The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Holiday Spirit ft. Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Jeff Marek is joined by Greg Wyshynski for the holiday edition of MvsW. Kucherov's hit on Tkachuk, Laine's comments and the response from Werenski and the Blue Jackets, Pettersson and JT Miller, and much more to be discussed on today's show...Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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. You know, Greg Wyshynski, as we welcome everybody to another edition of The Sheep, this is Tuesday after all, Christmas Eve, doesn't matter, Greg Wyshynski, as we welcome everybody to another edition of The Sheep, this is Tuesday after all, Christmas Eve, doesn't matter, Greg Wyshynski is here. Yeah. The band is Small Town Strip Club from Stratford, Ontario. Love this band. Great live, too. But I really feel like we should be playing Vince Giraldi for some reason. Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Giraldi for this Christmas Eve edition. for this Christmas Eve edition. We're going to go a little historical and maybe hysterical at times on the show today.

We're going to mention Emmett Otter and the Jug Band Christmas Plenty. Don't worry, folks. That is all coming up. Yes, we are going to talk about the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. You know who the star of that game was? Go on. Who's that?

Okay, start of the game. I was going to say, Emmett Otter taught us that you should not put a hole in the washtub, no matter how passionate you are about your music. If your mother has one washtub, you can't put a hole in it. I mean, that's the thing. You know, we'll get there. We'll get to the Otter. And for those that don't know, Emmett Otter's drug band Christmas.

I spread the love every Christmas everywhere I go. It was on with Jason Greger last week, mentioning Emmitt Otter, on with Sakaris and Price, again with the Otter. I'm hoping you did the same. You know who the star of that game was? I know everyone loved Jack Hughes, and he just loves scoring on the Rangers

and the big smile when they show the 2019 draft when the Devils take him, and then they grab Capocacco. Gabby Blaustein was the first star of that game. Gabby Blaustein, for those of you who don't know, runs the social media, most notably the Twitter X account for the New Jersey Devils in a tweet for the ages. Zach, can we fire that one up?

Safe travels across the Hudson.son oh the burning and it's with the rangers burning dumpster with the rangers logo on it yeah it's the dumpster that gets lost in the flood and and the devils put the rangers logo on it look i i i don't know i it's funny i i'm such a pessimist inherently about my sports teams that i i it feels weird for the devils to be dunking on a team that they could you know still mathematically meet at some point in the playoffs but uh good oh boy the jack hughes stuff is amazing like for for those who don't remember msg has a viewing party for the rangers fans during the draft and jack hughes's name gets announced for the Devils. And while it may seem absurd now,

there was actually some debate as to whether you wanted to go Jack Hughes first or Capo Caco first. Am I right on that, Merrick? There was at least some discussion. By the time we got to Vancouver, everybody was, okay, this is going to be Hughes. This is going to be Hughes.

Hughes has sort of distinguished himself. But there was that debate going in going into vancouver absolutely and so the rangers fans or at least a number of them reacted as if as if edmonton passed on mcdavid to take eichel like that's how happy they were when when the devils took jack hughes and the rangers ended up with capo caco and so the devils then took that footage and played it during the game to remind everybody how excited the Rangers were to draft the guy that they just dumped on the Seattle Kraken because he didn't work out in New York. And then they cut to Jack Hughes on the bench. And he's like guffawing. He's having the time of his life remembering this moment in which Rangers fans were so happy.

By the way, the thing about Jack Hughes, by the jack is a is a private guy sometimes with his feelings he tries to not give the media too much sometimes he can't help it because he has no filter and he can be very very frank in his in his uh discussions about what happened during a game the one the one of the things that he's let the mask slip on is he hates the rangers like he truly he hates the rangers he hates how much attention they get he hates when ranger fans invade his arena uh if you're looking for i mean it's a shoot but it's also kayfabe if you know what i'm saying eric like jack hughes's feelings about the rangers should warm the heart of any devil's fan yes um and i think it adds another layer of legitimacy to this rivalry between the

two. And unlike many nervous Devils fans, which I'm guessing you count yourself as one, I want to see them in the playoffs. You know, there's just some teams you just, okay, we're sick of seeing these two teams play against each other in the

playoffs. There are two that I want to see play every year now, New Jersey and New York Rangers and Devils and the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay lightning. When we get there, playoffs there are two that i want to see play every year now new jersey and new york rangers and devils and the florida panthers and the tampa bay lightning i'm gonna get there i won't talk about kucherov and kachuk in a second here but i want to start off this show christmas eve edition um by talking about something that we spoke about on the old pod a couple of different times and we're going to go a little bit historical here with your buddy Jeffy. Now the last time the last time the NHL

featured games on Christmas Christmas Day this is a collectively bargain thing ladies and gentlemen so don't expect the NHL to all of a sudden turn around and start doing this next year Pause on that for a second My wife Ruby was unaware that the

NHL takes a break from the 24th to the 26th. She was unaware of this Christmas break because she's in sports media and she knows the NBA all over Christmas Day. She knows the NFL all over Christmas time, but also to the point where now there are two games on Netflix on Christmas day. One of them is going to have Beyonce as the halftime guest. Like the concept of the NHL, just kind of like, I don't know,

just, just, just packing up the tents and leaving for a few days, but all these other sports play is, is kind of alien to someone who isn't a hockey fan, but the NHL did it for 50 years. Every year there would be, and not one game.

Like the last time it happened was 1971 and they had six. Okay. So a quick scan, go back to hockeyreference.com and we had the Bruins beating the Flyers 5-1. We had the Maple Leafs over the Detroit Red Wings 5-3.

We had the Rangers beating the North Stars 2-1. The Penguins doubled up the Habs 4-2. The Sabres and Blues skated to a 4-all tie. And in the last game ever played in the NHL on Christmas, the California Golden Seals defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a final score of 3-1. And for all of you spermologists out there. Sorry?

That's someone that collects trivia, Greg. A spermologist is someone who collects trivia. All right, yeah. For all you spermologists out there, Stan Gilbertson. Scoring an empty net goal was the last goal ever scored on Christmas. And as I reach behind me to pull out, any chance I get to big this guy up, I will. He's going to the big bookcase behind him, folks. The winning goaltender of that game, by the way,

Joe Milosz. Joe Milosz. The best 27 of all time. Discuss amongst yourselves. Anyhow, Stanley Gilbertson was the last. It was an empty net goal. Gilbertson later on went on to lose half a leg in an automobile accident. 1977.

He's from Minnesota. One of the only Americans in the NHL at that time. Plays junior hockey with Regina Pats. Won the three Memorial Cups there, Greg Wyshynski. And that was the last time. And that was the last time the NHL played on Christmas Day. But I keep banging it. But I keep banging it.

Like, at least one. You have families and people all together and a captive audience. NHL played on Christmas Day. But I keep banging it. But I keep banging it. Like at least one. You have families and people all together and a captive audience. NHL. NHL Players Association. It's been 53 years. Can we not get one? I mean, I love it that we sort of surrender our attention to the rule of juniors around Christmas time. And that's a lot of fun.

But can we not get one? Look, one game. Here's the thing. Whatever game they put on is going to get absolutely murdered on American television. Right. You've got you've got college football. Now the NFL, the NBA. So obviously the solution is you put the Leafs and Habs on Christmas Day every year.

