at all? Not a single player. This is in one of these, like you have to win, biggest game of the year, all the momentum is with the Panthers. And the first goal, five guys staring at wall, and all of them are looking at each other saying, maybe one of us should have played body on anybody there.

But it's just stick, stick, stick, stick, stick, Dave. That's what's going on. And it was all game. It was last game as well. The physicality just wasn't there. And if you notice,. It was last game as well. The physicality just just wasn't there. And if you notice in last night's game, more so than anything, more so than the previous one anyway, Florida was shooting high on wall all night,

leading up to that first goal. Every other one after that, they were trying to go high on him on either side. It didn't matter clearly which side they were on. I think one of them, the third, I can't remember if it was a third goal or who scored it, but that was a tip, it ended up going high. You know, I don't really blame them much on that one, but every other goal, at least they were trying to

and other attempts were all up high. So either they found something on him that they feel that's where that's, that's our most likely opportunity, um, to, to Barry. But between that, between, um, like you said, Toronto's lack of physicality, which kind of, it, it, it kind of tied into the whole, you know, playing defeated kind of mindset there. Like they didn't, they, there wasn't enough to push their buttons, push Florida's buttons. They just didn't have it.

The Leafs didn't. And Florida took every single opportunity and advantage of that. And going back to what you mentioned and what Colby mentioned with respect to good players making those types of plays. I agree. I'm totally fine with it, but just, you got to pick your battles and you got to, or pick your timing. Um, it just, it didn't work obviously in that situation.

Um, this may be like the, the layup of all time questions that you're timing. It didn't work obviously in that situation. This may be the layup of all time questions that you're going to get this week. Heading into game six, Dave, the way that I phrase it is, there's no point in winding your wristwatch on the way to the electric chair. Does it feel that way to you? It you know, it's funny. It's twofold because yes, I fully anticipate it was after game four, I said Florida is just going to win outright. They're going to pull Edmonton on LA and they're just going to win outright.

And that's probably the likeliest scenario, but in very Leafs fashion. Um, and I know it's a different group this year, but just in the, in the last stretch of leaf playoff runs, they're going to win on Friday. It decently. And then we're going to have a similar Sunday as you did yesterday. Man. Just to get everyone's hopes up in this, in this city. Everyone, everyone can see it too though, right?

Like it's not beyond the realm, but that's it. Like again, it's like how many times and this is ultimately, like I think what you're winking at here is ultimately this era's version of the Toronto Maple Leafs, where when I think of like one term to describe the squad, it's like, it's a collection of false starts. Like how many times can this team false start their fans? Again, like hope is, you can either sell wins, you can sell hope. Um, for whatever reason, like this Leafs fan base has been sold hope here for so long.

But, and they ask you this one then. Again, we always say, does it feel different? Is it different? This time, I get the sense that it's no longer just sort of hope mixed with a little bit of cynicism. Like now it's anger. Like that was in front of them. You know, like it, it does, when we think about it, it feels different.

Usually you mean like, oh, they've added some new players and here comes Chris Tannin and they're going to get a little, little sturdier on the back end and here's a couple of new goaltenders. But now it's like, this is like the volcano demanding a virgin. Like this is what it, this is what it feels like, like this fan base wants sacrifices, it, this is what it feels like. They, this fan base wants sacrifices Dave.

That's what it feels like. Well, and I don't, and I don't blame them because everything that we, that they showed everybody going into this season and they talked about it at the, at the season ending presser last off season. Shanahan and Tre Living talked about adding the intangible pieces. We've got the, we've got the star power. We've

got to add everything else to take this team to the next level. They bring in Craig Barubei, the structure in the system changes immediately right out of the gate in training camp, the mindset changes, they bring in heavier bodies, they bring in more responsible bodies. They talked about being professionals and playing a professional way. They harped on defense and physicality, ironically, in the first half of the season. So everything going into the postseason and they played well against Ottawa

minus game five, which was a dud. Um, but they played well against the Sens and it was three one in game three. Before the wheels fell off. was 3-1 in game three before the wheels fell off. So I totally understand the mindset and where the fans are at because of just year after year of disappointment. And this year was supposed to be different and this year's squad overall looks a lot different. But clearly some significant change needs to happen. And I wonder, I mean, they have an opportunity to

just make the decision themselves with 16. We'll see what happens in July. It's going to be really interesting too. Like, um, when you look at Marner at the, again, small sample, but you look at it with Four Nations playing with Sam Bennett. And one of the things that I've been on look at a bit Four Nations playing with Sam Bennett. And one of the things that I've been on about a lot

since Four Nations is like how different Marner looked playing with someone like Sam Bennett, who clearly his skill set is different than Austin Matthews. But he just seemed like he was a different player and in the NHL, he's at the hip with 34. I just wonder, I think a lot of Leafs fans, one of those, if they don't bring him back, he's at the hip with, with 34. Um, I just wonder, I think a lot of these fans, one of those, if they don't bring him back, he's going to go play with someone like Sam Bennett

and the Maple Leafs are going to ruin the day. But the Maple Leafs don't have anyone like Sam Bennett to play with. Um, I, I, Marner is a, is a fascinating case. You know, Adam Oates loves him. I spent a lot of time talking with Adam. I think he's one of the more highly intelligent, uh, people in the game.

And his point has always been this, that why is it always that Mitch has to help everybody out, but there's no one there to help Mitch and we saw that at foreign nations and it's like, there's Sam Bennett doing Sam Bennett things, which makes it a lot easier for Mitch Marner to be Mitch Marner. And I can't help but think to myself, if I'm Mitch Marner, I'm saying to myself, well, finally someone has sent the posse for me. Someone sent some help for me. I know Marner's hearing it.

I get it. I understand it. But part of me is like, if he only had a center that was closer to Sam Bennett, how different would things be? But I'm with you like July 1st. I don't know, take your pick. Resign with Toronto?

Maybe, but Carolina, Detroit, play with Larkin. Like take your pick. Yeah, there, there are going to be plenty of options. He can go, Utah is probably going to be all over But Carolina, Detroit play with Larkin. Like take your pick. Yeah. There, there are going to be plenty of options. He can go Utah is probably going to be all over that Chicago. It's for others. Like there, there, there are going to be a lot of interesting teams that pursue him heavily, not just you got to throw your hat in the ring and take a shot here, but at, but pursue him heavily if he hits July one.

