The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Change the DNA ft. Tyler Yaremchuk & Matt Larkin

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

In today's episode, Jeff is joined by Tyler Yaremchuk to break down the Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars playoff series — what's working, what's not, and what needs to change for the Stars to stay alive.Later, Matt Larkin jumps on to recap Brad Treliving’s press conference from earlier today, where the Maple Leafs GM talked about "changing the DNA of the team." What does that really mean? Who stays, who goes — and how deep do the changes go?#TheSheet #JeffMarek #TylerYaremchuk #MattLarkin #Oilers #Stars #StanleyCupPlayoffs #MapleLeafs #BradTreliving #NHLShout 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👍🏼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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your living space today with Cozy. Visit Cozy.ca. C-O-Z-E-Y.C-A. The home of possibilities made easy. They are the new standard. Congratulations to the Florida Panthers on their way to the Stanley Cup final, comma, again, period. Three seasons in a row. So impressive, right? Because if you're a newer hockey fan, I always wonder about this.

You're a newer hockey fan, you come in and maybe you don't know like the full backstory of the Florida Panthers, who as we've talked about, if you said to us or anyone who's been a long time hockey observer 10, 15 years ago, do what the Panthers are doing, you'd have been laughed off the microphone, off the stage, off Twitter. Do what the stage, off Twitter. Do what the Panthers are doing. Like for the longest time this organization existed in obscurity and at times ridicule.

We've talked about how going through Florida, you know, the state of Florida, Tampa was the tough out. That was where you got beaten up and you didn't get two points. But don't worry because you went through sunrise, you didn't get bruised, you didn't need the recipe for ice, and you got your two points and you're scurried off to wherever you were going next. But now, all of the sudden, everybody wants to be like the Florida Panthers. And for good reason. Look, it's a successful organization and the proof is right in front of us. And I know that's a tough one for the Carolina Hurricanes

last night, I know they gave it their all, but once again, Florida Panthers, just too good right now. Congratulations to the Cats. Tonight we may say, see you later to the Dallas Stars. And we'll talk a lot about the Dallas Stars today and we'll see what happens tonight. We may end up having a very uncomfortable conversation about the Dallas Stars tomorrow, we'll see what happens tonight. We may end up having a very uncomfortable conversation about the Dallas Stars

tomorrow, but I very much get the sense that if the Edmonton Oilers win tonight and make their way to the Stanley Cup Final, first time since 2009, we've seen a repeat. Stanley Cup finalists, Pittsburgh, Detroit, now Edmonton, Florida. I don't know that it will be status quo at all for Dallas. I don't know how deep the changes will be but I think that if Edmonton wins tonight I think there's gonna kind of be a... that's the best way to phrase it, Vegas vibe about the Dallas Stars that, you know, even though we've gotten a couple of series wins the last couple of seasons, that's not good enough and changes need to be made. Before we get there, one thing I want to address and Tyler on the track is going to kick off

the show here later. Matt Larkin is is gonna talk to us about the Brad True Living GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs presser we saw earlier today. Zach, do you wanna play the entire Paul Maurice clip? Do we have time to do that? Or do you think everybody's seen it by now and we can just sort of riff off of it? We could play like the piece of it. There's a more important part of him talking about the visual

and all that kind of stuff if you want to do that. Okay, let's play, like give me the hits. You know what the kids want? The kids want the hits. Ask any kid in America what they want in rock and roll music, it's the hits. The hits, the hits, the hits. Give me the hits. What do we got here, Zach? This is Paul Maurice yesterday post-game talking about handshakes. Handshake Alley, everyone's favorite topic.

It's a personal belief and I really appreciate what he did because I understand the risk, that there's a bit of a risk. So the story goes like this. I don't believe that the coaches should shake players' hands at the end. There's this long list of people in suits and track suits. We had like 400 people on the ace. They're all really important to our group. But not one of them was in the game. There's something for me visually with the camera on of just the men who played, block shots who fought for each other. It's the end of one season. It's excitement for the other. The last thing that a player on the Carolina Hurricanes deserves

is 50 more guys in suits they have. They have no idea who they are, and that's not a negative. Should be something really kind of beautiful about just the camera on those men who played shaking hands. So we should respect that. Okay, so a couple of things there. One, handshake alley has kind of always

been complicated for me, but what I've been able to sort of distill in the years that I've, and actually I've dedicated a lot of thought and conversation to this. I believe you should do what you want to do. Like if you're someone that wants to do handshakes, do handshakes. Now I do want to add one thing. I really like what Paul Maurice is talking about.

Like there's a part of me, like every, you know, the old saying, every man has to live by a code. I really do like, if that's gonna be part of Paul Maurice's code, of course, he's been in Handshake Alley before. But if this is where he's at in his life right now and he wants to make this his code and handshakes are just for the players,

I can respect that. And I think that the part of that is really cool, that this is just for the guys that are on the ice. You know how in hockey, one of the codes is, coaches don't chirp players that are on the ice? Unless you're getting on the ice, you keep your mouth shut. You know, yell at players, talk to players that are on the ice, those are the guys that are playing.

You don't chirp players from the other team if you're wearing a suit, right? You have to be wearing a jersey to be able to do that. So all these like little codes within this game of hockey, and what Paul Maurice is talking about, I really like. But the other thing that I keep coming back to is, I really don't like telling people what to do. I really don't.

That's why if someone wants to jump out there who's in a suit and nobody from the other team knows who they are, and they wanna get into Handshake Alley, they're well within their rights because they're part of the organization that just was in that series and they wanna do it, for me, let them do it. And if they don't, if you're Billy Smith who would skate off the ice, New York Islanders

netminder, if you're Andy Moog after Brad May scores in that Buffalo Sabres Boston Bruins series Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, and you skate right off the ice you're not doing handshakes or if you're Stan McKita of the Blackhawks who refused to do handshakes thought that Gordie Howe coming into the Chicago Blackhawks room offering a toast as a glass of champagne to everybody on the Hawks meant more than some phony handshake if your Dino sister realizing I can't believe that I just shook Claude Lemieux's hand in a handshake act. Like, if you really don't like it, then don't do it. And I'm not gonna judge. I'm not gonna cast aspersions.

I'm not gonna wag my finger at you saying, oh, you have to have this sort of forced gentlemanly event so maybe fans can have some kind of catharsis at the end of all of it. Or a reminder that it's all sports. So be it. don't want to be part of it that's cool if you want to be part of it I'm cool with that too and I'm also cool with Paul Maurice's code that he believes that this isn't for coaches this isn't for anyone this isn't for me for Jamie Compon for Sylvain Lefebvre none of us for Rod

Brendan-Maurin and his staff this is just for the for Jamie Compon for Sylvia and Lefave, none of us. For Rod Brindlemore and his staff, this is just for the players. I do think there's something really cool about that. But at the end of it, I'm very much of the belief that you let people do what they want to do. Because here's the other thing, Zach. I don't know that I've ever heard, and I don't know that you've ever heard, or anybody watching or listening right now has ever heard a player say, why did I shake that guy's hand? Yeah, exactly. Hey, what are you doing here? Yeah.