It becomes the Christmas classic. Like, wouldn't that be awesome? I've been to Montreal during Christmas time. It is one of my favorite places in the world. Montreal at Christmas time. It would be wonderful. You know what? Not to get too colonialism here, but, you know, you guys love the English. You feel like you're part of the empire still

in some ways. You know, another place that you love is London. London during Christmas time is wonderful too. So you tie it back in, you put a picture of the queen on the wall. It's all part of the fabric of the game. Find the crabs and leaves on Christmas day. Why not?

Who says no? Find the old picture of the queen from the old Winnipeg arena. From the old Winnipeg arena, exactly. Where is that queen? Where is that picture, by the way? Counter argument. There is something really, like it's a savage league.

They pummel each other with fists and hit each other with sticks. But there's just something really quaint about like we're going to freeze our rosters for like a week. We're not going to have anybody demoted or traded or whatever. Coach firings don't usually happen this close to Christmas. There's a real quaint thing to the whole NHL embracing the holiday to the point of we're going to lay down our arms and not even play

games. Go with being with your family and then return to the front lines of the battle on December 27th. There's something quaint about that. Phil Watson, New York Rangers, 1949. Christmas game. The Rangers record, by the way, on Christmas is like 25 and 11.

Rangers rock. If I'm the New York Rangers, I want to play on Christmas. There you go. But Phil Watson, I know he did it at least once. I don't know if he did it every Christmas game, but he would take warmup as Santa. Come on. You don't want to see Vincent Trocek dressed or Matt Rempe,

although he'd probably be suspended or someone dressed up as Santa for the New York Rangers, like Phil Watson. Well, what was the thing that happened at the Islander game a few years ago? Was it that they were having a Santa skate and one of the Santas revealed himself to be a Ranger a Rangers fan and then they have a fight before the game at an Islander game yeah I think that I think that happened I think that's not just my fan fiction but um no I'm listen I understand I understand I understand both sides of the

argument play a game on Christmas you know stake out some territory for yourself on a very busy what's become a very busy sports day. Or don't. Or just keep it quaint. Keep it very Norman Rockwell where you're having dinner with all your... Well, not really your family, probably on the road with your teammates

in some hotel restaurant and taking a few days off. I don't know. Either way is fine by me. Patrick Laine. Oh, please. Let's go. Patrick Laine. Oh, please. Let's go. Patrick Laine.

And the Montreal Canadiens. And comments about licking the envelope and mailing it in. And I don't want to be part of that anymore. Now, I want to read you a quote. Let's play a little Greg Wyshynski game of. No. Oh, hang on. It was Islanders Flyers.

Islanders Flyers. It was Islanders Flyers. It was a Santa brawl. Someone revealed... One of the Santas was revealed to be a Ranger. Yes. And then there were Rangers Islanders shoving matches in Santa suits.

It's great. It's fantastic. Again. Right? The one thing I'll say about the NHL. The NHL needs to get its act together. I understand that we only have to have a certain number of jerseys for these teams, home and away and an alternate.

If you play in the outdoor game, you get one of those two. I understand that we have an allergy now towards specialty jerseys and players wearing them at any point. I understand that very, very well. More clearly than most people do, Merrick. But the holiday sweaters that we get in the minor leagues are so beautiful.

They're so much fun. I wish we could have a game like last game of the season, last game until the holiday break, December 23rd. All the teams wear their holiday inspired sweaters. Like that would be dope.

Totally down with that. Totally down with that. And pom poms on top of the like Santa pom poms on top of the. Patrick line. Okay. Patrick, Patrick, hang on before, before we get there. Oh, I want to play. I'm going to, I'm going to try to bias the jury here.

Okay. I'm going to try to taint the jury. Let's play a game called who said it. All right. Okay. Losing was acceptable here, and losing is not acceptable. Our goal should be win the Stanley Cup, not just win some games. Who said that?

I'm going to guess, and this is my pub trivia background. I'm trying to play the quiz master a little bit here. I'm going to guess that's this is my pub trivia background. I'm trying to play the quiz master a little bit here. Okay. I'm going to guess that's Yarmulke Kalinin. Don Waddell. Ah, so close. You're close. I knew it.

I knew it was going to be somebody with the blue jackets. I'm trying to bias the conversation because did what Patrick Laine say differ in tone and in spirit any more than what the new general manager said. And I really have to refresh myself. I missed Zach Borensky going banana sandwich on Don Waddell describing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Can you refresh me? Maybe I may have missed the news that day when Zach Borensky saw that quote and went snap case.

when Zach Lerensky saw that quote and went snap case. Let's begin by saying there is a difference between what Don Waddell said and Patrick Laine saying that his... And he's been a bit vague about it. Is it teammates? Is it management? We can't really tell. But there is a difference between what Waddell said and Patrick Laine saying,

when the calendar flips to January, nobody cares anymore they're not even trying like which is essentially what he said and there's actually evidence to that by the way merrick uh 2022 to 2023 that season after january 1st the columbus blue jackets had a 386 points percentage okay uh 2023 2024 another patrick linea year in columbus the columbus blue jackets at a 400 points percentage after january 1st so it's not as if there isn't factual evidence to the point that line a was making that this team kind of mails it in a little bit once it becomes apparent that they're not going to be all that successful and in both of those seasons they i believe ended

up finishing last in the division um look i i understand why people are like bent out of shape about line a like he dropped that bomb right before a game against his old team they're all fired up they end up winning the game against montreal line a uh leaves the game because everyone's basically taking a run at him throughout the entire first period upper upper body injury sir yeah i get this i get this but there's never a good time for him to say it like even if they weren't playing columbus columbus is still going to hear the comments at some point and they're going to do the same thing they did in that game i mean they have a long memory word gets around if you're saying don't say it i mean come on it's patrick liney the reason one of the reasons we love the guy is there's two reasons we love the guy his shot and his candor you know and in this case his candor

was was fairly accurate i i wish the columbus blue jackets well i wish the columbus blue jackets were relevant i wish the columbus blue jackets weren't a franchise that has won one playoff series granted a very important one but one playoff series that's entering the league in 2000 they have six playoff appearances there is every chance that patrick linea is speaking the truth about a culture of losing in that organization where if it doesn't feel like they've got the mojo i agree let's just play where we're not we're not getting hurt i'm free agent after the year that kind of stuff kind of pervades through an organization when it's been unsuccessful.

And I will also say this on the flip side, though, Merrick. Our friend Aaron Portsline, our mutual friend at The Athletic, great reporter, has reported that a group of veterans went to Columbus Management before this season, I believe it was, and said they wanted Patrick Line liney and elvis merzlikens out of the organization uh because of because of their attitude i suppose so um there is a flip side to that the players apparently feel very much differently about liney than liney sees himself uh having been a certain way in columbus um but as far as his comments go i got no beef i know people do I got no beef. I know people do.