And I agree with you completely when you've got a player that you know is there to protect you, but can also keep up with the pace of play. Bingo. It changes your, it changes your mindset. Yep. It definitely changes your mindset and that Four Nations, if you have a player like that on your, and I think the same could be said for a guy like Austin Matthews as well.

When you've got protection, but someone capable of lining up with you, it really changes the way you play for the better. And you're bang on, Toronto doesn't have that. Matthew Nyes maybe can become something or some type of variation of that. But they don't have that now. They don't have it on the second line either. I think the same would apply to Willie Neal. Friday is going to be crazy in Toronto and they're not even playing in Toronto. And it's going to be, it's going to be absolutely, absolutely wild here.

Um, All right. So we wait for that to happen. So the reason I wanted to talk to you mainly today, and then there was a Leafs explosion last night and you're all over this. I want to get your thoughts on it. Coaching Carousel continues. I think we're, I mean, listen, if Washington

goes out tonight, all of a sudden teams are freed up, higher Mitchelove. Marco Sturm still very much out there. Jay Woodcroft interviewing with a number of teams as well. First of all, with the Vancouver Canucks, you know, Zan Secaris and Price, and one of the conversations we had today is, you know, here comes Adam Foote as a first time coach in the NHL.

Does he need veteran people around him? Matt Sikaris mentioned Mark Crawford and I threw out the name Dallas Aikens who's still trying to get back you know coaching Mannheim in the German League as well. First of all, what did you think of the hire? Because it seemed like they got down to their internal candidates Dave really fast. Yeah because it sounded like it was it was Adam foot and Manny Malhotra right at the S and and yet they spoke with Sturm and I believe they spoke with a few others. I want to say Valuci and there were a few others but they wanted to narrow this down relatively quickly and I think the familiarity that Foot has within the organization and with some of the players on

that team, maybe and almost as importantly as anything is the guy with the C, that that was the move that they ultimately felt the most comfortable with. They offered Tauke at a pretty solid penny. I think it was a little over 4 million per, but he wanted five. He got more than that in Philly and ultimately they didn't want to do that, but they bring in somebody again, who's familiar with the group, with the organization. And I could definitely see him bringing on one or two veteran guys behind them as assistants or associates or what have you to add to that group, to kind of insulate that, that, that, um, that coaching staff. You know, it's, uh, Vancouver is such a fascinating market right now. I'm not sure if he had a chance to watch or listen to Steve Brunt's interview with,

uh, with Jim Rutherford, uh, the president of hockey operations. But I mean, he's someone that finds it probably physically impossible not to tell the truth when he's asked a question. It's like Wonder Woman's got the lasso around him and he's like, just compelled to tell the truth. He's injected with truth serum a long time ago. But I thought one of the things that was interesting in the interview was he talked about how,

he likes where the goal-tending's at, he likes where the blue line is at. There's some work to do with the forwards are gonna to try to shore that up in the off season. But I looked at the foot signing and I said two things. One, they're leaning into their strength, which has now become the blue line led by Quinn Hughes. And two, this is another chapter in the book called Operation Keep Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. Dave, am I being too cynical in suggesting that? Yeah. keep Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. Dave, am I being too cynical in suggesting that?

I think that's priority number one and whatever it takes to keep him happy. Yeah. Jim's going to do and Alvin's going to do and, and the family's going to do and everybody like that, that it, and they got two more years. So there's, there's, you know, still time, but within at least this next season, they need to show their captain that they're in, they're going, excuse me, and trending in the right direction again. Um, you know, and, and yeah, I think, I think everything that is said publicly

and privately, but, but specifically publicly is done very methodically and planned out, um, with the, in the back of everyone's minds, the captain right there. Um, and, and having him there longterm and building around him. Um, also with coaches, uh, maybe we shouldn't be too surprised about this, considering even though he's not the general manager, Ron Francis still swings a big stick there. Everything's really quieter on Seattle, but it's a big decision and some interesting names, Sturm is interviewed in Seattle. I believe Mitch Love is interviewed in Seattle as well. How do you see the Seattle coaching situation going down? And are you surprised that it's, you know, but listen, there are noisy markets

and there are quiet markets and there are quiet markets and Seattle has quickly become a quiet market. Well, and that's, that's I think by design, I think that's Ron Francis' demo. He wanted things to be quiet there. You know, they were in on talk and, and you know, that, I believe they pitched them an offer, a

pretty solid offer, but obviously he went Philly's direction. Um, but yeah, went Philly's direction. But yeah, it sounds like those are, you know, the guys you mentioned, you know, Mitch Love, who's also on Pittsburgh's radar. I don't know necessarily about first time head coach, but young head coach. It sounds like that's the direction that they'd like to go. And now they may turn around and bring in Lavie or somebody, but it sounds like that's, that's the direction that they'd like to go. And now they may turn around and bring in Lavi or somebody, but it's, it sounds like anyway, that they're going for a younger type of, of, of individual.

To add to, um, or excuse me, to lead that, to lead that staff. Um, you know, another name that's out there and has at least had a, excuse me, has it has had words are hard at least had a, excuse me, has it has had, words are hard, at least one conversation with, with Pittsburgh, uh, DJ Smith, um, former coach of, of the Sens there's familiarity with, uh, Toronto when he was, it was an assistant. Um, he was in attendance earlier today in Kent at Ken Holland's, uh, press conference in, in Los Angeles where he's an assistant, but, um, he's interviewed with a couple of teams, Pittsburgh's one of them.

Speaking with Pittsburgh too, and you mentioned Mitch Love a couple of seconds ago there with the Penguins. See that to me would completely fit the MO of Kyle Dubas when you look at bringing in Sheldon Keefe as a first-timer with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dubas prides himself on seeing things that other people don't necessarily see, whether it's in players, whether that's in coaches as well. Like I, I wonder, just because it's, it's, it's an obvious comparison. I wonder if Kyle Dubas looks at Mitch Love and says, I see the next Spencer Carberry there. You know, successful in junior, Saskatoon, two time AHL coach of the year, um, uh, finalist

for the Calgary job, um, and then assistant with Spencer Carberry there, knows the, knows the division well, has handled superstars, has handled kids. Uh, that is like, I do wonder, like, that's why I, I mentioned the, um, uh, I mentioned off the top, like if Washington goes out, then expected to be more interested on Mitch Love.

