The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Devils Hire Mehta, Canucks Fire Allvin, and Leafs Talk To Sundin ft. Brian Burke & David Pagnotta

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Today on The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke to wrap up the NHL regular season and look ahead to what promises to be a thrilling playoff run. They begin with a historic milestone as Macklin Celebrini hits 115 points, setting a new single-season record for the San Jose Sharks, surpassing Joe Thornton. Marek and Burke break down what Celebrini’s season means for the Sharks’ future before shifting their focus to the playoffs — highlighting the most exciting matchups, the storylines to watch, and which series could steal the spotlight in round one. They also dig into the Toronto Maple Leafs’ search for a new president and general manager, discussing how the organization may reshape its leadership heading into a critical offseason.Later in the show, David Pagnotta joins Jeff to report on the Leafs exploring a potential front-office role for Mats Sundin, as well as the fallout from locker clean-out day — including Auston Matthews’ comments about the future and William Nylander’s quick 92-second availability. Pagnotta details who Toronto has interviewed so far and which candidates the organization appears to be leaning toward. The conversation then shifts around the league with reaction to the New Jersey Devils hiring Sunny Mehta as GM, what the next phase of their build could look like, and the Vancouver Canucks’ decision to move on from Patrick Allvin.#TheSheet #NHL #StanleyCupPlayoffs #MacklinCelebrini #SanJoseSharks #LeafsForever #TorontoMapleLeafs #MatsSundin #AustonMatthews #WilliamNylander #BrianBurke #DavidPagnotta #NJDevils #VancouverCanucks #HockeyLeave 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.

Vancouver, Toronto and New Jersey. We are looking your direction today on the sheet for this Friday, April the 17th, wrapping up with a pretty newsy day. New Jersey's got a new general manager. Vancouver's looking for a new general manager. And the Toronto Maple Leafs, well, they might just be looking for everything. And we have someone who's returned from Australia. I want to get to them right away.

Also, Dave Panyoda is going to be stopping by at the bottom of the hour. Let's let you know what you are in store for for the next 60 plus. minutes here on the sheet. The blueprint is powered by Fandual. Download the app and play your game on Fandual. Coming up on the program at a couple of moments, he's back from the land of the kangaroo, and we're going to bounce around topics with him, most notably New Jersey, Toronto, and Vancouver, as I mentioned. Wrap up the season, have a look at the playoffs, series that we have a good handle on, and series that we have no clue about.

Boston Buffalo, I'm looking your direction. As I mentioned, Dave Panyota, DFO. insider stops by at the bottom of the hour. We'll talk about one hire specifically, and that is Sunny Mehta, with the New Jersey Devils hiring him away from the Florida Panthers and other stories and speculation about GM searches around the NHL. In the meantime, someone who actually did join us from Australia as well, even though it was an ungodly hour of like 3 a.m. Brian Burke has returned, and he joins me now on the sheet.

First of all, Berkey, welcome back, and we thought of you when we were in Penticton last weekend, where we went to the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame, which is gorgeous. A gentleman by the name of Pat Lawyer, who used to play for the Brandon Weekings of the Western Hockey League. He's the curator and puts it all together there.

It is gorgeous. And front and center, well, front and center is Kerry Price, but right near Kerry Price, Brian Burke, is you. Before we get to all the news of the day, a quick thought on the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame where you are featured prominently.

Well, it's a great honor to be in any Hall of Fame. I'm in several. I feel very fortunate about that. The BC Hockey Hall of Fame was very proud of that because I spent so much time in Vancouver in two different tours of duty. So very proud and pleased to be part of that hall. And you're right, it is a beautiful facility.

Yeah, it's gorgeous. And as I like to remind people as well, it's free. Make sure you go. And they're going to a Penticton viz game or not. Speaking of Vancouver and British Columbia, the news this morning broken by a Swedish outfit where the writer who broke the story just happens to live in the same town, Lexand, as Patrick Alvin, now the ex-general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. Initial thoughts on this one when you first saw the news. This octopus has a lot of tentacles, but we'll just start with the initial reaction. What did you think, Perky? I was disappointed because Patrick Alvin is a friend of mine.

He worked for me or with me in Pittsburgh. Good guy. I think you did a good job considering. They had about as bad a hand dealt to them as you could have. And Jimmy Ruther was president of hockey operations decided to make the change. I was a little disappointed for Patrick, but I get it. And a lot of went wrong there. And sometimes you have to find out someone pays that price at the end.

You see, there's a lot of conversation around why Alveen out of anyone walks the plank here. And we'll see if there are subsequent other maneuvers in the front office and behind the bench too. But I do find it odd. And maybe more than a little bit odd that the guy who didn't make the big decisions is being fired by the guy who did. What am I missing here? And also fired for the decisions. What am I missing here, Brian? Well, first off, I think you have to go back and look at one major problem

was the goal ending. I don't know how you have fought Patrick Albine for a goal you can't stay healthy. They relied on Thatcher, Demko, who I like very much as a player, he's hurt all the time. Not some of the time, all the time. They're not small injuries.

They're not two-game misses. They're big injuries. I don't know how you plan around that. that's number one. For us, who made the big decisions? You know, like, it depends on how you look at how those decisions are made. But that will be the next question. Is this the last casualty on the tarmac?

You know, Jim Rutherford has one year left on his contract. And you look at this situation. And I think you have to start now considering this is going to be some type of rebuild, obviously for the Vancouver Canucks. I think you need to start looking at, okay, is it not time right now for the Vancouver Canucks to identify the people that they see being here long term and install them as quickly as possible?

And we're all thinking about Ryan Johnson, who's the general manager of Abbotsford. He was identified a while ago as someone who's a key piece for their future. I know that Rutherford will probably want to talk to other candidates for that position, but it does seem as if RJ is the preferred candidate here. And perhaps the logic behind what we saw today is Alvin's not going to be the guy long term.

Ryan Johnson is. Let's bring him in to work with Rutherford for a year. And then, because he's going to be a rookie NHLGM next year, then he can get two hands on the wheel after sitting at the feet of the legend Jim Rutherford for one season. Does that make sense and resonate with you? Well, it makes sense. I'm not sure it resonates with me. It sounds like the plan was in place leading into today.

Sounds like that was what they had in mind. RJ is a quality guy. They won a Calder Cup and all. Yeah, Abbotsford last year. Chilliwack, Abbotsford. Yeah, I was saying Chilliwack, my old days and he's 16. Abbotsford. He's done a good job.

He's a quality guy. But that was the plan. That's kind of low, I think, to do it that way. who was there was a plan all on. A thought on, because now we have to look at this and say, okay, so who are the other people that are going to start to, and again, like the lottery day is going to be massive for Vancouver for obvious reasons.

May 5th is lottery day. That's going to be special for this organization. And I think we're all wondering about Adam Foote and is he the guy for the kids? Because make no mistake about it. Next year and the year after, the only question we'll be asking about the Vancouver Hoover Canucks is are the kids getting better?