I've heard, you know, you've heard Mila Luchic go at Dale Weiss and Alexi Emelin before, but I don't know if they've ever heard a player, I just mentioned Dino Cicerelli with Cold To Me, but I don't know if they've ever heard a player say, what's that guy doing in line? How's that guy, what's going on here? A lot of sports they do it like after every single game. Thankfully they don't do it after every regular season game in the NHL. Anyway,

the only point that I have through all of this is for me my code is let people do what they want. As long as you're not hurting anybody, let them do what they want. But I do respect Paul's idea of that kind of code because I think it is a pretty cool thing. Yeah, Nickl and Dyme on that. I don't really care that he didn't want to do it. I just think it's kind of funny because it's also one of those interesting situations. Like he did, he goes on in that presser and he talks about, oh, we did it with Borube and Borube gets it.

He was a player and it's like, well, Rod was a player. I feel like for both of those guys, there's probably like an element to them where that it was like, I was a player. Like I do kind of want to shake some hands, like I don't know. But I don't know. It's also funny here, Jeff, coming off of the string of, how do we want to word this, Messiah, Messiah, like phrases and statements that Paul Maurice is putting out there where he's talking about

Shotgunning beers and doing prayers Now we're shaking hands I can't wait for what the next thing the guy says is but I'm more on your page where if a player skates off The ice at the end. I'm probably gonna be like yeah that you know what no problem I understand but I understand for him being like hey, don't send your guys out there We're not gonna send send ours. Kind of like, okay, whatever. I guess. If Rod wants to shake hands, Rod wants to shake hands. I got no issue with that.

Paul Maurice, by the way, the NHL putting this one out, he became the first coach since Scotty Bowman to go to the Stanley Cup final in the first three years of coaching a team. Now the caveat to that one is that was the first three years of the St. Louis Blues 69-70-71 or sorry 68-69 and 70 and that was when the NHL was a 16 team league and it was a lot easier they had eight teams made the playoffs it was a little bit easier than it is now but nonetheless and by the way I think in that first year the NHL you know what the NHL used to do by the way? They did it at least twice, maybe three times. I think 1968 was the first one and it was Miss Minnesota North Stars that won it. The NHL had,

I can't even believe I'm saying this because it just seems so bizarre now. But the NHL had a beauty pageant. And the person, yeah, the, and the woman that won it, I gotta remember her name, because I think later on she went on to be like one of the quasi stars of Pee-wee's Playhouse. Miss Minnesota nurse star won the NHL beauty pageant. Every team had to nominate one person.

I know, cringe, right? But it's 1968 or whatever it is. And Miss Minnesota nurse star then went out and had to be- All I can think about is that slap shot scene And became part of the ceremony to head out the cup no It's true the NHL did beauty pageants once upon a time I think at least once maybe twice they did it anyhow all right right. Um, where were we? Oh, yeah daily outline Here's what's coming up on the program today

We got two hot guests and a lot of hot topics to talk about Including the Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs daily outline is powered by FanDuel make every moment more with North America's number one Sportsbook our friends and presenters at FanDuel. Coming up on the program today, Talleri Remtrak is standing by from Oilers Nation every day. Matt Larkin from Daily Face Off will talk to us about the Brad Treliving press conference and changing the Maple Leaf's DNA and is that code for Bye Bye Marner? Cats go back, yes they do.

Back to the Stanley Cup final, three seasons in a row. Can the Oilers close out tonight? And the sidebar to that one is, and what does that mean for the Dallas Stars and Memorial Cup. Congratulations to Moncton into the semifinal of Faceoff against London tomorrow. There will be no tiebreak Thursday. Host Tramuski, Owen Three on the tournament. With that we'll get to our first guest. He's the host of Oilers Nation every day and a lot of the main events, tent pole events that we do here at Daily Face Off. He is Tyler, your REM truck,

and he joins me on the sheet now. So, smiles. I guess we're having a hard time keeping enough champagne in shops around Edmonton these days in full anticipation of the Oilers closing this thing out on the road. We keep hearing so much about the switch and the change, those first two

games in Los Angeles and how different. Like where do you pin it exactly? You're there every day, you cover this team, you watch all of it. Is there one moment, one key decision, one player or an accumulation of all of it that you look at and you say this is where the Oilers turned. For me, it's not even necessarily game three against the LA Kings. I think it's game four against the LA Kings where Quentin Bivula has a chance to get that puck out, keep it in, Evan Bouchard ties the game,

and then the Oilers just went pedal to the floor in overtime. Like LA didn't really have, didn't get much in terms of looks, and then they go win the next two games and that series is over. and it's like, okay, LA kind of gave the series, gave the Oilers one freebie in game three

and it was like, oh, is that gonna be, and then they gave them a second freebie and it was like, okay, the Oilers are fully back, but I mean, maybe a second part of that too would be winning the two games in Vegas to start round two and it's like, oh, so like those four wins against LA weren't maybe all just because LA wasn't playing well or it wasn't a fluke.

It's like this Oilers team is showing us something totally different. And there's a lot of guys like Stuart Skinner's turn around. Calvin Pickard, the way he saved the crease there for a few games. There's so many players that you can point to, which is almost what makes this so much different than last year where it was almost like

Connor played great, the power plays great. Skinner has a good game every once in a while. And like, that was basically it. This year it's just like, oh, you're pointing to like six or seven different guys who have a huge impact. Ryan Nugent Hopkins, one of those guys. I mean, this series, he's been spectacular. Two points a game.

Thoughts on the former first overall pick? I mean, it's just so easy to love Ryan Nugent Hopkins. There's a reason why, I mean, I guess next to McDavid and Dry Settle, his jersey's the third most popular here. I bet you it's probably even closer than people would think. Like, he sat through the decade of darkness and through however many coaches in however many years, and he signed not just one extension,

but then he goes and signs another extension. Like, Oilers fans really care about that stuff. He sat there and said, I'm committing to the city. I don't wanna play hockey anywhere else. And that means a lot here. So there's a reason he's a fan favorite. And it's just crazy to look at a guy like that who in his thirties, after 10 plus years in the league is still capable of going on these runs where you're like, Oh yeah, he was a first overall pick. He has a ton of skill. He doesn't need to be stapled next to Connor or stapled next to Leon. He can do it kind of all on his own sometimes.

