The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Fallout in Toronto and the NHL Playoff Push ft. Brian Burke & Keaton Verhoeff

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

On today’s episode of The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke to break down the biggest storylines across the NHL as the league heads toward the postseason and the playoff race continues to tighten.The conversation begins in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have officially fired Brad Treliving as general manager. Marek and Burke unpack what led to the decision, the fallout across the organization, and what MLSE President Keith Pelley had to say during his media availability yesterday about the future direction of the franchise. They discuss what the next GM search could look like, how the front office structure may change moving forward, and what it all means for the roster and leadership group heading into a pivotal offseason for the Leafs.From there, the discussion shifts to Ottawa and the situation surrounding Linus Ullmark following the Senators’ game against the Florida Panthers last night. Burke and Marek examine what unfolded in that matchup, how the night spiraled for Ottawa, and what the moment says about the team and its goaltending situation as the season winds down.The guys also zoom out to take a look at the NHL playoff race, hitting on some of the key teams and storylines shaping the push toward the postseason across both conferences.Later in the show, Keaton Verhoeff, defenseman for North Dakota, joins the program ahead of the NCAA Frozen Four. Verhoeff discusses the tournament, North Dakota’s opportunity on the national stage, and what this moment means for him as a 2026 NHL Draft-eligible prospect. The conversation dives into his season, his development path, and what NHL teams may be seeing as they evaluate talent ahead of the upcoming draft.From front office shakeups to playoff races and the biggest stage in college hockey, it’s another packed episode of The Sheet.Subscribe for more daily NHL coverage, interviews, and hockey conversation.#TheSheet #NHL #MapleLeafs #LeafsForever #OttawaSenators #FloridaPanthers #FrozenFour #NHLDraft #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.

Okay, so a couple of things you need to know about Brian Burke, just to sort of set the stage for Brian's appearance. I didn't think Brian was coming on today. I didn't think so. Brian, as we left him on Friday, was hopping on a plane to Australia to see his daughter. And we thought, okay, week without Berkey. But guess what? Berkey's on. But here's the thing you got to know about Brian.

Now, I worked with Brian for a long time at SportsNet, and every time I would get there, Brian would already be there. And if you know anything about Brian Burke, he is always the first person at the office. This was true when he worked in Vancouver, when he worked for the NHL, when he worked in Hartford, when he worked in Anaheim, worked in Toronto, in Calgary, Pittsburgh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But this one, this one takes the cake and we'll tell you why coming up here in a couple of seconds. I know Berkey and I know how he likes to get to the office and get to work early, but this one even stuns me. Coming up on the program today, the blueprint powered by Fandul. Download the app today and play your game on Fandual.

Thanks for joining us today, by the way. Brian Burke is standing by, I believe he's in Melbourne, Australia. He is somewhere in Australia. We'll talk about the Keith Pelley Press conference from yesterday. The Maple Leafs fall out from that. If you have any questions or comments, you know the appropriate places to put them, and we will put them to Brian Burke when you send them in. sends in playoff pushes and goal tenders after saying they were too tired to play on Saturday, falling down on Tuesday.

Keaton Verhoff drops by the program coming up at the bottom of the hour. You know him as a defenseman from the University of North Dakota on his way to the Frozen Four and should be a very high draft pick come June at the NHL draft. We'll talk about the Frozen Four. We'll talk about the NHL draft with Keaton Verhoff, who stops by the program after we're done talking to someone. in Brian Burke, who, Berkey, I got to tell you, man, in all the years that I worked with you, I never beat you to the office.

You were always there early, watching games on the phone, all of it. I know every stop that you had in your career, you always prided yourself on getting to the office before everybody else. You were there early. But this one takes the cake, bud. Like right now, I believe you're in,

is it Melbourne? You're in, I know you're in Australia. Is it Melbourne? Right. Okay. So you're in Melbourne. What time is it there? It's 4 o'clock in the morning here.

I just went to bed for a while and got up, so I looked at me in the shelter. What time did you get? You get up like 3.30 for this? Yeah, I did. Holy smokes. I'm impressed. That's dedication. That's more dedication than I have to this program.

So bravo. But there's a lot to get to. And first of all, I'm glad you could be, you pop by this week. I thought that maybe we were without you. And I thought, oh, this is a perfect Berkey week. because of the Brad Trilliving situation and also there's a correlation with John Tortorella and a conversation we can have there with the Vegas School of the Knights. But let's initially start with the news in Toronto.

And we saw the press conference yesterday with Keith Pelly of MLSC. This is after the dismissal of Brad Trilliving as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now look, you've worn a lot of different hats and you've walked in Brad Trillivings shoes before as general manager of this team. Listen, the whisper circles had been. out for a while about this one. Just walk us back in your life when you first started to hear the whispers and then it finally came to fruition that Brad for Living was dismissed as general manager.

Just some initial thoughts before we drill down. Well, what was odd was when I was fired, I was completely caught by surprise, which is maybe maybe maybe makes you the dumbest person on the planet. But there had no rumors of my fire at all. And in fact, when I got called in the office, I thought they were firing Brian Colangelo. I honestly did. I was stunned. I went to the office. It was Larry Tannenbaum and Dale Lastman and Tom Anselmi. And no one would look at me. They're all looking at the floor for loose change. I was like, oh, Christ, it's me. So I didn't, I had no idea. This one I think was more evident and they kind of let Brad swing in the wind there a little bit.

I was hopeful that they would look like the Boston Bruins have. They had one bad year after a bunch of good years and they'd give them a chance. to fix it, but I don't think that was ever meant to happen. So it made the change. Keith Belly, who's a good guy, is thinking of a beating for the way it was done. But I think that once you made that decision, remember Ken King asked me when I was going to fire Jay Feastricht, so as soon as they get a chance, he said, we'll do it today then.

And I remember thinking, if I'm going to fire the guy, let's get it over it. So I think it's all kind of maybe not the way people wanted it done, but I'm a fan of Keith Bellies, even though I agree completely with what was done or how it was done. I'm a fan. You know, the old saying is you don't judge a company by how they welcome you in.

You judge a company by how they say goodbye. I don't know that there's a right way or a good way to fire someone, but does that saying resonate with you? You judge a company by how they say goodbye, not how they say hello. I don't think there's a nice way to fire anyone. Do you have sent me a note and said,

what about fire someone an hour before game time? I'm like, I don't know if there's a good time to fire anyone. It's a crappy bit of news. The thing people have to realize is people just slough it off and say, but they fire Brad Schiller. Who's the new GM? I don't realize how disruptive is, how he knows it is. Even if they think it's coming, it's very embarrassing.

I got fired by the lease. I had to wait by the door at my house with my keys in my pocket of my jacket on, waiting to hear the first league so I'd go tell my daughters. That's the side of the business. It's really awful. Yeah, we get paid well, but there's a crappy side of the business that you saw yesterday. Let's get to Brad here for a living. When you look at his, now, and you can fill us.

in on this one because you were there. Like you know the different pressures and the way you're pulled from a lot of different areas that may not seem obvious to a hockey fan, casual or otherwise. There's a lot of things that are exerted upon you that

make that position challenging. Do you have us, can you share a sort of sense of like what what is it like to be the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs? And like how many different how many different places of pressure are being placed on you at any given time?