And if the kids are getting better, then everyone's doing their job. If the kids aren't getting better, then there's problems. So is the next step now identifying who that right coach is? And if it's not Adam Foote, who could it be? Well, I've got to get the GM nailed down. If they're going to do this with RJ, like I said, if that's part of the plan, I think that's a little low, but that's fine. Get them in there and let them hire a coach if they're going to make a coaching change.

this is something that should be done quickly but it's going to be done because things are moving so fast right now at the league level. Yeah. That's a great point too because as we just saw New Jersey fill the vacancy, Vancouver's involved in it Toronto has their situation going on as well

and it's not just managers but we saw the coaches carousel towards the end of the season as well. Here's one possible complication that others have pointed out to. I just didn't stumble on this myself. Mani Malhotra is in this organization. Mani Malhotra is an excellent coach, to your point, winning the Calder Cup last year with Abbotsford,

highly thought of, highly respected in the industry. And if you're the Vancouver Canucks, you're probably thinking to yourself, okay, we already have Mani Malhotra in our system, coaching Abbotsford. That seems like a natural transition. Until you consider, well, what if the Vancouver Canucks draft Caleb Malhotra?

his son. I don't think any team wants a situation where dad's coaching and the kids, one of the players. Like, do you not have to wait if you're considering Mani Malhotra? And maybe not. Maybe he ends up Toronto or somewhere. If you're, if you're considering drafting Caleb Malhotra, do you not have to wait until after the draft, or sorry, hiring Mani Malhotra, do you not have to wait until after the draft to see if you actually end up with Caleb Malhotra of the Bulldogs? Well, I'd be surprised that. I've been watched Bramford play several games. Caleb Malta is a real deal.

He's really improved. He's been a good player from the start of the year. He's gotten steadily better. He's a really good prospect, really good player. Seems like a really good kid, too. I would take that player and worry about Mani later if I had to. But I didn't have plenty of time to sort this out between now and the draft.

But by no way would you ever, like if you were managing the Vancouver Connox, you would not entertain the idea of dads behind the bench and the kids in front of them. Like, you can't do that at the NHL level, right? That's like, that's minor youth hockey, Timbitt stuff. Except that you deal with everyone maturely and explain everything. I think you could take Manning and explain that to them and say it affects your son's status. Let's wait and see what happens. You could have that conversation.

But I think you're right. I think it's a very dangerous. It's very hard to put. the kid in that spot too if his dad's a coach. Yeah, it's difficult for everyone all around. Have you ever, because this one is really unique, have you ever seen a situation like this where there's a chance that dad might coach his kid? I'm sure I have, but I can't recall one right away.

You got to ask me, Jeff, you can't ask me hard questions without a little buildup. I'm sure, I'm sure there is. You're going to have to pay me more if you're going to ask me the hard questions, Merrick, I don't know what you're going on about here. Let me ask you about the Maple Leafs. I mean, they're going through a situation right now, and as more things trickle out about things like trade deadline, a lot of people are scratching their heads,

which direction this Maple Leafs team is going to go. Mike Gillis has been in, we believe, for a number of interviews as well. Sunny Mehta, who now ends up with the New Jersey Devils, was someone that curried some favor as far as interviews go, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. see this situation playing itself out? And what are the questions that you have? Well, the questions I would have to start with her. One, I believe in Keith Pelly. I like him. I've worked with him in

the past, not directly, but everyone is at TSN. I really like Keith Pelly. I think he'll get this right. I don't like the way some of the interviews are being handled. Interviewing too many people, talking to too many people, speaking too much about what they talk to people about. It's not a very private conversation, not a very private process they're going through. I don't think it's helpful to anyone doing it this way, but I think they'll end up at the right place. What style of general manager does this team need? Or does it all depend on who's coming back? I don't think it changes. I think you need a guy. Look at the teams that are successful. Look at John Cooper. They're accountable guys, they're hard-nosed guys.

They demand performance. They're not, you know, they're not, they don't worry about entitlement or who's, who's, whose feelings am I going to hurt today or tomorrow? They coach the team and coach it well. That hasn't changed. That's going to be, they,

we've loosened up a little bit now. That's a good thing. But the coaches that have been successful in our league are still successful because they follow certain principles. They don't bend their role. They don't have exceptions. They demand a consistent performance, reliable performance.

And the physical side of things is coming back in. It is. It is. Let me swing back to coaches in a second. I'm curious about the nature of the next manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Given that, Austin Matthews, even himself at the closeout, said, I can't predict the future, which I'm sure does not fill a lot of people with confidence. And a captain of interview team, you want to be definitive. I'm coming back.

I'm happy to rebuild this thing. Not rebuild, but turn this thing around. Austin didn't choose to go that route. If you're a minute. He answered, I love it here. I want to be a leaf. I love being the captain. He said all the right things.

Then the media pushed him and said, what about the future? and he said, honestly, I think very candidly, I can't predict the future. He doesn't know what the GM's going to be. He's only got two years left on his deal. I think he gave a very frank and truthful answer. And people don't like it. Because right now they don't like anything Austin does.

What would be the first thing you would try to solve with Toronto? If you're the president of hockey operations right now, Brian, what's the first thing you try to solve? I'd see if I get a GM in here who shares my vision like Tree did with the coach. because if you don't, you've got to replace the coach. I think the coach is done a good job. He's a proven winner. Might not be the right fit, but I find that out right away.

You got to start moving quicker on this stuff. Figure out who the gym's going to be. Figure out if the coach can survive with him. If not, make a change. You get, wait the right proper time and make sure you get the right candidates, but get the right coach in next right away. We talked a lot this week about Rick Bonas.

And game 82, the Carolina, the Columbus Blue Jackets didn't have the best of all possible games against the Washington Capitals. And Rick Bonas wasn't shy about having a good rip at his team. And said, paraphrase here, but I think I have all the right words. If I come back, and he is, he's been rewarded with an extension from Don Waddell. if I come back, I'm changing the culture of this team. First of all, your thoughts on your, what do you do when your coach goes out there, separates himself from the team and talks about them having a culture issue? My radar goes up, you know, one manager that I spoke to said,

when you talk about culture, you're criticizing the general manager. First of all, do you believe that? And second of all, do you have a thought on bonus taking aim at his players, essentially saying they lose but we win? You have a thought on that? I don't mind someone went after a coach. The problem is when you go that hard, you say some things you can't take back.

You tried to walk it back, but they tried to give him an opportunity to walk it back, and he refused. You hurt some feelings there that you can't make those things. There are some things you say in an argument that you can't take. back. It's like when you argue with your wife. There's certain things you cannot say in an argument you can unsay.

You can't repair that relationship. I think he might have gone too hard that time. I'd also question the timing. That's twice now. He's going after his team on the last day of the season. Which I don't get. I don't get. What are you trying to prove? So that part bothered me.