So he went on a similar run last year. He scored a couple of big goals against the Dallas Stars. He had a big one in game seven against the Vancouver Canucks. He's fully capable of having these massive moments that aren't just fueled up the TV behind me went out that aren't just fueled by playing with Connor McDavid or Leon Dreiser. He can be a driver for them and it makes them just, it changes the dynamic of their forward group because then they can have points

like they did at the start of last game where they load up Connor and Leon and it's not like the rest of the lineup is like painfully deficient. Yeah, you know, I'm glad you brought the coaches as well. I remember talking to him at the NHL players tour when it was in Chicago. Now it's now held annually in Vegas

for the North American players. And one of the things he talked about was he just wanted some consistency from year to year. And you rattle off like all the coaches that he's had. Every year, Ryan Nugent Hopkins had a different coach. And I think back to a conversation that Doug McClain, when he was an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, told me about Iserman.

They were doing like just a warm up morning skate and Doug was skating with Iserman and Iserman came up to him and started rattling off all the coaches that he had already had. He was only like six years deep into his career. And Doug said, what's your point, Steve? And Steve said, could you imagine how good I would be if I only had one coach, Doug?

And Doug was kind of like, all right, yeah, thanks jerk. And then just sort of skated off. But I think that when you talk about like overcoming like internal frustration and a lot of guys get caught up in it and a lot of guys end up leaving because of it. But he's a guy that stayed. You know how many times, by the way, how many times in the course of his career with the Edmonton Oilers was he getting traded to the Minnesota Wild. It seemed like every single year the conversation was, oh, Nugent Hopkins is going to the Wild,

Nugent Hopkins is going to the Wild. The guy endures and I'm so happy for this guy's success right now. Yeah, it's just, it's so good. And we were joking too, like, hey, maybe Nugent was always supposed to be this good in the playoffs. He just never had a chance to, he just never had a chance to showcase and do it. But the other thing that makes him, I think even a little bit unique to, and maybe it's unfair to do like the straight comparison to Taylor hall, but like.

As Nuge evolved, right? He was supposed to be the franchise number one center and the rebuild, secondary built through rebuild, however many rebuilds didn't work. And then all of a sudden it's Connor and Leon's team. And it's like, and then they signed Zach Hyman and he's all of a sudden the third piece of that forward group. But Nuge is never the guy to complain about that. Right.

I think there might've been some other players who, if they saw or some other personality types, who see Connor and Leon come in and all of a sudden it's their team and they're the franchise pieces and like, well, I want to go somewhere else for the remainder of my prime, I don't want to be second fiddle to these new young guys and no, new just sat there and said, I'm perfectly fine playing that role. You want me to penalty kill more? Sure. I'll penalty kill more. Oh, I'm not the main guy on the top power play unit anymore. That's fine. You want me to play wing now? Set a center. I don't care.

Like he's the ultimate team guy. And like I've had so many of his former teammates on the show over the last little bit from Pat Maroon and Ryan Whitney, Devin Dubnik. There's a reason they all give the exact same answer when asked about Ryan Nugent Hopkins is because he's beloved in that room and it's because he's a team first guy through and through. Your customers are scrolling past your social ads, using ad blockers, and paying for ad-free

streaming. But when they're listening to a podcast, they're hearing Acast ads, which are 4.4 times more engaging than with display ads. So if you want real attention, start advertising on podcasts with Acast. Start today at go.ac cast.com slash ads. You know, one of the things about this oilers team and this goes back, I'll even draw back a, um, an example from the, uh, the Calgary flame series a few years ago, where that series psychologically damaged the Calgary Flames and specifically Jacob

Markstrom. Like we know Edmonton's always been Markstrom's kryptonite and he could never get it together against Edmonton and I still maintain that. That series went a long way to damaging the Calgary Flames and you look at what the teams that are in the wake of the Oilers right now, Los Angeles Kings have gone through and are going to continue to go through a remodeling Ditto for the Vegas Golden Knights and I really do think Tyler is mentioning this before he came on If the Edmonton Oilers win tonight, just if the event orders win in general this this series and are off to the Stanley Cup final again. I Think this will usher in some major changes with the Dallas Stars.

Like the Oilers just have that ability to show you where you're at and make you realize, I mean, Florida has the same thing, right? Like Florida's like that measuring stick team in the Eastern Conference. All of a sudden, Carolina's feeling great about themselves coming out of the Metropolitan and then they meet the Florida Panthers.

You feel great about yourself coming out of this powerhouse central that we talked about with Colorado and Winnipeg and the Dallas Stars, and all of a sudden the Edmonton Oilers are there to kind of crush you mentally as well. And to your point, it's not just the two biggies. It's like right down the lineup too. And it's not even just scoring, scoring to fix their problems.

It's also defending and frustrating you and turning this, what's supposed to be high power Dallas Stars offense into a pop gun offense right now. Like the only two guys that are showing up here. I mean, Rantan is showing up, Granlin is showing up. After that, you got me. And those are two trade deadline guys. Yeah, like, I mean, look at Wyatt Johnston. I know plus minuses has its flaws and all that, but just looking at a stat line for a guy like Wyatt Johnson, who was so good last year, and it's no goals, no assists, no points, minus five. And it's like, it's crazy. Like the depth on Dallas has completely eroded. And it's so interesting to look back to what I was saying, what anyone was saying about both these teams two, three months ago.

And it's like, oh man, Edmonton doesn't have the horses this year to go on a deep playoff run. There's no McLeod or Fogler, Holloway, Broberg to step up and save the day late in the playoffs on the blue line. And they went out and I mean, Edmonton away, went on and got older. They're like, all right, well sign John Clingberg and all this stuff. And if you're a team right now looking at this version of the Oilers team, and it's something I laughed about on Daily Face

Off, where sometimes the team that finally gets over the hump for franchises, it's so far from their best constructed, deepest, most perfect roster. Right? You think about the Tampa Bay team that got swept by Columbus, maybe it was their best team in Washington when they finally did it. Weren't the powerhouse team that they

were when they were getting bounced in the first and second round. But with this Oilers team, if you're Dallas or LA or Vegas and you go, man, they made us look old and slow this year, what are they going to make us look like next year? If you're Dallas and you're saying, man, they're shutting us down without their best defenseman or one of their best defensemen, Matthias Ekholm in the lineup, what could they be doing to us if they're fully healthy? It absolutely should be causing some teams in the West

to go back to the drawing board and say, how can we compete with this? What do we need to change in order to get over this hump? Because listen, going to the Stanley Cup finals once is great, going back to back times with a roster that's as different as it was, like that just shows it's not a fluke. How interested are you in a useless fact about this series?