I got no beef with Laine. Can I go, I want to go big picture guy on you here. Please. Okay. It's Christmas time. You know what that was? From Patrick Laine

to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The gift to Columbus. It was an absolute gift. That team got so fired up and angry you know what athletes are like when you give them an issue when you give them a cause like I say that shoot out that Don Waddell quotes

with a tongue in cheek like yeah of course like he's not going to blast off about the general manager it's one thing for your own team to say it because I have no disbelief that those exact same words that Lion-A said have been said in that room about their team, maybe by some

of the people that took offense to those comments, right? But again, it's like, I can criticize my team, you can't criticize my team. That's how I saw that, but this is a gift because you saw, look at, Dante Fabro's going at,

Voronkov's going after him. Like everybody's going after him in that first period yesterday to the point, to the point where Olivier is being interviewed. Like, oh, are you targeting Patrick Lainey today? And the answer was no comment. And like you said, guys that haven't even been there that long. Van Riems like took a run at him. I mean, you know, it's interesting to see.

And you're right. Essentially what he did was he allowed probably Zach Wierenski to walk around and have a Reg Dunlop speech. I know. Like, took a run at him. I mean, you know, it's interesting to see. And you're right. Essentially, what he did was he allowed probably Zach Wierenski to walk around and have a Reg Dunlop speech in the locker room before the game. Right? Like, you know, rally the boys. You know, we have a villain in mind now. I don't know. Did you have a problem with when and what line I said? Never, never, never.

I will never, ever say that I have a problem with anyone speaking their mind before, after, during a hockey game. I was making this point on Morning Cup of Hockey this morning with Laz and Colby. What the NBA does really well, that the NHL is very slowly starting, starting to allow themselves to inch towards, and that's why I mentioned Gabby Blaustein

off the top of the show. Is it free agency? Lean into the soap opera. Lean into the soap opera lean into the soap oh lean into the soap opera okay lean into the soap opera lean into the i'm so offended that they lean into that one that's why oh yeah no problem and i didn't have to be in beginning the season on my bingo card a rivalry between the montreal canadiens and the columbusets. So here we are. But here we are. You should say that, though. Are you aware of what's happening in the NBA right now? No.

Everybody's miserable with the product. The ratings are down. People aren't happy watching games for two reasons. One, because the three-point shot has become so ubiquitous that teams just rely on that all the time to the point where there's been salient discussions about making a dunk worth three points instead. And two, because a lot of NBA fans feel that the coverage of the sport is less about what's happening on the court where you have teams that have

epic winning streaks and nobody cares. And much more about the personality versus personality conflict, the soap opera of it all, the drama of it all, LeBron playing with his kid of it all. There's a notion that they've gone too far that way, and it's actually hurt the product overall. I don't think it needs to be one or the other, though. I don't think it needs to be a zero-sum game. Can't you have both? Zach and I were having a conversation yesterday on the show about NHL in Europe

versus NHL taking care of the domestic product. Worry about, you know, your next markets, your Atlantas, your Houstons, return to Arizona, et cetera, before you cast your eyes on Europe. And my point was, well, can't you do both? Like, can't you, in this case, focus on the game? The game is still going to be primary,

so people are paying money to go see, but everything around it, like the spice in the chili is, did you hear what Patrick line? He said, or maybe like, does line a fire back at Wierenski now? I hope so.

Right. Does something, does Arbor Jack guy fire off of what everyone's taking runs at Patrick? I hope so. That's funny. Don't you? I think, I think the problem with our sport is that once it hits the ice,

then it's a settled matter. I don't think there is another salvo after that. I think that's what I think that problem with our sport is that once it hits the ice, then it's a settled matter. I don't think there is another salvo after that. I think that's hockey. I think you say your piece, they come at you, you come at them, it happens on the ice, and then you're done with it. And then it's move on to the next thing. By the way, isn't it weird that the most intense player versus player rivalry in the NHL right now is on the same team in Vancouver? First of all, I don't know what you're talking about.

Who's making up this bullshit. I don't, I don't know what you're talking about whatsoever. Greg Wyshynski, even though the coaches commented on it, the captains commented on it, the former coach, Bruce Boudreaux has commented on it.

We're supposed to believe Elias Patterson and JTT Miller coming out saying it's all BS as legit. I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night. So I don't know, man. Like, I feel like I feel like you and I are on an island here with line. Like you mentioned morning cup of hockey this morning. Wasn't Colby Cohen? They didn't like up his rear about what nobody said. But I understand that.

But I understand that. But I understand that because that's the player's reaction. Right? Like, Colby played in the NHL. Like, I get it. Like, his default setting. Like, this is what I like about the dynamic on that show.

And I like talking to Colby because he played. I don't think that it's the ultimate Trump. I don't think it's like the right Bowery throw. Hey, I played, so therefore I have domain

over the truth. But that is part of a perspective which is part of the conversation and what Colby's going at and I understand that that's the player's reaction that's BS but then hold on you pull back and from a fan's point of view and from an interest and growing a game into a spectacle it's a gift it. It's an absolute gift. But one of the reasons I like listening to Colby so much is you get that this is how the players react to it. And what I like about Colby is he'll understand

that, yeah, that's the player's reaction, but it's not the only reaction. That at the end of it, this is an entertainment property as well. Players don't think about it like some do. The majority don't. This isn't entertainment we're selling selling we're selling my beautiful backhands and my wonderful sauce passes and our team etc but yeah it's not to your point like to your point the player's reaction could easily be a bunch of guys in montreal being like dude what are you doing like

you've just made our night tougher than it should be uh a bunch of guys in Columbus rallying around this comment, either, you know, in a kayfabe way or whatever. And then obviously there's probably, as you mentioned, a number of guys that played with Lion-A in Columbus being like, you know what, that's absolutely true, and I don't have any problem with what that guy said. You know? Like, listen, I'm with you. I really want Columbus to be good. be good oh god it's so important

like think think about the rivalry with detroit the rivalry with pittsburgh you know you know a market one a college town that has been dying since 2000 to just blow it out with that team and have a successful franchise in columbus and and go deep in the playoffs and have giant viewing parties. It's all there for the taking. And yet, as Patrick Laine noted, usually by December or January, they're a non-factor. Anything more on this one? Anything more on Laine, the Habs, and the Columbus Blue Jackets?

Emotionally, I wanted Columbus to do really well this year. This is a team that everybody wanted to cheer for. Come on, man. Against all odds. I just... First of all... I'll give you one. What?

I'll give you one. You're a GM, okay? And you're allowed to take over either Montreal's roster or columbus's roster and you're tasked with winning in the next five years which one do you take oh i take montreal's i take columbus's why i love those kids i love those kids. I love those kids. I think Fantilli is going to be better. I like Johnson. I think the forward group in Columbus tantalizes me a bit more, if I'm being honest.

But I understand that they don't have Elaine Hudson on their roster, which is a problem. on their roster, which is a problem. I just think that, I still think that eventually Yaraev Slavkovsky figures it out and becomes a dominant force in this game. I think that Cole Caulfield, every time I look at him, I say, I want to pencil in 40 goals every single season with this guy. An embarrassment of riches on the back end,

whether it's Ryan Backer, Mayu on the horizon. They're really, really good. Do you think they're as strong in the middle as Columbus over the next five years? No. I mean, they're not going to – Well, man, I do love Nick Suzuki. I do love Nick Suzuki. I do love Nick Suzuki.