I wonder if at the end of all of it, it may just be the Pittsburgh Penguins. And because it does fit how Dubas has done business before. Yeah, it could, it could very well, it could very well be, I know he's, he's, he's up there as, as we've talked about. Um, and there are others, the other guy that I

would mention in, in, I don't know specifically if Chicago or Seattle have or are planning to talk to Kirk Muller, but I do believe he's going to get some consideration as well from at least one of these four remaining teams that need head coaches. Jim Hiller, by the way, Kenny Holland saying he's safe and I don't think anybody should be surprised by that, but he's safe in LA. But with respect to Pittsburgh, I agree with you. I think Mitch Love makes a lot of sense for that organization. I know DJ Smith is going to have another conversation with Kyle and I think, you know, determine what direction they want to go there. But yeah,

certainly Mitch Love makes a lot of sense for the Pittsburgh Penguins, especially as they're now moving towards what appears to finally be a rebuild out there. Now, is it going to be immediate on the fly kind of, kind of deal, or are they going to do this? They, I mean, they've already kind of started, uh, with, with stockpiling some picks and whatnot, but it certainly looks like Pittsburgh's finally entering that. Um, and a guy like Mitch Love makes a lot of sense. You know, it's interesting, just hearing you talk about Kirk Muller, we could see a scenario where the Washington Capitals lose Mitch Love, Kirk Muller, and even Todd

Nelson, their head coach for the Hershey Bears, who just keeps on, I mean, they were down, they were down to Lehigh Valley about to be swept. And then here comes another Todd Nelson comeback and now they're into the, um, Atlantic, Atlantic final right now. Like Todd Nelson, I'm still stunned that he doesn't have an NHL job and I know that you can do zoom interviews, et cetera, but I always kind of feel like Todd Nelson is a victim of

his own success, Dave, because every year the Hershey bears go so deep that by the time all the coaching interviews and hires are done, he's still coached. He's still playing. And it's like, as you're taught, like, okay, well, it's great. I got the Calder Cup again, but I'd like some of that NHL money. Thank you very much. Like they may lose three here. Yeah.

Timing is everything. And yeah, we'll see what happens with, with the caps and obviously how quickly that turns around will be determined. I guess first stage tonight. Um, but yeah, we'll see. And Pittsburgh, I think is revamping their staff overall. They've already, obviously we know Sully's out. Yep.

There are a few others that have been notified that they are not being brought back, uh, within that coaching staff. And I think the team's supposed to announce it at some point. I've been saying it for a few days, have been notified that they are not being brought back, uh, within that coaching staff. And I think that the team's supposed to announce it at some point. I've been saying it for a few days, but they haven't, so I'll let them do it. But there, there are some additional changes, um, that have happened behind the scenes in

Pittsburgh already. And I think they're going to reshape the entire coaching staff and structure there. Do you have a handle on what's happening with the Islanders? Like, I'll tell you just to, to, to, to drag it back into, like you and I have been talking about coaches here for a couple of minutes coming off the Leaf conversation

and the chat, bless them, just won't let the Leaf thing die. Like it's more, it's more me, please. So let me try to draw it somehow here. One, let me try to draw a cheesy TV transition here. Um, A, could you see Marner signing with the Allenders and Dave, what's happening with the Allenders? There we go. So I've, I've kissed them trying to make least content in the process.

Yeah. I would, I would not be surprised if they throw their hat in the ring, how aggressive they get. Yeah. It depends, depends on who the guy is, uh, who's, who's going to lead the way. Um, and on that, I, who, uh, I, yes. Um, I, I, they're going through interviews this week. Um, I think that'll carry out over, over the weekend.

Um, you know, there, there are some usual suspects right now that have been reported with Kekalyan and, and, and Berger-Beng, um, you know, Matthew Darsh as well. I do believe there are a few other, two or three other AGMs currently that have been under consideration. I know they compiled a pretty long internal list and then decided what direction, um, to, to start going in at, at that point. Um, you know, there are some names that have been kind of tossed around that I haven't been able to, well, except one, Jamie Langererner, there was some

consideration there from my understanding internally, he has not spoken with the Islanders. But there are others whose names have popped up, Sean Horkoff and a couple others. So whether those guys have gotten interviews or not, I'm not sure, but they have been looking at some first time potential GMs to add to this mix. And I think by next week, they'd like to narrow things down to a final of two to three before moving forward. But the other part of the equation is also bringing in one of these individuals, um, as the president of hockey ops, they'd like to have two guys at the helm. Um, ideally they could still just end up with what with the GM, but ideally they'd like

to have somebody oversee the hockey ops department from the top level, have your GM handle the day to day and whatever transactions are in place. But it sounds like they're narrowing things that are starting that process, I should say, and then narrow it down next week. But conversations continue. They're probably speaking to one of these individuals today. So here's where again, I'll do the, uh, swing it back to Toronto because, oh, look, everything revolves around that logo.

Um, if they're looking to, to, to split that, as you mentioned, to try to make police go out on Friday or on Sunday, someone who knows the market lives in New York, would Brendan Shanahan make sense there? I see a rich, deep smile on you, Dave. Yeah. I haven't heard yet of that possibility being realistic, but I have heard the possibility. I don't believe that's a direction they ultimately take based on what I had been told since over the last month or so with the direction that they'd

like to go in, but it would be potentially possible if the lease get bounced, ownership will have a decision to make, MLSC will have a decision to make on Shanahan. It wouldn't surprise me. There are some whispers of what may happen within that front office. I don't know if it's going to lead all the way to the top, but we'll see. But it uh, but, uh, it would be intriguing certainly, but I don't know if the Islanders honestly, I don't know if they go in that direction, but you know, we'll, we may wait and see, but you know, they've got others that are kind of in that bowl.

