The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Devils Fire Tom Fitzgerald ft. Josh Bogorad & Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Jeff Marek is joined by ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski as The Sheet rolls on with a packed edition covering the latest shakeups and storylines around the NHL. Fresh back from vacation at Disney World, Wyshynski jumps right into the biggest headline in the league: the New Jersey Devils firing general manager Tom Fitzgerald. Marek and Wyshynski break down what ultimately led to the decision in New Jersey, the pressure surrounding the organization after high expectations, and where Fitzgerald could potentially land next around the NHL. The conversation then shifts to Long Island as the guys wrap up everything that unfolded with the Islanders’ coaching change, including Pete DeBoer stepping in after Patrick Roy’s dismissal and what it means for the franchise moving forward. They also dig into the wild finish between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning, with Buffalo’s win pulling them even with Tampa at 102 points, before touching on the strange Pontus Holmberg injury and the now-infamous “door-gate” moment. Later in the show, Dallas Stars TV voice Josh Bogorad joins Marek to talk all things Stars, including their push in the Central Division, potential playoff matchups for Dallas, and how the team is shaping up as the postseason approaches. Plus, the LA Kings pick up a big win over the Nashville Predators to jump back into a playoff spot as the playoff picture continues to take shape across the league.#TheSheet #JeffMarek #GregWyshynski #JoshBogorad #NHL #DallasStars #CentralDivision #NewJerseyDevils #TomFitzgerald #NewYorkIslanders #PeteDeBoer #PatrickRoy #BuffaloSabres #TampaBayLightning #LAKings #NashvillePredators #NHLPlayoffs #Hockey #DailyFaceoffLeave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did we know you? I thought you were going to come back with the ears. Welcome once again to the sheet. This is Tuesday, April the 7th. Glad to have you aboard today. And guess who's returned from Disney World Land? World, yeah. Disney World.

Look who's returned from Disney. Now, is that part of the perks of working for Disney? Yes. Or did you actually have to dig down deep into your pocketbooks and finally spend your communion money? to get that. No, one might say that's part of, a major part of the perks. Okay.

If you're working at Disney is that you can get into the parks for free and get discounts on things. That's so awesome. I would say a part of the perks for me was decided to take a vacation during what was the busiest week of NHL News. Maybe what are you a lockout thinking? What are you doing? What's wrong with you? Nothing like taking your third spin. Your team.

Nothing like taking your third spin on Space Mountain and things. thinking about how you don't have to write about Brad True Living. I was feeling pretty good about life. But yeah, I decided to reveal a little bit of news today on the sheet. This is Remy on my shoulder. Normally better hidden. And for all the people that wonder where I get these amazing takes from, they are whispered into my ear by a rat in a chef's hat.

So that is exactly how it works. What do you have on the other shoulder? Like, do you have, like, the good take rat and the bad take rat, depending on the time of day? Do you have another rat? Like, do you have a Ken Lindsman on the other shoulder? Thank you for you. No, no. It's got Melonby on the shoulder.

No, it's a poop emoji. There's a poop emoji on one shoulder for my really bad takes. And then the rat gives me all the good takes. Here's a fun fact. They sell these things now in Disney. I think that they're better than the mouse ears. And what it is is that there's a little, a little. magnet that you put

like under your clothes. No way. You're watching, right? And then you stick the character on your shoulder. And that's the new, that's the new technology in the Disney Corporation. This thing cost me

$300, Merrick, all in to get the rat on the shmolder. Very good. No, I had a good time. I took my eldest daughter to Disney little father-daughter trip and it was pretty dope. And the best part about the trip, by the way.

Yeah. As you know, she's a cognizant hockey fan. She's a huge Jack Hughes fan. Yeah. This was the first time she was old enough for me to spin tales of the MVSW podcast and Puck Daddy and reading. She read the entire Tim Peel tequila shot story that I wrote to me. No.

Yeah. Hang on. Hang on. I'm fascinated by it. We are going to get to Tom Fitzgerald, folks. Trust me. Yeah. Did you read it to her or did she find it on her own?

She found it on her phone because I was telling her about like this time I got a referee suspended. Well, he kind of did it to himself. And then and then she read the entire story. And it was wonderful. It was it. It was like finding out your dad played in a band that played at Woodstock. You know, for a brief moment, I felt as though I had a currency and relevance for her. My dad is Spider-Man.

I had no idea all this time. Dad, are you Spider-Man? Yeah, the equivalent of finding out your dad is Spider-Man to a young hockey fan is finding out that your dad got Tim Peel suspended for doing tequila shots at Foley's. But yeah, it was a good trip. Listen, congratulations. Trips like that are fantastic and investments in the future

for you and your daughter lifetime memories. Now, business, the blueprint, powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on fan duel leading off with someone you already see on your screen or here in your ears. He is the one and only Greg Wyshinsky. He has returned from Disney World. He will join us once again after I'm done with my preamble. We'll talk about the New Jersey Devils firing Fitsy as the Hughes family calls him. We'll talk about playoff race. Josh Bogorad will drop by play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars. Is it all just coming down to Thursday against the Minnesota Wild?

And we'll talk more about the Central Division, the Division of Death, the Killer. around the NHL. In the meantime, I am going to share a name with you, and we are going to get there. But we're not going to start there, but we're going to get there. Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils

have now parted ways, a third team, looking for their next general manager, joining Nashville and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Speculate if you think there may be others, perhaps Vancouver. I don't think Detroit, but things happen. in hockey.

Your thoughts on the New Jersey Devils, parting ways with Tom Fitzgerald. Can we pause on Detroit? Like, it's not going to happen. There's no, it's not going to happen. I don't think so,

but I was, I was just thinking this morning that, like, of all the teams in the league, that is the one I have the least understanding of, with regard to how their inner workings tick. Like, I have no idea.

Look at the name bar. What? Well, I know that. And I assume that they, that they are serving at the pleasure of Steve Iserman until he decides that he doesn't want to do the gig anymore. And then he goes upstairs and watches the sunset.

But like, I have no idea what ownership is thinking. If ownership has the Cajonais to do anything about Iserman. Like I, that's a team that baffles me. Did I tell you the line that I was told? Because I've looked into this a lot. The line that I was told, you'll love this because it's, it's cute. And it speaks to something kind of profound in hockey. And it deals with family.

And father, son, the line that I was told is, Chris is not Mike. Right. Chris Illich is not his father, Mike. Where perhaps Mike Illich by now would have said, okay, like it's time for some return on investment here. We'd like some butts in the seats in late April in this quote unquote new arena we're showing off here. But Chris is not Mike. Yeah. And I don't think that Mrs. Illich either.