But I really like Rick Bonus. And I think it was clear, you're saying if I come back and you've already worked out a deal, or I'll say magically worked one out the next 24 hours. I don't know. It looks a little fishy to me. The whole, as I looked back on it, I was talking on the show.

There was a sort of pro wrestling element about this. If you know you have the contract in the drawer and you're coming out, how much of that is just performative. Now, mind you, he did get the fan base back. Like, that fan base, make no mistake about it. Like, it looked good for the Columbus Blue Jackets for a while. Rick Bonas had turned things around. Things didn't end up working out.

And again, Columbus is not in the... playoffs by going at his team the way that he did. He did get the fan base back, like right away. Except when Zach Wrenzky has to do with this at some point, when they have a tough night and someone says, you don't want to win enough. Well, Zach Wrenzky wants to win. I'm convinced of that. They might have an off night.

But the problem is when you paint someone with the same brush, you get everyone. There's no survivors. There's no one that doesn't get with shrapnel. you go after the whole team like that. I used to tell Randy and Mark Crawford and Ronnie Wilson, just don't ever go after everyone. If you have to go after someone, go after everyone, include yourself in there

and say, all of us got to be better. Like, get everyone in the strap and the lot, not just, like, be selective enough. You can't say we all don't care enough because obviously a couple of them do or a few of them do. So that, I just, I like Rick Bonas a lot. I thought this, like you say, wrestling is a really good analogy. I wish I thought of it.

That's what it looked like a little bit. Find back. And magically within 24 hours, they got a new contract. Oh, oh, so maybe, huh, I don't know what? So, it's the second time he's done it too. I've spent so many years watching managers on Free Agent Day, July 1st at 1201, announced a very sophisticated seven-year contracts for H.O. players. So I don't think the managers are devoid from the pro wrestling of it all, either.

On 90 seconds, yes. I'm with you. I'm with you. Switching gears, like Rick Bodas wasn't the only coach that was hot this week after getting pasted by the Florida Panthers, eight to one, Detroit Red Wings head coach, Todd McClellan. pretty much refusing to talk about his team, but by praising the Florida Panthers in the way that he did,

he talked about how, you know, they have a winning culture and a winning pedigree that goes all the way through the organization, pretty much making the insinuation that Detroit doesn't. Man, there's a lot of frustrated Red Wings fans. I get it. I understand it. I know there's some that say like, hey, man, they had a quarter century to make it in the playoffs,

and they got a bunch of cups and guys in the Hall of Fame. let's not feel too bad for the Detroit Red Wings here. We all remember the days where Mike Illich had to give out cars just to get people into the building at the old Joe Lewis Arena. So don't feel too bad for the Detroit Red Wings. But there's a real level of frustration there in Detroit. People wondering about Iserman's position. I'm told that Iserman's fine, that Chris Illich will not do anything with Isamon.

I wonder if maybe he gets bumped up to a different position and maybe another general manager comes in, but I cannot see Steve Eisenman not part of this organization. What are your thoughts on Detroit right now? Another year. That's a Dixie. That's 10. Not making the playoffs. I'm a big fan of Steve Eisenman's,

but I'm sure that people are losing patience with his plan. And people remember that Steve Eisenman was that close to a cup in Detroit or in Tampa and decided he couldn't live with the guys. What I thought, what I thought Tom McCollum did was

brilliant because he didn't cross the line. He went after his team Harvard, didn't name names, didn't call him all cowards or idiots or anything. He stopped short expressing his displeasure without naming names and getting in trouble. I thought it was done very well. Make no mistake about it. We've all seen Todd McCollin mad before, but that was like the different levels of it. It may have been the maddest that I've ever seen him, but I was really impressed at how he

contained himself. because you knew that he wanted to go full Rick bonus and scorched earth, but even though as emotional as he was after that embarrassing loss, he was still able to contain himself. Yeah, you get mad, but you got to be careful. He doesn't look mad enough to grab a guy and choke him.

And that's the line you don't want to cross. I mean, there's a time when you can get away with that, but not anymore. I thought it was, I did a really good job of expressing his rage, but containing his reading across the line. Yeah, his disappointment and embarrassment, which he said too, yeah,

we should all be embarrassed. Let me get your thoughts. Here we are. This is the last day before the tornado begins. And the first round is always the best. The first round is just so fantastic. It's just the games are great. The intensity gets ratcheted up.

Someone does something bonkers and then a series gets lit on fire. For that, I'm looking at the Tampa Montreal series where you know Corey Perry is going to do something to someone, whether he goes after Lane Hudson, Cole Coughfield, whatever. We know that Corey Perry is going to do something, and Josh Anderson is going to be there to respond. That is, out of all of the series,

and I do think that Minnesota, Dallas is going to be a bang or two. The one series I'm really looking forward to is Tampa Montreal. Do you have a pet favorite series here that you have your eyeballs on? Well, when I played in the American League, we had a saying, it's four to one boys, and then four to one either way, you're starting to change the game. You're going after someone. If you're up four to one or if you're down four to one, someone's going to change the game. Remember guys on the bench today, it's four to one boys. It's like, all right, someone do something. We're down four to one. Someone's started a fight.

We're up four to one. Someone on their teams are to start a fight. So I think that's that way of going to the Montreal series of Tampa. Someone who gets to be three to one in that game, and there's going to be a problem. Someone will take some steps to get things going. So I love that part of this series. The one I'm watching with the most interests is the one I'm sick about is Dallas and Colorado.

In Minnesota, yeah. I'm sick about them playing in the first round because I love both the GMs. I like both owners. but only one team's going to come out of that one. You see, I know I'm in the minority on this. I've said this before. I understand, but a lot of it is because I don't have, I don't have a dog in the fight.

I just want to watch a great hockey game. And the reason I like this early is because this is the healthiest Dallas and Minnesota is going to be. Now, with Dallas, it looks like Haysson is going to play. He was skating today. Rupa Hins question mark, we'll see what happens. But this is probably the healthiest. going to see these two teams.

That's what I want to see. Like, I don't want to see them in the conference final or the second round where it's like, ah, yeah, but you know what? Our top two D are dinged up and the other teams got like their whole right side is a mess because of injuries. I want to see these two teams at the height of their powers when that heavy, heavy puck drops on game one. Well, you're going to see what you get and get what you wish for us.

You're going to see some real good hockey from two great teams. I just wish we had a different format. And this is not because of this series. I've been in favor of one in eight and received each round for a long time. So I'm not changing my tune because of one series. But I'd like to see them play in the second or third round. I hate seeing a top contender in the first round. Now, that happens every year, but...

Personally, I just want to watch great hockey games. Like, seriously, Berkey, like, whoever wins the Stanley Cup, I'm very happy for them, the players. and the managers and the coaches and it's immortality. It's on the trophy. I'm just a fan, though. I just want to watch great games. There is one series I really don't know what to do with.