I do know. And I think Arthur Staple reported this as well. And a few others, but you know, Jeff Gordon was the number one target that he was number one on the list. They approached the Habs during the playoff or right before the playoffs. And they said, let's wait till the season ends. And then ultimately Jeff decided he wants to stay,

um, in, in Montreal, but perfect world. That was the guy the Islanders wanted. Um, obviously they pivoted. Uh, let me close on this because you mentioned Jeff Gordon. Um, you know, Kent Hughes made some headlines jumping from the agency world, uh, to the management world with, with the Montreal Canadians, and we're starting to see some

success there. And that was a really fun story, even though they got bounced in the first round in a very exciting series with the Washington Capitals. There is someone in the agency world, Dave, that I've wondered about. I'm sure you've wondered about, uh, when LA became available, we all kind of went,

hmm, is this the moment that Pat Breesong of CAA says, you know what, it's time for the next child. Now, I don't know if Pat can take the pay cut, but I do wonder, I always do wonder, is there a time where you could see Pat Breesong be the next agent to jump into management? I thought there was, and that was the first name where you could see Pat Breson be the next agent to jump into management? I thought there was, and that was the first name that popped up once LA made their official determination

on Rob Blake. Yeah, right away I was going, okay, I've got to send a couple of messages out, figure this out. My understanding is he's not thinking about it anymore, or anytime soon making a transition to a GM role anywhere. He likes where he's not thinking about it anymore or anytime soon, making a transition to a GN role anywhere. He likes where he's at. He's gonna stick around at CAA and continue to lead their hockey department.

Will that change in five years? Perhaps, but at least for the foreseeable future, he's sticking where he is. Great stuff. Do you have a final thought on the Maple Leafs as they wind their wristwatch, as we mentioned earlier? Matthew Nye's offer sheet. Go ahead, say it. Get the chat all fired up. Yeah, that'll get everybody going. Nine million. From Pittsburgh, Kyle Dubas goes back to get his guy.

Yeah, and then Signs Mitch. Double whiney. From Pittsburgh, Kyle Dubas goes back to get his guy. Yeah. And then Signs Mitch. Yeah, double whammy. No, just good luck, I guess, to the fans more so than anything. Oh, amen. Amen to you. Oh, like is there a group? I know Buffalo Sabres fans have had it hard for a very long time.

There's a lot of fan bases out there that have felt it, but man, you want to talk about a fan base that continues to be the victims of whack-a-mole like every single season. I feel, I look, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan and Okay. You know, yes, you know, yes, we had the nineties, but yeah, it feels very, very eerily similar. And it it's I sympathize. It's tough. Thanks so much for doing this. We'd love to do it again soon. You're the greatest. Thanks as always for any of us and continued success. And we'll catch up soon. Okay, you be good, Dave. Can't wait. You too, buddy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Most RVs sit parked in the driveway. With RV-EZ, you can rent out your motorhome or travel trailer and earn over $20,000 this

year. Founded, owned, operated by Canadians, RV-EZ takes care of everything, including full insurance coverage provided for every rental. And best of all, you choose when to rent and set your own pricing. List your RV for free today at RVZY.com. That's RVZY.com. RV easy. Rent your RV. Make money easy. We welcome you back to the program. Thanks to Dave Pagniota from the fourth period, Noted Hockey Insider, for stopping by today. Zach was, as our resident Maple Leafs fan here, God

bless you. I think we've had this conversation about who St. Jude was, the patron saint of Los Casas. You hang in there and I don't think anything's going to get you away. You can laugh. It's okay. It was a good one. I know you might have liked that one. Listen, how would you, whether it's the chat today, and I want to play a sort of collage

of what we've heard and seen throughout the day about the Toronto Maple Leafs and that whatever that was last night at Scotiabank. How have you, at what stage of grief already, even knowing that the patient, even though it might be on life support, is still sharing oxygen with us? There's no need for the rubber blankets and the cadaver gloves and the chalk. Okay, I'll stop with the metaphor. There's no need to call a priest. I'll stop with all of that now. The patient is still alive. How are you feeling about everything right now? So last night I started the show, the post-game show, and the way that I put it, Jeff, was like,

I have reached the point where I finally understood what happened when my parents were so mad at me that they weren't yelling. Like, they hit the wall of like, I'm so pissed, frustrated, whatever adjective you'd like to use to describe it, that it's like, I can't even express that by yelling and screaming, and you're gonna feel it more by me being like stoic.

I hit that point on the post game show where it was just like I tried so many times to say I can't believe it, and I stopped myself and then just said, why could I not believe it? This is nine years and I can't believe it. That's where I hit on this. Our buddies at Small Town St strip club in the chat is

rage a stage of grief. Like at a certain point, you stop with the rage. And again, like I'll maintain this. Anger and rage and all of that is it's not troublesome for an organization apathy is Like I've always maintained not buying a ticket is not the worst thing for a hockey team. What's worse is this, buying a ticket and not going. That's when you're in trouble because people have already paid their money and still they've chosen and no I'm not going to do it. That's where problems are. Like all the rage that we see everywhere rage online on social media Everyone's spitting fire like I dip my beak in that fountain today to like all of it

That's not troubling for an organization Because there's still emotion attached to it. You know, what's worse shrug emoji That's yes yes that's worse but so you you and Dave talked about it and Dave laid it out the exact way like I imagined this going and I texted it to you and it was happening and it's like this this fucking guy comes in the chat here right now he waits 44 minutes into show. Johnny Lazarus pokes his head in the chat and says, all caps, there will be a game seven.

