The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Healthy Scratch ft. Anton Thun

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Jeff Marek is joined by former player agent, Anton Thun, to discuss the Matt Rempe suspension, Chris Kreider's healthy scratching, Marcus Foligno's comments, the Vancouver Canucks drama, and some CBA/Salary discussionsReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it.

Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at one you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. I want to start today with a thank you. Thank you to Irfan Ghaffar. Now, you know Irf around here from down to Irf, which is excellent. I encourage you to check that out. Also, IRF was on Morning Cup of Hockey.

Now, just as a quick aside, let's give Johnny and Colby their space. For anybody who saw the show this morning, listened to the show this morning, listen, couples go through these things. Maybe you've gone through something like this with more than one of your loved ones. You've gone through this with your spouse. It's a sensitive time for everybody right now on that program. So let's give them their space. But Irfan Ghaffar this morning with the Coffee Boys brought up the salient point that despite protestations from Elias Pettersson, EP40, and JT Miller, this is not a construct of the media. This is not a fabrication. This is not some fairy tale that just came out of nowhere. Not at all. IRF rightfully points out that it's not just the media that's talking about this rift between these two players. That does extend back, I don't want to say quite some time, but some time.

He points out correctly that, look, the coach talked about it. Look, the captain talked about it. Tuckett has mentioned it. Quinn Hughes has about it. Look, the captain talked about it. Tuckett has mentioned it. Quinn Hughes has mentioned it. Even Bruce Boudreau, former head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, said, yeah, you know what? I heard there was something going on between those two. I thought that it might have been worked out by now. I'm paraphrasing Gabby, but you know what I'm getting at.

So Irf brings up the point that this is not a fabrication whatsoever. Doth protest too much. Who are you trying to convince? Us or yourselves? Now, one of the things through all of this, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. And this is even true of successful teams. In the history of hockey, there's never been an NHL team where everybody's gotten along. I know, surprise, surprise. I was shocked to find out about dressing room rifts when I was a kid,

about how players didn't get along. I grew up in southwestern Ontario to find out that some players on that team, that there was a Henderson-Ellis camp and a Sittler-McDonald camp in the room, surprised me. And then later on in life, finding out that, and I've talked about this before, on that Montreal Canadiens team, that dynasty team that won four Stanley Cups in a row, Bob Ganey and Serge Savard really didn't like one another. And that extended into their managerial career where they almost rolled up the sleeves and got into a fistfight at a manager's meeting in front of the commissioner at his first manager's meeting. Welcome to the NHL in 1993. Here's how we behave. Did anybody think for one second,

anybody that followed, remember that 100-year anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens? Remember how awful that room was, right? And the various camps in the room itself. I am shocked still to this day that Bob Ganey, who had to herd cats during the 100-year anniversary

of the most storied NHL franchise ever, I'm surprised he didn't have a nervous breakdown at various points during the season because of all the dressing room feuding, whether it's Kostitsyn, Kovalev, Koivu, trying to keep everything together and wondering, what am I doing here? This is not new.

It's never been 23 guys unlike you know the boston bruins of the late 60s early 70s where the rule was all guys on the ice at the end of practice or at the end of a game all had to go to the same bar to have one beer after that that, you were free. But everybody had to go to the same bar and have one beer. After that, you were released. Now, it's 23 guys in 23 Ubers. No one should be surprised by this. But here's the one point that I do want to end on. If you don't get along with someone, that's fine. You don't have to like someone to be able to do business with them. That is the mark of a true professional. Put aside your little grievances and get along with one another for your team. Again, you don't have to like someone

to do business with them. I've got a couple more examples on the other side. Also, Anton Thun will stop by with the big picture. More NHL in Europe? Welcome to The Sheet. Ian Espy in the chat, by the way, says,

Matthew Barzell for Elias Pettersson. Hmm. Now everyone's got their trade fantasies, right? I think the Vancouver Canucks just want to keep everybody together. Best case scenario for the Vancouver Canucks is they both get over this and they both play well and they both go to the playoffs and they have a deep run. Hands up who thinks that could happen. I ain't one of those guys. You know, there's a great story.

Tampa Bay Lightning. John Tortorella and Vincent LeCavalier did not see eye to eye. Not at all. One tried to get one fired. The other tried to get the other one traded. And it was Jay Feaster, the then general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had to call them to a meeting and said essentially this. I'm not trading him and I'm not trading him, and I'm not firing him.

So you two guys have to figure out a way to get along. And they ended up winning a Stanley Cup. Right? We've talked about the Scotty Bowman thing before. Everybody hated them, and then everybody got rings. It's the history of the

game. Normally you see this from player to coach, but from player to coach, but from player to player, it does happen. I don't want to say often, but I refuse to believe that any team holds hands like that early 70s Boston Bruins team. And there's probably even friction there. Probably even friction there.

Okay, Anton Thun coming up here in a couple of moments from retired NHL agent, but he hasn't parked or retired any of his opinions. So I put on my blog today a quick note about the NHL opening up an office in Zurich. There are a couple of LinkedIn job applications that popped up over the weekend, which raised my curiosity.

Oh, maybe the NHL is going to look a little bit more seriously at the future of the NHL in Europe, more so than just, we're going to sell some jerseys, sell some t-shirts and see if we can get a better TV deal here from some of these countries. You do wonder if there is more. I think we've all wondered, you know, how much gold there is in those hills for the NHL. It's one thing to have a couple of games every season and then just peace out and play our season in North America.

It's another to try to leave an impact and make those countries in Northern Europe feel like they're part of the process and more invested in the National Hockey League. Could this be the beginning of that? Also with Anton, we will talk about the future of the negotiations between

the NHL and the Players Association. Could they really get a CBA done early? Before this one expires? That would be a Christmas present. As someone who's gone through lockouts, I started my career and the NHL was being locked out.

That would have been 1994. So we'll talk to Anton about all of this coming up here in a couple of moments. Meantime, Zach Phillips, have you stopped giggling yet about civilians? Last time we had to turn your camera off because you couldn't stop laughing because Brian Burr referred to some intruder

in his office at Mattamy Athletic Center as a civilian. Yes, I finally have, but it's still hilarious and that clip has been watched maybe a hundred times by myself. My buddies are sending it to me. They keep going back and watching it that Friday night. I was getting texts like, this is one of the funniest things I've seen.