Hey, listen, there is a plan in place. The plan is hoped that by 2030 both Quinn and Jack are in Detroit. That's the plan. And you know what? I've heard worse plans. So, you know. These plans you speak of. So anyways.

So, yeah, Fitsy, as Quinn and Jack both referred to him. The way I understand it is that there was a sense in the organization that someone's scalp was going to get taken here. and you know if if it's sheldon then that means fits gets another coach in fits his case he has a year left on his contract they have come to jesus meeting him in blitzer and i'm guessing that it was probably expressed to him that the the end is nigh and he probably also had some irons in the fire himself which we'll talk to talk about in a moment what and so you know i think there was probably a mutual parting of ways is the best way to put of it you know the players were fond of him ownership was fond of to him. I don't think a lot of Devils fans were fond of the results. So let's get into that.

So I think he did an average job building this team. I think his drafting was atrocious. I think their player development was atrocious. Can we pause on that? Can we pause on that? Because I always want to bring this up too when it comes around, comes to drafting. Drafting is just one piece before you get to the NHL.

We missed the middle piece, which is development. I just said it. I just said, no, I know. No, I get that. But like, well, the drafting was terrible. The drafting is just the identifying.

And then whatever you do with the player becomes part of that. There needs to be like a catch-all term for both the drafting and the development before you get to the NHL. Because sure, like do you look at like Holtz and stuff? And like you look at the,

you look at all the blanks for GP for the New Jersey Devils. And there are plenty since 2020. When Tom Fitzgerald took over. But I always catch myself and say, is that identification or is that development? I just, again,

my own personal thing. I think we need a term, a catch-all term for both. Anyhow, continue. I think there's four sins that he committed that, for me, lead to what we saw last night. The Palat contract was bad at the time and remained bad. Someone said this to me last night when I was calling around, and it really stuck with me, which is that Andre Palat is the kind of player that you develop yourself. And instead, they went out and got a used version of that player. And they gave him a full no movement clause. And that is bad management. And again, as we

talked about in the show before, he went above and he went, he went beyond the recommendations of his analytics department to make that signing. It was bad signing. Trading away Tyler Tofoli, not resigning Tyler to Foley, incredibly dumb move. They've been looking for that kind of veteran score ever since. and, you know, I've been trying to recreate it with guys like you've getting the Donoff,

which is insane. Giving Jacob Markstrom a contract extension before the season began, then watching Jacob Markstrom be an absolute sieve for four months to completely cut the legs out from whatever season they were going to have this year, along with the Hughes injury. And then the fourth sin, Merrick, the fourth sin, and this is the important one, maybe. How do you fumble the bag on Quinn Hughes? How do you do it? How do you do it?

He wanted to come to Jersey. You had your first shot. at trying to acquire him. They fumbled the bag. They didn't get Quinn Hughes. And those four things add up along with all of the non-playoff seasons, this one included, to spell the end of Tom Fitzgerald in New Jersey. To me, that's the biggie.

That last one. If you're a manager in the NHL and someone, actually, wasn't even him who was his president of hockey operations, someone from the organization that employs him, tells the whole hockey world that he wants to go to your team. And he's one of the best players in the entire NHL. And you can't find a way to make it work. I'm not saying fold the tent,

but maybe it's time. And probably it's time and it's time. Before we get to me, it was the big one. That's the massive one. It was psychologically damaging to this team. You felt the letdown after he went to the Minnesota Wild because there was a sense that the Calvary was going to arrive in the form of Quinn Hughes. Now, before we get to possible replacements for the Devils and then we'll get into the Nashville thing because they are kind of tied together. I do want to say this about the core of this team.

You know, I listen to Jack Hughes and Esper Brat, Nico Heeshire all talk today. Heeshire made some news by saying, and I quote, when asked if he would if if fitzgerald's firing would impact his contract negotiations i'm focused on playing hockey here i still have one more year so i'm with the devils right now and then we'll see what happens never a good sign when your captain is using the verbiage that your former general manager was using about simone nemich uh never really a good sign when that's happening here's the thing he's not lying he's not lying he's not and he could just be saying i just want to see who the next guy is.

As much as devil fans, and I almost said we, as much as devil's fans are giving Fitzgerald shit for the lack of success, Jack Hughes has one appearance in the playoffs, one series victory. That's it in his career. That's insane. There is something to be said about the core that he put his trust in, and the fact that that core only produced two playoff appearances, once with Jack and once without Jack when he was injured.

And I got to be honest with you. more i talked to people last night the more i kind of contemplated it you know what i kept you know who i kept thinking about jonathan huberto i kept thinking about jonathan huberto because there came a point in the florida panthers maturation as a franchise in which there was an opportunity to acquire matthew kitchuk he wanted to come to florida he was available they had to ante up to get him and boy did they at the time trading away their leading score yeah and one of their best defense for Matthew Kachuk, and it had a transformative effect on the entire organization from a swagger perspective and from a way they play perspective. Now, could that have happened if the devil's

gotten Quinn Hughes, who's to say? But you think about a player like Brady Kachuk, for example, who may or may not become available in this offseason. And you say to yourself, what would the cost of acquisition be for Brady Kachukuk? And much like the Canucks did with Quinn Hughes, it probably starts with Nico Hesher. And the more I think about it, Merrick, the more I say to myself, as much as I love Nico, and as much as I think Nico

is your quintessential number two center on a championship team, the core has got to change. Something's got to give here. They need to not only change management, but all of the other stuff that will be happening is kind of cosmetic absent from

changing the composition of your core and more importantly, changing the way you play. They're easy to play against, they're a rush team. They're a damn good rush team, but they're not physical. They're not built necessarily for playoff success. They don't have the kind of DNA that a Brady Kachuk could give them.

True. I kind of feel the same way about the Detroit Red Wings. The team we just talked about a second ago, if you're looking for a team that needs to be able to play harder, that's the Detroit Red Wings. But I digress. I don't disagree. with you.

The thing about the New Jersey Devils, and many have pointed this out, this isn't something that I've just sort of stumbled upon, is how many small centers can you have in the playoffs? Yeah. And can you have two small centers as your one, two? And if not, one has to go. And in this case, which is that one? And I think that one is pretty obvious. But no.

No, it's not going to be Jack Hughes. I don't think it's an awful idea at all. I really don't. The only thing that I would wonder about from the Ottawa Senator's point of view is up the gut right now. One, two, you have Tim Stutzla and Dylan Cousins. You may not need it. And Nico Hescher goes into that second line center spot. I don't know.