I'm watching Laz. He's the best. Laz is, but you know, he said it this morning. He said it this morning too. But this is the worst possible way to go. Like, do you... You just want them to just go to Florida, take your medicine. I want it done. Throw in the towel. I want it done. Yeah, done. Because you know what will happen, and I will deal with it more,

maybe this is just like a personal side of things for me, where like I don't wanna deal with this, like just on my show on the After Dark, I don't want to deal with it when I fill in for El Burgo or if they get me to come on whatever or just in the chat. They will win tomorrow convincingly. They will play Sunday in game seven and they will lose two to one one nothing they'll go to overtime and then that we will see they were close. Lazz in the chat they suck you back in and then they break your heart again and that's what they'll do. That's what they will do. Randy Workman Jeff try 50 years of frustration you You're not wrong. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. Like I grew up in

Toronto. Right? I grew up in Toronto watching all of this. I watched the rise and dismantling of that Darrell Sittler team, which was probably one forward and one defenseman away from being good and maybe even being a Stanley Cup contender a Defense that Harold Ballard young young defense that Harold Ballard wouldn't pay Brad Selwood Jim Dorey Rick Lee and let them all walk away and go to the WHA and Essentially left Boria Boria Salming stand the bunch on the back end with all the respect the internable You are excellent, too And then watch the futility of the Toronto Maple Leafs playing in the Norris division all throughout the 80s in the weakest division In the history of hockey. Hey, Zach, you're too young for this

You know the Norris division was you know any points it took to make it to the playoffs in the Norris division 60 you made the playoffs with 60 points in the Norris division it was the clown act the clown car of the NHL it was bad hockey teams man a bad Toronto team a bad Detroit team a bad Chicago team a bad st. Louis team a bad Minnesota North Stars team I watched all of that I've seen it the futility of watch coach after coach and player after player and career go careening off the cliff for years and years and years. So I've seen it. I've watched all of it. I don't know how

you're gonna pull out of this tailspin right now with this bunch, but I am not one of the people that say you have to throw it all away. Now I'm talking shit from the backseat. I am talking shit from the backseat. I understand that and it's a lot different than being Brendan Shanahan and Brad True Living with a hand on the wheel or two hands on the wheel steering this thing. I'm just popping off on my show here, Three to Four Eastern, on our daily face-off YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts we thank you for downloading. But I don't know if it's a matter of making one move or making a bunch of moves but I do wonder how much forces outside of hockey ops make the decisions for them right like there are times

where you wonder where a player may have outstayed his welcome and why did they hang on to that player too long? I think I'll tell you if there have been a couple of situations where teams haven't been able to make the moves they wanted to make because of sponsors. And one sponsor had was tied up with one athlete specifically for a number of years and they didn't want to let go of that sponsorship with that player. That has happened. Well, can I just jump in on this on that point, Jeff, that you're making? Because

the one thing that I kept hearing a lot last night as well, I'll just be honest, the one guy who stands out to me right now is Mitch Marner, and I'm not saying Los Mathews doesn't deserve blame in this. We've had a fair conversations between myself and Rosie last night, the boys on morning take, everybody's gotten their licks on Matthews and he deserves it. But the guy who's the UFA at the end of this year is Marner and I saw a lot of people talking about, well he sells jerseys and MLSC wants that and they and they want to keep that around. I'm gonna ask you because this is something that's crossed

my mind and in a lot of ways I don't know, I feel like this but I don't know for sure. It's starting to get to a point for me watching this and being so involved in the fan base where it feels like it hits a point of no return between the fans and the player. Where like that fine line or that gray area of making money off the jerseys, it doesn't disappear, but it turns to a point of like, you know, it's a strong word, but hatred.

I try to think of a different way, but hatred for that player where it's like, it's so toxic. Here's one of the mistakes I think that I'm not just I'm not I'm not removing myself from this because I've fallen into it as well and tried to catch myself. Social media is not life okay. Social media is not real life and that's not all fans so I always try to catch myself like don't fall into that trap. It's loud It seems like there's a lot And I'm not gonna use that oh It's always noisiest in the shallow end of the pool because I think a lot of people have like real point

I know people have real legitimate points to make about Mitch Marner But that's why I brought it up with Paniota and said, look man, Adam Oates' point I think is a really interesting one here. Why is it always Mitch has to help everybody and no one has to help Mitch? And how different did he look playing with Sam Bennett? But, but, but, but, hang, let me take it one step further. Okay, Jeff, but there is a major crisis of confidence that your consumers, your fans have with this team.

That's why I said, I wonder how much sort of forces outside of hockey operations say, we gotta do something different here. This organization can't come back with, pick your target, Austin Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Morgan Riley, I think they're married to Nylander for a long time, I don't think he's going anything here.

But at a certain point, I don't know that you can get rid of all of them. And that's why I was saying, like, I'm talking shit from the back seat. I have no responsibility for all this. I just sit and pass judgment here on this program. If it's Brad True Living or whomever's in that chair, like I don't know how, when this thing whole thing just flames out, who's going to be in what position? But I just can't help but thinking I don't know that it needs a full wholesale burn it all to the ground. That's always the knee jerk because you're angry. And that's why I said off

the top, like the fan base wants swift action. Whenever this thing is done, end it, burn it, give us some satisfaction. We want a scapegoat, damn it. And all I'm saying is like, it's not that easy. And at the end of it, when it comes to Marner, he's a super skilled player. And we've seen a lot of players excel in this game that aren't tough in the playoffs, that have quote unquote, soft skill. But as I've talked to you before, but the thing is- But then I would say he's not a superstar. And he shouldn't be paid like that then.

If he's a star, if he's a skilled player, that's one thing. I'm not trying to like start a argument here with you. I just I just that's my thing where you with what you're saying with this is like, I understand with what you're saying with Sam Bennett. I get it. OK. And I think that that's a fair point. But Sam Bennett, the reason that he's not going to make a spinorama back-rama backhand

floater pass through the neutral zone, tape to tape to the Florida Panthers, and then not back check and pick his man up back door to prevent the goal? You know, like, okay, sure, maybe it helps him elsewhere, but is he the reason that he doesn't do that in the future? And you know, Jeff, it's not the only time that he's made those types of plays. It's against Tampa. It's against Boston. It's against Columbus. It's flipping the puck over the glass against the Montreal Canadiens. And I'm picking on him here. Yes. And there's other guys who deserve to blame. I'm not trying to just make this a Mitch Marner thing. But you know, it's the same argument for Auston Matthews when you look at that you brought up why does it always

have to be the guys from Marner? He has awesome Matthews. He has Matthew Nyes alongside of him. It's the same for Matthews. He has Mitch Marner. He has Matthew Nyes. They have here but he's here but here's my point. But here's my point about the whole Maple Leafs team though. Right thing about the whole Maple Leafs team is you look at great teams Like look at that not just like oh they made of like they want to Stanley Cup and then they sort of flame like great teams that win consistently

They have players that are all distinctive from one another Stamkos is different from point is different from Sorelli is different from Kucherov Trache is different from bossy is different from Gillies is different from Sorelli is different from Kucherov. Trache is different from Bossi is different from Gillies is different from Bob Bourne. Like go right down the list. Even those Oilers squads that dominated for so long. Everybody was different. The problem with the Maple Leafs as I see it,

maybe I'm over simplifying this thing is all their players are more similar than they are different. There is a skills set overlap that exists at the top of the Maple Leafs organization that doesn't exist with other teams around the NHL. And maybe, maybe Brian Brooks point, he said this to me years ago, is the right one. Too much soft skill.