And if you ask me five minutes from now, I'll give you a different answer. And if you ask me 10 minutes from now, I'll give you an even different – Buffalo, Boston. Yeah, I can't tell either. I'm going to both games in Buffalo. I'm excited about that. And I'm buying tickets. by the way. And I'm excited to see that series, but I couldn't call that one either because they have no experience. Pupo, it's the first time at the circus. Just time we're going to see the

elephant. And it's a little different seeing the elephant in real life. So we'll see. I think this team has enough character and enough belief in themselves. They've played such a great second half of the season. I think they have a chance to be especially team, but most teams that don't have playoff experience, other than the same moments, usually struggle. That's why, like, I look at this one and say to myself, I can talk myself into Buffalo based on the regular season, but again, like everybody else, no clue how Buffalo is going to play when it gets tougher.

And I just keep coming back to one player in this series, Jeremy Swayman. I love Jeremy Swayman, and I can close my eyes and think about this series and say, I can see Jeremy Swayman just putting up a brick wall and saying, nope, not on my watch. I can see that. I really like Swainman. I like his attitude. He's a cocky kid.

I like that. I can see them doing it. They've got an experienced team. The Bruins have been a good team. Last year was kind of atypical. They've been a really solid team for 10 years. Them in Tampa Bay, been the class of the league for 10 years for me.

But I think they're Swainman. could steal a series for himself. They got lots of pieces. They got a tough team too. Boston has a tough team, and they play tough, and that's going to be a factor in the series. I just don't like them down the middle. I can talk myself into Boston,

and then I go like, ah, you're winning down the middle, and I just don't see it, you know, Berkey? I agree. That's the one. On that, we'll let you get on with your afternoon. Brian is always, first of all, welcome back, or second of all, welcome back from Australia. Give us a quick tour of the highlights.

in Australia before we let you go. I'd say, speaking at the University of Melbourne, I spoke at the law school of Melbourne. My daughter goes to school there this semester, and she's at the University of Melbourne, so I spoke with the law school. Nice. I got to see my daughter,

which was the main reason for the trip, but the whole trip was great. We went to Cairns or Kansas, as they say it, went to Melbourne, went to Brisbane, went to, Adelaide, went to Sydney. Saw all the big sites you can see in the east. Nice. Didn't get to Perth.

It was great. It was a lot of fun. I haven't taken three weeks off in my life, so it was great. I haven't seen you take like three days off, Brian. Like when we were working together for all those years that I can't imagine you like unplugging and you didn't because he kept showing up here on this program. At 3 o'clock in the morning, bless you for that. Welcome.

Welcome back and enjoy the first couple of games in Buffalo and enjoy the playoffs. We'll check back next week, pal. Thanks, Jeff. There he is. Brian Burke, NHL manager, long-time executive in the National Hockey League. And like me, and maybe you're the same way, no clue. No clue what's going to happen in that Buffalo Boston series. Not a clue.

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I do like the 4-1 danger signs. Yeah. Game gets the 4-1. Corey Perry, getting a tap on the shoulder. Josh Anderson, Arbor Jack Eye, get the tap on the shoulder yeah that one kind of screams uh chaos to me that one's going to be a lot of fun um i was telling burkey i was talking to him before we started the the one that i'm really excited to see i think you and i did talk about it a little bit but Pittsburgh philly just the rivalry the battle

of pennsylvania and the thing i'm happy about is that the battle of pennsylvania can actually still exist because there is carryover from people who have experienced it before Crosby, Letang, Malkin. They've been there, they've done that, they've experienced it. So I think that they could bring that back because we saw the Leaf Senators series last year and it's like, yes, the Battle of Ontario. Scirmish.

Scirmish. What do you call it scrums.com? Hockey scrums.com. Hockey scrums.com, yeah. Hey, by the way, just as an aside on that one, whatever happened to face washes, why don't guys do that anymore? There's honestly, good question.

have an answer. I was trying to think of something, but I don't really have any type of answer. Every stoppage there were face washes. They vanish now. I was talking to Alan May about the term goalie versus goaler. Somewhere along the way that just changed. Goaler is the traditional proper way to call goaltenders or how to refer to goaltenders. But somewhere, I think it was like early 70s, that started to change. And now whenever you say goaler, people look at you side with Cliff Fletcher, by the way. And this is why I still love talking to Cliff. still refers to them as goalers every now and then, but nonetheless. And like now, face washes are gone. Remember, exact, every single, and we're going to see tons of like scrums in the playoffs, obviously pushing and shoving, but no one's doing face washes anyway. And those things are so gross in players hate them. Oh, I just getting a note from my coach friend of ours.

Go to Men's League, plenty of face washes there. Yeah, that might be true, but they all wear cages. Yeah. They all, except for you, Zach, because you're still. I mean, you think those pretty teeth are going to stay like that. I've seen enough of them in men's league. So that's a good point. I have seen a lot of them in mens league.

Don't really see it in the NHL anymore. Let's get to Dave Panyo to DFO Insider. We're going to open up with this question, this hard-hitting question for Dave here before I get into the New Jersey of it all with Sunny Meta. Hey, Dave, where have face washes? By the way, that set looks very bright. Where are you right now?

Just on location at the moment. Oh, okay, very good. I forgot my light, so I'm trying to use natural light, which is... It's looking good, bud. Okay, thank you. Good, bud. Where did face washes go? I was having this conversation with Al-I was saying, with Alan May about...

Yeah, I was listening. We used to call goalies goalers, and then that somehow changed in the early 70s. Cliff Fletcher still refers to them as goalers, and I was like, oh, bless you, Cliff. But whatever happened to... We're going to see tons of scrums. It's coming up. I know. But where did face wash?

No one does it anymore. Where do facewaters? Playoffs. Do you think we're going to get face washes? I hope so. It used to be every whistle. I don't. Yeah, no, things have changed.

Don't ask the Maple Leafs about that. I don't know if they know what that is yet. No, they don't. Other teams, playoff teams, you're going to see a lot of that. You're going to see a lot of, yeah, a lot of that going on. You think? I hope so. I hope so.

Especially like Montreal and Tampa looks like that's going to be rowdy. Philly and Pittsburgh by just necessity has to for those guys. Many in Dallas. Minnie in Dallas, yes. Yeah. Like we should see some battles. And hopefully, for you especially, the face washes come back and that enters, that enters. Right.

Because now everyone just holds on to everybody now. That's it. It's just you hold them right here and that's it. Okay, so the other pet peeve that I have about this. Like, I understand that hockey has changed and the accent more on skill, although toughness is coming back. Right. The thing that's different now, and Dave, you know this. Once upon a time, like, when you grabbed a guy, there was always the threat that we're going to do this.