I think my point is that like trading Nico should be on the table. And I never thought I'd get there because honestly, when his name came up, in queen hugh's conversations i'm like hell no you're just creating yourself a problem that you don't need to have but the more i think about it the more i think that there just there needs to be a fundamental change to the core of this team and i know i sound like a leifs fan now but that's just what it is there needs to be a fundamental change to the core of the team and they have the chips like they have heeshur they have nemich they have shamus casey down down to the hathel like they've got players that the new gm and the new president of hockey ops can ante up to really make dramatic

changed this roster. And I'm kind of excited to see if we get there because I do think one of the flaws for Fitz was he was way too in love with his own core, way too in love with his own core, to the point of just shutting down any conversation that might be had about trading an eco-heeshire in a big blockbuster deal. Now, who will be making those tradesmerick? Yes. Called around last night, two different sources, independent of each other, both said, well,

Brendan Shanahan will be the president of hockey operations at some point, right? And I'm like, Yes. Okay. You know, it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Hang on.

Okay. Yes, because that has been misconstrued all over hockey Twitter about Brendan Shanahan taking over the devil's, i.e. he's going in as the general manager. No.

I don't believe that for one second. But here's the other thing. Here's the thing that I wanted, wanted to get into with you here. And this can cover off also the Toronto Maple Leafs at the same time about the new management structure. So, much like there's been a changing of the guard on the ice,

like already Connor McDavid and Nathan McKinnon are old, at least older. Like they're getting, like they're closer to the shady side of the mountain than the sunny side of the mountain. I know this makes us all feel really, really old, but here comes back on Zellebrini and look at Matthew Schaefer

and do these guys even need to shave yet. Okay? There's a transition happening there. We already went through a transition with managers and coaches about 10, 15 years ago. where GMs used to be in their 60s, they're now in their 50s. Coaches used to be in their 40s.

They're now in their 30s. That used to be the way that it worked. And everything's gotten younger. I think the next step that we're going to see in management, considering, keeping in mind here, the new class of owner does not care how you did business before. Okay, Bill Foley doesn't care how the Jacobs family and the Wirtz family and the Illiches and the Snyders used to do business around these parts.

They don't, he does not care. And the new class of owner, even though a lot of times, like you see this with Bill Haslam in Nashville right now where, you know, the commissioner in his office will be sort of guiding or helping with the process of bringing in the new manager because the new owner doesn't know the full landscape. I get that. And that's why they're counting the net wide. But I'm firmly believed that with this new class of. owner who have been wildly successful in their other businesses to afford a franchise that's valued at $2 billion. One, they're going to do things their own way because they've been successful in their

own business. And two, a lot of it is going to be driven by data. And I think about private equity investors like we see in New Jersey. And that's why when you said poho for Ben and Chanahan makes a lot of sense because I think we're going to go through a phase here that baseball went through, I don't know, what is it? Which is like 15, 20 years ago. Hockey is late.

Hockey comes to things late. We know that. Which is the philosophy is about to really profoundly change from did you play to can you think. Yeah. And I think there's going to be a lot more of can you think at the manager's. level. Well, what happens to the hockey guys? Hold on. That's where the hockey guy, the new skill that the quote, hockey guys need to have is at that president of hockey operations level where they can translate what happens in the general manager's office to ownership. So they can understand it.

Like that person, and Shanahan's a great example because Shanahan's smart like that and can do it. Someone that has that ability to manage upwards or to talk. upwards. That's kind of where I see all of this evolving right now. And I think Shanahan obviously makes a ton of sense for New Jersey. But there is another name. And again, I am I am not reporting this. I am not saying that this person is even interested in any of these positions. I don't know that anyone's ever called this person for a, for a position in between the general manager and ownership. But if you believe in the reality of someone in the hockey operations office

that needs a skill to explain to people what is happening at the GM's data level with precision and succinctness and in an easy conversational tone, you know who would be great? Alison Beacon. Yes, she would too. Actually, shit, that's a really good one. Allison Luke is a... That's where I thought you were going.

No, but that's a... Wow. Okay, well, you stole my thunder here. You know what I was going to say? TSN's Mike Johnson. Mike Johnson. That's a really good point, too. How many times have you watched Johnny do a game,

and he'll do it in like 10 seconds, explain something that has like an analytical background to it, and like drill it down and synthesize it really quickly and explain it to hockey fans, so everybody can understand and never getting Gord Miller's way while doing it. That is such a skill. That is such a skill that I can't help. And again, I'm not saying that Mike Johnson even wants this or anyone's even called him,

although I think Keith probably probably hired him at TSN. But I don't know that he's even any of these conversations. But that name to me makes a ton of sense. I like it. I think that's really smart. I'll say this, though, like the interesting thing about Shanahan as a president of hockey operations, And I should say that like last night when I was calling around, he has had discussions with the predators for their opening. I don't think there's any shock there.

The guy wants to get back into the business. And quite frankly, I think if the devil's job is open and they want to talk to him, like he'd be much more desirous to live in the New York metropolitan area again than Nashville. It's just what I know about Shanahan. But he, the thing that Devils fans have sort of coalesced around in the last 24 hours is the idea that Sunny Meda will come home. Now, Sunny's name is like on marquees across North America right now. It's shining in bright lights. Like Luke Fox did a big feature on him on SportsNet today because he's been mentioned in conjunction with the Maple Leafs. Obviously, one of the mantras that they had in their press conferences last week was about being data-driven.

He is a, for those who don't know, former professional poker player founded the Devil's Department of Analytics, went down to Florida. became an assistant general manager for the Florida Panthers, won two Stanley Cups there. He's now got the hockey bona fides to go along with the data bona fides, extremely respected guy and somebody who's probably ready to take on this challenge. But I think the reason why it's such an interesting combo him in Shanahan is because I do think that there is, as much as I agree with you, like the president of hockey operations job should be that go between that Mike Johnson type

to translate the data stuff to ownership. I think what these teams will end up doing because they are afraid about going, they're canniballing into that pool when it comes to analytics and data is they need a hockey guy. And to me, what Shanahan does is he allows Sonny to do all of the things

that Sunny does well, player evaluation, data, analytics. This guy, by the way, had I think Jesper Brat third or fourth on his draft board in the year the doubles drafted him and nailed that. pretty well.

But Shanahan then can be the guy that goes and talks to Jack Hughes as a peer, as a guy who was a top draft pick in the late 1980s and became a star and became a Hall of Famer. And I think teams will look to have that one of the 200 hockey men as the president and then have the data person as the as the GM. I think that might be the setup. And in fact, in Nashville, I mean, whether or not they go. with a data person and a hockey guy.