Always. Want a useless fact? Alright, here you go. Spot quiz. We mentioned this on the show yesterday. Wyatt Johnston, I'm glad you mentioned him because he's wearing the green jacket right now with the long dash, played his minor hockey with the Toronto Marlies of the GTHL and his coach was Paul Coffey. Which means nothing. Which I was like, oh maybe

Paul Coffey knows something about him, knows that he was 15. It means nothing other than we'll just throw it in as a little sidebar story of Paul Coffey's old player back from 2000, what 17 or 18 or 18 or 19 something like that. Wyatt Johnson. But you're right. I guess he turned that in a different direction like the idea like oh do they know something about him. The way. But you're right. I guess you turn that in a different direction. Like the idea, like, oh, do they know something about him? The way this Oilers team defends and the way they play in this structure, I don't, and I saw a tweet yesterday being like the Colorado Avalanche would have picked apart this Oilers team. And it's like, I don't think the Oilers do any like matchup specific tactics.

I just think they know their system that works and they don't care if it's McKinnon and McCarr or if it's Heiskin and Rantan. They just know if they stay in their system and a lot of it's driven by that third forward and things like that. I'm not great at breaking down film. I won't pretend to, but I just think their system is built on if we play the way we're supposed to, we'll limit enough chances and then we have these two superstars who can score goals for us and third and fourth lines right now can score goals too but like I think they just know

if they stay in their system they can beat anybody. Got a couple of minutes left with you here. Are you surprised at how nasty this series has gotten? Whether it's you know Petrovic or Donald Ners or Evan Bouchard everything. The Mason Marchman hit was fine. It sucks for for for Zach Hyman. But but nonetheless, are you surprised at how and it's not just thing is, it's not just it's not just on the ice. It's like fan versus fans like nutty out there right now between these two teams.

It's like it's just like Edmonton Vancouver all over again. Yeah. And honestly, like, am I surprised at how nasty this series has gotten? No, I'm almost, I was almost surprised at how clean Vegas and LA were in the last two rounds. It's like, okay, like these teams should have a bit, LA specifically should have a ton of hatred for the Edmonton Oilers. And not that we never got a scrum or never got a heated moment, but there wasn't a whole heck of it, like a whole heck of a lot of it. Like, I don't know, I'm surprised that other teams

haven't tried to throw the Oilers off their game a little bit more and get under their skin after the whistles, but Dallas is doing that. I mean, I guess it's not working because they're down 3-1 in this series, and if it wasn't for the power play running game one, this thing legitimately could be all over, but I'm not surprised it's getting nasty.

This is a Dallas team with guys like Ben and Marchman who aren't gonna sit here and put up with rupee hints getting slashed on the top of their on the top of his foot. Like they're gonna want to do something about it. And I get it. Can I pause for that on 30 on the 30 seconds I have left with you here? You know what it seems to me, it seems to me like they that Ben and Marchman specifically have the

handcuffs on. And there's this vibe of like don't do it don't do it we're gonna beat him on the power play we're just gonna lure the Oilers into taking penalties and I'm thinking to myself if I'm Edmonton I'm trying to get Jamie Bend to do something dumb I'm trying to get Mason Marchman to run around like I know the first 10 minutes tonight are gonna be wild that brink is gonna be loud and it's gonna be crazy in the first 10 minutes is gonna be huge if I'm Edmonton once that is done and the game starts to settle,

I try to get Ben and Marchman to do something dumb. I really do. If I'm the Edmonton Oilers. Yeah, I agree with you 100%. I think the first 10 minutes tonight, the Oilers also have a chance to crush Dallas' spirit a little bit here here and that might lead to Dallas running around and like I think if everything gets out Scores one early whatever I think there could be the feeling in Dallas that like how are we gonna win this game?

Never mind two more and that's where you might get the running around and that's where Snowball down the hill if you give the Oilers power plays they could keep killing you true. All right, you have stuff to do Thanks as always for stopping by enjoy the game tonight and the return of No ball down the hill. If you give the Oilers power plays, they could keep killing you. True. All right. You have stuff to do. Thanks as always for stopping by. Enjoy the game tonight and the return of Matthias Ekholm to the blue line. Should be a good one, Jeff. Thank you.

All right, man. You be good. Tyler Erumtruck here on the sheet. Glad to have Tyler aboard. Oilers facing off against the Dallas Stars. Could see handshakes tonight. Could see handshakes tonight. And I'll tell you, I really do wonder. wonder again I'm not to put the accent too much on

this because it hasn't happened yet but I really do wonder what happens to Dallas should they bow out here because the offense has just like completely dried up. You know I threw out at the beginning of this playoff round that you know what's the what has a greater chance of happening here. The Dallas Stars depth all of a sudden waking up or the Edmonton Oilers sorry the Oilers depth drying up or the Dallas Stars depth waking up and the Edmonton Oilers depth continues to be one if not the story outside of Stuart Skinner in this entire series and he's been great. Is this a different team without Zach Hyman? Of course it is, but I don't think any of it is insurmountable for a team that

not just boasts two of the best players in the world and they always have that in case of emergency break glass option of going to both of them on the same line, but all of a sudden Ryan New Jim Hopkins in this series specifically against Dallas has been tremendous with a pair of points in every single game to say nothing of some great work on the penalty kill with Connor McDavid. Okay, so that's the game we're looking forward to tonight. Earlier this morning, another press conference from the Toronto Maple Leafs, this time with Brad True Living, their general manager, with comments on that. Someone who is there for it and barking questions away at will is Matt Larkin from Daily Face Off. He joins me now.

Matt, first of all, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you and how did you find this morning? Oh, I'm good, my friend. It's good to get on the sheet finally. And yeah, this morning was interesting. You know, there was a lot of talking from Brad Trilliving. It was quite a long press or a lot of meat there or was there? If you come and listen to what he was saying. Yeah, I think you got to play, you have to sort of know Brad for a while to sort of and put on your Brad Trilliving decoder ring here. I think one of the interesting things is with Trilliving is not necessarily sometimes what he says, but what he leaves out. your Brad Treleving decoder ring here. I think one of the interesting things is with Treleving

is not necessarily sometimes what he says, but what he leaves out or what he tries to gray up a little bit. I think most notably that the one thing that everybody picked up on was, you know, he wasn't gonna commit to making a contract offer to Mitch Marner or to John Tavares. I think that was, those were some

of the front and center questions. Like what were your main takeaways from it this morning? Yeah, I think you're right in terms of being very non-committal. That was my number one takeaway. I think that he was very careful to give no specifics on anything to do with Marner negotiations and John Tavares.