Yeah. Right? I remember there was, um, uh, Craig McTavish and Wendell Clark. And there was a scrum. And Wendell and McTavich. locked up and McTavish had that like, uh, and Wendell's like,

don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. Just don't do anything stupid. Right. Just hold on. Wendell's like looking at another fight. And out of nowhere, for some reason,

McTavish pops and Wendell's like, Craig, I told you. And then like, you know, Wendell's 16 seconds of that. Yeah. But that doesn't happen anymore

where you grab on. Like once in a minute, you grabbed on and you looked the other guy in the eyes. You know what you see now and guys grab on? They still don't, they're still scared or intimidate. They don't want to have, like they're uncomfortable with confrontation. That's the game now.

It's, it's loose and no one wants to look at each other. Like, it's, I don't know, it's always weird. The ones that kill me are the ones where the guys are like locking, like, their arms over the other guy's shoulder. Yeah, they're just players association golf tournament. They're at a PA barbecue and golf tournament. Yeah, you have to, yeah, you're right. Back in the day, when Colorado, I remember this, when Colorado and Detroit had those heavyweight matchups,

yeah, the game, the game where Waugh ran Shanny, Aaron Ward was holding on, I totally blanked on the guy's name on Colorado, but it was a tough guy. He was just holding on to him, and the guy told him the exact same thing, don't do anything, don't do anything stupid. And Lord was like, no, I don't drop the mitt, so don't worry about it. And something happened. He slipped or something, and it was kind of a jab, and then that was it.

And then they just went at it. And he got the, you know what kicked out of him. But he held his own. But that's it. Like you always have to be, you got to be prepared. And nowadays, you just hold on to the collar. And it's like, okay, whatever. That's fine.

Just like look at each other in the eyes. Be a little intense. Anyway, things I'm already like nostalgic about. Hopefully playoffs. Hopefully playoffs. Oh, let's get it. Let's get at it. But before we get there, a very newsy Friday, the NHL, as you all know,

sort of encourages teams. If you have business to do, don't do it on a game night in the playoffs. Do not distract away from the games. The New Jersey Devils got the memo. The Vancouver Canucks got the memo. The Maple Leaf still haven't got the memo. Their business is not done yet. But I want to get to Vancouver, but initial thoughts on Sunny Meta,

whose name has been out there for a while, one of the assistant general managers of the Florida Panthers now finds his way back to New Jersey. Do you have a thought on this one or maybe some like breadcrumbs we can follow on this one? Yeah, I mean, he was a prime target from the get-go. This was a guy that formerly of the organization, he had up their analytics department before moving on to Florida.

So there's familiarity there with some of the people within the organization. But this is the direction that a lot of teams, the least want to go in this direction as well to an extent. But New Jersey wanted to go with an analytics-driven, in mentality, but that also incorporates the hockey angle. So we may see another edition happening here in New Jersey within the hockey ops department under Sunny Meta. Chanahan.

Chanahan. Sorry. Shannon. Shannon. Yeah. Well, Shannon. Shannon would go up. She would go up.

I don't think he's taken, yeah, in AGM. But he's already made it known and clear to New Jersey. He also made it known to Nashville midseason that if they were to go for president, position, President of Hockey Ops, that he wants his, he wants to be considered. But anyway. Yep. So that's certainly a possibility with Jersey. But they wanted, they wanted somebody that was, you know, kind of all-encompassing and

then may also add, and it looks like they're going to add, I believe, at least one more individual to the Hockey Ops Department. But, you know, very strategic, very calculated, obviously. And then when you incorporate the analytical part of it, if we want to steal a term, from Maple Leaf's president, Keith Pelly, data-centric. That's kind of what he brings to the table. And he was also under consideration for Toronto. They looked at him.

New Jersey wanted to pounce. They reacted relatively quickly, which in comparison to the Leafs, during their press conference a couple weeks ago, indicated, yeah, by mid-May, perfect scenario, we'll find our guy, worst case, beginning of June. New Jersey didn't want to waste any time. It took him a couple weeks to find their guy, and they locked in on them.

It's, the Sunday meta high, because I'm waiting for a tipping point here, Dave, maybe you're the same way. And I think from Dubis to Tulski, now to meta, like go back 25 years in Major League Baseball, maybe even long.

I mean, hockey takes us long to catch up to what's happening in other sports. There was a philosophical change, and we're starting to see it in hockey. And it goes like this. Now it is less about did you play and more about can you think. And I just wonder if this, because to your point, like other teams were interested in Sunny and have been for a while. That's why I wonder about Tim Barnes in Washington, Eric Parnas in Colorado, people that can identify inefficiencies in other organizations and exploit them for their organizations, whether it's, you know, Colorado getting like Parker Kelly from the Ottawa senators.

That's a great move. Right. Right. People that, like, managers that understand, like, if you make enough small bets with potential high ceilings, sometimes it just hit, right? Like, you look at Sam Malinsky with Colorado, just hits. Right. It's good.

And it allows you to move something like Sam Gerard. But those are the moves that, like, one of them is going to hit massive. And all of a sudden, like, but you only get that from people that think like Sunny Mehta and Eric Tulski and Tyler Delfti and Tyler. and Eric Parnas and Tim and Tim Baines. Like do you think that we're on the precipice here of a tipping point where more and more teams are going to think like this and bring these types of people in? Again, less and less about did you play and more and more about can you think.

Without question. I mean, you just said it. We're already seeing that transition happening. Now, the one thing that I'll add to it is, you know, a lot of these individuals, you know, Duba specifically, you know, Sunny as well. Like there's some hockey background to it. It's not just strict numbers exclusively on the analytics side. There needs to be some hockey element to it.

And some individuals bring in others to fill out the eye test part of the equation. But a lot of it is being guided and driven and followed by the analytical side and the numbers side and the data side. like Carolina, for example, does a really good job of this, obviously. But they also rely heavily on what, you know, Rod Rindamore feels works for his system. This is, these are the kind of players that work under my structure. You go out and find them. Whoever you feel is this exhibit, go out there and,

and you get the appropriate guy that you feel can complement this system or work under this structure. And I think a lot of teams are going to go about that in similar fashion. you know a lot of teams that incorporate both elements even if there's an emphasis on the numbers side typically have have been succeeding and you're right I think we're going to see more and more of this which is why you know pirano was is going in this direction but also once and this has been we talked about this last week this has been missed a little bit or at least not emphasized enough because data-centric was the, that was the catchphrase.

But what they also indicated was we still have to have the right hockey people to marry that model, even if it is driven by data. So it needs to be a proper marriage, but one is outweighing the other. And we're seeing that now in the National Hockey League where it's leaning towards exactly what you said. the data analytical side, the number side, because it works. It makes sense. You need to incorporate the other elements. But it's, that's the thing.

It's not even a new thing. It's just it's taking more emphasis now for the National Hockey League to follow this pattern. You know, I just mentioned Tim Barnes a couple of seconds ago with the Washington Capitals and just hearing you talk about this and trying to find like examples of. And again, it's interesting because it. it came from the Panthers organization. Washington able to pick off Justin Sordiff,

who's become really, really important. Like, again, like, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, at the, like, have you heard Tim Barnes's name? Like, I'm, so, he's been there for 11 years. Chris Patrick's going nowhere, right? Right. He's, like, locked in for a long time here.