I had an NHL executive tell me the other day that they think Nick Suzuki is a 2C at best. And that's one of the reasons why Vegas was so comfortable cutting bait with him. I think Nick Suzuki is a 2C on a Stanley Cup team. Yeah. Right? But that doesn't change the fact that he's a 2C. No, but the thing is like – You're either water or two you're a two but don't you see but don't you see like mini bergeron there in next suzuki mini bergeron yeah what that's what i'm saying he's not he's not patrice

bergeron but he's mini bergeron that's what you just compared him to you just compared him to patrice bergeron yeah okay so i'll say a to Patrice Bergeron. Yeah, okay, so I'll say it a different way. Patrice Bergeron, light. Do you think that his defense game is that good? Yeah, I do. I think his 2A game is that good. I do. Wow.

I do. I do. I really do. I appreciate you. You and I differ, I think, on his defensive prowess. 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. By the way, by the way by the way speaking of which are you warming up to my celebrini uh argument from last week i took i took daggers thought you you i mean like i don't i i you told me before the show you've only seen 20 movies if inception was one of them uh then you've incepted that idea into me that celebrini could be better than Bedard. Like, I've been thinking about that a lot since you mentioned it. I think where Bedard has him licked is offense and the shot.

I just think that Celebrini is going to be the more complete player than Conor Bedard. Bedard is going to be the guy that brings you out of your seat. Although, man, you ask San Jose, every game, celebrini does something you go like whoa holy smokes i don't know man i also kind of think see i don't want to judge bedard's personality too much because he's he's young and he's on a terrible team but like isn't there something more magnetic about celebrini's personality like i can't imagine he's fun i can't imagine but he's fun i can't imagine but you're making a cameo in in the christmas music video that the sharks paid like maybe he would have but i he wouldn't have liked it

he's fine you look at will smith that video like that that that checks yeah he he likes to enjoy himself like he's like okay, okay, this is sports. This is fun. I'm allowed to laugh. Yeah. But Dard is like so focused and so drilled down. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. There's two different kinds of players, right?

It's always, whenever you compare one of the two, whichever one you think you give primacy to, it always sounds like, or people interpret it as you think the other guy's just a scrub. Like Conor Bedard's an elite player. Conor Bedard's going to score a bajillion goals in this league and help rejuvenate that team. I just think that at the end of it, Celebrini is going to be the better guy. Anyhow, anyhow. This is why I don't want to judge him too much, though, because there was a time when

we talked about McDavid being like an automaton. And that was when the Oilers were bad. And then they got good. And gradually, you've seen more and more. Now we know he's definitely afraid of ketchup, for example, from that Amazon show. There's a lot more we know about him. That's Gary Roberts. I mean, I've heard the speech before.

I've heard the speech. Like whenever I, there was a while there when the Wasserman pre-draft camp was always at St. Andrews College because I would go and talk to the kids about how to handle interviews and things. And Robert, Gary Roberts would come

and he'd talk about diet, nutrition, and all that. He had a big thing about ketchup. And the minute he sees ketchup on the plate, you got to throw the whole plate out and start the whole thing. Is that where it came from? It's 100% Gary Roberts. That's so funny.

If you want to light up Gary Roberts in an interview, just say, Gary, what do you think about ketchup? Watch. You will get an answer for the ages. Just ask him do you think about ketchup watch you will get an answer for the ages just ask him what he thinks about ketchup you'll get like the best answer like so in that iconic scene mcdavid is just parodying gary roberts's dietary advice that's 100 where mcdavid got that i'm convinced because i've heard the speech and he's a wasserman formerly bobby or a client see i was like that is i was really hoping it was some kind of like,

I was hoping it was some kind of like tomatophobia or something, like an actual thing where, you know, if a fan bought a bottle of Heinz and started squirting it on the glass during a game, McDavid would just get in the fetal position. But now it makes, your explanation makes much more sense than mine. That's 100% Gary Roberts training, both in the gym and on the plate. That's a million percent Gary Roberts.

Before we go on to talk about Kachuk and Kucherov, someone made, I can't remember who it was. It was something I got on Twitter. And you'll never believe what chapter I just opened the book to. Someone asked if, because we're doing MVSW on Tuesdays here, Christmas Eve and all, folks, if we're going to get dramatic recreations

of Phil Esposito's Thunder and Lightning. Thunder and Lightning? We've done that live. Hold on a second. If we're good live shows it always goes over great first of all yeah because when i grabbed the book i opened it up again and what chapter did i open up to the chapter where phil esposito and carol vadney are sneaking

into andre the giant's uh hotel room so they can have a look at the part of andre that is most a man. And the money line is, the only thing normal about Andre were his teeth and his dick. Everything else was huge. That from Phyllis Bizzito in Thunder and Light. Now, I will say one thing. So I said to Terry O'Reilly, I said, Terry, do you think Andre's giant all over? Do you think that maybe he's just got a normal dick?

And Terry says to me, he says, Phil, I'll bet you $20,000 if you go into his hotel room and sneak a look. And I said, Terry, you ain't got $20,000. And he said, how about a six pack? I said, you're on. That's pretty good. The only one failing we used to play a game the old video show that used to do

with Macko and Strombo where one of us would have to impersonate Phyllis Bozzito and no matter what the question was we had to make the answer

somehow relevant to 1972 in the Summit Series something in there had to reference back to 72 anyhow but you know what

there's another book there's another and it's a really good hockey book called Thunder and Lightning. And it is the John Ferguson story, written by John Ferguson. It's his autobiography. And I read it in the summer.

I hadn't read it for years. It's fantastic. And so here's what I hear. What did you like about it? Well, it's kind of written in the same style as my favorite hockey book, They Call Me Gump, by Gump Worsley. And there's a section at the end of their sort of favorite restaurants and taverns to go to and people and all that.

And it was an era. It's funny, too. We started this conversation while we had the conversation about Patrick Laine ripping on the old Columbus Blue Jackets. It was an era where guys did that all the time and would put it in their books. There's a whole segment in Gump's book about like the worst clubhouse lawyer teammate that he ever saw. Can you imagine?

So coming out now and doing that, but they did that regularly. And that's in Ferg Senior's book as well. So here's what I propose. If we end up doing dramatic recreations, Greg Wyshynski as Phil Esposito from Thunder and Lightning, you do this

book, and I'll do the other one. I'll do John Ferguson, and you do Phil Esposito. Do you have a John Ferguson impression? Because that's really the question. I don't. That's the only problem. I've got to work on a John... My impressions are awful. I know.

They're terrible. But maybe that's part of the joke. My impressions are awful. I only do nine impressions and just repurpose them. That's all it is. You only need nine good impressions. My Kermit the Frog. Hello, everybody.

I'm Kermit the Frog. My George Lucas. You know, Jar Jar Binks was my favorite character to put into the prequels it's the same thing it's the same thing just repurposed i'll work up but the thing is like no one really remembers like it wasn't as if ferg senior had like a really distinctive voice esposito does boy does he right and everybody i've seen him in the press box in tampa and i thought about trying to do the impression in front of him and i i've seen him in the press box in tampa and i thought about trying to do the impression in front of him and i i could never i don't do like i someone once asked me if

i ever did my sydney crosby in front of sydney crosby i'm like are you out of your mind like is there a chance that sid would ever talk to me again if i did like i said i have a really good impression of you no he would never talk to me again. You know, I think, you know, he's pretty accurate, I guess. There's a little Jimmy Stewart in that. There's a little Jimmy Stewart in that one, by the way. It's always, you have to look up. You have to look up. A lot of guys at ShotX used to try to do me.