He did say that the fallout of Brendan Shanahan departing last week kind of delayed everything. It almost sounded like true living didn't expect it to happen. It kind of rocked his world. So that delayed things. Um, but I did get the sense that he's being very careful not to create too much optimism or expectation when it comes to Tavares, but mainly Marner. I think if we're placing our bets, it's still likely that they find a solution

with John Tavares, something team friendly. I always think about the Joe Pavelski contract three times seven, something like that. I think it's a fair bet. With Mitch Marner, I don't know. What do you think the chances are right now? 20%. And I think True Loving was being very careful, not just to leave the door open, but to sort of maybe lay some breadcrumbs. He talked about needing to change the team's DNA. And I feel like that messaging was very deliberate. When you start to talk about changing a team's DNA, you don't throw that out casually. Right? Like when you're talking about like that, that to me means see change. When that means like you need to profoundly change something, something to shock a team. You know, Brian Burke would always talk to me about sometimes a team will need a jolt

and you need to make a trade to make a jolt. Or sometimes it could be sitting down a vet, scratching a vet, something. But this team needs, according to True Living, a jolt. And I think that's why he said it needs a change to its DNA. And what's the DNA of this team been? The Core Four. And to me, I looked at that and I said,

this is Brad True Living trying to tell us we are moving away from the core four. And to me, I looked at that and I said, this is Brad True Living trying to tell us we are moving away from the core four. Is there a price that they're comfortable at for someone like John Tavares to come back? Yeah. And it's probably in a third line center role as well, not a second line role. Like I think we all look at the Toronto Maple Leafs

and say, they're gonna need two top six wingers. They're gonna need a second line center. They're gonna need a first pairing defenseman. Bradshaw Living seems quite confident in his, in his goaltending duo, but that's a big shopping list. And when you talk about changing DNA, well, that means even if you're bringing John Tavarez back, he's going to a lower role and you're probably doing this without Mitch Marner.

That's how I read the whole thing. Yeah, I totally agree. I think Matthew Nise is obviously safe. He already said to us last week, they pretty much said he's going to not entertain any idea of an offer sheet, so he's fine. But if you look at who are the core pieces, if you want to make significant changes, how else can you do that other than letting Marner in particular in that $13, $14 million walk? Because even if you look at, for example, the D-Corp, there are seven defensemen already signed not just for next year, for two years and beyond. So that part of the team is, I don't want to say locked up because I do think they need a reputable defenseman, but it's going to be harder to move.

And the best way you can make change right now is to wade into the free agent market. The question is, does that mean overpaying Sam Bennett? Does it mean maybe going safer in terms of term and paying Brad Marshawn instead, maybe just for a couple years? Does it mean going after both? If you really wanna send the message that you wanna have dogs in the clutch situations?

Because to me, another thing that he touched on today, Jeff, was he talked about how Game 7 is going to stick with him for a long time. And after the Leafs went down one nothing, he felt like they completely fell apart. So what is the more reactionary thing to do than to go get two more Florida Panthers after getting three last summer? It's funny.

It just like, uh, again, like the Stanley Cup goes to the state of Florida and, uh, if you can't beat them, hire them pay them and and make them your own. Here's the the one of the interesting things that I that and I think he I don't think Brad does anything frivolously again I think he leaves like breadcrumbs here. One of the things that he mentioned in sort of passing he said in reference to I believe it was to a Mitch Marner question and about the contract and if we move off of that, you know, and he said something along the lines of, I mean, you'll remember it, you were there, I wasn't, something along the lines of maybe we need to sort of reallocate those resources

somewhere else. And that's why as much as you look at the blue line and everyone's locked up and everybody has term, knowing that whenever Brad Treleving makes deals and Brian Burke always reminds me, he got that from me in Calgary, we were together. He always goes and gets a defenseman. Like Brad Trileving is always looking for defensemen. So even though a lot of those guys are locked up, this is still an NHL where everyone's looking for defensemen and if Brad Trileving can grab another one,

I'm very much of the mind that that sort of change in DNA or maybe that focus shifts perhaps more to the blue line than it has been traditionally up front. Does that resonate with you? It 100% does and it's something I've said for the last week or so as much as there's talk of the core four and Needing to beef up that forward core I think the inability to move the puck out of Toronto zone and the defensive end was just as big of a problem as anything else in the playoffs. I was sort of saying, especially during the road games, every time Chris Cuthbert said to the line, but not out, you could take a drink and you get pretty drunk. The Leafs would get hemmed into their zone.

Even though Chris Tann of tremendous poise of the puck, Morgan Reilly is not that guy anymore. I think he's regressed and Brad today, we did the scrum after the presser. He admitted that in sort of trying to commit to a heavier game, get accustomed to all his different partners this year, he felt like Riley's offensive game slipped a little bit. And if he's not that guy anymore, I do think the Leafs have to prioritize finding a true puck mover who could skate the puck out of trouble. And I don't think there is one of those on the free agent market.

You have to look for the trade market to find that guy. The interesting thing about that is, Matty, like I really do wonder, because listen, we all know where Craig Berube wants his defenseman in the defensive zone. He wants them around the net. And the one thing about Morgan Riley this year is he wasn't afforded the luxury of playing the game

that he's used to playing. Like Morgan Riley needs to gallop. Like you gotta let that horse go, right? Like that's always been his game. That is not what Craig Barube wants. He wants his D right there around the net. That's the defenseman's responsibility. It's almost as if you're Morgan Riley,

you're still the same player, but everything else around you has changed. And not that it's like, trying to think of like the best example here, Jacques Lamar with Minnesota where everybody had like, you know, bungee cords attached from their hockey pants to the bench. I'm not saying it's like that rigid,

but it's gotta be, there's a part of me that really does feel bad for Morgan Riley because he's in an environment now where he can't do what he's always been able to do because he's not allowed. And that has grabbed the puck and galloped. Like how many times you see him gallop out of the zone? Doesn't happen, it didn't happen this year.

Yeah. I think you're bang on it. He's basically, he's a fine Italian sports car, but he's with a fleet of ATVs and he's being asked to off road. And even there's a message on the wall in the Leafs practice facility that includes the word North because they're playing a simplified game, North South, meat and potatoes, which was effective. And we see, this is're playing a simplified game, North South,

meat and potatoes, which was effective. And we see this is a team that when they have a lead, they protect it well now better than any other team in this era. But what they don't have anymore that they did have a couple years ago, when the Leafs were down three nothing in a game, they could flick a switch and go gangbusters and play fire wagon hockey and come back. They did it against Tampa Bay in game four, two years ago in the playoffs. Came back from four one in the third period. This year, if the Leafs got down two nothing, it may as well be five nothing.

They don't have that ability to flick a switch and play really sort of just hair on fire hockey anymore. Overall, a good thing, but you still need that element. And I agree. Perfect example is Morgan Riley. I don't think he has the ability to be that stallion or the opportunity in terms of role to be that stallion or the opportunity in terms of role to be that stallion anymore.