I think I've come to understand that that's the template they're looking at, which is to have a former GM be the president of hockey operations. And then one of these AGMs that they're talking to, and we've heard a ton of different names in the last two weeks, replaces Barry Trouts in a one-for-one way. Sheldon Keefe. Now, can you refresh my memory on what Shanny's relationship was with Keefe? Was it adversarial?

Was it like he's Kyle's guy, so I don't like him? Like, what was it? No, I don't, I never heard that it was an adversarial type relationship. Yeah, that's what I thought too. I thought I thought Shanahan potentially taking over the devils would be good for Sheldon. Like maybe Sheldon has somebody he's familiar with and is familiar with him in the power structure. The one thing, again, one of the, one of the strongest skill sets that Sheldon Keefe has is, some say, if you believe you can, it's impossible to over prepare, then Sheldon Keefe is your guy.

Because when you talk about providing your players with enough information to prepare for a game, that's what Sheldon Keefe is consumed by. And to me, if, if you're looking at a situation in New Jersey, whether it's Sunny Meadow or someone like him in conjunction with Brendan Shanahan, to me, this is an easy, yeah, he's our coach, he stays. It's not that traditional. Well, the general manager has the right to pick the wrong guy. He's still the right guy.

There's something that went on this year, though, Merrick. There's something that went on this year. For Keef, there's no such thing as too much information. And I think that's why Hibundubis always got along. But like, there's something that went on with them this year. And I'm dying to know exactly what it was because they were playing a different way earlier in the season. And it felt like someone was trying to get them to play the right way. I'm using air quotes here to prepare them for more of a playoff style.

We've seen it time and time again with teams, whether it was Dale Hunter coming in and making Alex Ovescun, you know, a 25 goal score or John Cooper basically cracking the whip after they got upset by the Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampa and getting results for it. But like the team that we're seeing now is the team that the devils are. They're an up and down rush team. They're creating offensive chances. They're exciting to watch. Jack is letting his freak flag fly offensively every night. And the team that we saw earlier this season was different. And I can't tell if that was Sheldon, if that was Fitzgerald.

I don't know where it was coming from. But maybe they've decided that was stupid and dumb. And if that's the case, then maybe Sheldon deserves to get into their crack at this. You know what I wonder about? I wonder about with this new group. And again, we'll see what happens with these hires. Maybe we're talking about something that's not going to happen at all. And maybe it's going to be like, you know, 20 years.

veterans that just end up taking these positions. But again, like given this idea of, you know, new thinking at the manager's level, because traditionally there's always been the belief that there is one way to play in the playoffs. And everybody sort of clamors for that towards the end of the season at trade deadline as everybody tries to muscle up. I, the one thing that managers don't do is just lean into their strengths and double down on their strengths.

I wonder if that changes, and I wonder if that changes in New Jersey. Whereas no longer just the, oh, it's a playoff style now, and so this is how we have to react. And then you just end up watering down what you already do well, as opposed to doubling down

on what you already do that got you to the playoffs. Right. So let's talk Nashville real quick, because obviously, like, the minute fits in the double split. Everybody was thinking about the predators and rightfully so i mean it's been speculated about for months that the first team captain and franchise history would come back and be their president of hockey operations um i i don't

have any inside knowledge as far as what conversations have had or not happened between fits and the predators but it's one of those deals where you cover this game long enough american you know this there's enough smoke there that you figure something's cooking um just like the one name Burkey and the Maple Leafs when he was in Anaheim? Oh, God. You know, the moment I knew something was cooking there was when they hired his coach before he even committed to come to the Maple Leafs. One name I think deserves monitoring for the Predators is another Florida Panthers assistant.

And that's Brett Peterson, who I know I was talked to them. again like copycat league one team wins back to back cups maybe you want to borrow from their from their brain trust um that's a name i think could be one to watch with national but again i think it's going to be underneath somebody who's who's got some some experience some GM experience uh in a in a president of hockey operations role there and it could be that's uh interesting you know again like with with with Nashville considering it is a new owner i think this is going to be one of those, and it already has been. Like a lot of people have already been in. I think it's going to be one of those. Let's cast this net far and wide because the new owner has been here for a cozy five minutes.

Let's get to know the landscape. Anyhow, shifting gears, changing our attention now to the Dallas stars, one of our favorite teams to talk about, one of our favorite teams to cover, certainly, and a team that always has high expectations. Josh Bogorad is the play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars. He joins us on the program now. Josh, first of all, thanks for stopping by today. Great to see you. And how healthy is this team right now? And how close is this team to being 100% health? Because with Dallas, I just want, like, a really, really healthy Dallas stars for this first round,

which is going to be insanity. Agreed. Yeah. So how healthy are they? Well, first of all, it's great to be here and good to be with you guys. I promise you everyone in Dallas really wants a healthy team too because, yeah, it's going to be a heck of an opening round. It sure looks like. I don't know how healthy anyone is this time of year, any year, but especially with a condensed schedule.

So with that, I think that, yeah, the injury bug has bit Dallas pretty hard. And it's been a season-long thing. I mean, you go back to training camp and preseason when it started. And Jamie Ben, the captain, had a collapsed lung, and he missed the first 19 games of the season. And in game three of the year, the home opener, Matt Duchenne, took that shot from Jake Middleton against Minnesota, coincidentally enough. And then he missed most of the first two months. And Tyler Sagan goes down, and he's out for the year. And Miko Ranton and just working his way back.

You're still without Radick Foxy. You're still without Ropee Hints. Thomas Harley missed some time. It's kind of this long list of injuries, and it's been a season-long plague. And I think that if you watch this team on a daily basis, the way I have, the way people in Dallas have, it makes what they've done so much more impressive because they never really faltered out of contending status, even if they had a couple of dips here and there through all of that, through like, how, half of their top six out of the lineup, key guys that wear letters, big time players.

You guys know not all injuries are created equally. But the million dollar question is the one that you asked, and that's as we sit here, what about a week and a half away from game one of a playoff series against what's going to be another Stanley Cup contender in the opening round, you still are without a handful of pretty key individuals. Now, it sounds like there's good news on the horizon, but any time you, or two weeks out, that's the question because you obviously want to get those guys back as quickly as you can, integrate them into the lineup, not have necessarily the first couple of games

be playoff games. But I don't know what that's going to look like. It's going to be a storyline to monitor here over five games and 10 nights until we get that meeting that you're talking about in the first round. Well, let's talk about that meeting. What's your tail of the tape between Dallas and Minnesota. To me, to me the fatal flaw for the wild continues to be the middle of their lineup. I just don't understand what Billy Garron's doing, building the team that he built. And then the roster continues to end up being a donut to the point where he even traded one of his best centers away in the Quinn Hughes deal.