Yeah, it is a little Jimmy Stewart, a little Jimmy Carter. Yeah. It's a cocktail. It's a cocktail of impressions. That's a good thing because all of his interviews are at the stall and he's sitting there and he's looking up. Yeah, that's the whole key to the interview is you just have to always be looking up. And occasionally, the one thing I know, you know, they have to do the sniff because he's always sniffly too. Because he's been on the ice for so long.

And he's got the sweaty penguins hat as well, which I always appreciated. Yes, exactly. Hey, how about the let's let's two things on the on uh really on the standings here come the penguins here come the pens laid out the flyers and more importantly here come the preds baby okay four of six let me do pens let me do pens first let me let me jump on on pens and then I'll, I'll let you have a whack at the predators. Pinata is this. Here comes the pens or here come the New York Rangers holding the door open for the Pittsburgh penguins.

Isn't that what this really is? Like, this is like the New York Rangers saying right this way, Mr. Crosby, go take our spot out of his, out of show of respect, please.

There is a little bit of the elevator going down there's kind of that vibe to this no yeah yeah but here's really funny but one quick thought on the pens real quick see this is i always think back to like that time when the pittsburgh penguins manager position was available what the interviews would be like and what you say as someone who wants the job. Okay. So you're being interviewed by Fenway Sports, right? Okay. And so like, and they say, okay, what would you do?

Like, cause they have like a preferred idea of like how they want the pens to be, how they want this, where they want this organization to be. And I always think back in order to get the job, you have to be able to present a scenario that Fenway Sports will agree with or you ain't getting the job. So I'm of the belief that the philosophy going in, and not just for Kyle Dubas, but for other candidates as well well was this. Look, we all know that this is an organization that needs to refresh the prospect pipeline. We got rid of the picks. We got rid of the prospects. We chased Stanley Cups. We filled the building. People are going to the Hall of Fame. We've got

some cups. The brand is strong. But now the lights are about to come on and the bartender is going to say, last call. So what do you do? How do you do that but not sacrifice butts in the seats? And I think the needle that everyone who applied for that job or is in for the job tries the thread is we're going to be a team that aims for the middle. We're going to be a team that aims for seventh in the conference. We make

the playoffs. We're not going to win a round. Maybe fluke goalie gets hot and win one. You could, but we don't have the same power to do it. A seven game series with that talent is easy. Winning a seven-game series with that talent is easier than being successful at 82 games with that talent. See, I've maintained the Pittsburgh Penguins are aiming for the most difficult target, and that is seventh or eighth.

Generally, you're not going to miss, and if you are targeting seventh or eighth, you're going to miss lower, not higher, because that's a talent that you have. So does this surprise me? No, because the target is like seventh or eighth in the conference. Because that was, I believe, whether it was Dubas that got the job or someone else. Yeah, that's the promise of performance. I think the Dubas sell job is easy. He says, look, you've got a mansion. Uh-oh, the mansion's on fire. There was He says, look, you've got a mansion. Uh-oh, the mansion's on fire. There was a gas explosion. The mansion is literally on fire.

Now, we're going to rebuild this mansion, and I'm going to take a bulldozer, and I'm going to till the ground, and it's going to be maybe even more beautiful and grandiose than it already was. But we've got to let this fire burn out first, okay? We're not calling the fire department. We're just going to let this sucker smolder for a're not we're not calling the fire department we're just gonna let this sucker it's a contained fire it's a contained fire we just gotta let it burn we just gotta let it burn all to the ground and then i'll get the bulldozer and we'll blow over and here's

the best part he says to the fenway group i don't know if you guys have noticed but every time this franchise is at its absolute worst the nhL just gives us the first overall pick. And it just so happens it's been a year with a franchise generational talent at the top of the draft. So if you guys are worried about any of this, don't be. Because when the next Conor McDavid comes around, we'll be terrible and we'll get the first pick. Isn't that great? What a plan to pitch. So what you're saying is there's an expiring CBA,

there's going to be a lockout, and at the end there'll be a lottery for the first overall pick, and everybody will be involved, not unlike 2005, and there'll be a bunch of amnesty buyouts. Right, and Pat Verbeek will just start smashing stuff in his office because somehow pittsburgh got number two overall pick instead of anaheim yeah exactly number two all right four out of six okay uh but here's the thing that i find so funny like one of the things that's happened in nashville is that they've put stamkos at oneC and Ryan O'Reilly at 2C.

And I was thinking back to earlier this season when people were like, what's wrong with the Predators? And people were like, they don't have a center. And, you know, expect Barry Trotz to try to make a move for a center. And I'm just like thinking, you know, did they ever have the meeting where everybody's just sitting there and someone's like, we need a center. Anyone here have played center before? Anyone have had any success at center? And like Stamkos is just in the corner being like,

I'm not raising my hand. Like, why did we, why did it take so long for Stephen Stamkos to become a center on a team that doesn't have any centers outside of Ryan O'Reilly? Used to be, listen, you know what the responsibilities of a center are. And the belief has always been like this stage of his career.

Can Stephen Stamkos handle the grind of an entire season with all of those responsibilities, or do you want him as your power play shooter? You want him firing from the wing. Because I'm with you. I looked at it and said, I guess as a stopgap, you could always use Stephen Stamkos as a center. He's played that his entire life but i

never thought that that was going to be a long-term solution like that's not why they got him in the first place it's just like you know the plane's going down they get on the thing they're like does anyone on this plane know how to fly a plane and sully sullenberger's over in the corner he's just like you know what i'm a little bit older i'm not my skills aren't as sharp as they used to be but i've i've definitely landed a plane once or twice in my life. Like that's Stephen Stamkos. Stephen Stamkos near roster. Like we need centers.

Let's try him for a little bit. That'd work maybe. I'm happy that it's happening because I really do believe that Barry Trotz is really trying really hard to make sure that Andrew Burnett doesn't fall on the sword for this one. Cause I think that Barry knows like, this is not because he's, he's lived in,

but he's, he's had that job. He knows like, Oh man, am I going to hang for the, the actions of the general managers? He's trying real hard not to pin this one on Andrew Burnett. So I am happy going into the Christmas break that the national predators have

won three or four, four, six or four, four, six or six, whatever it is right now. And I guess the hounds are off. I'll be it briefly. Like, you know,

there are just some teams that don't want to break, you know, we see this at all. So every like, no, no, no, no,

no. Like all of a sudden, like we started, like, we don't need it. We don't want to stop this right now. Nashville's that team right now. Nashville's the one that's like, no, no, no, no. Like all of a sudden, like we started, like we don't need it. We don't want to stop this right now. Nashville's that team right now. Nashville's the one that's like, no, no, no, no break.

Keep going. Like we'll just keep playing. We'll do the Christmas day. Stan Goodbertson, 1971, Joe Milosz, whatever. We'll be the new, we'll keep going. Let's just keep playing all the way through. Nashville's that team right now. Now you've teased the people enough.