What did you make of how Brad True Living discussed Austin Matthews and the injury at camp and working through it? I mean, listen, we understand why the general manager wants to be as vague as possible about all of it. How did you feel that Tree Living handled that conversation? Yeah, it's different because he also mentioned, you know, everything with injuries is a player's choice,

it's personal. But a year ago when Brad did his year-end availability, he started by rhyming off a list of injuries and surgeries for his players. So this was a change, the way he approached it today. And when we spoke to Austin last week, he was keeping it close to the vest. And to me, there's a little bit of a contradiction.

More specifically with what Austin said last week, he talked about not wanting to reveal the injury for fear of it being targeted. Then he said he's gonna be 100% in training camp next year. Well, if it's gonna be completely healed, then why does it matter that you're worried about having the the injury targeted? To me, that that makes me a little concerned that this is going to be something nagging that may come and go throughout his career. That's what I wanted to get to. It does very much sound like this is something that is not going to

be revealed because it's going to be something that Austin Matthews is going to need to manage for his entire career. What it is, we can all speculate as, as, as much as we want, but it does very much feel like, look, I'm just going to have to put up with this, just like I've had IFBs in my ear, um, my entire professional career. And so I've got substantial hearing loss in my left ear. I just have to manage that for the rest of my life. And Austin Matthews is gonna have to manage whatever is wrong with him.

And we're probably not gonna ever find out until he retires. Is that fair? I think it's fair. And I wonder if more often than not, we're gonna get this new version of Austin Matthews who is still an effective player. I kind of joke that, okay, now he's Anzac Copetar. He's big,

he's strong, he's defensively responsible. He can make plays. He's still a first line caliber player. He can win face-offs. He can do almost everything except shoot the puck from distance. That trademark deadly release with a little waggle. That's the one thing that I think was the defining trait of his game. Made him a 69 goal score. You lose that, you're a 33 goal score. I know he didn't play 82 games, but you understand what I'm trying to say here. I know what you're saying. That's his best tool, and it's not available anymore. And I do wonder if it's going to come and go for the rest of his career. Again, we are not doctors for anybody watching or listening, but we can use our deductive reasoning to make an educated guess on what's happening.

He seemed quite branded true living seem quite confident in the goaltending tandem. Are you? Yes, I absolutely am. If you are an analytics person out there, I tend to be a bit of a hybrid. But if you like the stat goals saved above expected goalies who played 30 or more games this year, the Leafs have two of the top seven in the NHL this year. Number one, ahead of Connor Hellebuyck was Anthony Stolarz. Number seven was Joseph Wohl. I think they're both great goaltenders. I think Wohl is more of an athlete. Stolarz is, to me,

he kind of reminds me of Ed Belfort. He's so calm and efficient in the crease. He's a better puck handler than Joseph Wohl. But I think both goalies are pluses. Wohl was not consistent, I think, in these playoffs. But again, he was sort of thrust into a tough situation. In the past, he was kind of like your backup quarterback who can do no wrong with no expectations. He came into the playoffs because of injuries before or ineffectiveness and saved the team.

This time, the Leafs were in a positive position. They were winning in game one and then he comes in. There's way more pressure to maintain something. There's something to lose. I do think that affected Will a little bit, but overall, if you zoom out, I think they were a very effective tandem. And I think it's a positive sign

that Anthony Stollers was available for game seven because concussions, it's so tough to know about the timelines of recovery. Even the fact that it was a possibility for him to play makes me feel good about his status into the summer, into training camp and next year. Let me ask you about the Leafs organization. One of the things that I'm really curious about here,

coming off the Keith Pelly press conference with the Shanahan announcement, and there'll be no direct replacement. Brad Treleving, as he mentioned again today in his press conference, he'll report to Keith Pelly. Pelly is gonna become more hands-on with the organization and hockey decisions. Does it feel very much to you like this is going to be the reality around the entire organization that it is going to become leaner? This

is an organization that has probably the most assistant general managers of any organization in the NHL. Does it feel to you like this whole operation is going to get leaner sooner than later? Yeah, I do get that sense and even if you think about just what's been in the rumor mill over the last couple years trades that have been nixed and debates over deals that should have happened and didn't happen and fell through the last minute because there are too many voices kind of at odds with each other in the room. And yes, Keith Peli is still gonna have a say

and be hands-on, but he also made it pretty clear that he does not consider himself a true hockey expert. And the implication there is deferring more to Brad Treleving on the big decisions. And I think he's gonna have more autonomy for pulling the trigger on trades. Also Peli kind of implied that Craig Berube is gonna have more to say.

We did ask Brad about that. I think it was in the not the televised part, but it was the scrum today. And the way he explained it was, well, that's not going to be a big change because Craig and I always work together. We're in lockstep on pretty much everything anyway. But if you look at the two of them as a gym and coach tandem, I think they've really remade the team identity, what we've seen them become, a harder team to play against, a simpler style, bigger everything, right? We know that new identity and I think having fewer voices is going to reinforce that identity going forward. Okay. Let me finish with this one. The next most important thing for the Toronto Maple Leafs is

blank. Okay. Well, my answer has been a puck mover on defense. That's number one. But if I want to add a second thing, I think you need another bona fide top six winger. There was sort of the revolving door during the playoffs. It was sometimes Max Petruetti. We don't know if he's going to retire. Bobby McMahon, I think was quite a disappointment in the playoffs after 20 goals in the regular season. He struggled with his confidence. Max Domi occasionally brought up there in that role. Pontus Holmberg was sometimes playing on the second line

and I call him the play killer. He's a conscientious player, but he doesn't have the hands to be on the edge. Can you pause on him for one second? I don't know that there's another player in the NHL that I saw get hit more consistently and bounce right back up. The guy is incredible at how he's able to absorb physical punishment and not be affected by it.

Like he bounces, guys would hammer him consistently, bounce right back up. It's the more, I know that I know that Swedes always have the reputation of being able to to heal faster. Oh, Alfredsen six to eight, so he's back in two weeks. All the Swedes always heal their bodies quick, but Holmbrook, he gets up after getting crushed faster than anybody in the NHL. It's remarkable. And maybe he needs to stay down an extra second if you're to draw more penalties.

I think that he probably needs to get better at it. You're right. Yeah, so for me, I do think the Leafs were exposed for just needing one more. I mean, it could be a center too, but overall top six forward, let's say. But I think more importantly on the wing, someone that is not just playing up in the lineup on occasion, but who is just a bona fide every night second line winger, for example. Yeah. Listen, great job this morning at the Presser. Thanks for hopping on today. Let's do it again more regularly. Please, Mr. Larkin.

Yes, absolutely. I love that, buddy, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Great, Matt Larkin from Daily Face Off. You can read all of his work there and was part of the Brad True Living Press Conference this morning.