Is that a distinct advantage for Dallas? How do you break down Dallas and Minnesota as a first round series? It's good that that's the question that was phrased at the end. Because if you think, if you ask at the beginning, what do you think of the matchup? have to go overtime and conversation is about the playoff format because that's definitely a hot topic conversation wish. I like it. I like it.

I like I don't have a dog in the, listen, I don't have a dog in it. So I just want to see like to my earlier point, I let you finish your job. I just want to see like really healthy teams face off against each other early because if it's like, you know, second round, third round, there's going to be built on excuses and dings and bruises and collapsed lungs and broken ribs, etc. Anyway, continue. I like, personally, I like it. I like it.

It's a fair point. Our last topic, notwithstanding, if you have these two teams healthy, it's the marquee matchup of the opening round. It's just so happens that it feels like the Central Division has brought the marquee matchup of the opening round kind of seasonally. It's an annual tradition, it feels like. But look, the format is what it is, and it's going to be fantastic hockey. I do think, you know, the cliches are true.

It's a shame that one of those teams is not going to get out of the first round because it's going to cast a pretty large shadow on what was an otherwise outstanding year for both of them. But as for the matchup that you're asking, I think it's going to be a terrific matchup. And I think it's ripe with storylines. It kind of feels like Jason Robertson and Kareil Kaprisov have always been mentioned together because of when they entered and, you know, going one, two, and, you know, going one, two, in the calendar race and each having seasons that has surpassed what the other one is done and they're

going to meet his 40 goal scores. And then you're going to have two of the few teams that have 40 goal teammates because you add Boldie and you add Wyatt Johnston into the mix. Miko Ranton is always going to be a story because of who he is and what he did last year. But then he goes up in this playoff series against another central division opponent after what he did last year against. Colorado in that opening round and then Winnipeg in the second round. Jake Otter is from Minnesota and has kind of tormented them in his career and been a thorn in their side. I don't think it's lost on anyone the fact that Bill Guerin, who is the architect of Team

USA's gold medal winning roster, and it's worth pointing out that they won gold and a huge congratulations because as a U.S. hockey fan and with a guy too, you know, smaller kids that got to watch that and that got to be their moment. That was a huge moment for USA hockey. But now Jason Robertson's going to go against his team in the first round of the playoffs with probably a decent size chip on his shoulder. And that's going to be a storyline to watch. What the future, you guys were talking about, Quinn Hughes earlier.

What does his future look like? And does this postseason and a long run or a lack of one play a role in it? And so not only are you taking two of legitimately, without hyperbole, the best teams in the National Hockey League and facing them against one another, but you're adding these storylines too. Oh, by the way, Dallas and Minnesota, they kind of have an intertwined history between the two of themselves. And the fans of Minnesota, I have no doubt that within 20 minutes of that first game, we're

going to hear Norm Green's name coming from the crowd. the building in St. Paul. It's, I mean, if you are a hockey fan, and I know everybody tuning in is, present company included, yeah, it's fantastic. It's fantastic hockey. It's fantastic drama. It's fantastic storylines. And however this thing goes, it's going to be worth watching from game one through however

long it finishes, because this is, I mean, this is a matchup that for so many reasons is fascinating. the norm green cup right like that's that's that's yeah i'm glad i'm glad you mentioned norm green like my hockey history heart is like oh josh oh yes i i just love it so here here's another i'm here for you man no listen listen i'm at the point where it's like hey it's a norm green cup and like if you want to like really add more spice to the chili here uh only one team is allowed to wear green after this series do you want to put green on the line either minnesota keeps it or dallas keeps it the green on a pole match. Look at you.

It's like there wasn't enough already there. You want to add the cherry on top to this. One team is wearing... One team is wearing purple next year. Josh, will it be? Dallas? Will it be... No, but you know, like... And here's another thing for, like,

one of my favorite players in league is Wyatt Johnson. I'm glad you mentioned it. Is this the quietest 41 goals in the NHL this season? We always talk about, like, who's got, like, the quietest stats? This one's got to be right up there. I mean, in the market, sure, but outside, barely a whisper about how good a season he's having. I think it might be, honestly, it's so unassuming. 25 of them have come on the power play.

He's inching into pretty like rarefied territory when you look at that. And I think a lot of people forget he's 22 years old because he's been in the league for four years. And he hasn't missed the game since he came in. I think he's kind of just been this name that if it's not necessarily, one of the marquee names from a national standpoint in both countries, then it certainly is right on the outside of it. But he's 22. How many guys haven't even started their career at the NHL level by the time they're 22 and what he's doing? And he just keeps ascending, you know, as a 19-year-old, he looked apart. As a 20-year-old, he looked apart. It's three straight 30-goal seasons,

and now 40. And you don't really know where the ceiling is. The thing is he kills penalties. He plays on the power play, obviously, with 25 league leading power play goals. He can play in the middle of the ice. He can play on the wing. I was talking to him about his power play run this year.

And he said that in his entire career, and he was obviously a standout all the way up through the amateur ranks and was part of that weird COVID missing OHL season when he was, with Windsor. But in all of his time at whatever level it was, whether it was international or whether it was juniors or whether it was the NHL prior to this year, he had never been the net front guy on a power play. This was the first time. And he's been historically good, literally, historically good, setting the franchise record and who knows where is it going to stop. And I think that's a testament

to how intelligent he is. And we always talk about these, you know, intangibles and what can't you teach and what can you teach and I think he is such a smart player he is so impressive in how he plays the game how he thinks the game his skill set speaks for itself but the fact that you can move him around at a young age and and put him in different spots and just have him not only look like he belongs but excel maybe to a tune that nobody else in the league is doing. Yeah, I think that it's impossible to shower enough praise based on what he's done at this point in his career. And I, without a doubt, would say it's one of the more quiet superstar seasons in the league. Everybody was disappointed last year when the team went out.

Like all the players, everybody, coaches, management. It seems as if Wyatt Johnston almost like really took it personally. What I kept hearing was the question he kept asking was, like, what am I doing wrong? Like what do I need to do? How do I need to play in the playoffs? Which is why for me in this opening round, he's the most interesting player. Because he's the one that's like completely self-aware.

He knows what happened last year in the playoffs. And he has gone sort of out of his way to understand and to try to change how he plays so he can have more success. You know, some guys be like, oh, well, I ran up against a tough team anyway, summer golf time, but he like almost like took it personally. Like that was the sense that I got. Did you get that from from White Johnson too? That was a sense that I took away from all of it.