We should probably talk Kucherov and Kachuk. Okay. First of all, you know my love of grumpy people. I really love grumpy, grumpy people. The older I get, the more I love them. That's why I love Ryan Kessler. That's why I love Chris Pronger. That's why I love Brian Burke.

Brian Burke, I was going to say, you have the grumpiest grump that ever grumped every Friday on this show. Let's get ready to grumble. Here we go. Let's get ready to grumble every Friday right here on the show. And that's why I love Nikita Kucherov.

I love skilled guys that are pricks. You know who else was a great skilled guy who was a prick? Alex Kovalev. Everyone focuses, oh, the skill and and oh the magic and all that how about the elbows how about like the nasty stick work that was all part of the package that went into kovalev now a couple of a couple of things with that hit uh okay one we're gonna get to kachuk in a second. One, I just looked at it like, here's Kucherov, a skilled guy. First of all, more back-to-backs, please.

This is why you want more back-to-backs. We used to have this all the time, right? Even just think of the Norris division, Wish, that you and I grew up in that era, where it'd be like Chicago-St. Louis Friday-Saturday or Minnesota-Toronto Friday-Saturday, and the games would take four hours and everybody loved them. I don't know why the NHL decided not to adopt the thing that they did during COVID. I know. We played two games in the same city.

I agree. It makes sense from a travel perspective. They'd sell tickets to both of the games. I never understood what the logic was because, like you said, the second game will be so much spicier by virtue of having had the first game happen the night before. Yeah, I know. Trust me. And this was this was further proof of it.

Now, I know that it's Florida and Florida and Tampa. It's maybe the best rivalry in the NHL right now. Although New Jersey and the New York Rangers are sure giving them a run for their money. That rivalry has seen better days. I think that can be a rivalry, but you need both teams to be competitive at the same time. That hasn't happened in the last few years, at the very least. I just looked at that and said, here's Nikita Kucherov, who is sneaky dirty and sneaky divey and not so sneaky skilled, who's saying, I don't care who it is. I got a chance at getting a lick in on a member of the Florida Panthers. I'm taking it. Merry Christmas, season beatings. i don't care who it is i got a chance at getting a lick in on a member of the

florida panthers i'm taking it merry christmas season beatings i don't care here it is last game before the break i'm getting a lick and oh it just happens to be matthew kachuk this is going to be awesome and he goes for it yeah it does and i don't know it didn't look to me like on first glance i thought oh man kut's going to get rung up. And I saw it again. I'm like, no, he's kind of going. He's trying to get half body on this one. And then he hits the thigh.

He got properly rung. I don't I don't think it's anything beyond that. Right. But like he's I mean, like you said, he's he's he's not even sneaky dirty. Like he's kind of a dirty player, Kucherov. And that's part of the package, right? We talked about this on a recent episode where the core of the Florida Panthers is so potent and successful because they are also the nastiest SOBs on the team. They're miserable. I love it.

Kucherov serves the same purpose. the nastiest SOBs on the team. They're miserable. I love it. They're miserable. Kucherov serves the same purpose. He's the guy that can get 100 assists in a season and also be the guy that lays that kind of hit on Matthew Kuchuk. That's what makes him a special player. So from Matthew Kuchuk's point of view, if you look at the video at the three-second mark,

you'd think he's okay. And then the five-second mark mark after he sees the official oh we we are looking for a sniper on the grassy knoll i told this i told this i told the story with the coffee boys today there was one trainer with a team that i spoke with about a certain event where a player was down for a long time. And I'm always curious about the conversations, whether it's between the benches, whether it's on the ice, between officials and players, between coaches and officials. Conversation. I'm always just curious in each of the conversations. And I said, like, what are you talking about?

And he starts laughing. He says, the only thing the player said was do we have the five yet because i'm not getting up until we get the five and matthew could talk bless him got the five scott burnside was recently uh inducted into the writer's wing of the hockey hall of fame and i'm always reminded of him when this subject comes up for he was covering the vancouver boston stanley cup final and alex burr it was i think it was alex burrows or la pierre one of the two okay um let's say embellished a bit on a play and scotty was the only reporter to this day that i saw do this but he stood up in

a giant press conference and and asked are you okay it looked like you were really you were really struggling out there looked like a horrific injury are you okay and all all of us including the players knowing what he's doing in that moment to just like F around with him on a dive. And it was like, I'd never seen that before and I've never seen it since. And that's always been that. And of course, being in the room for the Team USA roster build

and having that story published the minute they're announcing the roster for Sochi are the two greatest Scottie Bird sign moments of my life. And I'll always cherish him for those new moments. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe,

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Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. I want to do the thing we talked about, the gifts for teams in a second. Yeah, but give me thoughts on Kachuk on this one. I'm surprised. I didn't, honestly, I didn't see it like until you mentioned it. I'm very, I know. I know, I get it. It'm very careful. I know.

I know. I get it. It sounds like your former podcasting partner. I'm very cautious. I'm very careful about making accusations like this. Yeah. But I'll take it. I mean, it's not like Chucky.

It wouldn't be the first rodeo for Chucky to do that. He missed the rest of the period, but he was out there with a big ovation coming out. I'll say this. When you get hit like that, he does get kneed in the thigh. So right away, he's probably in himself like, oh man, this really sucks. And he goes off and he's legitimately in agony.

But when I first saw it, I'm like, oh man, Kachuk's going to be injured for a long time. Kutrop's going to get rung up. This really sucks. We're not going to see these two. Kutrop's out of the game and kucherov's back to this the rousing ovation and here he goes on the power play yeah um i don't know willis greedon in the next back on the on the court like he's just working miracles out there um i i want to mention

rempe real quick okay we're running short on time i've seen a lot of people larry brooks being one of them who are like outraged that that this is selective enforcement on that rempe what to which i'd say no shit like that's the whole point of the department of player safety is to go after the repeat offenders i talked to brendan shanahan when he birthed this thing like 14 years ago the whole point was not to go after the good players that play the game right and occasionally step over the line the the prime targets of player safety were the guys that don't know how to hit don't care they don't know how to hit and hit incorrectly over and over again in injurious ways. Now, some of that was headhunting like Rafi Torres, and some of it is plays like Matt Rempe does, where he just doesn't seem to really understand

not to drive your elbow into a guy's head when you're hitting him along the glass from behind. And so, like, the idea that it's selective, the idea that it goes from four to eight, and it should go four to eight because he did violate two different rules on that play, on hit on he's going in uh totally makes sense to me and he should be a guy that gets targeted because that's the kind of guy they're trying to re-educate or at the very least have a team think twice about putting on the ice because the next time it'll be 12 like i i

don't understand why it's selective is somehow a knock against player safety. It should be selective. It should be guys like Rempe or other repeat offenders that get rung up by player safety. That's the way it should work. Does Matt Rempe play another game with the Rangers this year? Absolutely. The thing about him is that, and Peter LaViolette nodded to this, and honestly, I have a hard time getting a read on LaViolette and Rempe. I think there are times when i believe that he respects what rempe brings to the team which is kind of what he said after that game like the five and and you know in the major the ejection were an unfortunate thing but he liked what he did in the five minutes he played before that um but then i've also heard you know on background that that he doesn't want to have to play him. And that maybe there are other forces at play that are requiring the Rangers to play Matt Rempe.