That was an all time clip. Like that was, that was hilarious, but I'm okay now. Like I'm not like just out of breath laughing. Right. So if anyone had any questions, whether Zach Phillips actually has upper teeth, that answer came to us or a late in the show on Friday. We've got a lot to get to before we get to Anton. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Anton, by the way, is like my cell phone sparring partner on my dog walks. A little peek behind the curtain. When we talk, we end up arguing about things, and he has a lot greater context for the NHL than I do, but that doesn't stop me from throwing rocks with him. So you get to maybe hear some of that on the show today. What are we looking at today as far as topics go, Zach? What's spicy out there other than JT Miller and Elias Pettersson?

Well, let's start with this one because we've talked a lot about Buffalo and people are really annoyed that we're talking a lot about Buffalo. Well, it's not just us that's talking about Buffalo. It is players around the league, and that would be marcus felino on minnesota with some surprising comments the other day jeff yeah yeah this is this is a dues this is a dues yeah it's tough i mean there's no easy games i mean it's just it's uh we're fighting through right now we're in a little bit of a sludge and just got to go through it. And it takes all of us to get ourselves out of it. So, I mean, I'd rather be in this position than Buffalo.

So, you know what? It's not that bad. Should we mention Buffalo Sabres draft pick, Marcus Foligno? First of all, I love the Foligno family. I love Mike. I love Nick. I love Marcus. These love Nick. I love Marcus. These are wonderful conversationalists.

Loved them when they owned the Sudbury Wolves. Loved them, the kids playing in the NHL. I loved watching Mike Foligno play in the Foligno Leap and the Ugly Ugly Bucket. Does not surprise me, but yeah, like, and now like ex-players are taking swipes at you in post-game interviews. Ex-Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, we lost, but like, we're not the Sabres.

Talk about like salt on an open wound, eh, Zach? Like, yeah, things are bad, but I mean, look down the street. Woof. That's awful. Like, I love it. I do, but I love it because I'm, I guess now technically, like I would consider myself part of the media. So it's fun for us to look at and talk about and laugh at.

Yeah. Oh, man. I just couldn't believe he took the shot at Buffalo. When I saw it, I'm like, oh, no. Like, this is just fuel to the fire. The first thing I did, I don't know if you did, Jeff, was look at when do they play each other next? Because I'm kind of was wondering, like hang on, what is going to happen?

I have to be like who on the Buffalo Sabres is going to go after Marcus Foligno. Yeah. Who is going again? Who is going to do something? Yeah. Like I'll tell you what, you know what impressed me today? You don't really impress me. And it's been said before by a lot of people that, you know, he may be the new heartbeat

of the New York Rangers. Vincent Trocek going to Paul Cotter. No one full well that it's probably not going to end well for him, but like enough of this and I'm going to do something. You know, sometimes, you know, when you're at, and listen, Matt Rempe just got suspended for eight games. Sometimes when your gorilla gets suspended, the other team gets tougher and your team kind of shrinks a little bit because you don't have the muscle around you anymore.

And here's Vincent Trocek saying, I don't care. This is frustrating and I've had it and I'm going to do something. And Cotter, you're not going to do this. And you're wiggling your mitts at me at center ice, the Prudential Center. I know it's not our barn, but I don't care. Let's do this. Is there anybody on the Buffalo Sabres who's going to do that? Cousins, would he do it?

He might. I mean, he has before. I mean, we've seen Dylan Cousins frustrated. I mean, I'm more expecting to see him smash his stick over the crossbar than go and pick a fight with somebody or go up and challenge. If he went up and challenged Marcus Foligno out of frustration and for the pride of Buffalo, hey buffalo hey buffalo we're talking proud there's a dated reference for a lot of our viewers and listeners we're talking proud um that would that would i guess impress a lot of people i think

that would impress me too i just cannot see that happening what up what's next what do we got you teased it there talked about it a little bit uh the rempy suspension uh yeah games handed out to him uh we have the clip of the hit i don't know like we can play it for people here jeff and then i want to get your thoughts on whether or not you were surprised by this at all okay this is one where you just you have to avoid that yes Yes. Watch, watch, I mean, you just, you just have to stop. Yeah. He gets the elbow right up into the side of his head and rams him into the glass.

And again, Haskin is not the type of player that would try and draw something, stay down if he wasn't, if he wasn't hurt. So it would have to be the spiciest of all hot takes to try to even come close to defending that. Miro Haskin in numbers at the boards, Rempe with time, Rempe with space,

makes that decision, elbow to the back of the head, finishes in the glass, has a history. To be honest with you i'm shocked yeah i am shocked i'm shocked he only got eight i'm shocked that he that he only got eight for that one because it maybe would have got more if it were certainly after the play as we talked about with patrick burke after the whistle blows you do something like that and you start to multiply

but like there's no way to defend it. The other thing about it, the other thing about that one is, the next time, Colby Cohen was mentioning this on the Morning Cup of Hockey, and I think he's right. Next time he's getting rung up for 20. And I'll tell you what, if he comes back, here's the thing. If he comes back, I don't think there's even a guarantee that he's going to come back and play for the rangers this year but if he does if you're the other team you're

doing everything possible to try to get matt rempe to do something dumb aren't you yeah and you have free reign to do it because rempe in the back of his mind knows you know what next time it's not going to be a dixie it might be be 20. Yeah. It might be more. That's how everybody feels about it. That one is eight games. Yeah. It could have been a 10 spot that you threw at him. Repeat offender.

Awful. Not that it should factor into it, but kind of Miro Heiskanen is kind of like one of the stars in the game. One of the guys you want to keep in. One of the guys you want to kind of keep in the game. Okay. Back to the headlines of the day coming up in a couple of moments. We will get on the headlines, though, with our next guest. He is a former agent from M5 Sports and Cortex as well.

The first time I spoke to him would have been on the Leafs Lunch Show during, I want to say, the 04-05 lockouts. And is it possible now that there may be a CBA done between the NHL and the Players Association without a lockout? And what is the future of the NHL in Europe now that it looks like they're opening up an office in Zurich? Please welcome to the sheet. He is the one and only Anton Thun. Anton, how are you today? Good to catch up again, pal. I'm doing great, Jeff. I'm excited. I'm excited. It's Christmas. How is Christmas around the Thuns? Usually one day, Christmas Eve, we have the Thun family get

together. And the next day we have my wife's family get together, the Stevenson family. Yeah. So it's a busy time. I love it. Wishing you and your family health and happiness in 2025 and a very Merry Christmas. Now, before we get to NHL in Europe, and part of my blog was influenced by a couple of texts that I got from you and then started snooping around. I want to ask you not specifically about the two players in Vancouver, but you're a longtime NHL agent and we know how players are now. Calls right away after a game or even on an off day, go to the agent before they go to anybody else. When you have a player who has a significant beef with someone else on the team, how as an agent do you advise your clients on how to behave and what to do? I've long maintained the mark of a true professional is doing business with someone that you don't like