Yeah, I think he's always looking to improve. And I think that he knows even at this early stage of his career that he is a go-to player on a Stanley Cup contending team. So, you know, it's great for us to talk about his age and showcase that. But he doesn't really care. He knows where he is. But I also think it's, worth going back a couple of years ago because in his three seasons, he's gone on three runs to the conference finals. So he's no stranger to postseason history. Last year was a rough playoffs, and there's no way about it. And he wasn't the only one. But it's not like he hasn't proven that he can play in the moment. Because if you flash back two years ago, when the route really

wasn't any easier, you know, we're talking about the central division bracket. they had to go up against the defending cup champions in Vegas, and they had to go up against the prior defending cup champions in the Colorado Avalanche before they met the Oilers for the first time. And Wyatt led him in goal scoring. And he had a double-digit goal scoring campaign. So he has big-time playoff performances on his resume. And what he's done, everyone talks about Miko Ranton and for good reason last year.

I mean, the seven-game series against Colorado, was, you could make a movie out of it and feel like there's no way it was real. But it was Wyatt who scored the tie-breaking series winning goal. It was the goal that made it 3-2 before Miko finished the hat trick for the empty netter. The year before that, when it was game seven against Vegas, two-one stars win, Wyatt was the guy who opened the scoring and made it 1-0 Dallas. You go back a couple of years even before that, and when they played Seattle, in game seven. It was Wyatt who scored a huge goal in the third period, almost individually

coming off the corner and giving the stars a breathing room. That wound up being the series winning goals. So last year was rough and there's no excusing that. But I also think when he's looking at it, he's not thinking, man, I have to break through in the playoffs. He's thinking, I've got to do more of what I've done prior to last year. But just like everyone else, it's not going to come easy because like we're talking about, you're going to have a pretty hungry and pretty good team standing on the other side of the ice. As we like to see around here, we'll hand it over to Greg on this one. The other team's allowed to try to.

The other teams allowed to try. I've heard that. Yeah, I've heard that once or twice. All right. Well, last one for me, like I wanted to, you mentioned the three trips to the conference finals, and there was a guy that took part in all three of those trips, name of Pete DeBoer, who is now the head coach of the New York Islanders.

I wanted to get your reaction to Pete taking over a team with four games left in their season and also like a dude that was going to have his picket litter. You know, he was standing in front of the NHL coaching buffet chooses the Islanders. What did you think of that? Yeah, I was, candidly, I was surprised and not surprised that he got a job

and not surprised that he got a job this season. And I kind of thought it would happen at some point. I definitely thought it would be earlier than April. It's kind of crazy that there have been these two coaching changes at the time, teams and playoff spots. I know the Islanders, you know, just fell on the outside, but there's still four games left. When Pete's tenure in Dallas ended, I think everybody realized you look at his resume and he was going to land somewhere. And to your point, he was going to be able to call his own shot. I didn't necessarily see this coming, whether it was the timing of it or whether, you know, it was the location.

But, you know, I think it's a crazy commentary on the league and the profession. I know that when Pete was in Dallas, every time there would be a coaching change and then he would get asked about it at the time as the head coach of the stars, he would sometimes like go on a pretty entertaining soliloquy about what it's like to be a coach because it's crazy. And I find, you know, some sense of irony that his, his now arrival on Long Island is, I find myself amused at what his reaction would have been if it was him being asked about it on the outside and someone else went in. Because I mean, that's about as crazy and surreal a situation. as it gets. But he's got a lot of good pieces over there. I know it's kind of falling off the tracks a little bit at the end.

I think that if you're a coach and you're looking and you get to build around Schaefer and what he's done and some other guys, it's going to be nice looking down at your bench and having that name to call as long as you can. I think he's going to do good things over there because I think he's a good coach. I don't know what four games looks like. I know the new coach bum. I don't know if it applies to April and I don't know if it applies to a playoff chase like this because we've never seen it before. But regardless of how this year ends,

once he has a chance to kind of dig his claws into the season and start with them, I expect he'll have success there because he's definitely been a successful coach wherever he's gone. Schaefer, Seroken, Barzal, Not bad. Horvat. You got your blue line.

It's not bad. You got your goalie. You got your centers. That's a really, really good starts for Pete DeBor. Josh, it's been a lot of fun. Let's do it all again. When the Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wilde and get to keep the green. All right.

It sounds like a plan. Just in case the guys aren't tuning in, I'll make sure I tell them that you've added to what's on the line. Stipulation. Yes, green. Yeah. It's like you're, it's, your version of money on the board. And we'll make sure they all know about it.

Listen, I insist on having a green background. I love the color green. It relaxes your eyes. Other sports have it. I think it's brilliant. I think there needs to be more green in the NHL. But here I am taking one team away from one of my favorite colors. But nonetheless, Josh, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your expertise.

We really appreciate it, pal. Thanks, man. Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thanks, guys. Have a good one. That was, what do you think about that idea? Adding side? Because listen, we always see, oh, the mayor of the one city is going to wear the other team's jersey at city council the next day.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, after a series, like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Put something on the line. You got to raise the stakes. I remember in early incarnations of Jets Giants games in the NFL, I always thought the Giants should put the name of the stadium up in the game. Because it was giant stadium for a very long time. The Jets obviously were a team that was just like playing in it. I'm like, put it on the line, man. Jets win, it becomes jet stadium.

Giants win, the jets fold. Either way, it's great for me. Because I'd be free of the curse, you see. Right, of course. So the De Boer thing yesterday was I was at the Islander's practice facility for all the DeBoer stuff. And it was so refreshing to hear a coach lay it out for you why he made his decision. And it all makes sense. And you know he's being truthful about it.

And in the case of the day, to bore yesterday. He said, I don't want to travel like I have been in the Western Conference for the last decade. I want to coach in New York and then take buses to Philly. Oh, by the way, it's super fun being in this division. Like when I was the Devils coach and playing, you know, doubles Rangers games and Islanders Rangers games. Like, it's super fun.

And then on top of that, he's like, by the way, I got a lot of friends here. I don't know if you guys know Bob Boogner. He was like a buddy of mine in San Jose. and like all of Lou La Morillo's underlings from the Devils came to work for him with the Islanders. So like I know a bunch of people here. I don't know like anybody in L.A. And the last thing was that he said Matthew Darge sold him on the vision for the franchise,

which I imagine Merrick, like you said, is just literally holding up a poster of Matthew Schaefer and saying, hey, remember this guy that you scouted for the Canadian Olympic team for like a year? And we're like, oh my God, this guy is a miracle. maybe put him on. They were like, I don't know,

he's too much if a baby, don't put him on. You can now be his coach for a really long time and then Pete's like, yeah, that's a great idea. I like your vision.