May Belief's general manager, and again and again Maple Leaf's press conferences are always challenging because it is the team that is most over covered and I mean that in a good way that that is what every other team in the NHL wants and listen I think Montreal is over covered as well I think the Rangers are over covered and that's all a good thing you know it's like I always say is over covered as well. I think the Rangers are over covered and that's all a good thing. You know, it's like I always say, is there too much information out there about the Maple Leafs, Montreal,

Canadians, New York Rangers, et cetera? Yes, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, all Canadian teams really, yes. And that's what their fan bases want. So watching Maple Leafs press conferences are always challenging because you have to master the fine art of, unless you just wanna make headlines like Berkey did

when he ran the whole operation, you always run the risk of being the trending topic for a long time on social media. Anyhow, we got a few more things to get to here today, including, and we didn't get a chance to do anything with it yesterday because it wasn't on our schedule, but it is back on the schedule today and that is the Crispy Inbox. Ladies and gentlemen, time now for the Crispy Inbox, presented by Ninja Crispy's 4-in-1 portable glass air fryer. 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.

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the link in the show description and stay tuned for your chance to win a free Ninja Crispy. The way to get in on the crispy inbox the sheet at the nation network dot com what do we have young zach for up for grabs today what you got hey jeff and zach in the spirit of uh of the memorial cup i've got two things for you guys one knowing that the host city gets the automatic bid which host team had the worst regular season record that went on to win the memorial cup on home ice secondly if jeff remembers a guy named matt i'm gonna butcher this mad hubar i remember hubar yeah mad hubar yeah 2001 pats team and how fast of a skater he was that came in from leighton Okay so a couple of things. To

the first one I think because I think she winning it my first instinct was she winning in when they won. I think they got bounced in the second round of the playoffs but it wasn't it wasn't she winning it because I think they were first in their division when they hosted the Memorial Cup. I think the answer is Windsor. When they hosted in 2017 that was a team that had, oh they'd say Gabe Velarde was on that team, Mikhail Sergeyev on that team, Michael DiPietro was outstanding in that, Sean Day, Jalen Chatfield, your Carolina Hurricanes defense was on that team, really really good team. That year they got bounced in the first round by London and they were,

I want to say, fourth in the conference. Like that was a loaded conference that year. Eerie Otters were like the class of the OHL. That's who they ended up you know beating in the in the Memorial Cup final, a dynamic game. So I think I think your answer there is Windsor in 2017 to Matt Hubeauer You know, I know Matt Hubeauer Do you remember the show making the cut? Were you too young for that? So there was a show there was a show Called and Bell sponsored it called making the the Cut. And what it was, I want to say it took place during the lockout of 0405, and it was a six part series

and the idea was they're gonna try to find players that the scouts had missed that could make it to the NHL. So imagine like every beer leger's fantasy was I just didn't get a break or I didn't get eyeballs on me or whatever but that was the basis of the show. The main scout was a guy by the name of Jack Birch. You may know Jack Birch. Jack Birch was the was a guy that went with Mike Keenan everywhere he went. Every coaching gig that he got Jack Birch was a guy that came along with them and Mike Keenan was one of the main

people in the show. So I was working doing Leafs Lunch with Bill Waters at that time and we ran a promo with it with the producers of Making the Cut and they had me out to go to one of the on ice sessions. So I get there and I'm getting dressed and it's a geez where was it we're in Trinkway we had York I think I might have been a York which is now York Canlons and I'm getting dressed, and it's a, jeez, where was it? We're in Trinkway. We had York? I think I'm at a bit of York, which is now York Canlons. And I'm getting dressed, and I'm like, holy shit, that's like Mike Rice, who played at the Oshawa Generals.

And then I look across me, and it's Nick Stajdhar, who was like a former first round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, who had like an unfortunate off-season injury that scotched his entire career. I'm like, these are like super really good players. And Matt Hubauer was one of the players that made it through it. And there were like, I think it was six players, so one per Canadian team, that got a contract. None of them got to the NHL, but that got a contract.

And I'll tell you what, about that show, one quick note. You know who loved the fact that no one made it in the NHL from that program? Every scout in the NHL. Scouts hated it because the assumption was that there are players that sneak by, there are players that slip through, and every scout was both, well, first of all, they're a little bit terrified that, oh, what if there really is someone that can be a legitimate bona fide NHL'er that we've all missed on? And there's a major sigh of relief that none of those guys became regular players in the NHL

and Matt Hubeauer was one of them. He was quick. I remember he sued, oh God, when he was playing the ECHL, he sued his team over a medical claim. I can't remember the entire story but it was something like that. It was a workers insurance claim. He ended up suing his ECHL team. I'm not sure where that went. But yes, Matt Hubeauer, Regina Patz, absolutely made me think of Bell's making the cut. By the way, I got cut first gate.

Kevin McGuire, former Toronto Maple Leaf was the on ice person for us. He cut me right away. Like, yeah, you off. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. First skate, off. Beat it. Jesus. Yeah, man. I see, I see an extashe there and I'm like, what am I doing here? This is ridiculous. Yeah. It was a fun show though. 68 players and then they took

six invitations to an NHL training camp. Yeah, who were they? So Matt Hubauer ended up with I think Calgary. So it is Jordan Little and he ended up with Edmonton, James de Mone, went to Vancouver, Mike Mole went to Ottawa, Hubauer, Calgary Flames, okay then Kevin Lavallee, Montreal, and Dominic Noel, the Leafs. None of them became NHLers. And every scout breathed a sigh of relief. Told you, this is a well scouted league.

You were right, it was fun you were right it was the Windsor Spitfires by the way oh is that the answer 2017 yeah all right it was they lost in the first round to the Knights for three right seven game seven game seven game series right that does not say that here in what I'm reading it's just a belief overview of what it was but they won 4-3 against the Otters in the championship game. That was a hell of a game too. Oh man I remember watching Warren Reichel in the the owners box just sweating bullets every single shift you have not lived until you've watched Warren Reichel watch one of his teams

play it is the coolest thing in the I love Bundy he's a wonderful guy that you It's every single shift you have not lived until you've watched Warren Reichl watch one of his teams play It is the coolest thing in the I love Bundy. He's a wonderful guy You have not lived until you've watched Warren Reichl watch one of his teams play. It's a sight and he's great All right We have one game tonight and it may have major consequences for both teams The sheet we remind you as always is powered by fan duel home of the seven game parlay make every moment more on FanDuel FanDuel Proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them This game matters Edmonton and Dallas