I don't know that to be true. But I do think, you know, and our friend Johnny Laz always brings this up. Like there are some aspects of Rempe's game that are good and that could be a positive thing for the team. And then there are certain aspects that, you know, have them killing a five-minute major with a one goal lead against dallas in the third period yeah which is inexcusable um but i don't know what do you think do you think he's done i just don't know if you're peter laviolette that you have any confidence knowing what he's going to do and listen rangers are going to be like the way it's going for the rangers right now like it's going to be nip and tuck for them to even make the playoffs.

If this continues and you're Peter LaViolette and you're like, look, I need to know what everybody's going to do when they go over the boards. I don't know if you're Peter LaViolette that you have the confidence and say, okay, Rempe, get out there, kid. And you say, look, nothing's stupid. If you have the confidence of knowing

that he's not going to do anything stupid. It's been two years of nothing stupid. Yeah, and he keeps doing stupid. But again, the situation for the Rangers is dire. That's it. Could it come down to one five-minute major being the difference between them making the playoffs or not. I don't know.

I'm, I'm being hysterical about it here, but I think, you know what I'm getting at? Coaches want to know, coaches want to know what a player is going to do or not do every time they get on the ice. And if you're Peter Lavi,

like, can you honestly look at yourself in the mirror and say, I know exactly what Matt Rempe is going to do when he hits the ice. No. Not Schiff's joke. So then, if you're Peter LaViolette, whose fault is that? Matt Rempe or Peter LaViolette? Like at a certain point, it's like, Peter, you keep putting him out there

and this keeps happening. What do you expect to change? What do you expect to be different? Again, like I said, is it on him that he's out there? this keeps happening what do you expect to change what do you expect again like i said is it is it on him that he's out there i don't know or there are forces at play that like him in the lineup it's always a question around the rangers uh real quick uh crider healthy scratch you read that as hey nice no movement clause wouldn't it be nice to see it waved is that how you read it it wouldn't be the first time that that's happened, right? You know, we don't have to play you. We have to pay you, but we don't have to play you.

How many times have you heard that? Oh, sure. We have to pay him. No problem. Every two weeks. Right. Direct deposit. I mean, it's, I don't know if you've noticed,

but Chris Drury has kind of a sadistic streak as a GM. And so far, it's like not really caring about how he gets players off his roster. It's kind of by any means necessary. I was wondering about that when I saw the crowd. It's like, it could easily just be message to the team. Look, anyone can get scratched, but it could also just be, hey, this could be your future kid. If you don't wave for whatever trade we've cooked up.

Could be. I don't know. But I mean, you would think that, I mean, first of all, it didn't go over well the way that they handled Jacob Truba. Really or wrongly it it didn't go over well the way that they handled jacob truba rightly or wrongly didn't go over well when they had crider and truba's name very publicly out there as available why you would want to go back to that well and it i mean and it worked so well against the devils where uh they they played so well that the Devils published an image of a dumpster floating down the Hudson after a 5-0 victory.

All right. Gabby Blaustein. First, with all due respect, Jack Hughes, with all due respect, Jack Hughes, Gabby Blaustein. First star of the week. First star of the game, for sure. New Jersey Devils, yes. Okay. You want to give out...

What are you doing here? We got like five minutes left and you want to give out... What are you doing here? We got like five minutes left, and you want to give out some presents? You have the Santa hat. I'm going to give out some... You know what? I'll put on a holiday hat, too. Hang on. What do you got? I love the sweater, by the way. I'm a big fan of green. I'm not sure if you noticed. Oh,

boy. I got a Christmas tree Devil's hat signed by John McClain, by the way. I don't know if you can see that somewhere on there. Signed by John McClain. Christmas tree Devil's hat. That's the best I can do for a Santa hat. All right. So I'm going to bestow some gifts to some NHL teams in the time remaining on the show. To the New York

Rangers, my friends across the Hudson, I give the gift of Brady Kachuk. First of all, hang on, hang on. Like we said last week, it should be the Ottawa Senators soft-tempering with Alexi Lafreniere. They are the better team. It should be the other way around.

I don't want to steal him from Ottawa. I'm very happy about what's happening in Ottawa. I feel bad that Ann Lauer and all those guys have to get so bent out of shape when this stuff happens. So maybe we could use some sort of Jurassic Park cloning technology, you know, you know, pluck a hair off of Brady's head and create another Brady Kachuk in a Petri dish.

So the Rangers can have some of that Kachuk dog in them that they're so missing right now. So Ottawa has a Brady Kachuk. The Rangers are Brady Kachuk. I gift Brady Kachuk to the Rangers. To the Vancouver Canucks. There needs to be one more Kachuk in the league here, just like a huge. They need three.

Two's not enough for this league. We have a huge Triforce. We do not have a Kachuk Triforce. You need another. There were four Stahls, weren't there? There were. Jared never quite. Never really. Never quite. So three. Three by virtue of. Henry got three and good for Henry. Henry quite. So three. Three by virtue of...

Henry got three, and good for Henry. Henry Stahl, man. Sent three to the show. Good job. To the Vancouver Canucks, I give Elias Pettersson and JT Miller a relaxing spa day together. Look, it doesn't matter what kind of beef you guys have. A relaxing afternoon at a day

spa fixes everything. I'm talking about the full routine, Merrick. Hot stone massage, several types of saunas, hot natural springs outside, facials, the works. By the end of the day, Pedersen and Miller will be laughing at private jokes and knocking back espresso martinis together.

They need an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. That's what they need. A shared vision. a shared vision. A shared vision. A shared hallucination together. They need a spa day. They need like hardcore ayahuasca retreat.

That's what those two need. To the Toronto Maple Leafs, I give the gift of relocation back to the Western Conference. Now look, you know as well as I know, Merrick, the Leafs played in the Western Conference. Now, look. Oh. You know as well as I know, Merrick, the Leafs played in the Western Conference from 1981 to 1998. They sure did. You know who doesn't play in the Western Conference?

The Boston Bruins, the Florida Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Get back to the West. Look how easy it is in the West. Look who got to beat the West. It's funny, too, because, you know, I was blasting off about, you know, 1971. You know who used to to beat the West. It's funny too because I was blasting off about 1971. You know who used to play in the – there's two conferences, Eastern and West.

You know who used to play in the Western – in the Eastern Conference? The Vancouver Canucks played in the Eastern Conference of the NHL. Like so much of it is just – It's all made up. Honestly, like you don't have – you don't melt into a puddle of goo every time you see the Minnesota Wild logo. You do when you see the spoked B. Get to the West. You'll be fine.

Win the Cup. Finally, to the NHL, I give the gift of monster success for the Four Nations Tournament. Now, look. The ratings this season, the viewership, it's not exactly where we'd all like it to be. That's no secret. They're public numbers. But the Four Nations tournament on the horizon is a chance to jumpstart

the season, okay? It is a chance to really bring in a lot of people to view this sport. It is a chance to see finally this battle between generational talents that we've been waiting to see as Canada and the U.S. clash,

hopefully twice in the tournament. I am very, very bullish on this tournament. I think it's going to be great. And I think that Team USA-Canada game, the first one's going to be a huge hit. And hopefully there is a second one in Boston. But it is a chance to really kind of, I don't know, defibrillate a season that I think has gotten a little bit better but still isn't there as far as interest goes.