You can have this guy on the ice for 30 minutes a night. Well, the other thing about the islanders, I look at the lineup, but I think about how, a couple of things come to mind. One, the thing about Pete DeBore and Josh could have mentioned this as well

if we asked them, the way that he runs his bench, specifically with forwards, nobody gets more than 20 minutes and nobody gets less than 10. Like, that is how he runs it. The other thing that we know about Pete DeBore is, and you need big bodies for this one,

and the Islanders have eight big bodies up front, and also they have bodies that even though they're not six foot three, Casey Sazikis, still play like that. And the thing about DeBore's teams is his big thing has always been shooting from the point, not to score, or not even for tips, but to make rebounds. that's always been a major component of what Pete DeBoer, everywhere he's gone, San Jose, Vegas, Dallas, make rebounds.

His big thing has always been, that's how playoff goals are scored, and that's how we're going to train ourselves to score goals. For that, you need big bodies around the net. Islanders have big bodies that they can place around the net for that. So even stylistically, it does seem like a real fit for Pete DeBore. And I think it's kind of great that he gets, I mean, like, listen,

have no expectation the Outers are going to make the playoffs right now. I mean, you know, even if they went out, they don't control their own fate. I don't think in the Eastern Conference. But the fact that he gets a few games and gets a little bit of runway and gets to see some of these guys live and in person instead of just being on a piece of paper that he was, that he printed out when he found out he was going to be the Outers coach. Like, I think that does a lot towards the summer, towards training camp, to just get in now and get to know these guys and see how they react in pressure situations. Like, that's great.

It's good for him. Hey, we did, so I was off last week, so we didn't get a chance to talk about torts. Like, yeah. What is your take on that? It's such a unique deal to have somebody come in and basically be like, here are the keys to the, to the house for the next three months. See, see what you can do with it. What did you make of that?

My first thought was, and still is, it's a desperation move, but that's okay. Sometimes your situation, your team's in a desperate situation. and that's why you make that move. I think that Kelly McCriman understood that much like as what happened with the Boston Bruins, these players had checked out

on Bruce Cassidy, and you saw it, game in and game out. And regardless of whether it's, you know, eight games, 18 games, 28 games, again, like I referenced Bill fully before, the new owners don't care how you're supposed to do business.

Heading into a situation, Like there were people in the organization that even though the Vegas Golden Knights made the playoffs still got fired, right? They still got. Or jettisoned. Yeah. Like they still got fired or to your point, Toyota point jettisoned as well.

So I think this is a very demanding owner. We all know that this is, again, I've always used the phrase ruthless and I've meant it as a compliment, although there is someone in that organization that really hates it when I say that. And I'm going to hear it again for that person because I've said it again. Let that person push back all they want. They're a ruthless organization. My God.

It's a compliment, though. It's a compliment. And I think this is in that long line of, A, Vegas doesn't care how you think they should do business. They're going to do business as they see fit. But make no mistake about it. Going to Torts is the Hail of America. You know, you mentioned Alison Lucan at the top of the show. She had a great idea or a great sort of theory about.

about all of this. And I don't know if he can turn this into like a David Cassidy, a kung fu rip. But it's almost, you wonder if like John Tortorella turns into like this guy that goes from team to team. Like Harvey Kytel in Pulp Fiction. He's in as the fix. Oh, the wolf.

The wolf is the wolf. Yeah. This is Shane. He's the wolf. Here comes. And so a team needs, needs fixing. Okay. John Todorella comes in and cleans everything up by the end of the season.

And you're ready to go for. either the playoffs or next season. That would be fascinating. The interior of the cars all stain free. If you get stopped by the cops, you don't have to worry about there being like pieces of Marvin. Yes, yes, yes. Precisely.

No, that's, I think that's true. The other things about it, like, it's no secret who Vegas is going to have to play. They're going to either have to play Anaheim or the Oilers or the mammoth. And all three of those teams, they can go. Like they can get on their offensive force and ride, right? And so I think

not only do you need better effort in order to defend against those teams, but you know, having a torts system in place is probably beneficial. And if you look at the first three games, all the victories, by the way, for torts, their expected goals against 5-on-5 was minuscule.

And I think that they are already, you're seeing the tightening of their defensive system in preparation for what they're going to have to face in the playoffs. And the other thing, too, unless I'm wrong, I think two of those three games were Carter Hart starts. And that was the one thing that really struck me. Like, towards the end of his run in Philly,

his in this case being Carter Hearts, kind of started to figure things out. Like he was actually playing okay until he obviously had to go because of the hockey Canada case. and his coach at the time there was John Tortorella. And I don't think it's a secret that the Golden Knights gold hunting has been atrocious this year. And maybe Kelly McCriman saw torts as, okay, so I've got this guy, Carter Hart. I believe his ceiling is the highest of the goalies that we have on this roster.

Maybe there is a way I can bring that out of him if I reunite him with a coach that was kind of figuring things out with Carter Hart before things fell apart in Philly. Could be. I hadn't considered that. the goal tending thing, I think you're spot on. My first thought was, to be blown with you, is can Tortorella play net? Like, is John, is John taken over for Aiden Hill here?

Is he going to be the, the goaltender of record? Like, look, I don't know if this works. And if it doesn't work, everybody in the organization probably looks up at the owner and says, okay, what and how boss? Because this is a very demanding organization, as we've seen. But having said that,

not that they play the games on paper but you look at the Vegas Golden Knights on paper and you look at the standings and you say to yourself this is not right. This is a much better team than they show this season. Are you trying to say if they don't succeed that there's a chance

that a former professional poker player may find himself as the general manager is the Vegas Golden Knights? Is that what you're trying to say, Merrick? Listen, as you said, like Sunny Mehta's name is on everyone's lips. It's crazy, right? I think he's a friend of the show. did we have him on?

I feel like we had him on. Don't think we ever had that we had, don't think we ever had Sunny on. I've talked to Sunny on a number of occasions. He's a fascinating guy. I love chat with him. I always, I always feel bad that I don't talk to him more. But like whenever I bump into him, it's like the best conversation.

Loves jazz. Next time we talk to him, ask him about John Coltrane. Mm-hmm. Ask him about John Coltrane because then, honestly, it's 30, it's, you get a 30-minute dissertation on the history of John Colt. He's like, honestly, you know, is, easily one of the most interesting people in the entire NHL. That sounds great.

I feel like if I ask him about jazz, it's really going to cut it to our time shit talking to the other teams in the league. Investing something positive. Talk about like Charlie Mingus and, you know, like anybody else. Like Thelonious Monk, invest in learning something. The thing, to go back to Vegas for a second, the thing I had the problem with of being a Hail Mary is that like, the path is there.