Well, it's worse now than it was when I was there because social media wasn't as big when I was there. Social media was not a new development when I was there, but it was certainly primitive in terms of numbers and the things that were said. And I think it's way worse, way tougher on a GM now, and you have to ignore all the noise. My view is, and this is not like an excuse,

but it's not, my view is that Brad was hamstrangor, I'm strong by the no trades and no moves clauses he didn't erred. I don't think you ever got a chance to fix the team the way he wanted to, given the no trade, no move, buzzes, which are death to teams. Here's a lesson for anyone watching this. You don't want to get fired. Don't give out no trade, no moves. The problem is when you're competing with other teams for players,

like that could be the difference. Team X over here is offering me a no move clause and you're not. Like, it's just part of the, it just become a tool in the recruiting process. And other teams, like, the only way I think to get around it is this needs to be collectively bargained out of the league. Otherwise, it's a recruiting advantage. Yeah, they're not going to take a work stop to get that change. No. It's just not going to happen.

So that's the test now. They've gotten to a point now where the league and the union get on so well, they get along so well, you're not going to get a major change without a workstop. So they got the last group with trust code and testing, all the stuff they got rid of them to turn for two more games and a new playoff format as far as the salary cap. Those are all significant changes in favor of management. You're not going to get a no trade, no move clause, remove. Just teams need more discipline in applying them. The Pali Press conference yesterday was interesting.

One of the things that has been cited, and it's weird because it's 2026 and, Every team has this department, starting with the team that Keith Pelley oversees, the Toronto Maple Leafs. He talked a lot about the next hire being a data-centric hire. Now, I think a lot of this comes from what they've done with the soccer team and how they've gone 100% data-focused with all of their management decisions. But they already have that, like with Daryl McCaff and his department. Like, that's never seemed to be a place where the maple leaves have come up shallow or fallen down. Do you understand, can you share with us any idea of what Keith might have been getting at when he said, our next hire needs to be someone who has a data-centric point of view or mind?

Well, that's the flavor of the day. I think that it's a mistake. I don't think it need to be data-centric. I need to be data-driven. But your priorities are my priorities for its number one is eyeballs. We're going to watch these players play and evaluate them. We're going to do it the old-fashioned way to start with. That's number one.

Number two is research. What is this player made of? For baseball, I talk about makeup. Talk about the makeup of a player. That's what we spent time. Let's find out what kind of character that's had. Is he a winner? Is he coachable?

Is he a good team guy? And that's a lot of testing, a lot of evaluation. Dana Sinclair was my team's psychologist. And that's number two. And then number three is data, which verifies or corroborative. operates a lot of your picks or tells you no, don't do it. So the data has always been there. It's always been important to me since it came in.

I remember when I first came in, I thought this is a joke, and then I realized what Mike Keenan told me years ago is true. The data part of the business is like a rampose to the drunk, useful for support, but not necessarily for illumination. I'm not going to pick your players in front of a computer. It's not just not dumb. It's not smart. the idea being that I don't think anyone's going to disagree with identifying players with your eyeballs.

Like that seems like an obvious one. We all do. That's why we employ scouts. That's why scouts are employed. And that's the we all watch the games. But then, and I remember you told me this once, you said something along the lines of what you were just saying. And then I go to the analytics group to see if my eyes are lying to me. because her eyes always lie to us.

So that was something that always stuck with me. Identify with the eyes, but then check with the analytics to make sure my eyes aren't lying to me. That one really resonated with me, Berkey. Always did. Yeah, it's true. It's true.

You say the guy as fastest, I remember talking to Ned Coletti. It was a great baseball executive. Ned Coletti saying, I said this guy's really fast out of the box. And he said he's the 14th fastest guy we were looking at for the draft this year. I remember thinking,

14 facets. I thought it was a fastest. When the appearance does, the appearances do deceive, they do lie, and that's why analytics are important. But analysts can knock as many draft picks out of the box as they put in the box.

And if it's your sole factor, sole judgment factor, in my opinion, it's a mistake. I remember one general manager who does have an analytics, slant to him telling me we were having some conversation. I was bringing up some analytics analogy and he said yeah you know what that works for a while but then you have to

play the game. I'll tell you what there's there's one place that I find just as a as a sidebar on this conversation Berkey. I can recall I've told you this story before there is one NHL team that passed up or passed over drafting Braden point because he had a bad force plate result at the combine. And that's the area where I look at, and I say, I remember at the draft that year, the Western Scouts like banging the tables, like, you've got to take point. No, bad force plate.

We're not going to take them. And they passed up on obviously one of the best, you know, centers in that draft, one of the best centers in this era because he didn't have a good force plate result at the combine. Like that's the one area that I look at. And outside of players and seeing where they're, you know, sort of predetermined for injury or predisposed for injury, that's the one area where. where I really strained to get helpful information.

It's not analytics. I mean, all analytics is measuring the game. And there's different language for measuring the game. One of the problems that I've always had is making a lot of your decisions based on what you see at the combine. Well, I think it's a big mistake. I mean, the last time I spoke at the Sloan Analytics Conference was why I made my comment about the lamppost. It was that they didn't like that. They didn't like that.

that it's not how you pick players. It's one of the tools you employ, but it's not how you pick players. I think from looking at the Minnesota Twins modified their structure from going with pure analytics, they went to a tacos and beer, I think, is what they call it. Instead of going for a filet mignon and getting a guy with every pick that's perfect analytically,

go for guys who might not be perfect analytically, but do things well and have a good team approach. And they went to tacos and beer, I think they called it. But I've studied all these things. I looked at it. I made my scouts all read Moneyball when it first came out. I bought 20 copies of it, gave it to all of them.

So we've been on the forefront of it, but not on the front burner of it. There's a big difference. You can pay attention to analyze them. It doesn't have to be the end-all and be all of how you draft. So I look at this Maple Leafs team, and say to myself, Berkey, so much of what they're going to do next

depends on does Austin Matthews want to stay? Does Austin Matthews want to leave? If Matthews looks at this and Keith Pelley and whomever the next general manager is can present a scenario to show Matthews how this thing can turn around quickly. To your point, Berkey,

one year Boston Bruins, right back at it competing for playoff spots. If they can show Matthews that they have a path for that, he probably stays. If not, then I think all bets are off. Do you agree with that? Yes, I think it's 90% true. I think Austin Matthews is a loyal guy. I don't know him well.

I know him to say hello too. But he strikes me as a very loyal guy. He's not going to leave unless he has a damn good reason to leave. And that's got the team's got a lot of control over that. I think how they handle Neelander is next up for me about his full-nosed. trade, no way. They have to approach him at some point and say, what do you want to do as well? Would you reopen the

movie? My guess is he would because it's no fun missing the playoffs. What they went through this year is no fun for a team. It's been a class for what? Eight straight years? Seven, whatever it is? Yep. No fun.