Barnes has been there for all these decisions. No one has any fear. about the capitals, like even if Ovetchen doesn't come back, oh, wow, it's going to be a massive step backwards. As a matter of fact, the power play may improve out of all of it. Have you heard Barn? I'm just stunned that Barnes' name isn't out there more. You know what I mean?

Yeah. There are. He's one of the OG analytics guys. He's one of the OG analytics guys, too. Yeah. And I haven't much. And I think a lot of it has to do with the organizations that acknowledge those individuals that may not have the premier position but carry a lot of weight within the organization,

they're typically compensated pretty decently. And I've got to imagine that that's fair. That's fair. Yeah, I've got to imagine that some of those, some of those guys are comfortable in maintaining that position. Now, you know, it's funny because you talk to some of these guys, some of the premier analytics individuals, and they'll readily admit that, you know, they're the hockey nerds. They're the numbers nerds. They're the, you know, a little bit weird, but ridiculously, they'll admit it. They'll admit it. It's not just me saying this. A little bit weird, but incredibly intelligent, super smart. And the way that they can process information is significantly different than how you and I can do it, how sport-centric individuals can do it. Yeah. Former athletes, all of

So that's why these organizations put so much weight into those individuals, but also acknowledge that, hey, we still have to have the sports experts as part of this. But it's been an interesting introduction in the last few years to having more and more of the analytics population entering the league. A lot of hesitancy at first from the sports-driven mentality of those in the game. and there's a lot more of an openness because there's a better understanding of how valuable it really is. I just don't know many multi-billion dollar corporations that are run on gut feel.

Yeah. Yeah. Not anymore. It doesn't happen. Okay, I'm going to go back to 2010 here with Scott Morrison back on the eyed desk where we read tweets. Blues announced that assistant coaches Claude Julienne and Mike Weber are not returning.

Their contracts will not be renewed. Who tweeted that? Oh, well, St. Louis Blues initially posted that. I put that out there on the Twitter box. Nice. No, it's X, X, the Xbox. No, you know what? I go, I still call it Twitter because I'm told by various political parties in the United States

that whatever it was assigned at birth is what you have to call it. So I'm going to continue to call it Twitter. Okay, fair. Yeah, because I still, I may say X every now and again, but I'm like, I got to tweet something later. So it's still, okay. mainly. Didn't the CEO of X just refer to them as tweets last week and ever went,

wait a minute, are you changing the name back? Yeah, yeah. They even internally at X to refer them as tweets. Toronto for me, it's still Skydome. I'd never change. Same way. It'll always be Skydome for me. Same thing.

Something's still lock in. Amen. We're seeing, we're seeing some changes in St. Louis. We saw some changes off the ice in St. Louis already. With Shirelli out and with, completely forgot. Somebody else left, went back to New York,

named completely escapes me anyway. We saw some changes there, and now we're seeing it as well behind the bench as they begin to transition towards the Alex Steen era officially in St. Louis, who takes over his general manager on July 1. He'll continue to, you know, be part of the process under Doug Armstrong between now and then.

But the blues, it wasn't just roster changes, that needed to happen for this club this season and going into the summer. It was also some additional changes off the ice as well, and that's four of them so far for this organization, not including the transition from Armstrong to Steen. So they're starting to prep. They're starting to go in that direction.

It's clear that this team, especially with how they sort of surged towards the last 15% of the season, maybe 20, more so. 15 probably, if we go numbers-wise, trying to pretend that I'm smart. We're all data analysts now. We're all brushing off our resumes and putting data analysts. Any of it, continue, sorry. Get my trusty calculator out.

They, the changes that they're making, the transition that's happening there, you know, they felt that how they performed at this, as I mentioned, at the end of the season, is a better reflection of what they're capable of with additional changes. in mind and we're seeing that. You know, Monty wasn't going anywhere. I didn't think, and it seems that that's going to be the case. But to reinforce the coaching staff and to make additional changes on the ice are expected for this group. And two guys in management are out.

And now, at least. And now we've got two assistant coaches on the outs to. Kevin Maxwell, the name that we're searching for going from St. Louis to New York. I got to ask you before we wrap up here. I hate the word fair. I really, I don't like it. I tell my kids, do not that that word just sets you up for disappointment. Just like the word fair does not belong in any dictionary in my household.

How do you fire the guy who didn't make decisions but had the title as decision maker instead of the guy who did make all the decisions who fired the guy that didn't make the decisions for the decisions that were made? Patrick Alvin Yeah And I don't even know how much longer Jim Rutherford has there He'll be back next C every He's got one more year on his deal, right? I believe it's one more year on the deal. I believe so.

And it's a hefty I know why he's staying. It's a hefty price tag. So, you know, collect that by all means. I would probably do. And then write off. But the interesting thing here is yeah, you let go with a guy that made minuscule decisions within your organization.

Every major task for this club, roster-wise, transactionally, was made by Jim Rutherford, the Quinn Hughes trade, Jim Rutherford. Garen said that. I dealt with Jim Mutherford. Right. And that's exactly it. And the talks that he had with New Jersey, the talks that he had with Detroit and so on were with, it was with Jim Rutherford.

Yeah. You know, so the moves they made with San Jose, all the bigger type of deals revolved around around him. I believe Alvin had two more years left on his contract. I'm not 100% sure. I think it was two more years because I know the coaching staff has two. I believe he had two as well. But every indication in the last few weeks was Rutherford was going to stick around,

Adam Foote's likely sticking around, but Alvin was either out or being moved to a different location or position, excuse me. So no real surprise that this has occurred. It seemed like that was in the cards and that they just waited until the season officially ended for them before executing it last night and letting him know. But it's a weird situation that the Canucks put themselves in because, again, Jim Rutherford's going to be transitioning out at some point soon. Yeah.

at least another year of him there. So whoever is going to come in, and there's a lot of talk of Ross Johnson, and I get they value him within the organization, but I was also told this morning that they've got time to make their decision. And we'll see what Jim Rutherford has to stay later this afternoon, but when he addresses the media. In an hour here.

It's a real awkward position because here's the direction of our club. We're going through a rebuild, a full-on rebuild. we know that guys like Jake DeBrusk and others want out because they don't want to be part of that. And whoever gets to come in is going to want to know, well, do I have control or do I have to clear every big decision or moderate decision with the president

who might not even be here in 18 months? It's a really, like that needs to be properly defined before the new GM comes in. And I don't know if they're there yet. to be perfectly honest. Okay, let me try to do a connect the dots here. Does this make sense to you? So Alvin's out in Vancouver.

Yeah. Alvin to Minnesota. Judd Brackett out. Brackett alongside Gillis, Lawrence Gilman, Steve Warrior to Toronto. Who. Um,

and that, and that becomes Gillis's collection. That's interesting. because I know I believe Gilles and at least Pelley have spoken twice since the change in Toronto. I initially was under the impression that Gillis would be better suited as president. That's what I mean. That's where Lawrence Gilman comes in as general manager.