You can have some of that on your team, it just can't be the foundation of your team. But there's always room for some of that on your team, it just can't be the foundation of your team. But there's always room for some of it. No, I've been saying the exact same thing as you just laid out for the past couple of years is, you know, it's the argument of like, well, you have all these guys that are the star, like blah, blah, blah. It's very much the same. I look at Colorado, I look at Dallas current construction, I don't know, you want to look at Washington when they won, you want to look at Pittsburgh when they won, you look at LA, the stars, the best players on those teams each bring something different to the

table. These guys more so bring the same thing than anything different. But that's why I say when you talk about this of like the overhaul or whatever, I just think that this year more than ever and I think where this fan base is reaching a point of like that's it, is the construction of this group put those guys on an island. Like I talked about it, Hutton's talked about it, whoever you want to talk about, I just come on here. Pierre McGuire came on here a week ago and talked about how these guys were different. They are different. They were built different, different mindset, mentality, GM, coach, everything. There's one constant, one constant. They were

put on an island where it was like, if this does not work, you will be, you will be put in front of people in a spotlight more than you ever have ever. And they failed. This is not coming up short, Jeff. This is, this is failure of mass proportions. This isn't you just missed. proportions. This isn't you just missed. This is you weren't close from those guys standpoints at least is what I'm trying to say here. And I think it just showed people like the guys that we have here that this is the nucleus of it.

Either they're the wrong guys or it's something is rotten there or whatever it is but that more than anything else is the problem and that's I think why Leafs fans as a whole have kind of just reached a point of like Fuck this. I guess it I always think back to what was the decision and Was there another decision that could have been made when these players were in this make beliefs case drafted If you go back to Auston Matthews' draft, would you have taken, if you were the Toronto make-beliefs,

anyone other than Auston Matthews at first overall? So that was Lyon A, Dubois, Pouliarvy, Kachuk a little bit later on. You would have taken Auston Matthews? Yeah. You look at the draft that brought in, this would have been the Fort Lauderdale draft, this is the Conor McDavid Jack Geico draft. After Dillon Strowman went third to the Coyotes, Mitch Marner went fourth.

Now there were arguments at the table There were arguments the Maple Leafs table that Marner Shouldn't have been the pick. It should have been one of the defensemen. It should have been Provarov. It should have been Warenki it should have been Hanifin. It should have been one of those guys but if you're at the Maple Leafs table picking fourth in the McDavid year, let's not forget, like Marner is coming off seasons of just scorching the OHL. Would you have taken Mitch Marner? I'm not going to pretend to have been a draft expert in all of this or whatever.

Uh, I just remember like, I mean, you're younger than him as well, by the way, just throw that out there for context. Um, but I remember like in that draft being like, um, being like, you want Marner, you're Lisa. Did you want Marner? I wasn't like thrilled about it. I'll put it that way. I wasn't mad. It wasn't like I was sitting there being like, holy, this Zach Warren ski guys is going to be up for the Norris one day. But like, I thought at that point they were going to draft a defense the Norris one day. But like, I thought at that point, they were going to draft a defenseman. So when they drafted this like small skilled forward, I'm not the guy that was like outraged by the pick, but I was kind of like,

okay, like, I don't think that that like, I don't know, I kind of thought they were going to pick like a Hanna fan, you know, I was walking away with those kinds of thoughts, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend to you right now that I was like outraged by the pick. But yeah. John Tavares calls the Maple Leafs and says, I just turned down a billion dollars from the San Jose Sharks because I want to play in Toronto. Hottest free agent on the market. Are you saying no?

No, it was the right signing. I stand by that. I thought so at the time. I still believe that. The money hurts. I get it. I think there was anticipation of cap going up. I stand by that signing. It was the right signing. The Leafs have anything else. And I know every team went through COVID.

We were talking about America. Every team went through COVID. The Maple Leafs were built for that cap rising. They were one of the teams that were really harshly stung. But that's the thing I come back to. So where did it break down? Now, Berkey has made the point, and I had like, Tagefan 7272, Berkey better be on tomorrow.

Berkey's on tomorrow. Berkey's on tomorrow and Gary Roberts is on tomorrow too. Now they're brand for Bulldogs as well. More on that in a couple of moments. So they've had some shuffling of the front office there as well, congratulations to Spencer Hyman, who's now the GM of the team. So Gary Roberts and Brian Burke will be on tomorrow. Tomorrow should be a must-listen-to show. But Berkey's point about all of them was

they needed to beat one of them up over their salary. Yep. They wanted the, Burki's point was you had a hammer, this was always Jarmo Kekulianen's point. Sometimes you have the hammer, sometimes the player has the hammer. When you have the hammer, use it. Because when the player has the hammer, the player's going to use it. And Burki's point was, if I was running this team, we would have beaten up a couple of these guys on their salary.

And you'll probably hear that tomorrow on the show, by the way. I hope we do. I hope Berkey says that. I also just want to add, I'm going to say this from a fan perspective entirely here. People in the chat are probably like, this idiot has been speaking as a fan the whole time. But this is very much from a fan perspective. And it's the one thing that I sympathize, empathize, I don't know the right word in this instance, with the fan base, when they point out Marner's stuff and get so mad with him and all of this.