So if you're the Maple Leaf, Sam, what is the first? The new general manager gets installed. Keith Polly talked about late May, maybe early June. for the new manager and time for the combine, the draft, free agency, all of that. First of all, I don't know if you have any names in mind, but what should the first order of business be for the new manager? I'll only be about 7 million people that apply for that job.

It's one of the... Four million in Canada, Berkey. Every single person is a general manager in this country. You know that. I know. And it's a great thing about working in Canada. There will be a million people want this job. It pays very well.

It's a, whoever gets it right, like I said in my press conference, whoever gets it right, they're going to name schools after it, not streets, schools, the big deal. And whoever gets it right, everyone's a cup with the GM of the least one in the cup, they're going to name schools after him or her. So I think that the first order of business is to hire a GM, they're going to have a million people that apply, and some of them are going to be very qualified,

and some of them are not. They're going to get this right, I believe. I think Keith Pelley's a smart man. You can make fun of his press comments all you want. Sure, there's things he'd like to say differently. But I know Keith, since I worked at TSN, he's a good guy. I think he'll get it right, and they'll finally get it right in Calgary and Toronto.

You know, it's a fascinating team and a fascinating market. The other question now becomes, and maybe there's just a question for when the new manager, is installed and it becomes their decision. What happens to Craig Barrube here? And I'll couch it in one specific way. You may have been on a plane for this and I'm sure whether you're already in Australia.

But Saturday the Leafs were in St. Louis, right? The height of, you know, Craig Barubi's career, the Stanley Cup, still loved in the city. You know, that team and that run changed his life forever. And all the Maple Leafs could muster were 13 shots. Like, it was a pretty insulting performance by that collection of players. What do you do with Barubi through all of this? Or is this just the manager is going to decide? I think the manager is going to decide, but I think there's no question that was disappointing.

That group is disappointing. That group of players has to change. I'm not big on throwing players onto the bus. They can fire a tree if they want. can make your coaching changes they want. The end of the day, the players are responsible for a coaching change or a GM change. The ultimate failure is the players now. It's the players that you brought in if you're the GM.

But the notion that they let this guy down like they did with those performances is the servant. So in my mind, it's time probably to move on in people's minds and leafland. Move on with the coach. He'll be out of work for about 30 seconds, folks. Let me ask about another hot button topic around Leafland this week. I'm not sure because I'm not sure what your schedule is and how much you're staying on top of watching games at 1 o'clock in the morning. But the Max Domi Radco Goudas fight.

Not so much from Max's point of view because someone was going to fight from Toronto's point of view. But just the fact that Radco Goudis said, look, I'm hurt but I'm playing in this game essentially because I need to answer for my actions. Like I think Radco Gudis came out of this game looking really good. There's a code, as we all know. I got to pay for it. I got to stand in there and take my licks for what I did. I got to make myself accountable.

Max Stomi wins the fight. Radco Gudis didn't even try to throw a punch. And then at the end, you know, did the slip on a banana peel routine and the fight's over. But I thought Gudis came out of that thing looking really good. He knew he made a mistake and he stood up and he. and he made himself accountable. Yeah, I'm not sure the code has written out in that greater detail. I'm not sure to exist in all cases anymore.

But if you go back to the old throwback code, yes, he did the right thing. He had to pay a stab. He knew he had to pay his stab, whether it was Max Stoney or someone else. Could have been Steve Lorenz. Could have been anybody. But he paid his stab and took his beating and went to the back of the line. It was fine. I thought it was all good.

He's a warrior. People hate Radco Goose, but I would have on my team tomorrow. Yeah. And a lot of teams have agreed with that. Let me ask you about John Tortorella. Takes over, and he's 1-0 being the Vancouver Canucks a couple nights ago. Your thoughts on that situation? I think it caught a lot of people by surprise on Sunday when Bruce Cassidy was relieved.

And then the second bomb was John Tortorella back in the NHL. Now it's for the remainder of the season and the playoffs, however long the Vegas gold and nights go. But how did you see all of that on Sunday, Berkey? Well, I was shocked because I think Bush Cassidy is one of the best coaches in the last 10 years. I mean, he's – Coach Cassidy has a very interesting pass because you got a job early and failed, and then I'm stuck in the minors for about 10 years. Same with Mike Sullivan.

So went to the minors, paid their dues, got a chance back. He's emerged as a top coach. I'm pretty sure I saw him in the Olympics. coaching. I'm pretty sure I saw him. So you're a good coach. Now, you got him and another guy named Devorre out there on the waiting. So there's an unprecedented list of top guys available right now. That's going to be the move.

I think you've got to get on top of it if you're the leaps. If you're going to stall this thing, if one of those guys is your candidate, you miss out because you solved this search. That's going to be a big black mark. So with Torch, Torch, I was shocked to see Bush Cassidy get fired. I think he's the top guy. I think John Torterrell is a great coach. He's a great guy.

I've worked with him three different times in the World Championships, the Olympics in the Vancouver and in the World Cup. I love the guy. He's a big, hearty guy. He's a lot of misconceptions about John Tortorella, but I'm not sure about this one. I'm not sure it makes sense, not because of Torteris, because the guy they're fired,

as a pretty damn new coach. You know, Tortorella is a fascinating guy, and in this era of hockey, he really is a unique personality. First of all, I like dealing with John. I mean, you've dealt with him on a team basis, which is a lot more profound than me just having a conversation with him

as part of media. But I've always found every conversation really enjoyable. I know he loves dogs. that's big. And listen, any military family, and his son is like whites of the eyes. When he gets deployed, it's not somewhere in the background. It's right up front.

I got a lot of respect for those families and a lot of respect for the Tortoralla family because of it. And I know it's hard. And I know there have been moments where it's been really hard, even just to coach a game. But John's always done it. I got a lot of respect for him. Not just a military family.

Nick is, it was. He's retired now. He's moved up. He's still in the military, I believe. But he was the Navy Ranger, which is the equivalent of a Navy SEAL. And Nick would kill me for saying, a misspoken said Navy.

An Army Ranger was the equivalent of the SEAL. This guy's done it all. And he has, I wanted to talk to Torts and to see him before a game and see if, actually, Danny Sedan, sorry, because he got hurt.

And he said, after the game, it's only one in the dressing room. Sorry, went in the dressing room and went after a Calgary Flames player after Brian McGrath and went in after all that.

And I said to him afterwards. He just found out that day where Nick was going to be deployed. They don't tell them. They just said, you're being deployed. And never tell you where we were going in the sandbox.

They just tell you you're going. You don't know if you go on Iraq. You don't know if you're going to Iran now. You don't know if you're going to wherever you're going overseas. But you're being deployed. He just found that out. He was tight as a piano wire. And I said to him after one, it's telling me that towards.

You snapped him in the room. So I'm not telling him anything. That's my business. So he's a good man. He's a good coach. I'm not sure this timing makes sense. I'm not sure the fits there. We'll find out the hard way.

That story was the Vancouver Calgary brawl And there were a lot of people that were saying Like John, you don't have to coach today You don't have to do it And John was like, no, I'm coaching I'm coached I cannot imagine as a father Berkey, you're a father, I cannot imagine that feeling

I cannot imagine that feeling We were in Toronto at the World Cup I wanted to talk to Torts And he said, if your daughters are your daughters here And I said yeah He said bring him in here right now he's getting ready for a game. And all he wants to talk to,

Marin and Gracie, who are like, well, that's awesome. Hey, how are your girls doing? How's your dad? No, unbelievable.

Yeah. Listen, we'll either let you start your day or go back to bed. Whichever you choose, there's no wrong answer. Thanks so much for stopping by you. Going back to bed, Jeff. Out of boy.

Snuggle up. Snuggle up, Snuggle up, Berkey. And, uh, listen, And I know you're there to see your daughter. I hope you guys are having a great time.

And we'll look forward to having you back on when you're back in North America. Thanks, pal. Okay. Thanks. There he is. From Melbourne, Australia. How about that one, Zach? From Melbourne, Australia.

Brian, cutting the vacation short by half an hour to come and hop on the program here and share some stories. Yeah, that John Tudorella story. Like, that was the preamble to that Vancouver Calgary brawl, the line brawl. And Hartley throughout his meat to start. and John was like, really, on a day like this, really? And everything that happened afterwards, I completely understand. Completely. Yeah, it all understands.

Puts it into light of what was going on and why the frustration boils to that point. I couldn't even imagine and begin to put myself in his shoes. So, I mean, it makes a lot of sense when you kind of find out what went on for torts that day. And yeah, Berkey, by the way, for people out there, was adamant he was coming on today. I told him Berkey, it's all good, men. We know you're away. We know you're on vacation. And he just goes, he goes, what time is it there?

I said, whatever, one Eastern time. And he goes, I'll be there. And I'm like, all right, let's see. Set your alarm for 3.30. Get up and bark about Trilliving and Pelly. Back to bed. John Twitter, I'm going back to bed now. All right.

But that's Brian. Like, yeah, honestly, every time I would, every time I would work with Brian, like I would never get there before. It was impossible to get there before. And everyone has this story. Elliot will tell you the same thing. The three of us used to do the Wednesday show. And Brian would always be there first.

Like that was a major source of pride for him. That reaches all the way back probably to his college days in Providence. Okay. Speaking of college, University of North Dakota, standout defender, standout defenseman on his way to the Frozen Four is Keaton Verhof. That's some business. and then we'll get to the draft sometime in June Keaton. Jeff Merrick here, how are you?

When are you leaving for Vegas? Did you pack your bathing suit and your suntan lotion? Are you all ready for what's in store for you? Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm excited to be on here. Yeah, I think we're leaving to Vegas on Tuesday, so get a couple days of practice and maybe some sunlight too. Yeah.

And then right to business, though. This has been such a fascinating year for you, right? Like this is the first year of the new reality, right? Like the new reality of CHLers and NCAA and the tug and the pull and on all of it. And, you know, you're part of that first wave or first class of players that have said, I'm going to see what this is like over here. If you can, before we look at the future, can you take us back to like how you came to that decision initially? I was shocked.

I think a lot of people were shocked. But how did you arrive at that decision? Yeah, I think, well, you go, we go back to right when the rule kind of changed there. And you kind of look at, you thought about it. And I think it was always in the back of some of our heads playing out that season. But really, I didn't really start thinking about it too much until after playoffs ended. Finished up my season there in Victoria. Kind of got reached out, or a couple schools reached out to me.

Explored a bit of them. end up going to U18 Worlds at the end of the season. Then after that, came back and went on two visits, one to North Dakota and one to Michigan, and you kind of go on those visits and you just get a perspective and perspective of what it's like here. I mean, you always have preconceived kind of ideas of what it's like to play in college or what it's like to be in a certain place or at a certain college. But I think for me when I really came to North Dakota to start on my first visit, it kind of was a place that really spoke to me.

and it was something that I really, I wanted to be a part of the culture here and the people that are here as well. Just the group of coaching staff that we have, it was super respectful with the decision as well. I think obviously it was a weird time and a new time as well. Everyone was kind of learning as well with the coaching staff and the players as well coming from the CHL.

But in the end of it, North Dakota was kind of just a place for me. It felt right. But yeah, I think the, the transition was was definitely a little different than some people's recruiting process. Mine, mine definitely flew by. It was the marble floors at Ralph Anklstadt. Like, you can be honest.

Like, I've seen it. Like, it's pretty gorgeous, right? Like, oh, man, marble floor is like, where do I sign? Yeah, no, 100%. The Ralph is, um, the Ralph is one of the kind. Um, the building here is, is kind of, it's, uh, it's amazing. Um, we're so lucky and fortunate to have, to have this, this great rink.

and obviously the alumni that have helped kind of establish the culture. And obviously, Ralph Engelstead as well, who kind of was a big part in making this rink is someone that we really cherish or deeply around here. Okay. How do you handle compliments? You handle them well. Do your cheeks get red? Like, how do you handle compliments?

Yeah, I think I might maybe get a little red, but for me, I think it's taking stride and take it to the... Okay. So I text. it with one of your former coaches today. I said, tell me, tell me something about Keaton. This is what came back just before the program. Pure winner, NHL captain material,

leader of men for sure, and extremely down to earth even with all that's going on. Does that resonate with you? That's, uh, no matter what coach that came from or who that came from, that's an honor to do. That's,

that's something that, um, I think I pride myself in, and just being a guy that people can talk to and a guy that is respected as well. So to hear that from you is pretty special. And that's a huge honor for whoever that came from. Well, like you have like, I've talked to a couple of people about you. And they all have the same thing. It's like, I'm like, what was your relationship?

What's your relationship like with Keaton? Like what are the conversations like? And everything that I always get back is you feel like you're his best friend five minutes into a conversation, right? Like your personality. has become a quickly one of your calling cards. And I'm sure that as, you know, NHL teams, you know, come inquiring, like, I don't think, put this way, I don't think you're going to be intimidated by the Combine interviews, are you?

No, I think for me, it's kind of, that's something that I pride myself in almost is being able to talk with people and just being an outgoing person. That's always been my personality as someone that can, I can go into a room that's silent and and make everyone start talking and become friends as well to kind of say it like that. But I think for me, just moving away from home at a young age and being around different people and Billet families as well, I kind of grew up into that kind of style that I'm able to talk with people and able to hold conversations as well. I asked your manager, Bryn, Chiswick, about you today.

We're having a conversation. And he told me that you are taking, is it sports journalism? You're taking a class in sports. You're already coming for all of our jobs here too. You're already looking like past, you know, the finishing up in college and the NHL career, already looking to take all of our jobs here at the other side of the microphone. Yeah, I took a sports journalism class in the first semester. That was pretty, that was a neat class for me.

Yeah. I think both just because obviously I'm interested in things like that. And we've got to look at different sports. I think the main reason it kind of helped me and a reason I wanted to take it as well was just with talking with media and seeing stuff from their perspective. Like for me this year, having to talk with different interviews and different podcasts as well. It's been nice to have that class to kind of see what you guys think and see what's almost almost picking your guys' brain a bit.

So now you know how easy it is. Like here's the thing like, dude, this is a secret, how easy this thing is. Now that you're in the club, you can't tell anybody. You got to say like, oh, man, these guys work so hard. Oh, what a tough gig that is. Oh, yeah. You guys are working all day. You don't get to talk with fun people at all.

No, no, no, no. Oh, I got to go to work. My wife always said, you don't have to go to work. You got to go watch a hockey game. Like, you're not working. Like, stop. Like, stop with I got to go to work. You watch a hockey game and go like, oh, that's offside.

Well, that's going to be icing and we'll be right back. Like, essentially, that's what we do here. Eric Keaton. And now you know the secret. And now you know the secrets. I'm always curious about players in their draft here. Look, Gavin McKenna is going through this as well. I can recall Noah Hanofin, okay, years ago.

So Noah Hanofin, the Quebec ramparts, had his rights in the Quebec League. And he didn't consider going for a second. I talked to his representation, then Wasserman, now the team. and I said, like, is there any chance that Hanifin's going to go? And they said, you know what? It's his draft year. We don't want him in a new environment. We want him, like, comfortable things that he's used to, the same experiences, just

focus on the draft year and playing. And that's it. We don't want any other, any other distractions in his life. And I understand. Now, like, it's a really sensitive year. And you're going through it right now. But you've deliberately chosen to put yourself in a different situation. one, I think that's commendable, right?

Like, this is like a really, really, it's like, it's a big year in your life and a big year in your career here. And you've challenged yourself. Like, was any of this part of the thinking, too, like, you know what? Maybe I should stay where it's really comfortable, put up big points. You know, Victoria's going to have a good team. Or was it like at every single step of the way, I want to challenge myself. And, you know, here you are planning against like 23 year olds now. Yeah, for sure. I think that was always in the back of your head. I mean, it's hard not to kind of have that stuff floating around there. But for me, like you said, I just kind of, I wanted to have that challenge. And I know kind of going through that, I had that same almost obviously on smaller scale, but I had this same kind of thought process going in my second year, U-15.

Oh, yeah. kind of thing for that WHL draft here. And it was whether I should stay in my hometown and play AAA there or I ended up moving out to Colonna and playing in rink. So at rinked Kelowna. So it was kind of a familiar situation. But, yeah, I think the kind of things that went into it and the thought process and the people I had supporting me was super huge.

Kind of coming here was definitely going to be a challenge and I knew that. but I had so many people to talk with. And like I said earlier, the coaching staff was kind of on a, was so respectful and kind of wanting to take me to take me through this process and really be there for me as well. I mean, this year I've had those guys beside me every step of the way to kind of talk with and do extra work or do extra video.

And whenever things are kind of like there's going to be ups and downs in the air, so whenever things are going bad, they're there for me. They're there for me as well. So it's, it's, of those guys. You know, it's interesting, too. We always hear the term distraction, and we never think that it can actually be a good thing. And what are the things that I wonder about,

like, you know, this is your first year on campus, significantly away from home, et cetera. We always think the distractions are bad, but there is such a thing as a positive distraction that through all of this, sometimes, like, you can't be 24-7 consumed by the draft and the season and what's coming in June and where I'm going to go

and looking at NHL standings and draft simulators and prospect rank, you can drive yourself crazy. Like, what are some of the positive distractions that you would have in your life this season? So you don't just get overwhelmed by the draft year? I think, I think honestly, for me, it's just been surrounding myself with the guys,

really kind of throwing myself into it. I mean, you look at junior, and it's a little bit different in a sense where some guys are going to school, some guys are out of school. and so you're kind of hanging out with, if you're going to school, you're hanging out with the guys that are going to school.

If you're not going to school, you're hanging out with those guys. So I think for me in college, every single guy is going to class, every single guys around the school and around the rink pretty much all the time. So to kind of have those guys and really become really close to those guys

has been super good for me this year. It's kind of a thing that I think I really enjoyed this year. I mean, we're a really close group. I don't think we would be where we are today if we weren't as close as we were. We've gone through so much. I mean, in the summer, we start kind of coming together and really learn each other's games and kind of personalities. And then as the year goes on, you just become closer and closer with guys. And now there's guys here that are my best friends.

And I'm so happy that I get to spend every day with these guys at the rink and away from rink and traveling and all that stuff. Let me ask you about your season because early on it was like highlight, highlight, highlight. And that's great. And that's cool. And then we look at you play now and it's like, like he looks like a pro. Like you have like a real maturity to your game where early on, I can understand it. Like 17 years old. Like highlights, man.

Like let's make some videos here. And now we watch you play and it's like, wow, he really has like a mature poise to his game. Like, was that just like, was going to happen through the season? Was it like, at a certain point, you realize I need to start playing a more pro-style game here? Like, I remember, I'll give an example. I remember going to watch the U-16 Toronto Marley's. This is when Connor McDavid was on the team and Josh Hosing. They were the two stars.

And Josh Hossang was a guy that would like dangle five guys and then regroup in the neutral zone, just so we could do it again and then he would go and score. where McDavid, like at 15, like looked like a pro. Like, oh my God, this guy looks like he's like, forget OHL. He's going right to the NHL from U-16. Like, was there like moments throughout the season where you're like, I got to mature my game here? Or do that just happen naturally?

Yeah, for sure. I think kind of going back to that decision, I think to come to North Dakota is kind of a place where the maturity is established from the people that have been here before. for us. But yeah, I think going into the year, there's definitely some holes in my game and some spots that I wanted to fix. I mean, a big point for me was coming here to kind of improve my defensive ability and my D zone structure and that stuff. And obviously, playing against those older and more mature guys, it kind of comes along with it. I think the biggest difference

for me in college this year was just the details of guys, the details of the guys you play against and the details of your teammates as well. So being able to learn from those guys has been super huge. But I think at the start of the year, you kind of, you go to the start of the year and you're playing, like, I'm kind of, I was playing almost a different type of game. You're going, you're putting up lots of numbers and you're doing that stuff. And that's all great and fun. But I think at the end of the day, the game I'm playing right now is something that is more

mature and more capable to be able to take to the next level. It's not as much of a running gun game. It's more of a kind of know the situation and know the area of when I should maybe jump up in the play and make a rush play or stay back and kind of be that reliable defensive defensive defenseman. So I think for me, the maturity of my game has been a huge jump for me. I'd say honestly, that's been the biggest kind of thing for me that's developed this year. A couple more minutes left with you. I want to ask about a couple of things specifically throughout your season. You know, there was that ASU weekend where you're in January.

I believe it was where you were just like lights out. Like that was like, holy smokes, Keaton Verhoff, holy jeez. Were there moments like that, like throughout the season that we may have missed along the way where, yeah, my ASU weekend was good. But how about this weekend? I don't really like, your last game was fantastic here too to get you here of the Frozen Four.

But like, were there moments where you stand out and you go like, yeah, you know what? I'm really proud of this weekend or this game or these two games. Yeah, 100%. I think everyone kind of goes to that weekend. You just kind of look at the night. and you look at the production-wise, and then you watch the games and you see I played pretty well, but honestly, in my head, that was a good weekend production-wise, but for myself, like, playing,

I felt good. I know there was better, though, for me. And I think weekends that don't show up on the score sheet as much that are kind of good stepping zones where I know I played well and things like that kind of, things just don't fall in the back of the net. But things like for me, Colorado, We went to Colorado college right after the World Junior break. And I went there and I played a super solid game. I was moving Pox quick and joining the rush and doing things like that. But it's just those type of games where I'm playing the important times and I'm playing the right way are things that I really look for.

And I really pride myself in learning this year, honestly, and maturing my game that way. Miss playing goalie? No, not as much anymore. I was trapped the pads on a couple months ago here, and I still got a little bit. Yeah, I still got a little bit of game in me, but not much.

I don't think my mobility is where it was. I looked more like those. What skates did you wear? Do you wear a goalie skates or do you just wear your own? No, I was in the straight, normal player skates. I wasn't moving very well. I was more of an up-down, walk-around kind of guy, but I still got some hand-eye going.

That's good. You still got the mitt. That's all right. You still got the mitt. Okay, we'll end on this one because I know every day is busy for you. So let me end on this one. What do you want people to know about you? I'm always curious, like, you know, you want to, you know, share your personality.

You got a big personality. You're easy to like, like all of it. But what do you want people to know about you? Like what do you want people to take away from either seeing this interview or having a conversation with you? What do you want people to know about yourself? Yeah, I think for me it's just get to know me as a person and kind of the, the way I handle myself and the way I'm going to be respectful towards everyone. Something that I kind of always pride myself in being is being a friend with everyone on

the team, not kind of having clicks and not being in different groups, but being a guy that every single guy wants to talk to and can be around and hang out with is something that I kind of like to be in and like to be around all the guys as well. but I think for me is just the down-to-earth kind of human I am. I don't really want to go around and flash lots of things. I mean, there's things to talk about. And obviously, when hockey comes up, there's fun things that come along with it,

but also just kind of making sure that I'm a person away from the rink as well and lots of other things to kind of talk about and making sure that I'm not just a one-dimensional. person that can only talk about hockey. I can be there to talk about other things with people and be a guy that can, they can just hang out away from the rink as well. What a revelation, a young man that doesn't just want to talk about hockey 24-7. I love it.

Do you have a favorite NHL team, by the way? Yeah, I think for me, it's got to be Oilers. I grew up a, I grew up a Montreal fan when I was a goalie because I really like Carrie Price. Oh, yeah. And then eventually, I fell into the Oilers, the Oilers fan base growing up in the Edmonton area so I kind of have grown to like watching them. Fort Saskatchewan.

All right. You have a favorite oiler? Um, I don't know right now. As of right now, I kind of just, I'm cheering for the team. There's lots of guys on there.

I mean, you know what? Yeah, I guess I do now. Um, probably Colton, Colton doc, my cousin,

just got, just got trade. I'll go with them now. All right. Yeah. I got, I got news for you. Unless they significantly trade up in the draft,

you're not going to get drafted by the Edmonton Oilers. It's getting me more. much, much higher. Listen, thanks so much for stopping by with me today. This has been a really great conversation. Really appreciate it. Good luck in Vegas. And I know it'll be interesting for you if it comes down to you and Michigan,

you and Michigan here. So we'll see where that ends up. You'll be well. We'll talk soon. Awesome. Thank you very much. Take care. There is Keaton Verhof.

Jeez, you want to talk about a kid with personality and a confident kid and a humble kid, but an outgoing kid as well. And oh, yeah, by the way. He's just like one of the best, maybe the best defense, but in the draft this year. Someone's getting a real good one there. What did you think of the kid? Zach, nice kid, eh?

I can't wait until he's doing interviews in Toronto and talking about playing for the Maple Leafs. That'll be fun. Go on, you had to knew I was coming in with that. Yeah, I know. It's going to be something about the Maple Leafs. Yeah, I know. How are you looking on the blue line, six foot four?

Yeah, he's a nice player and a great personality. In all seriousness. he's 17 years old I know that that's insane like I know hear him talk when he joined I've obviously listened to him a couple of different times he's joined Leif's Morning Take and the boys on there twice now and I've obviously been very intently listening to those

but every time I hear him I have to search up again how old he is like I know how old he is but it's like I need to fact check it because the maturity he speaks with how confidently he speaks as well not just like what he talks about and everything like that. No marbles. No marbles in his mouth. Very, very concise, very clear on what he's saying. He has opinions.

He has thoughts and feelings about things and shares them with you in a very direct way. It's just fun listening to him. It was, that was an enjoyable conversation. I can't believe he's 17. Every time it makes no sense. Kids now are more mature when they get to their draft year than they ever have been. And as much as the old's, and I'll lump you in with me now, sorry, you're on the shady side of the mountain, as much as the old's complaint about social media, I really think it's because

of social media. The kids, because they live their lives publicly and, you know, they are their own show. And they communicate with a lot more confidence with older people than I ever did when I was a kid. I never would have been able to do that like he did. Not a chance. Things like a combine interview that would have terrified me. Now I'd be like, okay, how long? am I going to screw with the St. Louis Blues? How am I going to screw with the Philadelphia Flyers? This is going to be a lot of, I wish I could do a combine interview now with the Florida Panthers and just be a total clown and it's like goof around. But like, you know, I've got the advantage of decades after I was 17 years old. But that guy's going to walk into every single

combine interview with a confidence in a smile, the likes of which that I never had and you never had, probably I'm assuming here, Zach, probably ever had either. Yeah. I definitely didn't. I was trying to put myself in those shoes and think about what I was doing. And I remember I was doing a radio program slash TV program at my high school we had at both brothers there. And I was thinking about the videos. Because he like watching him.

Colts TV. I was thinking about the videos, the Colts TV. I know. My kids go. My kids go. Anytime I was in front of the microphone, I would have to go watch them back. But I can't imagine the confidence. I,

had that wasn't even live and my my level of you know importance in my life at that point not sam important now but just relative to what he is it was nowhere even near that i might people in my high school were watching on pre-recorded video of me and i would have been standing up there like this oh i think that's today and then you go watch this guy it's like oh no it's super confident clear kids the confidence was amazing kids live live their lives publicly now they do like I've always said like the best analogy that I ever heard Zach was you know like when I was younger there was always this idea that oh yeah oh there are always people are watching you and it was like a bad thing because now the vibe around kids is

the worst thing is if someone's not watching you like the big horror is oh no one's paying attention to what I'm doing when I was a kid it was always like oh yeah we better watch out because people are watching people might be watching you but now I was like that's what kids want I don't know I'm just impressed and listen last year Matthew Schaefer comes in and like did Matthew Schaefer seemed 17 years old. Mind you, Matthew Schaefer had to grow up pretty fast, but nonetheless, like with that level of maturity and confidence of speech,

not even close, man. That's the thing that I think would be good for the game as a whole here growing, but I wonder, I'm going to be interested to watch how this changes where players' relationships with media develops over time because you look at some of these guys and, you know, some of the stuff that we hear

where it's like, yeah, I'd rather go to, no shade at these teams. Like, I'd rather go to Florida because there's four reporters in the room rather than Toronto where there's 25, as we saw the, that was thrown out there the other day. But now I wonder if we were going to get to a point where players, maybe and obviously not they're looking for like the most attention, but they're embracing it far more.

Like, let's go and get in front of the cameras. F and right, F and right, the game will be a lot healthy when people and when athletes embrace the idea, of give us the most attention and you don't just want to slither away once you're off the ice because if you can't be part of the attention economy then just close the shop

because that's the game now. That's the game. You're competing for eyeballs and ears. And I think that there was a period too. Yes. And I think there was a period too where it was probably like the unknown, the element of the unknown.

What is the media? What can this turn out to be? You know, is not you. You don't do this. But there was a lot of people out there that were like twist words or make people look bad for things that they would say. And there's probably that element of being scared about the big bad, you know, worldwide web that was out there and what things could turn out to be. Now these kids recognize that they have an ability to take control of it much more than they ever have. And they understand it because as you pointed out, they grew up in it.

And this is all they've known. You know, I was watching on Instagram yesterday. They're their own shows. They're their own shows. He was posting a highlight reel of himself scoring in like a double A tournament the other day. I'm like, what the hell am I watching? I didn't even have access to this kind of stuff when I was 12 years old. Now they just control the narrative.

They're known more earlier on. They've been in the limelight. They understand these things. Exchanging brick videos. No kidding. They have people out at these tournaments when they're like 11 years old. Dude, I'm going to their highlight tapes. And you're seeing these kids do celebrations that I was like,

my dad would have slapped me upside the head if I was to three celebrations when I was 11. You know where I'm going to. I'm taking my kid to go every year, but we're going to watch O. each other cup, my kid and I, my 2010. We're going to watch O'HL Cup. Going to watch games. I'm like, who's playing tonight? He just like, I don't know.

Let's just go. I'm like, okay. We're just going. Like at younger, younger ages, they're like, and the quality, we know how good. The quality is, quality of the hockey is fantastic. And last year I saw a ton of. college recruiters for the first they're always some but like last year was flooded and this year i'm expecting i've already talked to a couple like i'm expecting even more there tonight but anyhow

what were we talking about ben verhof the confidence that's oh that was where we were yeah yeah i like them i like them yeah i love give me give me more of that you're a maple leaf fan you might have a shot you might have a shot i was doing the lottery simulator while the get ready oh were you in that top five. Get ready. Get ready for your team to suck the personality out of one of the most, one of the most personable players of the draft.

No. As long as he's not wearing tank tops and flipping the camera, the bird, I think he'll be okay. It was a weird year for Willie. It was a weird year for Willie. All right. A couple of things here.

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I guess he's just like trying to fall asleep, so he's going to text me and bother me. Just said, because he's gone back to bed. He said, everyone and their dog tried to get me on. So first of all, we thank Brian for making himself available. If I had a dog asking me to come on his podcast, I go on that pod. I don't care. I go on a, you get a dog?

I probably prioritize the podcast. Like, screw America. I'm going on the dogs. You know, I would tell you that joke. Okay, so it's one of my favorites. That's a good one of my. If you had a dog ask you on their podcast, I know what's all AI, but you know I'm a sucker for?

Man, those talking dog videos, talking dogs doing podcasts. Yeah. I love them. Yeah. They're so good. I would be prioritizing talking dog podcasts if I was asked to be going on. I could see. I could see the what chaos guys dressing up as dogs to do a podcast.

Agree disagree. Yeah, probably. I could see Bean and Pete doing that. I could, I would go on that. I would go on that, like, every day to talk to dogs. Just telling them, like, a note to their producer, Sean. Yeah. Hey, Jeff, we want you to come on today.

Yeah, are you going to be wearing the dog costumes? Just I'll be there. Just, just, just as. Docs. Like, that's the only way I'm doing it. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, I don't make it entertaining. They did have mascots on on their trade deadline show.

I came on following the rat from Utah. And apparently he was like getting political and swearing. And I went on after it. What am I supposed to say after that's taking place for the 10 minutes before me? How can anything I do be as entertaining as that? So you say, always you say never come on after the hooters. Never come on after Jimmy Hendricks. There's just no win there.

Just pack it in and go home. All right, but nonetheless, as we like to finish every program with a shine spot on Zach, 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. There better be a dog in this narrative here really quickly. You spin here before you get to the parlay. Just saying.

From Blue Line to Bessl, we got you covered. Scramble. We got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Should I slow down so you can squeeze one in? Mist puck drop, no sweat. With the live same game parlor, you can build your bets up and sell the final buzzer, folks.

Download fan dual sports 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 1-866-531-2,600, to speak to an advisor free of. Charge Zach. Okay, I had one.

I'm abandoning it. Watch this. It'll go on the spot. No, you're going to do it. Just the one I have. I don't know if anybody's ever seen. I don't know if anybody's ever seen Ted Lassow, but one of the very famous scenes that they have in Ted Lassow ends up becoming a big story for the entire episode because their mascot is a dog, Jeff. And in one of the episode, Danny Rojas, he takes out the dog.

early on off a penalty kick and he ends up getting the yips i couldn't imagine what that would be like for danny rojas to go up there on the field every day i'm trying jeff to go up there on the field i'm working i'm with you think about that dog and you know what i had the opportunity to go travel overseas and i saw the fields of which they filmed ted lasso and every time i went by the fields I thought Malat about that dog, and it almost made me cry. I thought Malat about that dog. And it almost made me cry. Quitting by, Field.

Nice touch. That's all a YSE, YSE. YSE poll there for you, York Simco Express. Jeff Malott and Chris Kreider. $5 wins you $541.9. My friends at Fanduel. just like scanning through my heads and there's hunter shepherd i'm trying to do like all because i have a big german shepherd guy i've always had german shepherds um and trying to think of like are there any

shepherds in the nchel right now and there's hunter but he's a goaltender and that's not going to get anything done no with anybody here on fan duel so but you went i mean if i had like around the block good for you yeah if i'd like five more minutes i probably could have scanned the names a little bit more and put them together but i i mean i have to make the graphic and put together the odds for it so I had already made this one. I just had to change the story to think about in real time what I could do to fit a dog in. Well, you're an artist. Well, you're an artist.

So that's good. Like, you're an artist and you can like improvise. It's kind of like jazz. You know, I think of like, I don't think so much about how I do this program. Zach, I don't really think about them as words. I think about them as sound shapes. They're not really words, man. There's sound shapes, man.

That's all we're making here, man. Okay. Well, I think that we're going to have to evaluate the structure and we're going to have to make sure our vertical alignments are correct horizontally and maybe that'll help get us in the right direction for tomorrow. You know, I'm trying as I... I didn't need to extend it. As I get older, as I get older, I was saying this to my friend Annie the other day.

as I get older, I try not to cringe at things because I'm trying to get the idea of cringing out of my life because I just want people to be themselves and be free to be themselves and just like as long as you don't hurt anybody else. Like the idea of cringing is becoming really distasteful to me. I want to get out the part of me not that I want to get out the part of me that cringes, right? I don't want to get the part out of me that is cringes. which is I'll always hit you with bad jokes. But I want to get out the part that cringes. But there are some parts of that presser yesterday where it was really tough where I'm like, nope, I'm still not there yet. I haven't got out the part of me and my personality that cringes at things.

And that was one of them. That was one of them. Yeah. I've taken the lesson that you've handed down to me. I've tried to adopt that into my everyday life. And I think that's a good lesson to have. that one was cringeworthy and we're allowed to say that that one was cringe worthy

it is unavoidable Jeff it was cringeworthy I know it was a tough one but you know what the sun came up this morning and we move on I'm just surprised a dog invited birthday onto his show Toronto I can see the sun coming out

of my basement window here for a second which means actually I got to go and walk the dog when we're done here and then it's off to the OHL Cup tonight at Scotia Pond which should be a lot fun and then watching. What time are you going to be there? This is a weird question, but what time are you going to be there?

Yeah. I'm going to run into you. I'm going to be heading there. No way. My kid's on the ice till I think 5.30 and then we're going to go over. So probably catch the 7 o'clock games. Are you going? Well, I will be playing in a much less significant.

Are you playing at Scotia Pond tonight? At Scotia Pons. What time? Oh, I get to. Here it comes. Oh, yeah. Knock need skater. Doesn't back check.

I thought I'm, I haven't played in three weeks on them. bench. Oh, geez. Yeah, no kidding. I haven't played no, you go.

No, no, I'm good. You go. Let me check here for you. All right. Let me quickly. 815, Scotia Pond. Dude, I'll be there.

I may make a video. Oh, God. I don't know if I need that. Look at this. I got a new helmet, too. What do you got on display? The new helmet. Oh, you're a CCM guy, eh?

Well, I got it on one of those used equipment. swaps. It was refurbished from an OHL team, but it was never more. No way. Well, pro return from an OHL team? Yeah, pro return, yeah. 75 bucks helmet and visor included.

I was like, done, I'm in. You know, I'll tell you a story. First of all, you work in media. I hate it too, but you got to do it. You got to wear the cage. Yeah. You got to wear the cage. Because I used to do the same thing,

and then one day it was a Saturday night at McCormick Arena. Don't ask me why. but I went down to block a shot, stupid. And you know the comedian, Sean Cullen? He was a guy that took the shot. And it split me open for 35 stitches. This is why I kind of have like a little bit of like nerve damage, I think, where I can't like smile properly still and have a little bit of a chute right there.

That's from that shot. So it split me for 35 inside and outside. I'll tell you the full story. Inside, outside. And stitches inside your nose, it sucks. it sucks. No. 35 of them.

And so it was a Saturday night. And so we went to St. Joe's Hospital. And the place was packed. Because it was Saturday nights. So it's like they have bar fights. I was in there like 10 o'clock. Like worst time to go to emerge. And I'm not going to get like, I sit there and like, okay, I got to go through triage.

And like, okay, so I need like 35 stitches. I'm going to be waiting for a while. And so sure enough, I wait for a while. They finally get over to me. I've soaked through like two or three towels of blood. And they bring in the free. needle, pop me, and it doesn't work. It doesn't take. And so, this is so bad. They take me upstairs to where they do surgery. And I'm like, I just need like 35 stitches. Like, yeah, the freezing isn't

working, sir. We're going to have to, we're going to have to use a different sedative. And I'm like, okay, so I'm lying there. And I'm still wearing my gear. Right. I just got my skates off, but I'm in my gear. And I'm like blood all over my jersey. And so they, put the intravenous into me. I'm like, what are you giving me? And they said, ketamine. And I said, you're giving me start. That's where came from.

She was, you're giving me special K? And she goes, sir, we don't call with that at the hospital. I knew that was where that was going. I didn't know that was where the ketamine story came from. Oh, my God. Sir, we don't, we don't, we don't call. call it special K in the hospital. Yeah,

a little more professional. Thank you, sir. Yeah. Anyhow. Put on, and ever since then, I hate it. You got to do it.

You've got to do it. Honestly, Philly, trust me. You can. Yeah, I know. I've had buddies of mine.

And it took like, you know, two or three years of constant dental surgery. And all they kept saying is the same thing. I should just bought it like an $85 cage and put it on. What is the same years of agony. and I hope I'm not jinxing you for tonight. Deflected puck.

Well, you'll be there to see it if I will be there. And I'll be the first one wagging my finger at it and saying, I'm like, all right, take him to St. Joe's for a special K. He's ready to go. It's a Wednesday night in Toronto. My boy just got busted up. That's fingers crossed. Let's get through it.

Playoffs. We knocked out Spencer Hyman's team last week, his brother's team last week, Cooper. You knocked him out? Yeah, knocked him out. So on to the next tier. By the way, did you see Bob Stoffer asking Zach Hyman? Excellent, excellent question by Bob. Very funny.

Stoffer's the best. That was so good. Zach is the guy who can take that as a joke and laugh about it. It was funny. I enjoyed that. I really enjoyed that one. Good on stuff. All right.

Thanks to Keaton Verhoff for stopping by the program today. You can check him out at the Frozen Four in Vegas. You'll be able to check him out at the draft in Buffalo in June. He will be going very high. in that one. So thanks to Keaton Verho for stopping by the program. Bust of luck to No Dak. Thanks to Brian Burke for waking up at 3.30 in the morning in Melbourne

and then texting me afterwards about how a dog asked them on a podcast. Like, how do you say no to a dog? Thanks, Berkey. We'll talk to Berkey in, I don't know, seven days when he comes back. And thanks to you for watching. Thanks to you for listening. Again, if you have subscribed to our daily face off YouTube channel, thank you.

If you haven't, please consider doing so. Thanks for listening on your favorite podcast. platform. We are back tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern, for the sheet. I'm going to go watch Philly play hockey tonight. This should be rich. I'll report back tomorrow.