Yeah. Steve Warren comes in as well and Judd Brackett to head up amateur scouting. oversees the prospect side of things. Yeah, I mean, it makes a lot of, it makes a lot of sense. I know one of those individuals wouldn't mind a bit of a change. And this could work.

Yep. This could work for that individual quite nicely. Yep. I mean, that's an interesting one because we know that the lead, so this is, the Leafs or MLSC have they've not gotten the most they haven't they haven't gotten as many flowers as they thought they would with respect to how they've handled the last two weeks. True.

No coincidence that it has been leaked and reported today that Matt Sundeen is part of the group that is being discussed to be part in some. Who signed him in Vancouver again? I'm new to hockey. I'm trying to put all of this Vancouver. Originally, it was a two-year deal and then it was just a one-year deal around December.

Rain's a little fogg. There might be more dots to connect here. M-G-M-G, something like that. They, no shock to me that some things were kind of let out over the last 24 hours. because of how things had gone,

especially after Meta joined the Devils. Now, initially, I thought that they were going to consider the president and GM thing. And then they started pushing out that they weren't, that the preference is one individual, maybe both titles, but one individual. I think that openness has reopened in the last couple of days. And your... estimation. No, not even. I don't know how you heard of that, but your, your guest estimate.

Yeah. Friday afternoon, throw it out there, see what lands, sound of conversation. It wouldn't. I mean, that makes, it makes sense because it's not only, because we know that the Leafs are going to make more than just one change, one change being either president and GM or just GM. Whatever, however that happens, there will be additional managerial changes happening within the Leafs organization. That seems to be a guarantee, especially after, what was it, Keith Pelley mentioned during his press conference,

they have six AGMs and is that the right structure and so on and so on. But not only that, I think other parts of the organization are going to be kind of looked at as well and revamped. So having a plan in place where you're bringing in multiple individuals like you're suggesting makes a lot of sense. Now, Gilles, like whoever's going to take over in Vancouver is GM and is going to want to know their responsibilities and what their autonomy level is.

Yes. My understanding wants that crystal clear in Toronto. Yes. And if it's Mike Gillis or if it's somebody else that comes in at the top of the food chain in the hockey ops department, regardless of title, that person wants autonomy. And understanding that it's a retool not a rebuild, fair for now. Oh, you hate, sorry, sorry, you hate that word.

My bad. I don't even, I can't even think of a synonym for it at the moment, but Renovation. Just call it a renovation. That's all it is. Yes. Doing some of the back deck. Accepting that, that notion that it is rebuild.

Fine. I'm going to do that, but I'm going to do it in my terms. I'm going to do it the way I believe it needs to be done. And I think whether it's Gillis or whomever, they're going to want, A, that, and then be to be a properly compensated. Dave, you're the best. You know, we don't deserve dogs. Peace to you and your family, my friend.

You'd be good, okay? I appreciate. Thank you. I've been there many times myself from one dog owner to another. All the best. Thank you, buddy. Thank you. Thank you.

Dave Penoota, DFO Insider. We've all been there, all of us dog lovers. It is a very lonely club. Dave just lost his long. longtime best companion over the past couple of days. Oh, man. Hey, Zach.

I want to cheer you up. Yeah. My buddy Bob. My buddy Bob on his podcast, Maco and Cause podcast. They're talking about different changes Keith Polly can make to the organization

to try to bring a little more revenue in for MLSC, shareholder value after all. Yes, because we're not bringing enough money in right now. definitely not. MLSC, they are not getting enough money in here. They're going to change the 50-50 to 80-20. You know what? How do we get more value out of the 50-50?

Oh, here's, it's now 80-20. Who wants to play the 80-20? Isn't it a 50-50, Mr. Pell? That's 80-20 here in Toronto. Well, I heard that the nachos with cheese, they're just doing nachos. You've got to pay for the cheese now. Well, that's like when you go to buy, that's where you go to buy skates now.

The blades are now extra. I remember the first time I got stung with that. I'm like, what, are you serious? Are we really doing that now? Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate it. I saved that one for the end of the show to cheer you up. Yeah, the 50-50 is now 80-20. Well, someone please think of the billionaires.

You want to see something fun? We've been talking about playoff matchups and everything. I brought up Philly and Pittsburgh. How I was excited? Do you want to see a video that I just came across on Twitter? I grabbed for you to see here. Yeah, of course. You're going to like this.

What do you got, man? Friday have a new. Let's go. Because everyone needs to hear this. Viewer discretion, there is some swearing. It's clean enough, but there's some swearing. So be prepared. Where's my fainting couch?

I'm just giving the warning to people at home. Okay, Jeff, please enjoy this video. This is the most Philly thing ever. And the tweet that I found this on said, Playoff hockey and Philly is so back. Here it is. Oh, geez. Oh.

I'll tell you what, he don't give a fuck. He's a nut. He don't care. He's got a dart in his mouth. He's got a dart. He's taking clappers. Oh! He's got the...

They picked that corner. He's got the waffle glove. He's got a backwards peeky blinders hat. He's wearing a suit. This is for the podcast listeners. He's wearing a suit. That guy's awesome. The cigarette's clutch.

I'll tell you what. He don't give a fuck. I started the time. I was like we did this Friday and the week. Philly playoff hockey is so back. Philly playoff hockey Twitter is back. That's what we're ready for. Do you remember the Ian La Perrier shirts, the orange ones?

They hustled it really fast when he blocked that Paul Martin shot with his face. Do you remember that? And every Philly fan had to have it. You remember the play though, right? when he went down on some I'm like oh my God he blocked it right with us

this is 2009 2010 it was a New Jersey Philly series you see those shirts you're finding it oh man

those shirts were the best in the Perrier shirts oh so good and all he had to do was block a shot with his face instead of going down

and take it on the shin pads he just dove it Paul Martin and took it in the face oh one of the most gruesome gruesome block shots you will ever see.

Yeah. Well, I see the pictures of him here, but I can't find the pictures of the shirts. It was all orange. It was all orange. Yeah. No? I can't find them.

No. Sorry. I'll keep looking. And if anybody else has them or sees them, tweet them at us, but I can't find them here. I can't find the shirts. We're taking something out of your envelope this week then.

Sorry, but. I get it. I understand. There's nothing. You can redeem yourself right now, though, with this. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fanduel. It's the NHL season, and Fanduel is your home for all the action on the ice.

From Blue Line to Bet Slip, we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Play your game, Zach. Miss Puck drop, no sweat. With the live same game parlay, you can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fanduals Sportsbook today. And play your game, Zach. Please play responsibly.

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 1-866-5-3-1-2-600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Play your game, Zach. Let's we just call it a segment. Play your game. I will be playing my game.