The path is there for them. It's there for the Oilers. It's there for the ducks. The path is there for one of these teams to make a run through the, what I will call the 67 blues side of the bracket. To get to the West of the conference. Oh, my God. My second, my hockey history heart, oh, boy.

Just a flutter with that. Your 67 blues, your path is right there, right there for you. It's the only cup three times in a row, not win a game. Our path is done, though. This is the end. Welcome back. We'll talk to you again on, I believe, Thursday. There may be a mitigating circumstance, which we're trying to work out.

And I'm going to be trying to work out here in about 15 minutes. So I got a punt. Let me know. You know, I got nothing else going on. I could figure out life. And no, I just may have to. We just have to get later this week. We just may have to move to a separate day.

We may be. We may be traveling. We'll see. That's fine. I know it's up in the air right now. The only place I know I'm going is Sunday. I will be attending what could be the final Crosby versus Ovechkin game in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.

So I am going to what could be the final Ovechkin versus the Maple Leafs game tomorrow. Yeah. That's at Scotia Bank. It's kind of crazy. We don't know anything. Is that crazy? What? Is that crazy we don't know yet?

I know. you know, I thought about something that you said a while ago, and it really kind of stuck with me. Like, maybe we don't get an answer by the end of the season. You mentioned that about a month ago. I mentioned that. It's always stuck with me. Like, you know what?

We've just assumed. Why should we assume? One, he might not know. And then two, like, it was a real thing last year where he felt like shit for having overtaken his team season with the Gretzky chase. And he didn't want to do it for a second straight season. Now, we're so late in the day that he could just announce it, you know, on Saturday before the caps play the penguins in Pittsburgh.

And then there's going to be a mania for about a week and then we're done with it. But maybe he doesn't know. I honestly don't know, man. I don't know where the wind's blowing on this. I get the sense that he might be done. But I don't know for sure. And but I do know that like, I want to be there. Sunday.

Like the, the emotional night of the afternoon of not only playing against the penguins, but also just having that hanging over the game and how the crowd reacts to that is just going to be a real surreal moment. I agree. I don't disagree. We shall see. Well, anyway, we'll talk to you before then, though, one way or another. Thanks, pal.

I say goodbye. Oh, hang on. Little rat. No, you need the magnet. You need the rat. Magnet. Okay, very well, everybody thinks this is a hairpiece, but I honestly can't slip it under here. It's not really a hairpiece.

I can just put the around on top of my head and say, hey, look, he's operating me. That's how I blog. We knew we were getting props. All right, there he is. Greg Wyshanski from ESPN and ESPN.com. We've got to hustle through a couple of things here because we've got to sort out what we're doing in the next little while. And that's going to happen here in a few moments. In the meantime, we are pleased, as we mentioned earlier on this week, to once again have our good friends at Airbnb back.

On board. You know, Zach, it's that time of year again where kids hockey really starts to wind down. Bittersweet, right? Maybe a couple of games left. Maybe a tournament, but that's about it. You know, I've got two boys that play hockey. You played minor hockey at a high level, and I'll tell you, you know what the truth about all of it is, right? What's that?

Do you remember the games or do you remember the travel tournaments? Tournaments, hands down. They were the best. Right? For players and also for parents. And what our family started to do a few years ago is book places on Airbnb. I remember when we started, it was a baseball trip in Barry Ontario. And one of the parents asked if we wanted to book on Airbnb together. Sure, let's give it a shot.

Best decision. You know why? Why? Laundry. Baseball uniforms get dirty. Having that washer dryer right there was a godsend. Plus, the kids had an absolute ball. Pardon the pun.

Been booking on Airbnb ever since. And hockey tournaments? You need all the space you can get to air out a hockey bag. You know that. So, yeah, you book places on Airbnb too, right? Yeah, I book places on Airbnb all the time. A bunch of my old minor hockey buddies and I are all kind of getting to that age here and now. Everybody's getting married.

So we just booked a whole home together for this summer for a wedding. It makes it really easy. It gets everybody together in one spot. You remember that place we booked on Airbnb in Muscoa last summer for work, right? How great was that? Place was gorgeous, right on the water, clean, spacious, and the big bonus, hot tub. Yeah, that place was perfect. You start the day in the water, you end the day in the water, nothing beats it.

It was easy too. We just showed up, picked up the key, and that was it. Really simple. You know, the next time our family is away, we're looking at hosting on Airbnb. It's super flexible, practical, and helps cover the cost of a vacation or building another rink in the backyard next winter. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. We thank our friends at Airbnb once again for being aboard here on the sheet.

The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fanduel is the NHL season and Fandul is your home for all the action on the ice. I hope Zach is all warmed up for this one. From Blue Line to Bet Slip, we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, more features to let you play your game. Miss Puck Drop, no sweat with a live same game parlay. You can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fan Duelsports book today and play your game. Please play responsibly, 19 plus and physically located in Ontario.

If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-5-3-1-2-6-100 to speak to an advisor free of charge. urge, Zach? Well, as I said there, as you all just heard from me, I have been preparing to go to weddings this summer with all of my buddies. And I was talking to one of them about getting ready for his wedding and all the things that are going into it because we've got a hockey tournament coming up in a couple of weeks because we went undefeated in regular season. But he can't come because he's got to go into taste testing for his wedding and what the meals and food are going to be. And he was telling us that one of the things that they have to do is go to a cheese factory to pick out all the cheeses for the platter and everything, Jeff. Yeah, okay.

Sounds interesting, yeah. I've, I've never been to a cheese factory, but I don't think I'd like it if the cheese is moldy and stanky. I just like mine. So Logan Stankhoven is part of this one here. So Jamie Ben, Lorgan Stankhoven, Matt Boldy. I've never been to a cheese factory, but I don't think I'd like it if the cheese is more. moldy and stank.

I just like mine bold. $5 wins you $213 and one penny rattling in your jeans. That's a good one. You know what? Thank you. I appreciate a good cheese punter too. That's good. I like that one.

That's very good. Now, as the show winds down, off to the gym with you to get shredded. Sorry. Oh, no. Come on. All right, I'm out of here. That's good. My work here is done.

On behalf of the whole crew, thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks to Greg Wischinski for stopping by the program. Josh Bogorad from the Dallas Stars Play-by-Play. And Color group, play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars for stopping by the program today. Thank you, Josh. That was outstanding.

The winners get to keep the green. How about that one for you? Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. If you have subscribed to our daily face-off YouTube channel. Thank you. If you haven't, please consider doing so. So subscribe. See that red thing that just popped up the job that Zach put up there?

Yeah, that one. Subscribe. Please. We're back tomorrow. One o'clock with the sheet. Enjoy your day. I was last night. Editions dated.