And again, it's easy to understand when you have all of these prestigious franchises that bring in huge amounts of audience, either outside the playoff bubble or in a rebuilding mode. So I think Four Nations is a chance to really give this season a kick in the hinder. I hope so. I know the hockey is going to be outstanding. I think a lot of this is a reaction to players like, well, most notably Sidney Crosby. Bluntly being pissed off they couldn't go to the Olympics,

and it's been too long since we've seen all these elite players mix. What are we going to do when it's Finland-Sweden final? What are we going to do then, Greg Wyszynski? Probably not a post-game show on ESPN, but I will... No, I'm kidding. I think we're doing the drop regardless after the championship game. But I don't know. And I think I would be genuinely shocked Sweden-Finland.

I do think we'll get either the US or Canada in that final against one of those teams. Sure. And I think all of us have our, like, selfishly, our fingers crossed that we see a U.S.-Canada final out of this one. But let me close on this one. I threw it in my notes this week. The NHL opening an office in Zurich. Okay. They started to staff it does this indicate a greater agenda for the nhl other than we're

going to play a few games every year and otherwise we're just going to use this office for a nicer television deal and sell some jerseys and t-shirts and hats along the way or is it an indication that finally perhaps the nhl because we've been hearing this like i've been hearing this even before along the way? Or is it an indication that finally, perhaps, the NHL, because we've been hearing this, like I've been hearing this even before Gary Bettman took over, right? This goes back to Ziegler, okay? Is this an indication that this is finally nudging towards a deeper relationship

between Northern Europe and the NHL? So there's three things that, there's like three stages of this real quick. The first stage obviously is they have squeezed almost every dollar in revenue that they can out of North America, right? And the ground is still very fertile in Europe. I think they understand that. And I think having a base of operations there to make sure they're maximizing the revenue streams there is important the second thing is logistics i i fully expect within the next three years that we'll have an outdoor game

in europe and and i think it becomes a lot easier to do that when you have a base of operations in europe now the third thing and this is the pie in the sky one, is when does the NHL decide to flex and create an NHL Europe and have its own league over there and brand it? That is so awesome. And share the prestige of the most valuable global hockey brand to try to create something out there. I love it. Again, they've always been hesitant because every country has their own league.

And I think that, you know, when the KHL was really, you know, kicking tail and taking names, they certainly didn't want to, you know, try to do that. But that's always been the big one. It's something Bill Daley's, you know, at least glanced at over the years. Yep. I don't think we'll ever, I don't know if we'll ever get there,

but it would be really interesting to see if that's in the works at some point. I'm glad you took us there because, oh boy, we're having a hard time here. Give me a couple seconds to riff on this one. So when you look at the landscape right now with the NHL, so right now it's looking like a peacetime CBA. Like we're going to be, we're looking here legitimately at a new collective bargaining agreement that's done before this one expires. There isn't a lockout issue. There isn't a strike issue.

There's nothing huge there that would stop this machine from churning. Then there's a Canadian TV deal, the Canadian rights deal that needs to be put to bed. And that'll be the next big revenue windfall. And that'll be the next revenue windfall. So after those two

major events, I think you can probably throw expansion, Atlanta, take your pick, okay? And this is all within the next few years in the NHL. After that, it's peacetime. And I wonder if at that point,

and maybe you're just chumming the waters now, at that point, you start to look overseas. You have to. And maybe there's a new executive structure within the NHL. Don't know. Maybe at that point, you start to say to yourself, okay, CBA is done. Canadian TV deal is done.

Expansion is done. Now do we look at Europe? It feels, I don't know whether it feels that way to me because I want it to feel that way. But does that make sense to you as a yellow brick road here yeah i think you make a lot of sense uh forget atlanta and houston hello london and lisbon let's go right now short flight i mean it's a long flight if you're in the western conference but if you're eastern conference it's a short you're talking about throwing toronto into the western conference all right listen um to everyone in the chat

too, by the way, that had the idea about the watch-along for the Four Nations, yeah, I am in. Like a library book in Stouffville, I am in on that idea. Thanks to everybody in the chat. To you and your families, all the best this holiday season. Merry

Christmas to all. Health and happiness in 2025. Greg, I'm off to Ottawa on the 26th for the World Juniors. Zach and I are packing up the wagon and headed there for a round of shows. So I will be there for the Canada-US clash, which I am looking forward to. And as a Canadian hockey fan, I look at that BC line and I say to myself, I'm more than just a little bit scared. And there's

a goaltender there that's really good. And Trey Augustine and Owen Perot and James Hagans. It's a very, very nice, powerful line. And a shout out to all my fellow Americans in the chat and listening to the show. This is

the best time of year. Time of year in which we look at our junior team and say, boy, how, how far we've come at the time of year. We all pretend we all know about junior hockey and the time of year in which we remember that if we win, it's the best, but if we lose,

it doesn't matter. And if Canada wins, it's the best for them. And if they lose, they create national symposiums and committees to study why they've lost the tournament. It's the best time of year. The greatest stakes ever for an American hockey fan. I thought you were going to say if we win, it's the best tournament ever.

If we lose, hey, let's just remind ourselves. This is a development tournament. It's like the U18s. It's like the Lenka. It's no different. That's not even your first excuse. Your first excuse is always look at all the proud Canadians playing in the National Hockey League. If we had those

players on our team, we would have won the tournament undefeated. That's the whole thing you guys do every year. I'm more along the lines of what's happened to Canadian goaltending. My latest one on that one is blame Canadian hockey parents. We should probably do that in the new year. That's my new thing that I'm workshop along the lines of what's happened to Canadian goaltending. My latest one on that one is blame Canadian hockey parents. We should probably do that in the new year. That's my new thing that I'm workshopping here.

We'll, we'll do that next time. Uh, after Canada wins gold, uh, in Ottawa, Greg. Yuck.

All right. Uh, happy holidays, buddy. Yeah. Be good. Yours as well. We will,

uh, rejoin everybody, not on Christmas day, but on boxing day. I know Americans like to laugh at that. I will rejoin everybody, not on Christmas Day, but on Boxing Day. I know Americans like to laugh at that. I know. December 26th. December 26th.

That's what we called the Mike Tyson, Jake Paul fight. I believe that was Boxing Day here in the States. There was nothing boxing about that. It didn't go well. No. You thought like Ellie and Liston had like phantom punches. Like, okay, fine. All right, everybody.

Thanks, everybody, in the chat. Rate, review, leave the thumbs up, all of it. Tell your friends and your loved ones. We're here Monday to Friday, 3 o'clock Eastern, noon Pacific. Thanks for joining us on The Sheet, MVSW Tuesdays. So much fun. Greg, you be well. Have a great holidays.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. And we'll talk soon. Greg, you be well. Have a great holidays. Merry Christmas to you and your family and we will talk soon. Thanks, bud. I'm like, nah like nah man that's fine I'm not against those methods But I knew It's me, myself and others Gonna be fixing my mind

I do want a record I turned on the music I do want a record I turned on the music. I do want to break it. I turned on the music. It's enough. I don't get you sometimes losing. I've been on the dissapearant road.

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