And my game will relate to today's parlay because, Jeff, our men's league hockey team, we won our league this year. I don't think Fandall has a line on your men's league. league hockey game. I'm wearing a full cage tonight. Are you back with the quarter vizor like a dope that wear an old OHL style covering your forehead?

I might be doing fishbowl. Fishbowl here tonight. I think I might do that. Good. Good. Good. But because we won our league, the Toronto League that we play in, they do this cool thing where they invite the league winners from the leagues that are placed around

Ontario to a final tournament for the end of the year. So tonight our tournament kicks off. We're playing at the Scotia Bank Pond to get everything going. Hey, nice. With a game tonight, two games tomorrow, depending on how we do. We might play Sunday, final semis, whatever. So we're trying to plan. My girlfriend and I have been doing meal prepping and everything,

and she's trying to ask me what we're going to be eating. And we've been eating really healthy, yada, yada, yada. And I had to kind of set the tone with her and tell her, we're only going to be crushing pasta for the next couple of days. days and she said you know what i don't know if i could do pasta for three straight days and i said i don't care if it gives you the ec we have to keep eating these bowls of pasta porter martone david pasternak joel ericsson eck that one was a stretch the heck is a little bit of a stretch we had to get this one in under the wire

On a day where there's O games, you've got to close a little quickly. $5 wins you $153.83. And $81. I think I might have one more to make you laugh. Let me grab something else for you here. No. Do, do, do, do, just a vamp a little bit here for a second. Oh, here we go.

This is also from the Maco and Cause podcast. Oh, boy. Giveaway nights become takeaway nights You leave something at the door When you enter Pelly sits at gate five And the first 10,000 fans get to make him an offer to come in Family heirlooms

homemade lasagna Whatever it gets you in On takeaway nights You were entering some dark times here Jeff Looking at the 50-50 draw. I feel we can do better on the revenue split. And I told you we're entering Ballard-esque era. You said no, not quite. Okay, fair. It's not Ballard, but it's reminiscent. The 50-50 is now the 80-20. That's the one. That's the

MLSC 50-50 is now 80-20. What do you got there? I'm going to show up with my, I'm going to show up with like my Sundeen display and offer this to get into the arena. Oh, on takeaway nights, yeah. Autographed helmets and stuff just to go and watch. You've got to bribe Keith to get in. Takeaway nights. I know you guys are bringing Matt's back. Maybe you could put one of these up in the office.

I really want to see you. All right, I'll take that. What else you got, kid? What else you got in that pockets there, kid? Takeaway night. When we take some heirlooms away from here. I got nothing left. I wanted to end today on us talking to this morning.

I'm like, okay, I got to end the show of this with Zach. Because I get, Zach will, Zach will have a good rip at this one. Have a good laugh at this one. 50-50, now 80-20. Welcome to MLSE. Okay, I got one thing I want you to do before we wrap this up. And I'm putting you in a spot. I didn't help you for this.

I apologize, but I think you- Please don't say predictions. No, not predictions. Okay. Before the playoffs start, because I want to make sure we do this before game one. That's today. Yeah. Last day to do this.

Rank your three most intriguing series or the three series you're most excited to see. I want to know the three that you have. Which series? I can do that right now. That's easy. Tampa, Montreal, number one, with a bullet. Bam. Dallas, Minnesota is going to produce amazing hockey.

Let's just hope for all of our sakes. it goes seven games. I don't know what's going to happen with Buffalo Boston. I am curious, the Buffalo Sabres story. We've all followed all season long. I'm really happy for Buffalo Sabers fans. I'm happy for that organization. And I hope everybody gets to keep their jobs because of how good the Buffalo Sabres are.

But what if Utah beats Vegas? Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's up there for me. It's interesting. Because if you cheer for like, okay, What's going to give you the best chaos story afterwards? What if Utah beats Vegas?

Yeah. And if you are, if you are, okay, let me give you an alone. If you are a Phoenix slash Arizona Coyotes fan, because let's not forget, too, like Vegas is always marketed into Arizona. So that fans there are very much aware of that Vegas brand. if you're a coyotes fan, who are you cheering for? Knowing how Vegas has always been all over Arizona as like we consider them like a market we can draw fans from and we will actively market into Arizona.

My friend Nancy always tells me about this. If you're a coyotes fan, who are you cheering for here? I cynically think that it's Vegas because. because I feel like there's the villain element of you. And I know that it's not directly how this happens. Let me be clear about this. But like you rip the team away from us, Utah. You know, the,

Yeah, Winnipeg fans were never cheering. You Winnipeg fans were never cheering for the coyotes, is what you're saying. Right. And so they have that in the back of their minds. And it's the, it's a two-parter. One is Vegas is playing against the team

that ripped the team out of our hands. So it's like, okay, screw you. They surrender it because of an inept owner, but yeah. Okay. Jeff, I understand how this situation took place. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm just saying as fans in the market, they look at their team.

I get what you're saying. But then they look at it and they go, this is a team that can knock that team out. That was the villain to us. so we will play the villain and cheer for them. And then also proximity, where you probably naturally had people gravitate towards Vegas anyway. So I think it might be Vegas as their team.

At least for round one. Who knows that? That's why this one is one. That's why this one's intriguing. But having said that, I'm not going to miss one second of the Buffalo Boston series. Yeah. And you know what added some fuel to the fire?

This happened while we were on the show here. Marco Stern. He was asked on the matchup on Buffalo. Here's the quote. I'll read this for you. Money. We're excited. We are bigger, stronger, and we are more physical.

We just have to be smart, but we're going to go after them. Game one, baby. Let's unload on Sunday in Buffalo. Bring back the beer swords. Get everyone hammered. Open up the tailgates. Let's get nuts in there. That's going to be wild.

Somehow we've got to figure out a way to get down there. But do we have all these complications with like, oh, I don't know, work. All right. Playoff's beginning. This I know every single time. Get in the way of a good thing. Welcome to real life, Zach, by the way. Not this fantasy plan that you and I live in.

Listen, playoffs beginning on Saturday. Enjoy it. It is the most wonderful time of the year. If that phrase weren't already co-opted by Disney Corporation, we could use it more freely. But it's true. This is why your fans is for moments like this. It's the moment before the moment.

It's that moment right before 1951, which I still think that Nat Tarowski shot to build. Barilco scoring on Jerry McNeil is the best hockey picture ever taken because it is the moment right before the puck goes in. The fans are still in their seats. Rock of Richard is staring at the puck. Bill Barilco

is diving through the air about to score. Everyone is staring at that puck that's just about to go in and that's why that Taraski shot is so perfect. Today is the day before it all begins when all the games count and the games

gets better and better as the first round continues. Enjoy it. We're back Monday, 1 o'clock Eastern, 10 Pacific. I learned that from being in B.C. Right here on our daily face off YouTube channel. Thanks to Dave Panyoder for stopping by. Thanks to Brian Burke for stopping by.

Fresh shows, fresh series Monday, right here on our daily face off YouTube channel. It's the sheet. One o'clock Eastern. We'll talk to you then.