I think one reason that the fan base picks that guy more than anybody else is because it feels like he went to war with the fans of Toronto more than the other guys in the negotiations. I have no issue with players getting as much money as they possibly can. They should. They should get every penny. But the honest truth, Jeff, is that the whole way through it, it felt like Marner kicked Leafs fans in the nuts repeatedly. Threatening to go to Switzerland or all that kind of stuff, hearing through the media. That's called contract fostering. That's come on. I get it. I get it. But he was the guy that he was the guy that people least expected that to come out of the kid from Toronto, blah, blah, blah. He had an opportunity to go in there and at least have it done quietly or whatever you wanted. But it publicly came out. That didn't happen to the same extent with Nylander or Tavares or Matthews or any of those contracts that came through Morgan Riley moat for the most part, other than the knee liner one which took a long time, it was just one day all of a sudden, boom, we've extended Matthews, we've extended Reilly.

You know, those things came up. The Marner one was public, it was ugly, it was gross, and I think that thing hurt the feelings of Leafs fans. We're talking about feelings here in professional sports. I get it. It's a little bit like ridiculous, but I think that's why people are where they are with some of this stuff at this point where it's just like, man, this guy just, this guy kicked us at every opportunity that we could have. And then, and then has given us nothing when it comes to playoff success. And that's why there's just such a such like a focus on him when things go wrong. Well, and I understand it's contract posturing. I get it. But it was just it didn't it feels like that didn't need to happen that way. Well, other than the drive, Mrs. Kennedy, how'd you enjoy Dallas? Uh, we have some games.

Sorry, I was a little crass. We also have Ninja. Oh yeah, we gotta do that too. Geez, we got so carried away going on, barking about the... That was my fault too, honestly. It's alright, man. You get it out. This is like therapy.

Like, you know, lie down, put your head back, you know. A lot of therapy. I'm gonna have to call Dr. Nasser. Tell us about your relationship with your... Oh, you know what? Yes, call I'm gonna have to call dr. Nasser relationship with your old. You know what? Yes call Alicia She was in the chat. I know I saw like Talk to her show it show put you straight the best advice I ever got best psychological advice I ever got was from my dear friend Bob Mack with his mom Francis, and she said sure her thing was always this And it's worked for me to this day

Shut up Lie, have a sandwich. It's incredible how that, I got that advice in high school, how that advice has helped me my entire life. Shut up, lie down, have a sandwich. So, Francis Makowitz, to this day, to this day. Okay speaking of food, time now for the Crispy Inbox. Put a smile on your face, come on it's only sports, it's nice outside. Presented by the Ninja Crispy 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer, Zacharu. Meet the first of its kind, the Ninja Crispy Portable Cooking System. The power

of a full-sized air fryer in the palm of your hand so you can cook big or small batches. Just prep it, crisp it, serve it, and store it all in one. All right it is an all-in-one system that includes four quart, six cup tempware glass containers, two storage lids. The Ninja Crispy is thermal shock resistant and can go from frozen to crispy in minutes. With the Crispy Power Pod, you get the power of a full-sized air fryer in the palm of your hands. The four quart container fits four pounds of chicken

or veggies. Cook a personal size meal in seven minutes in the six cup container. Max Crisp, bake, air fry, and recrisp with the Ninja Crispy. You can prep, cook, and store anything from crispy favorites to one dish meals. Visit their website in the link in the show description and stay tuned for your chance to win a free Ninja Crispy. All right, what do we have in the inbox? Is it about Mitch

Marner? What are you laughing at now? What? The crispy question. What? I just re-read it. Oh my god, okay. Well, we haven't done a left leaf stock today, Jeff. Look, we got more? We're gonna go back to the- When Daryl Sittler was traded to the Philadelphia- We know that Minnesota was interested.

Were there any more? Hey Jeff, I've been a Leafs fan for 30 years and yesterday felt like the last straw I think everything should be on the table for this team not just Mitch Marner what are your thoughts on Austin Matthews as a captain and would it be too much to suggest trading him these guys can't win here and they've proven it time and time again. Vincenzo from Kleinberg. Kleinberg, for those who don't know, is home of a number of things. The greatest art gallery of

the Group of Seven, also the Kleinberg Binder Twine Festival. I did the gardening there by the way. At where? At the Group of Seven? The McMichael Gallery? No way. Oh, I used to go there all the time. And then we went to the, we used to go to the binder. Actually, uh, my buddy George Strombolopoulos used to live just outside of Kleinberg and so we would go every year. And the highlight was for me, I'm sure you don't know the name Pierre Burton, but was a legendary Canadian writer for a number of years. I've seen people high before, but I've never seen anyone as baked out on space cake and weed like Pierre Burton was at the

binder twine festival like oh man when you're a famous Canadian you get the good stuff I could see it happening I think honestly I really do think Zach and you can disagree with me if you think I'm wrong here I think everything will be on the table I really do. I think that everybody understands. Listen, I mentioned the only person that really matters, whose voice really matters in all of this right now is Keith Pelli, the CEO of MLSC. And I firmly still believe that.

By the way, if you wanna know who Keith Pelli is and is about, Stephen Brunt did an interview with him at first of his series on the Up Close podcast. Go back and give that one a listen. But yeah, I think everything's on the table. I don't think that there's anything that the Maple Leafs wouldn't entertain. I think they would entertain trading every... They'd probably trade Carlton the Bear. Sorry Carlton, if you're watching. I'm sorry, Bear, first of all, we've been begging for you to put a pair of pants on for a lot of years. That's going to be the sacrifice.

Whenever I see the mascot, I'm like, there's children around, Bear, put some pants on. For crying out loud. Good Lord, Carlton. The pantless mascot in Toronto. No wonder things have gone off the rails. Mascot doesn't even have pants. Good Lord, Carlton. I think everything's on the table. Yeah, maybe the sacrifice they trade, Carlton. You're gonna see like a video come out from the least Twitter account in the summer. And they're at like a volcano in Hawaii. It's like throwing the bear costume in.

Yeah, tossing him in. You know what we need? You know what we need, Brad? We've been thinking about this a long time. I think we need a new mascot. We got to change the juju around here. That's what we need. We need a new mascot. That's what needs to happen around these parts.