Edmonton up three to one American Airlines Center Stuart Skinner starts Matthias Akhoma's in Troy Stetcher is out Jeff Skinner is in and unfortunately Zach Hyman upper body surgery gone for the season. Why you can't announce what it is if he's gone for the season is beyond me, but we'll leave that conversation for another day. Jake Ottinger starts for the Dallas Stars here. Does this line surprise you, Matty, or Matty, Zach, does it surprise you at all? No, given the fact that we know Hyman's going to be out

and there's some shuffling and this has been tight all the way through in terms of what they've been lining everything at, home ice again, what we're looking at for the odds probably makes sense to me here. Matias Ekholm, I also think by the way, while we're looking at plus 108, it's probably just like an unknown I think that that's kind of why there's just like uh, he could play

25 minutes tonight be the best defenseman on the ice so he could play like seven minutes, you know Like there's like a wide range of opportunities. Okay. So this this is this is more where you live Zach. Like do you think that's because But do you think it should be that way? Because if they were going 11 and seven, I might think that that they're just like, we're not sure about a calm, we're just gonna sort of drop them in here and there situationally. But they're not, they're not doing 11 seven, they're doing 12. Six. I know. Like, I do I seriously, but I just think that there's also that worry that like once you know

You've been doing this for so long. What's one of the most common things? Well, there's nothing to replicate game speed nothing Right, like they they could go and all of a sudden they're like, oh shit We shouldn't we shouldn't have done this It's entirely possible. I mean, I think that Nablah is pretty confident what he's getting out of them. But I just feel like there is some uncertainty and desperation out of Dallas. Like that stuff gets priced in this get these things. There's

honestly a shun here. Dude, this first the first 10 minutes of this game are going to be wild. First 10 minutes this game are going to be absolutely insane. The thing about it is, if there's one team, because most teams on the road in a situation like this, it's like, okay, guys, we have to endure the first 10 minutes. Let's just get to the game to a point where it settles, right? And usually that takes about 10 minutes when you're playing on the road in a game like this. But if you're Edmonton and you got like Connor and Leon, if you're Chris Knoblach, are you saying to your, are you saying to your team like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Seriously, go for it. Take the crowd out early as opposed to just oh, we're just gonna hold on hold on hold on for ten minutes

You know what I mean? Yeah, kill the life kill all the life all the hope that they have like take it all the way as fast as you can Because I feel like this is one of those ones where if they get down Dallas that is if they get down in this game. Yeah, maybe maybe not the players I don't think that there's give up in those guys but there might be a sense of deflation in the building which just ripples through. We've seen that in other cities in the playoffs, some teams that are doing press conferences still. But if Edmonton goes behind, I don't think that there's as much concern that they

can't come back but if they get out to a hot start here, yeah, I think the glass banger guy might go quiet Where are you on glass bangers by the way? It's Everyone has a right to do what they want. I mean, I don't really care. It's a little bit annoying for me personally But I don't think it's like I don't know my like a ban this guy from the thing from the arena kind of move I look at kids doing it and go like yeah kids banging the glass adults adults

Glass banging guy really? Yeah, really? Yeah, yeah, there's only one thing I want to see Jeff I want to see someone banned from from an arena if MLSC wants to wants to really get on their fans good side That guy who shows up With the opposing teams uniforms with his daughter and they wear the opposing teams Keith Keith Pelley's got to find a way ban Keith Pelley's gotta find a way. Ban him. J-Rock in the chat. Kids should be the only glass bangers. That's right J-Rock. You know it. Schwa. Glass bangers are often tourists. The worst.

Spencer Newton. Fire glass bangers into the sun. General Soreness. Mouth breathing glass bangers are the worst. I always love mouth breathers as an insult. Look at these mouth breathers. I just love that one. I don't know, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for that one. That's good. That's good. Anything we left out there? Oh, by the way, Patrick Waugh coming back. By the way, that is, so Matthew Darsh announcing today that Islanders general manager, that Patrick Gwile will be back.

Nobody should be surprised at that for one very specific reason. When you're a manager, you only have a number of bullets in your chamber and you only have a number of cards that you can play. And there's only so long that you can keep firing coaches until it eventually turns on you. So the smart thing to do is don't come in and use a bullet right away, save it. Yeah. That's why I would do that. Do you

thought about that? It gets very very strategic. I'm not saying it's not the right, first of all I'm not saying that it's the wrong move, I'm just saying that from a strategic point of view, you're Matthew Darsh. You're coming in. You want to keep as many bullets in the chamber for as long as possible until you have to use one. Look at Bradshaw living with Sheldon Keefe. Same thing.

So none of that, that should not surprise anybody. What that means for the team, what that means for certain players on the team, what that means for negotiations with free agents, I don't know, but that is a very smart strategic move by Matthew Dersh. Yeah, I thought about that one as well. I just was like, when it was announced,

I was like, yeah, I'm not surprised. Because it just gives you that opportunity as well. I just was like when it when it was announced I was like yeah I'm not surprised because it just gives you that opportunity as well like you come in five games into the season the Islanders are like oh three and two he comes in and just walk on someone news in and everyone in the room is like whoa what happened and then you're like yeah there you go there's his bullet he had to fire that one. Hold on, but if he brings in his own guy and they start off and they stink, it's like, ooh, maybe that was on that guy.

It's his fault he brought that guy in. Clearly, no, it's just smart. Just smart, smart, smart, smart, smart. Okay, that's a wrap for us. Listen, enjoy the game tonight. It should be a fascinating one. Edmonton's been super hot. The Dallas Stars have had a hard time finding the back of the net.

And again, like I mentioned off the top and talking to Tyler as well and Zach, like I really do, I really, really do wonder here. If Edmonton wins tonight, I don't get the feeling that this is gonna be one of those like, well, we just got to write it back next year with the Dallas Stars and eventually it's gonna work. This is an organization that has an owner that's given his team everything they've wanted. And I think he's looking for a better return on investment than an exit in the conference final.

We'll see where it goes. Either way, it should be a great game tonight. We'll see if the Stuart Skinner story can continue or if we're headed back for a game six in Edmonton. In the meantime, thanks for joining me here today. Thanks to our guest, Tyler Uremchuk from Oilers Nation Every Day. Matt Larkin from Daily Face Off

talked a lot about the Oilers, talked a lot about the Maple Leafs. The Mitch Marner question is still the big one in Toronto and I know that Matty said like what are the chances of him coming back maybe 20? I would have to guess it's even less than that. I think this is as we all sort of do, I think this is probably the end of the line for Marner in Toronto. Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs and for Mitch Marner, it didn't work out. I could be proven wrong in all of this and there could be a mystery contract that appears out of nowhere in one of the upcoming days, but I'm very skeptical about that.

In the meantime, enjoy the game tonight. Marek signing off. This ends my broadcast day. Enjoy the rest of your day. Enjoy the game tonight. We're back for as our friends in the chat like to call it most of the Willie Styles civilian Friday Ryan Burke returning to the program tomorrow talk to you I'm not 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 do wanna break it

I turned on the music It's turned up, up, out, out You're sometimes losing Helping on the days that we're wrong