or profoundly have a difference with. When you had one of your players who really didn't get along with another player, a coach, whatever, how did you advise that player? Well, Jeff, first and foremost, I can't say that i had a lot of those situations usually as you describe the the situation ends up being between a player who uh and a coach who uh aren't seeing eye to eye usually it's related to ice time um the uh you know basically the standard determining factor of whether a coach likes your performance or not. Taking that aside, I think when you get into a situation like the one that has been publicly described in Vancouver or anywhere else for that matter, I think the first thing that you've got to delve down into is to find out what the problem is. Is it a personal problem or is it a professional problem? Because

it can be both. You know, you've been around long enough to know that there have been, oh, perhaps improprieties among family members in dressing rooms over the many, many years that you've been involved in the sport and the same with myself. And that's a really, and that's a really I guess special problem that you have to deal with and if it comes down to whether it's a professional problem then my counsel is always going to be listen you've got to sit down in the room and hash this out with the other person because if it comes down to effort or just a personal dislike for

somebody you better get to the bottom of it and if you can resolve it resolve it because if it comes down to effort or just a personal dislike for somebody, you better get to the bottom of it. And if you can resolve it, resolve it. If you can't resolve it, then you owe it to your teammates and your team management team to address it as quickly as possible so that it doesn't become a nightmare. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you.

We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Is it ever, I mean, again, like you said, you haven't had these situations a lot. But is this something where, again, this is a general wide brush question. Is it something where an agent representative would get involved on behalf of the client generally?

Or is this something you say, look, you're a professional, you're a grown man, deal with it yourself? Or does it matter the nature of you know the uh i think the nature of a job is is hugely important at the end of the day if it's one of the professional issues you might you might get involved in addressing it really comes down to what the issue is how much of that issue uh is strictly between the players themselves or whether it's it's actually sifted into the mainstream of the team and whether management is aware of what's going on or whether they're not aware of what's going on.

And I think you have to take an individual approach to trying to help your client and potentially help your client solve the problem. Okay, off that page, the NHL and Europe. Now, one of my favorite things to do with you, whether it's over text or over a call, is spar. And we're going to get to things like salary caps and stuff a little bit later on in this conversation. But one thing that you and I are on the exact same page about, I believe, is the future of the NHL in Europe. And there's gold in them hills. How do we go and find it?

How do we go and get it? Now, the NHL is opening an office in Zurich. They're starting to post for positions right now on LinkedIn, for example. When you look at Europe and the NHL and the possibility of deepening the roots there like what comes to your mind right away Anton you've always been outspoken about this can you share with our listeners and and viewers an idea that you texted to me over the weekend about listen if they're going to play extra games sure you can grab a couple of bucks in North America playing those extra games but as

far as an investment goes doesn't Europe make more sense for those extras? Can you explain? Sure. So I think the point that you're making, Jeff, related to the text that I sent you, simply, it's simply this. I believe that the National Hockey League as a whole has done an incredibly poor job of monetizing the relationship that it has with Europe. We have one third of the league currently made up of European players, but I would

gather that less than one third of any sponsorship or media revenues that the league derives come from Europe. And I think it's a failed mission, a completely failed mission. And the mission was basically determined by the fact that the NHL doesn't want to spend money to do R&D in Europe. The solution to that is very simple. Right now, the NHL acquires a lot of assets from Europe. They are very, very popular players in Europe. And so the current game plan has been, well, let's go over to Europe and play a couple games in Helsinki or Stockholm or Prague or Berlin or London and then come home. And what it does is it adds to the financial bucket of the National Hockey League, but it's a scorched earth policy. And the terminology when I've gone to Europe that I get from people in Europe in relation

to the NHL is the following. It's a pirate league. Now, you might say, why is it a pirate league? Well, unbeknownst to probably most of your listeners, the NHL is not a league that, that follows the IIHF rules. Okay. It's essentially a league that plays by their own rules, just like pirates. And they also call it a pirate league because they take your treasure, which is basically all of the best players in Europe. So I think there's a love-hate relationship between Europe and the NHL right now,

which I think needs to be repaired. And I think the way you repair it is by including European hockey markets in the NHL game. You go there, you sponsor the game, you play the game, you create essentially a hockey festival. And I think the best way to do that, based now on the talk that there might be an 84

game season rather than an 82 game season, is perhaps have this hockey festival spread out across Europe. The finals can be in a place like London or Paris or some other major city in Europe. And play essentially the equivalent of what the NBA has in a mid-season tournament at the beginning of the season over in Europe. All the teams can participate. And essentially you have what is a European Cup or you'll probably be called something like the Emirates Cup based on the sponsorship of the tournament. But you can have a pre-season tournament over there, spread the wealth in multiple cities. You could have as many as 15, 16 cities across Europe. You could have your training camps partially there. You play exhibition games there against the local team.

And then you start a tournament and the tournament finals will be somewhere. You'd end up playing approximately 35 to 36 games over there, just as you would if you played two extra games over here in North America. You're now not dipping into the pocketbooks of your North American fans. And you're spreading the NHL game across Europe. And I think it's a great opportunity for the NHL to spread the game at the highest level across Europe and do that in multiple cities and leave a real imprint and do that year after year. And one other suggestion I've got is that the winner of that tournament

ends up getting an automatic playoff berth. So now you know that the Columbus Blue Jackets, if they win that tournament, are going to get a playoff spot, and they've earned it by winning that tournament. So I think there's a lot of wins to it. I'm sure there are a lot of negatives to it that I haven't thought of at this point in time, but those things can be worked out. And now you're really growing your European marketplace.

Is this the sort of exclusive domain over the NHL? Essentially, what I'm getting at here is there's a partnership between the National Hockey League and the Players Association. Some may say it's paper thin. It's the thinnest veil that you have in sports, but nonetheless, how would the Players Association, do you think, react to this? If the NHL went to them and said, look, here's what we want to do. You know what? We're going to listen to Anton, and we're going to have this tournament in all these European cities

to kick off the season. How do you think the majority of, I'm saying non-European players that is, non-European players would react? Well, I don't think you can eliminate the European players from this equation, Jeff, based on the fact that one third of the league is European. But the non-European players should be delighted in this as well because they love playing these games in Europe. They love the fanfare that takes place. If you combine it essentially with a week-long or a

two-week-long hockey festival for these players and interacting the NHL players perhaps with the local players, I think it's a great idea. And I think the players will think it's a great idea as well, primarily because it's a revenue generation idea. I think you're going to find there's certain marketplaces in North America that are cash strapped. And I can probably name a few of them, Columbus, Winnipeg, right off the bat, that if you go to them and say hey listen we need to dip into your pocket a little bit more uh to get that 41st home game um there's going to be

some ticket holders that are going to say hey i i can't afford that 41st home game or the 42nd home game excuse me um and uh maybe I've got to reconsider my season tickets or my season ticket package because this is just getting priced, you know, out of the marketplace that we have here in Columbus or in Winnipeg. You know, it is interesting. I mean, this has been a conversation that goes back

even before Gary Bettman took over as commissioner of the NHL in 1993. You know, I can recall getting, you know getting pro formas from someone at the Hockey News in the early 90s of different markets, Lisbon and London and Paris and all these different places that the NHL was looking at. It's not as if the National Hockey League has been sort of oblivious to all of it. I think that they've always looked at Europe and looked at it as potential. But for whatever reason, and as you can recall, coming out of the 0405 lockout, there was supposed to be a very sophisticated calendar for international events,

et cetera, and a plan for Europe in the NHL. And it's just never happened. How long has this been? in the NHL and it's just never, it's just never happened. Um, how long has this been? Cause you know, listen, you've, you've been at this longer than I have. How long has this been quote unquote, a thing around the NHL? The idea that, you know, there's, there's untapped potential in Europe for our league. Well, I don't know that it's a thing around the NHL, Jeff. It's been a thing bouncing around my brain for about 20 years. So assuming that it's bounced out of my brain and usually what's in my brain comes out of my mouth, as you know, it's been around for a long time. It all comes down to wanting to invest time and money in growing a marketplace. And as you'll recall, the NHL had a great idea prior to the Beijing Winter Olympics

about how they were going to develop the sport of hockey in China. Never happened. Why? Because it means you've got to make an effort. You've got to spend more than just one trip flying over to China and playing a couple exhibition games. It takes a lot of effort. That said, China is a barren marketplace when it comes down to the National Hockey League and was at that time. We have very, very sophisticated hockey marketplaces in Europe. All you have to do is look at the attendance levels in Stockholm and Helsinki and Tampere, Finland and Prague and Berlin and Cologne and Zurich and Geneva, multiple places over there. And the last time the NHL went over to London, which was almost 20 years ago now, it sold out in a heartbeat and NHL has never been back.

That was, you have to ask them why they're not, not. Oh, oh, oh, two, oh, two arena, Los Angeles Kings arena, Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. Yeah. And I think we all looked at that one and said, okay, you know what? This is going to be great. This could be a great relationship here. You know, it's interesting that you mentioned China.

Winnipeg Jets fans will know this. Kevin He, who plays the Niagara Ice Dogs of the OHL, just signed a contract. It's a draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets. And there's a very large young defenseman by the name of Simon Wang who plays with the Oshawa Generals who will probably go either late in the first round or high in the second round.

Now, Kevin, he, I believe, moved to Canada when he was four. Wang, I don't think, until he was somewhere in his teens. And they were both born in China. And you can recall during the Beijing Games, I mean, how much money they spent trying to lure. I mean, I know one coach was offered a million dollars to go over there to coach. And you know how much money that China has started to invest in hockey.

To me, that is another country that whenever we talk about the future of hockey overseas, we kind of have ignored China. There was that, as you mentioned, Calgary and Boston, those couple of games that aired at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. I ended up working one of them. Actually, I think I hosted both of them that ultimately didn't go anywhere. But I see that as another area of huge potential. And China has sunk millions and millions of dollars into this.

And now we're starting to see players come over to North America and play and make their way into the NHL, Chinese born players. Yeah. And a lot of them are coming through the GTHL, as you know. Yeah, that's true.

Okay. Anything else on Europe? I want to ask you about CBA things. No, no, listen, you can feel free to move on. Okay, so one of the things that, because I'm very much of the belief that Gary Bettman now is in the process of finishing up writing his sort of legacy in the NHL, which began, and I guess his official hiring

would have been 92 and took over 93 from Gil Stein. And it seems as if, you know, we have a maybe a peacetime CBA to be written here. Like I've always grown up knowing hostility around CBAs. The first one that I followed professionally was 94-95. And then there was the Whopper in 2004 and 2004-2005. So I'm used to, you know, acrimony and anger and fights when it comes to writing the document that everybody's going to play under. Are we at a place now where actually we could see a CBA written without a lockout, without a strike? Does it feel that way to you? It does feel that way to me. And

I don't want to speak on behalf of the NHLPA nor Gary Bettman. I think the major financial issues that had to be ironed out in the sport have probably been ironed out in both. breathing back the rookie salary limits to 2005 when there was a huge tectonic shift in the landscape of the sport where we went from a fairly unrestricted free agency or unrestricted marketplace, excuse me, not free agency, to a very restricted marketplace and then to a further more restricted marketplace when Gary and Don Fair negotiated the new deal in 2012. That reset the landscape to some extent as you and I have discussed in the past, it reset the landscape along the lines of what the other sports are set as well. Not identical but very, very similar in terms of limits on compensation, whether it be a luxury tax, whether it be a hard cap, a soft cap, exemptions to those hard caps

and soft caps. And the NHL system probably is the simplest of all the systems. I think there are tweaks that can be made to the system if they really want to enhance and improve the system. But in terms of the financial world, a 50-50 split, for better or worse, is probably in and around what the market warrants. Let me ask you about the salary cap specifically, because this july upcoming the salary cap turns 20 so the salary cap can drink legally in canada and is pretty close to being able to drink legally in the united states is it time that maybe the salary cap grew up a little bit in hockey it as you mentioned it is a very um it is a very simple salary cap. It is a hard salary cap. You look at other sports, they're a little more complex. I shouldn't say little. They're a lot

more complex than the NHLs. Anytime the NHL has made a move to massage the salary cap, it's been to close off loopholes. So the sanctity of the spirit of the salary cap and the spirit of the CBA is always observed. Do you think that there is any appetite based on your history following CBA negotiations, following how salary caps work in other leagues? Do you think that in any way, shape or form, whether it's franchise tag or whatever, the salary cap might actually begin to grow up here now that it's going to turn 20 in July. Well, again, Jeff, I'm speaking on my own behalf here.

I think it should. I think it's far too restrictive. And I'm not talking about the cap itself. I'm just talking about the way the cap works. There's no reason why there can't be modifications to the cap that allow for variances on the court. And I'll just give you an example. As you know, and as probably most of your fans know, we have a salary cap and we have players operating under the salary cap and the number that's attributable to the player is essentially

the annual average value of the player's contract. So if he's getting $12M one year and $6M the following year, his cap is actually $9M. And that's just the way it is. And that cap exists throughout the term of the contract and there's certain rules that allow you to be bought out and all kinds of other things. But there's very, very limited rules in terms of the structuring of contracts. And one example of a modification which may or may not be acceptable to people is, well, if you have a front-loaded contract where that $12 million is in the front of the contract and get paid out in year one and in year two you get paid six and in year three you get six and so on and so forth, you're going to get your AAV. Well, and that AAV is a high number and sometimes you can't fit that high number into the salary

cap. That said, I think in the system going forward, we probably will have a system where that salary cap is known to move upward year after year after year. So why can't we have a contract where in the first year, if it's $6 million, in the second year, it's $9 million, in the third year, it's $12 million, which would be an AAV, we actually have an allocation in year one of $6 million. So in those back trailing contracts, why can't we modify how the salary is adjusted in your salary cap calculation? And there's hundreds of variations you can get into that will perhaps create a flexibility in the system. I think the one thing that the NHL and the NHLPA probably do need to do is,

as opposed to having an unknown salary cap for the following year, they have to look at the numbers, look at the growth of revenues that are coming in, and actually give the general managers and the player agents and players some certainty going forward. Because we know right now that the salary limit, salary capital limit right now is substantially below what the real amount should be based on the revenues that the NHL is bringing in. And that was negotiated in 2020 because of the COVID epidemic. So there's a buffer of probably 10 to $11 million. And then we've got a new TV contract coming in, which hopefully doubles the amount of money here in Canada that is coming in, I would expect that it would at least double. And now we can project out. So in 2024, 2025, 2025, 2026, let's have a fixed number.

Because at the end of the day, you know how the escrow system works. It's all tied together. And right now, players are used to paying escrow. But if we know what that cap is going forward, we can plan for the future. Okay. If we don't, general managers are hamstrung, agents are hamstrung. And the reality of it is, all that's going to happen is if the cap is too low, is that escrow will be either eliminated and a player might end up getting 105 cents on the dollar rather than 95 cents on the dollar because all they're getting is a 50-50

split if that split continues going forward. So, there can be tweaks made but I think the tweaks that should be made should lend to two things. One, certainty and two, a level of creativity where general managers and agents can be creative within the rules and create situations that might not have been available under the current CBA. You know, we don't know much about Marty Walsh and how he's going to handle these negotiations from the Players Association side. I do want to get there. But one thing that I do wonder about, you know, when you look at the last few negotiations, Don Feer was a known commodity. Bob Goodenow was a known commodity.

We don't know much about Marty Walsh. But would it surprise you slash do you think they should? And by that, I mean, by they, I mean the Players Association. Go after expansion money. Oh, absolutely. You know what? I think at the end of the day, whether you go after expansion money or whether you use that threat or negotiating tactic as an effort uh reel back some of the costs that the players are paying for right now um i i think it's it's worthy it's it it truly is related to the sport

of hockey it's money that's coming in um it can be um deferred over a period of time and the reality of it is and i don't think your fans probably understand this, because they always believe that there's a 50-50 split and the players are earning, in terms of their income, 50 cents on the dollar of HRR. And that's not actually true. They're earning closer to 43 or 44 cents on the dollar before tax, because they're paying for many of the benefits that union people take for granted that are being paid for either by the employer to the extent of 100% employer paid or at least on a 50-50 split. And I think that those are some of the areas that the Players Association probably will

be chatting with the NHL about. Let me close on this one. And I want to have you back for more fun like this. But again, we don't know what Marty Walsh specifically is going to look to gain here for the Players Association. But if you were in charge of the PA, what would you be looking at doing in this round of negotiations? I mean, you've always been quite, unlike me,

who just talks in the backseat and says things like fair and the salary cap. You've always been level-headed about these things. If you were Marty Walsh going into these negotiations, what would you be hoping to achieve for the Players Association? Well, I guess the first thing that I want to achieve, I would want to achieve, and again, I'm not Marty Walsh, and Marty Walsh will do a great job in this. I've listened to him speak.

I've seen some of the things that he's done, and he's the first businessman NHLPA executive director that I've seen rather than the first legal, Beagle executive director that I've seen rather than the first legal Beagle executive director. And I think there's significant value to that. So to answer your question, I think that what I would like to see the players have is a true 50-50 partnership. So there are labor matters that are set out in the CBA. A significant portion of the CBA relates to the business partnership between the players and the owners. Yet, in CBA or the next CBA or a subsequent CBA, where the players are actually in the room where decisions are being made. Okay. And that's not to tell the owners what to do, but to have a voice in the room and starting off with, you know, essentially how the league markets itself, how it markets its players, where are we going to go to create new revenues?

Because each of the sides has a 50-50 vested interest in the growth of this game. And so they're effectively fully 100% aligned on what they want to achieve in this sport. And that's to grow revenues. Now the issue is, do we grow them in China? Do we spend money in Europe? I think there's obvious strategies that have not taken place in the past. And that's because the NHL hasn't been equipped to do it. I don't think the NHL has got the marketing people in house that they need to have, and that needs to be pushed and the NHLPA needs to start pushing it. To play devil's advocate on that one, I look at that and I don't disagree.

Like they 50-50 split, equal partnership, all that. But the difference is when it comes to players, they have a finite amount of time in the players association, let's say 10 years. Whereas ownership, and this is where you talk about investment, good of the game, grow the game and all that all that i mean their investment could stretch out decades do they not have different viewpoints about what they need to achieve i would imagine the players would be looking in the short term as i am playing how can i make the most amount of money where owners look

at it and say, I'm not just interested in the next 10 years. I'm interested in the next 30 years or dare I say 40 years. Do you think that's legit? Sorry, Jeff, you're right on that. But at the end of the day, you don't have lifetime owners. You see ownership changes from time to time. And I think those changes are actually going to take place more often, not necessarily at the majority owner level, but at the minority owner level where we've got all of these venture funds, sports venture funds that are now acquiring 5 to 10 to 20 percent interest in these franchises and they want to return on investment and it's no different than the return on investment that the players want those funds want to return on investment in a five or ten year period of time which coincidentally happens to coincide with a lot of players uh careers so i think the interest of both sides is much more aligned it's growing the sport it's catching up to the other sports in north america and perhaps european sports in in the sport of soccer's catching up to the other sports in North America and perhaps European sports and in the sport of soccer, in terms of generating revenues at a multiple that's much

higher than has been generated in the last 20 or 30 years, which I would guess is five to 6% year over year. That's not a big number. And they need to do do better and both of them will prosper uh out of them doing better even if that number goes to seven percent or eight percent that can lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in owners pockets as well as players pockets this is great um let's do this again in the new year uh anton best of uh 2025 to you and your family uh have a wonderful christmas uh enjoy your family and we'll uh we'll catch you up again soon my friend thank you the same to you and your family. Have a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy your family and we'll catch you up again soon, my friend. Thank you. The same to you and to all of your listeners. Take care. Anton Thun is a former NHL player agent. Started M5

sports a number of years ago with Kent Hughes. Worked for Cortex as well. Boy, has that become a behemoth. Hey, Saputo family, look at that. And is now retired and actually just lives around the corner. We should have had like Anton sitting right here. We go to Anina's Bakery every now and then

to argue over coffee. Anyway, thanks to Anton for stopping by. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. We'll see you next time. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton.

Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Okay, Zach, what do we have? It seems like every time I peek down at the chat, everyone's still going on on about the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils and is it true they showed the Vancouver draft with Hughes getting selected first overall and the Rangers fans cheering did they do that at the Prudential I see the Red Devils by the way won 5-0 and Stefan Nason scored another goal

what about him in the blog he's having a nice year is all of this true Zach I was not able to confirm here yet. I was looking for videos online of it, but I personally cannot confirm or deny that this happened. The one thing that did for sure happen is that the New York Rangers had 12 shots on goal.

See, that was a claim. What did I say to you right before we went on the air? The Devils are clowning the New York Rangers. When you're looking at them just play globetrotters with the puck, the Devils are clowning the New York Rangers. When you're looking at them just play Globetrotters with the puck, like, I don't know. I always wonder about games right before the holiday break,

the Christmas break, because you can tell who's got their bags packed and need a break. Like, I shudder to think about what the Buffalo Sabres are going to look like tonight against the Islanders. Like, if there's a team that needs a getaway right now, one, the Rangers, certainly, but two, the Buffalo Sabres as well.

And the losing streak could be 14 tonight for the Buffalo Sabres. They need, I, I, I, I don't know, like what are the Sabres look like tonight? Do they look as lifeless as the Rangers did in the, the, the two periods I saw the Rangers play this afternoon. So two things here, Jeff one producer, Vic from Vic show,

the one that you watched this morning. Yeah. Vic show to me. And he just sent me a video. It did in fact happen. I'll retweet it from the sheet account there. So thank you to Vic. That is. Oh, and then they pan to sheet account there. So thank you to Vic. That is ending.

Oh, and then they pan to Jack Hughes and he's laughing on the bench. So that's in the video. I love, I hang on and pause. I love it. Honestly, you don't understand.

Like I've, I've grown up in this game and all I've known is people, you know, chastising players for having any personality or social media accounts for like roasting other fan bases i used to always say to myself like what are we getting so upset about like you don't get this upset when you vote like you don't get upset when you like cast your ballot for people they're going to decide your this is sports have fun roast each other this is the toys or us right this is the toys or us R Us of the newspaper department.

Have fun. It's okay. None of it matters. So you've got your little fee-fees hurt. Who cares? None of it matters. Have fun with it. Sometimes your bull is going to get gored.

Sometimes you're going to gore the bull just the way that it is. Just the way that it is. It's a game. It's a game. We're supposed to have fun. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. We're supposed to have fun. It's a fun game. It's okay.

Do you remember when the LA Kings eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round and their tweet was, you're welcome, Canada? No. What? Okay. Generation gap. Yeah. no okay generation gap yeah the idea that you know it's vancouver versus the rest of canada and the other side of the mountain and all that um and the la kings this might this might have been when you were playing dark simcoe express just a wee lad just a wee lad and ld la king

tweeted you're welcome canada as if they're doing the rest of Canada a favor by eliminating the Vancouver Canucks. And people lost their minds about it. LA was one of the OG, savage Twitter accounts. Did you find it? I'm looking at it now, yeah. I can't grab this quick enough to get it on the screen, but yeah. Is this going to be civilians for you? No, no, no no this one's just good

this one's good this one's good this is a worthy of a chocolate here i'm looking at these to everyone in canada outside of bc you're welcome that was the tweet that was it everybody harsh uh yeah and i guess here so the canucks okay so i'm trying to piece this together there was another tweet that the kings had some guy replied and tweeted out the kings way to steal our your way to steal our slogan uh make it yours i don't know what the kings made theirs but it was in a reply to the nhl and the la kings and it says their canucks slogan we are all canucks and the king's twitter account replied okay sorry we'll change it to we are in the playoffs that's so good what year was that okay what's the time stamp on that what's the date stamp on that, Zach. Do you have that? Sorry, I can't do the quick math on that. May 26, 2014. 2014.

You know how people reacted to that? People lost their minds. Everybody laughed, but publicly, oh, you can't do that. Oh, you make fun of a team like that. Hockey catches up last. Every other sport embraces this and loves this. I'm reading the replies.

People are pissed. It's great. Fantastic. Anyway, it was funny because I was having this conversation over the weekend. Did you watch Tampa and Florida? Another great game between these two. And Florida scores two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill. Like, awesome.

And I'm thinking to myself, is this the best rivalry? Is this the best rivalry in hockey? And I'm like, Oh yeah, it is. And then I'm watching the Rangers and the New Jersey devils. And you forget like how much they hate each other.

Like legit. Yeah. I still give the edge there. I still give the edge to Tampa, Florida. I do, but you're gonna understand, like you're talking to someone that remembers the days when Rangers

fans would sneak in like inflatables of the 1994 Stanley Cup and like blow them up during the game and let them go to the rafters that's pretty good that's good right that's good that's good times right or like rangers fans

after the new jersey devils won the stanley cup in 1995 would say things like oh because that was a lockout you only played half a season oh that's great you won half a cup that's great stuff like that's awesome i'm trying to think like what what are so what are other ones like the the bruins leafs one i feel like is more one-sided. That's the Leafs. That's one-sided. The Bruins. But the thing is, but don't forget like too,

like I know you're a Leaf guy, like Leafs and Ottawa is still not even, I would maintain it's still not even a rivalry because it's been one-sided. You need the Ottawa Senators to beat the Maple Leafs in the playoffs. Yeah, yeah. Maybe that happens this year, young son.

No, no, no, no, no. End the show, end the show son and the show and the show fade to black, fade to black roll credits, roll credits thank you everybody now Merrick what else is happening in the chatteroo here ok so here's another one

Vic tweets this one this one in the chat Vic from Vic's show in the morning. That was when the Kings Twitter admin was going on and on. When they signed Quick, Jonathan Quick, they tweeted something like that. Nine more years of our goalie being better than yours. Like sometimes you paint a Picasso.

Sometimes you paint a barn. That is a Picasso. Yeah. It's like the devil's posting the valaket uh instagram hockey clip remember when we talked about that and then they did the super highlight just like and it was just that it was every devil's goal pounding gold instagram hockey instagram hockey that is great yeah that's really good um hey you know what I am very much looking forward to outside of the sidebar drama of Elias Pettersson

and JT Miller the rift between the two San Jose Sharks playing the Vancouver Canucks tonight Macklin Celebrini noted Vancouver Canucks fan growing up is in Vancouver tonight I love watching the San Jose Sharks make no

mistake about it I want to be blunt about this San Jose Sharks. Make no mistake about it. I want to be blunt about this. San Jose Sharks stink. It's a bad team. I don't care. I love watching them because all of a sudden William Eklund has turned himself into one of the best passers in the game. The Lund line is really fun to watch. Celebrini

as much as he was just awful like terrible in that overtime against the Edmonton Oilers awful, like terrible in that overtime against the Edmonton Oilers. Like, I'm sorry, that overtime winner, pin the tail on Celebrini on that one. But Celebrini, every time he watches San Jose Sharks, he does something that makes you go like,

oh man, this guy's going to be so good. And he's going to win the rookie scoring race and he's going to win the Calder Trophy. Take it to the bank. That's going to happen. Jake Wallman is fantastic offensively creative not sacrificing anything on defense and he's going up against top competition and with all due respect to everybody else on that blue line and i don't have a whole lot to work with and now all of a sudden you throw in yaroslav oscar off into the mix and i'm not sure if you watched that game

Saturday afternoon Edmonton and San Jose second period specifically what was it 23 saves Askarov made and some of them were spectacular like honestly full stop and Askarov's playing tonight against the Vancouver Canucks

San Jose is going to get a really high traffic they may select first overall, and if they do, I would recommend they take Matthew Shea for the defenseman from the Erie Otters. Having that guy on the back end

sets you up for the next 10 to 12 years. But they're just going to be a flat-out fun team to watch all season long. They have no depth. I'm running them down. They're awful.

They stink. They got no depth. Their back end is brutal. They trade away all the goalies that have the nerve to make a say i love them i absolutely love how bad this team is i can't wait to watch tune in san jose sharks fans your team no but like you're seeing like the the beginnings of something that could be really good here i know with this team like i don't know have you watched many sharks games this year because i'll be honest with you they're flat out fun to watch and you'll see them tonight against vancouver far more far more than i anticipated and then other people

started hyping them up which made me be like i have to watch this and it's something i've got to have on um furthermore to this like san jose and the development of what they've got there i kind of want to know without digging too far into it. We've talked about Chicago and wish was had brought it up a couple of weeks ago, you know, when we had the Bedard Celebrini conversation, right. And he said, you know, San Jose is better than, yeah, but he said San Jose is better a team around him than Chicago. Are they more poised to be in a better position more uh good words escape my

mind they're like quickly than chicago like are they to get better faster because it feels like they got better better faster yeah yeah that's what i was gonna say thank you i mean i i speak well english what um i've been time can have long what look I think that right now it certainly looks and feels that way doesn't it but I don't know like I always keep saying like developments of bunny hop who knows right now Eklund

looks good Granlund's having a career season Fabian Zetterlund looks really nice celebrating to fully turn back the clock to fuck all of it right but who knows who knows? Who knows? Honestly, coming up after the Christmas break, they may just fall off a cliff.

I don't know. What's going on? Why does the puck look like it has corners every time they touch it? It could just fall off. You don't know. Are they playing with a square puck? What's with the San Jose Sharks? Everyone else is playing with a round puck.

This guy's puck has corners. But yeah, they're fun to watch i tell you what at some point at some point you're gonna just have to flat out start feeling bad for the buffalo sabers i don't know if you watch that game against the boston bruins and having goals called back and just you just can't do a thing you have no idea where this one is gonna end up either do i well this one's yeah this one's going to go you know i saw stat jeff uh the buffalo sabers have lost more games in the or had lost more more games in the last month than the buffalo bills have lost in the seasons combined. I'm new to hockey. Is that bad? Yeah.

They may get the first overall pick. The Bills are really good, but... Look over here. Look, man. They may get the first overall pick. They're last. I know. They're last. I know. This is bad. Look at the players they have on this team, man. They're last I know this is bad

look at the players they have on this team man they're last they may get the first overall pick I know this is

and then and then put them right in the league poor Sabres fans hey last thing for you before we go can I ask you something uh anton yeah um we're talking about expansion to europe and while i do like the idea my only kind of uh issue with this is why would we not be spending more time and resources and focus on trying to grow the game in the

US and in some of these markets? And I know that Gary has put a lot of effort into the Arizona's in Dallas and Florida, Tampa, etc. But why would that not be more of a push for the time being until it really flames up and grows here before we try to push that over there like we are seeing a lot of european players joining and coming over to the nhl this is their dreams we're seeing a lot of international teams become much better and much more competitive whether it's men's or women's hockey like we're watching even players it may not be full teams who are filling out here now for women's hockey but you're getting significantly better players even there that are developing i i wanted to grow there and i think it should and needs to grow there but like i still look at this and say hey why don't

we just make sure that this is as perfect as it can be or the best it can be before we go develop on that that was my only issue with what what Anton was saying about going and developing there. First of all, I think you can do both. Second of all, at what point are you done in North America? Yeah. Right? Like, I mean, listen, we're all expecting Atlanta. I think a lot of us are expecting Houston.

Sorry, Quebec City. I don't, and especially now with the Canadian dollar, don't expect that to happen anytime soon, if at all. But again, I think you can do both. And I think for the long term, always your long term health of the league, and we want the NHL to be this global brand, because it's like the best players, the best league, the best everything. And you want this to be an international brand. global brand and because it's like it's the the best players the best league like the best everything and you want this to be an international brand and i'm glad that we got to the china

conversation because seriously we're going to talk a lot like when he plays for the winnipeg jets about kevin he and if anyone is in the ontario region uh listening or watching the show right now check out the niagara ice dogs kevin he is really good. He got a good find. Simon Wang is a really nice defenseman. Plays in the OJ with King City and OHL with the Oshawa Generals. He might go in the first round. Six foot seven, I think, 17 years old. Six foot seven.

And he can move, right? And he's going to probably go late in the first or maybe early in the second these are chinese born i don't know if they're both beijing but they're both chinese born players that are slowly but surely making their way into the nhl other sports have figured it out the nhl where you look at all the players um like we just talked about jerry mcnamara last week right and him bringing him bringing in Boreas like that, bringing in Boreas Salman, Inga Hammersmith.

That sort of began that wave, that ball rolling of European players in the national hockey league. Winnipeg Jets and the WHA took it to a whole new level. And that in turn got, you know, the Edmonton Oilers rolling throughout the eighties and then the explosion was on. But there's always been this feeling that it's sitting there for you right like there's this pot of gold sitting in europe and all these great

hockey markets but what's the plan to get it and what's the plan to spread the brand i think the idea of the nhl opening an office in zurich is fantastic now I had one person text me, oh, in Zurich, are they just going to open up an office inside the IIHF office? Ha, ha, ha. No. I think this is actually a really good indication that the NHL is planning to do or looking at, or at least preparing for, an idea of doing something more significant in Europe and have some sustainability there and have a deeper footprint and not just do a couple of games or a sort of mini tournament, Toronto, Detroit, Ottawa,

Minnesota, play a little sort of mini week-long tournament and then hustle back and forget about Europe. I think it's a, I think it's a very positive indication that they're looking to do something even bigger. There's business before that. We all know about expansion. We all know about a new CBA. All these things can be true. And, you know, you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Why not do both?

Or, dare I say, all of it? And Anonymous says having NHL players back at the Olympics will do a lot for exposure. 100%. 100%. 100%. That's why I think part of the entire program, part of the plan, has to be NHL players consistently in the Olympics, period. And World Cup.

Yep. I mean, yeah, Anonymous was saying earlier there in the chat as well that he was uh that was his exposure to hockey was getting to watch the olympics and getting to watch the players uh there based on what he was able to see when he was growing up so i think that's fair it was just the concept of like hey i feel like there's markets here that could use a little bit more nurturing or attention or whatever it may be. I was just looking at that expansion going, hey, what about these before we go over there? So can I have one quick thought sort of following up what Anton was talking about in a lot of ways? Because I always look at one thing when it comes to Gary Bettman. I had someone remind me years

ago, and it's always stuck with me. This one person said, never forget what Gary Bettman's number one job is, and that's franchise value. And one of the number one things that Gary Bettman achieved for franchise value was getting that salary cap in 2004, 2005. Like heading into that lockout, there were two things he needed slash wanted to do. One was a salary cap,

and two, bring me the head of Bob Goodenow. And he got both. He went two for two is what the commissioner did. He got both things that he asked for. And that did a number for stabilizing franchises and raising franchise value. So I would have been more along the lines of what you were talking about. Like, hey, you know, shouldn't the franchises and markets be stabilized in North America

before you go dancing overseas? I think that that was a conversation that you might have been stronger on pre-0405 lockout than post. Because look what Ann Lauer just paid for the Ottawa senators. Like the league's healthy and there's a lineup of people and there's a lineup of people that want to own teams in the NHL. One thing I do want to mention,

you know, last week I was shooting my mouth off a little bit about how, look at us. We're going to be doing a Christmas Eve show. Like we're on tomorrow with Greg Wyshynski. It's going to be a MVSW Tuesday again, Christmas Eve, gift to all of you. And then I'm watching the Coffee Boys this morning, and they've already recorded a special show with Tyler and Frank as well,

collab with the Noon Hour show as well, and they'll be airing that on Christmas Day. Yeah, and I will also say, Jeff, we're doing a Leaks Nation one that's coming out on christmas day as well so maybe i'll just shut up how about that why don't i just uh as as as my my dear uh former program director and family friend bob mackwood senior once told me jeff it's always a good idea to shut up learn Learned that really early in my career.

That's what I will do. I'll remind you again, Greg is aboard tomorrow for MVSW Tuesdays here on the program. We are taking the 25th off and then, Zach, we're going to Ottawa for a few days for the World Junior Hockey Championships, doing shows from FanFest there outside TD Place.

Looking forward to that. Expect a lot of junior hockey content, but the regular show will continue as well. I think we should probably get Stephen Ellis for the first day to set everything up. So I guess we're doing sort of production on the fly here in front of everybody. So book Stephen Ellis for day one. And that's it. Sounds good. Any closing thoughts out of you before we uh wrap things up here

no the show's doing christmas shows was that what happened no the leafs are down three one i got a post-game show coming up after the third here so oh okay it might be uh i better let i bet no you're good you're good we got time well it's good though you're wearing black i don't want to talk about this you're wearing black so you're you're ready for the uh you're you're ready for the post game show yeah yeah okay listen um everybody in the chat thank you uh we are back again tomorrow big willy style and then on a mouse and everybody else simon i see you in there too like it's a great chat um i'm always peeking always having a a look. Really good stuff as always. Thanks to Anton Thun, former NHL

player agent for stopping by talking about the future of the NHL in Europe and exciting things like salary caps and CBAs and what's Marty Walsh going to go after tomorrow. It's going to be, just to be blunt, it's going to be a lot of fun like it always is with Wish. It's going to be laugh a minute

and there's no shortage of things to laugh about. And Greg will be in a good mood because his New Jersey Devils just stuck it to the New York Rangers. So again, tune in tomorrow morning for Morning Cup of Hockey at 9 o'clock Eastern. I don't know what kind of shape Johnny Lazarus is going to be in after that beating,

but nonetheless, tune in and we'll find out if he still has Colby Cohen his co-host blocked on Twitter X thanks for joining me today the sheet returns tomorrow 3 o'clock eastern by the way like it on YouTube

please please and subscribe if you could as well it goes a long way it really helps thank you enjoy, by the way, Anonymous, like the drawing painting behind you, Jeff. That's a chimp. As I like to say, we're a 98% chimp, ladies and gentlemen. We are not as highly evolved as we think. Talk to you again tomorrow on the other shoulder right there. That's Emmett Otter's Drug Ban Christmas. We'll talk about that tomorrow with Wish. All right, shut up, dumb host.

Let everyone enjoy the rest of their day. We'll talk to you tomorrow, 3 o'clock Eastern, right here on Wish. I spent 16 hours last night Every day this week Every day this month

I can't get out my head Lost all ambitions day to day Guess you can call it a run I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like nah man that's fine I'm not against those methods But I knew

It's me, myself and how It's gonna be fixed in my mind I turned on the record I turned on the music I do want to break it. I turned on the music. I do want to break it. I turned on the music. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered.

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