Anyhow, thank you, Vincenzo, from Kleinberg, home of the McMichael Gallery and the Binder Twine Festival, where Zach did some fine gardening, some fine pruning. For five months. So congratulations there. For five. Did you enjoy it? I love the McMichael gallery. I love it. You didn't like it.

No, Jeff, I planted plants that were about this big for 10 hours a day, six days a week for five months in this thing. It was fun at first. Yeah, that's true. I used to like, dude, I used to dig graves in the summers. I loved it I used to dig I used to listen to concrete for foundations for like Headstones like I love more the lawns at the cemetery a park lawn. I loved it. I loved everything about I go back to tomorrow I

Did enjoy it. I am not gonna lie. I did enjoy outdoors. You got a good. Yeah, I had a great time I used to work lie. I did enjoy outdoors. You got a good tan. I had a great tan. I used to wear a shirt. Yeah, right. Check you out young kid. Right, bouncing quarters off your abs, torn up like a bad report card, all those things. I did look good. I'm Philly, I play lacrosse. And now I look like this. Well, it's because you work with me and you're a Maple Leafs fan, so you got that thing all over your face.

because you work with me and you're a Maple Leafs fan, so you got that thing all over your face. Probably could be coming off on Friday, Zach. Could be coming off on Friday. All right, games tonight, a couple of teams with their backs up against the wall. The sheet is powered by FanDuel, home of the same game, Parlay. Make every moment more on FanDuel.

FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. And Carolina Hurricanes up on the Washington Cap moments that matter to them. And Carolina Hurricanes up on the Washington Capitals 3-1, this one at Capital One, Logan Thompson starts. Clay Stevenson called up Charlie Lindgren citing a personal issue, personal reasons why he is not available for service tonight for the Washington Capitals. And it looks like Lars Eller is getting the scritch on this one.

Connor McMichael in the third line, center hole. We shall see what happens and what decisions Spencer Carberry makes later on this evening. Also the Dallas Stars can end Winnipeg's season tonight. Dallas leading this thing. Jake Ottinger starts the Stars once again. Conor Halliburke of course goes for the Winnipeg Jets. Stars going 11 and 7. Again, what did we talk about the other day? It wouldn't surprise any of us if the stars end up going 11 and 7 one more time. It keeps Miko Rantanen on the ice more, which is what Peter Dupour wants and also makes it tougher for Scott Arneal to match. So normally I'm not a huge 11-7 guy, but for this one considering Hayskinen is coming back and they still do want to manage his minutes. What did he play last game? Like 12-32 or

something like that. Like he wasn't up around 20. Yeah, I don't remember. It gives Hayskinen a chance to to sort of reacclimatize himself to the Dallas Stars. So we look forward to those two games tonight. We'll talk about them tomorrow. Tomorrow on the program Brian Burke and Gary Roberts very much look forward to that one, especially Burke's thoughts on what we may see Friday night at Amorant Bank Arena. It's Dueling Banks in this one too. That's another sidebar to all of this.

Scotia versus Amarant. I'm sure that's fascinating to nobody. It will be interesting to see how Berkey feels about that one. What did you think of winding your wristwatch on the way to the electric chair analogy? Did that find a home with you early on in the program? If you're trying to make beliefs, find that one?

Yeah. All right. Yeah, that was good. Toronto Maple Leafs, find that one? Yeah. All right. I hope everybody's okay. Man, you know what, you know what really sucked? I didn't, we got so sidetracked by Toronto Maple Leafs black hole that we didn't congratulate the Edmonds. And like, can we park some time

and talk about the Oilers tomorrow with Berkey? Because like you wanna talk about a team that got the scare and they did against the Los Angeles Kings and then just said, fuck this and we're going and we're going to go back to the Stanley Cup. Now next round as we all strongly suspect it'll be against the Dallas Stars, that series should be an absolute banger if we get there but nonetheless congrats to the Edmonton Oilers and you know I like my ugly overtime goals. One nothing last night, eh?

Kasperi Kapanen. Someone they brought in because the Oilers wanted more speed and good on them and they'll face off against one of the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets. Where did Kasperi Kapanen play before? Where did Kasperi Kapanen play? He was with Toronto. Oh, okay.

All right. He was also with the Penguins. Kaspary Kapanen while he was with Toronto. Oh, okay. Alright. He was also with the Penguins. You think that Maple Leafs were at Kaspary Kapanen away from making the Tendertip to Florida Panthers? No, no. I just saw so many tweets last night and I was just like, this guy. So they're like the new Buffalo Sabres, like sending star players out to championship teams. Yeah, yeah pretty much. Like Kisperry Kappen and Connor Brown, Zach Hyman. Yeah. Anyways. Wittle Sean Dursey wins the Stanley Cup one day. Oh man we knew it on Thursday. Never should have let Sean Dursey go. Anyway

thanks for our guest today. Dave Panota of the fourth period. Thanks so much as always for stopping by. Much appreciated. We still do have that collage. Maybe if we have time tomorrow, we'll blast that off or maybe time has come and gone on that one, but we shall see.

Thanks again for watching. Thanks for being in the chat if you're there. Thanks for the downloads on your favorite podcast platform or as I always like to mention, maybe the platform you hate the most and that's where you just end up listening to this program. Thanks as always for stopping by. Thanks for listening.

We're back tomorrow at three o'clock Eastern for the Sheet. Don't forget tomorrow at nine a.m. and man, it was today's show awesome. Jackie Redman was tremendous. Go back if you didn't watch it live or you wanna watch it again. Go to the YouTube archives, daily face-off YouTube channel,

check out Morning Cup of Hockey from this morning or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Also tomorrow, DFO Live at noon and then our little Act of Three with Brian Burke and Gary Roberts should be a good one tomorrow. Thanks for joining me today. We're back in 22-ish or 23-ish hours. Figure out how time works tomorrow. Talk to you tomorrow. My head lost all ambitions day to day Guess you can call it a rut

I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like nah man that's fine I'm right against those methods but I knew It's me, myself and how this gon' be fixing my mind I do wanna break it I turned on the music I still wanna break it

I turned on the music It's enough, enough, enough Sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong