The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Islanders Bring in Pete DeBoer and Sabres End Drought ft. David Pagnotta & Martin Biron

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

Today on The Sheet, Jeff Marek breaks down a massive weekend across the NHL with insider analysis and two must-hear conversations. First, David Pagnotta joins the show to dive into the stunning news that the New York Islanders have fired head coach Patrick Roy and hired Peter DeBoer after the team dropped four straight games and slipped out of a playoff position with just four games remaining in the regular season. Marek and Pagnotta unpack what led to the decision, why DeBoer was the choice to step in behind the bench, and what it means for the Islanders’ playoff hopes and long-term direction on Long Island.Then, former NHL goaltender Martin Biron stops by to discuss a historic moment in Buffalo as the Buffalo Sabres finally snap their 14-year playoff drought. Marek and Biron look at what changed for the Sabres this season, how their young core led by players like Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson has developed, and whether Buffalo is a legitimate threat heading into the Eastern Conference playoffs. They also take a closer look at the overall Eastern Conference playoff race and which teams could be dangerous heading into the postseason.From coaching drama on Long Island to a long-awaited celebration in Buffalo, The Sheet covers the biggest stories shaping the NHL playoff picture.Subscribe to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel for more NHL analysis, insider news, and conversations from across the hockey world, and drop your thoughts in the comments below.#TheSheet #NHL #JeffMarek #DavidPagnotta #MartinBiron #NewYorkIslanders #BuffaloSabres #PeterDeBoer #PatrickRoy #NHLPlayoffs #HockeyLeave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew Schaefer, Coach Killer. Started the week off with stupid hot take. Hi there, welcome again once again to the show. This is indeed the sheet for this Monday, April the 6th. And the news of the weekend is still the news of the day. And that is, and we saw him in his new colors today, too. Peter DeBoer is now the new head coach of the New York Islanders. Every day that goes on here gets spicier and spicier.

Last week was the John Tortorella situation. We thought, ooh, eight games. That's not too many games here to turn things around to which the Islanders essentially said, yeah, hold my beer. Pete's got four. All them are at home, by the way, in winnable games too. So things do sort of set up a little bit nicely here for the new New York Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer. Let's get right into what the show is because DeBoer is going to be a lot of it.

And the Buffalo Sabres are going to be a lot of it. The Blueprints is powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on Fanduel. Now, normally we reserve Dave Panyoda for Friday, sort of recap what's going on on the week all week long, but we've called the Audible. And Dave is in from the fourth period, DFO Insider. Dave will be aboard here in a couple of moments. We will talk about amongst other things. The Islanders coaching change.

Why it happened, how it happened, what this means for the Islanders, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And also we'll talk to you about with Dave, Cade O'Rourke, who's a right-shot defenseman plays. with the junior Canadians of the GTHL has applied for exceptional status to get into the OHL one season early. And the interesting wrinkle in this one is, even though he's been living in Toronto for the last three, four years, he's American, born in Texas. Does that complicate anything? We'll get into that with Dave coming up in a couple of moments. Martan Barra, former NHL Netminder, now analyst with the Buffalo Sabres,

will talk to us about the swords who clinched a playoff spot. What a story. Over the weekend and haven't exactly been playing their most inspired hockey recently, but tonight they will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Just another game, right? And that's going to be the program today. Very much looking forward to talking to all of our guests. And let's get right to our first one.

He is DFO insider. Oh, not yet. We're standing by for Dave. Okay, so a couple of things here. here. With Pete DeBore and why Patrick Wall was dismissed. Like clearly this team had gotten flat, a 16.7% power play, which is 30th in the NHL is not going to cut it for any coach.

And if you've watched the Islanders of recent note, even though they have been in a playoff spot, Nip and tuck to grab that third in the metro and wildcard, etc. This is a team that has, I never want to say like quit on the coach. There have been moments where you look at it and you say, okay, these guys are cooked. these guys are done, but the team had gotten flat. And it seemed as if if Barzell didn't score, if Horvatt didn't score,

if Sorokin didn't stand on his head, and if Schaefer didn't play 30 minutes, this team wasn't going to do anything. They're mired right now in a four-game losing streak, while other teams, most notably the Philadelphia Flyers, more on them later, continue to surge. Things were not looking good for the New York Island. And this is Matthew Darsh, general manager, taking over for Lou Lamarillo last year, starting to really put his signature on this team.

He has been patient. He has, you know, he didn't fire Patrick Waugh the minute he took over, let Patrick Waugh coach this team, pretty much left the team. There were some trade deadline acquisitions, as we all know, led by Braden Shen. But, you know, basically he's had some patience here with this. team, but it feels like right now this is the beginning of some moves. Some will be small, some will be significant. But I think what we're starting to see right now is Matthew Darsh, putting his signature on his team. Now, DeAndas have four games left. All of them are at home,

as I mentioned. Thursday they'll face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Saturday facing off against the Ottawa Senators who are still battling for a playoff position, although they do look good after this weekend. Sunday against the Montreal, Canadians. Montreal has already clinched, and then next Tuesday against the Carolina hurricanes, they have already clinched as well. Only

question there is, do they finish first in the Metropolitan Division? As for Pete DeBore, he's an interesting coach. Make no mistake about it. And even though he hasn't won the big one, he has taken teams to the Stanley Cup final. And it's been said before

you hire Pete DeBore, you go to the conference final. Took the Devils to the final in 2012, lost to the Los Angeles Kings. Took the San Jose Sharks to the San Laker Final in 2016, loss of the Pittsburgh Penguins, took Vegas to the semis, lost to the Montreal,

Canadians, and Dallas three consecutive conference finals. So this is a coach that gets results from a number of different teams. What do we expect from Peter DeBoer? If you look at his history, the one thing you will expect is some pretty balanced benchmen. management.

Like, he's just focusing on the forwards. If you have a look at all of his teams, most recently the Dallas Stars. Forwards, nobody plays more than 20. Nobody plays less than 10 minutes a night. That has always been the calling card of Pete DeBoer. Let's get more into the new bench boss for the New York Island. It is with Dave Panjota, DFO Insider from the fourth period. He joins me now.

Dave, first of all, thanks so much for hopping on early this week, as opposed towards the end of the week when we look backwards. We are going to look backwards, but look forward a little bit as well with Cato Rourke. The news coming yesterday. Patrick Waugh dismissed as head coach of the Islanders, even though there's only four games left. Who cares in this NHL right now, as Vegas showed us last week? Your thoughts on this one, just like a surprise, a shock.

I mean, we all thought eventually something would have to give here. This has been a flat Islanders team, but I'd be a fool if I said like, oh, yeah, I knew this was going to happen and Patrick Waugh was going to walk the plank. What did you think yesterday? Yeah, I didn't anticipate it happening at this point. point of the season, certainly. But, you know, taking into account how the Islanders have played the last, you know, couple of weeks at least, coupled with some teams likely making additional coaching changes towards the offseason, the Islanders wanted to get ahead of this. And they wanted to

nip this little stretch that they're on in the butt, but at the same time, get ahead of the possibility that they may have additional competition for Pete DeBore elsewhere. And we've seen from this organization not afraid to make changes recently in season. last year, you know, they made the GM change by letting Lou LaMerello go towards the end of the season, similar fashion here by making a coaching change, albeit with, you know, Matthew Darsh now at the helm. But I think a combination, again, of just trying to get this team on track and getting a candidate that they felt was number one on their list. And Matthew Darsh spoke earlier today and said, look, this kind of moved relatively quickly. And Dabor is well admitting

this morning that once he knew that there was legitimate offer from the islanders, they quickly became priority number one and they were able to get this done in fairly short order. And in Pete DeBore, even going back to his days coaching in junior, one of the things that I find just so impressive, he's never been on the sidelines. This is 31 consecutive seasons.

He's been a head coach either in the NHL or in the Ontario League as well. Like the gravity of that one is stunning. When you consider that, you know, every coach will spend, I don't care who you are, a few years on the sidelines. This hasn't happened to Peter DeBore. He's taken teams to the conference final. He's taken teams to the Stanley Cup final.

Still hasn't won the big one, which I don't necessarily think is a bad thing because you still have history on your side. But what do you think the Allenders are getting here? Like I look at the makeup of the team and I say there's some big bodies up front. There's some aggressive bodies that even though they might not. be big are still really hungry around the net. And the thing we've seen from Pete DeBoer going back to his days with Kitchener, like he loves point shots that make rebounds. Like so much of his offense is predicated on rebounds, rebounds, greasy goals,

playoff goals, call him whatever you want. Like, yeah, get to the net stuff. Like it really does look like this is a coach that coaches for playoff goals. But your thoughts on what the Islanders are getting with, with Pete DeBoer here. Yeah, I mean, you hit it right there. I mean, he's not afraid to make sure his teams get a little bit aggressive near the crease, that they're not going to be afraid to go after those greasy goals, like you said,

go after the rebounds, push, add pressure, apply pressure on a consistent basis. And I think for the Islanders, just wanting to have a bit of a different approach with some of the assets that they have, veering away from Patrick Guil, who has two years left on his contract, by the way. And we don't know that I don't have confirmation on the full term of Pete DeBore's deal, three, four years, something along those lines after this season. But it is multi-year. So you're getting a guy that is going to be able to implement that system and that style

for the foreseeable future with this group, believing that you've got guys that can do that, that can get greasy, that can get dirty, that aren't afraid to get dirty, to go after those types of goals and to create offense and a little bit of havoc, not just necessarily directly in the crease, but just kind of in that offensive zone and maintain that pace of play throughout a full 60. And with what he's done with where he's been by getting to two Stanley Cup finals,

by getting to four conference finals, he's 9 and 0 in game sevens as well. He knows how to play in pressure cooker situations. And yeah, not winning the cup yet for him. I mean, just added motivation from his side of things, but at the same time with all of that experience and all of that overall success that he's had, you know, you look at some of the key pieces on this team, whether it's

the Barzelles or the Shen that was brought in and others, and then couple it with a guy like Matthew Schaefer on that back end to learn from, you know, you've got a good correlation of different assets that you can use that he can use and implement in order to create more high offensive type of opportunities while still relying on the defensive style, and he's got a hell of a goalie to work with in Sorokin. You know, you mentioned something really important there. Let me just back up to it, and that is Patrick Hua has. term left on his deal. Now, there are some organizations who would say, like, look, we're not interested in paying

people not to work. You know, there's always been this recent note, all this talk about the Vancouver Canucks, for example. And I know they're in a different situation than the Islanders, but the idea of, well, you know what, you're not going to, you know, gong everyone in the front office and gong the coaching staff because the owner doesn't want to pay people not to work. I always look at that and I say, if you're not willing to eat that for, for the betterment of your team,

fold the tent. Like just fold the tank because that's like, that's like should be baked. Like job number one should be improve your team. And if you have to eat a contract here and there, as much as it may be a pill that goes down sideways and hurts your throat on the way,

you take it. Like that's how you improve your team. I think this is as much of comment on Scott Malkin. I really, really do. Like ownership saying, yeah, got to do this. We got to do this right now. now this is our chance to get DeBoer, go for it.

We'll eat Ross contract. Well, yeah, and what we've seen from Malkin and Ledecki has been their willingness to get to a point where this team is going to be competitive now and year after year. Like, build a team that's going to work now and for the future. And what they did at the draft last summer was certainly keeping the future in money. They had a hell of a draft, obviously, Schaefer aside. But, like, that was a tremendous piece of work by the staff. scouting staff and Darshan, everybody, in order to kind of just come out of that one with a huge home run.

But also just maintaining this pace of play, maintaining the ability to remain competitive and to not, you know, if they got to spend the money, the message has been clear that they're not afraid to do that. And that ownership is fully behind it. You add that to the fact that they're hosting All-Star game next year, All-Star weekend. They want to have a competitive team and they want to be relevant in that regard as well.

So all of these different elements kind of coming into play. But the bottom line is that the Islanders ownership group definitely wants to win. They want to give Darsh and the organization the resources to do it. And if they felt that Darsh felt that this was the best way forward, so be it. And if they got to eat a couple extra years on Waz deal, well, same deal. So be it. We're starting to learn about Matthew Darsh here a little bit, hey? Like the first, always the first year is that, I mean, seldom does a general manager come right?

in and say, I'm putting my stamp on this right away. Generally, what a manager will do. And I'll say this cynically is like, oh, I got to get to know the organization and I got to have a look under the hood and having all these relationships. And really, I mean, you're buying yourself a year, as we've seen before. I think when a coach takes over a team and says, I can't believe how ought to shape this team is. I got to get these guys in shape translation.

Don't judge me for a while. I need some time here. Yeah, here's my bill. I can't see, oh, these guys are out of shape. I can't be judged on my results yet because they're so far. They're horribly out of shape. But what do you think we're starting to learn here about Matthew Darsh? For me, the takeaway is, like, he's aggressive.

Like, where Lou was patient and, you know, Lou was loyal. And I don't think that loyalty is a pejorative. But Lou was very loyal to his foot soldiers for a long time. Matthew Darsh is aggressive. I don't think reckless. But I think that he's, you know, cut from the cloth of, you know, of his, his, his, his, his superiors in Tampa. You see something, you believe in it, you identify it, you go and get it.

What's your takeaway from this move? And if the price is, if it's worth it, if the juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak, go for it. And, you know, with what he did in bringing into, like, keep in mind, and I guess some people forget as well, like, Paul Miri was done for the season. Like, he was a big part of their offense for a bit before he got injured. And they felt like, okay, that was a. a bit of a setback for them, but they still haven't had enough horses in the stables to be able to be a competitive playoff-bound team. And even with the additions of Susie and Palat,

adding those veteran pieces, Palat specifically, whom he's familiar with, to add to this group to go towards the playoffs. And then by bringing in Shen, like they tried doing other things. It wasn't just Shen ahead of the trade deadline. The Islanders were pretty active in trying to add other pieces, different pieces to this group. But they ended up with a veteran piece, a Stanley Cup winner in Brayden Shen that felt like this was going to take a little bit of time to adjust, but he was going to be able to fit in

to this group. I think you hit it right there. He's not afraid to be aggressive, but he's also calculated. These have to be the right moves that he feels are going to fit for this group. And if, you know, something doesn't work, well, okay, let's try to clean it up.

And if a certain piece isn't working, he's not afraid to move him out as part of the Shen deal, you know, moving out Drouin. They tried with Duclair as well to move him out this season. He's got a full no trade. Wasn't able to do that.

Let's see what they do in the offseason with him. But he's not afraid to tinker in the right spots. And if you're a fan of really any team, you want your general manager to be that actively engaged in trying to build this team. And if there's a little bit of a setback, he's not afraid to make those moves to kind of smooth that patch out. What does it say about coaches?

You know, Shana Goldman from the Athletic put out the stat. The average coaching tenure after the Patrick Waugh firing across all 32 teams. The average, 2.45 years for coaches. And I can, I can, I'll tell you what,

let me, let me frame it this way. I remember talking to Pat Quinn after the lockout of 204, 205, and the salary cap, and he said, like his first thought was,

this is bad for coaches. So what do you mean? He said, well, when you're an organization and you can't spend your way out of a problem because of your salary cap, guess who's,

guess who's going to take the raw end of it? he said you watch coaches and Pat Quinn was 100% right. Yep. What have you done for me lately? 2.45, man, this is. Yeah, and look, and there's so many teams, there are so many teams that feel they're there,

that they're, you know, a piece or two away. And if they make these changes that they are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, that they can chase, you know, the holy grail. And if it doesn't work in year one, okay, let's try again year two. It doesn't work in year two. All right. The leash is getting tighter here. It's getting shorter.

And if things fall off the rails, then, all right, we're going to make that type of change because you can't trade everybody and you can't exactly sign everybody, you know, and work your way out of it that way. So, you know, these other elements come into play. And it's the what have you done for me lately mentality with respect to coaches in the National Hockey League. We're going to see more changes, I'd imagine, once the season wraps next week. You know what's interesting.

When you make the list of tenure, like Shane have put out there. Three coaches have only three coaches have been in their position for more than five seasons. So that's John Cooper, Jared Bednar, and Rod Brindamore. And then if you go down the list of tenure, it's fascinating for one specific stat. So you got Cooper Bedner, Rod, Brindamore. Those are your top three. Then you go, Andre Tourney, Martine St. Louis, Paul Maurice, Spencer Carrey.

Now, outside of Paul Maurice. What are they in common? All first time coaches. There you go. They're all first time coaches. And you look at some of the success. Is there something in there? Is there something in there?

Can we clean anything, Dave? You know, and you look at the success of a couple first year coaches this season. Marco Stern in Boston, Amuse in Pittsburgh. You find the right pieces. Those guys work out. And it's growing with your core on the ice and also growing with the guys that you have on the bench and kind of growing everything together. And if you can have success longevity within that success and extend that, then look, you've got a full core here. There's full pieces.

Everything here is working. Can we add a few extra ingredients to this as we go along? And you're seeing that. And then you have, you know, certain clubs like Vegas that we saw, you know, a week and a day ago that feel their legitimate cup contenders and theirs is beyond the, what have you done for me lately type scenario. There's is, what have you done for me yesterday? Nothing.

Cool. We're going to change it up today. And because they believe that they are legit Stanley Cup contenders year after year. And they, that philosophy for them is a little bit different. But you look at some of those other teams, the Tampa's, the Colorado's and those clubs that are consistently good. They've got the pieces on the bench and the core guys on the ice

that are more or less the same. And you'll see some other teams kind of moving in that regard. That's why, you know, last week, or on Friday on the show, I mentioned Manny Malhotra as a potential target for a few teams this season. He'd be a first year head coach

in the National Hockey League next year. That's going to be a guy that, you know, a few teams, not just Toronto if they make the change or L.A. when they make their change. It's probably going to see a couple other teams kind of looking at that as a potential option as well. Anything else on DeBoer? So I want to move into Kate here for a second.

Anything more on DeBoer, do you think we're leaving on the table? No, I mean, the only other thing is I think that from the player side of things, having that type, like I, and Darsh mentioned this as well earlier today, because there was a lot of speculation. And I threw a little bit about that of that out there as well. When I started to see the demeanor of some of the guys on the bench, And it was more of a, like the narrative was, well, did they, are they starting to tune him out? Darst and I, that said that wasn't the case, but just felt like they needed a bit of a change.

A couple of text exchange with some of the guys kind of validated that this morning. But at the same time, there's a little bit of excitement there, having a guy of his caliber in Pete DeBore with the experience that he has on this club. So you're already seeing a little bit of an upbeat type mentality and confidence in the change that they've made. So Islanders to the conference final. the DeBorah fact. Take that one to the bank and put it in a long-term deposit. The result is guaranteed. Cato Rourke, I mean, unless you follow, unless they're really hardcore and you're following, you know,

U-16 hockey in the GTHL or the OHL draft, you might not know the name, but he's a Texas-born, moved to Toronto three, maybe four years ago. Right-shot defenseman plays with the junior Canadians. Now, O-HL Cup. Finally, they had a tough one. Lost three to one to Honeybake, the first U.S. team to ever win the O HL Cup. Discuss amongst yourselves what happens in the future. I thought Little Caesars look great this year too, but nonetheless they were beaten by a very good London squad.

So he's applied for exceptional status. And this is different from the other ones because he was born in the United States. And there are some that say, oh, yeah, lay up, he's applied, he's going to get it, even though players, like Jack Hughes applied before and didn't get exceptional status. As a matter of fact, as a side note, I can recall talking to one OHL official who said to me, you know what, that was a mistake. Not only did it cost us Jack Hughes, but it probably also cost the Ontario Hockey League Owen Power. But nonetheless, so caterer work has applied for exceptional status, which means he gets into junior hockey one season early. Some say it's a slam dunk going to happen.

say hang on pump the brakes this thing isn't close to done yet where do you fall on on this one and uh can we move the saga forward here on this monday because going back to last week every day that i checked in the saga continued with a with a with a different shoe to drop right yeah i think it's going to continue a little bit here for a bit of a stretch there are um i i there's i know the oh shel definitely wants this to happen they they're on board for this like you know a number of GMs. 100%. Yeah, a number of team GMs would pick him first overall. He seems to be the consensus first overall for the OHL

draft. Oshaas kind of licking their chops at the possibility of getting him at number one. And they're pretty adamant about that as well. I think a number of teams view him as, again, clear cut, hands down, number one overall picking the O. There seems to be and seems to have been some pushback from

hockey Canada with respect to this particular player. Because of exactly as you mentioned, U.S. born-born type player. But for the OHL and the CHL, there's, with how things have changed with obviously the NCAA and everything along those lines and now the potential of, or the expectation, rather, that there's going to be a new agreement with the National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association to have first round picks, you know, 19 and to be able to play in the A.

There's a lot of push to make this happen. And I think it's going to go in this direction. There's still, you know, some hurdles and a little bit of pushback, as I mentioned. But it certainly looks like it's going in this direction. But, you know, talk to a number of different clubs and GMs in the O. And they've said, yeah, this kid's available, number one. I mean, he's clear-cut number one guy. So we would love to the opportunity to get him.

So it looks like it's going in that direction, but still a few hurdles that need to be kind of either jumped over, leaped over, or smoothed out for this to happen. You know, one of my initial thoughts to all of this was he's been. born in Texas. The Ontario League doesn't have jurisdiction over Texas. That's the Western League. So could the Western, even though he's lived in Toronto, could the Western Hockey League block this? I looked into it. And even though some managers grumbled about, oh, it's Texas, that's Western.

The answer was no. Like there's no blocking from the Western Hockey League on this one. The thing that I wonder about, and again, like you play all the scenarios, if Hockey Canada says yes, Decato or work, then, you know, great. you know, Roger Hunt, General Manager, Oshawa, Generals, congratulations. You got a wonderful right-shot defenseman that's going to be with you for however many number of years.

Right. But if the answer is no, like I'm with you, Dave. Like, I fully agree that. The O'HL wants this to happen. They want Cato Rourke in their league right now. If it doesn't happen, what I wonder about, like,

what could the OHL do? Like, and again, I don't know, I don't know the answer. Could they, like, I, I can't see them pulling out of the Hockey Canada system. I guess it could be an option. Is Cato Work a big enough hill to do that on? Could it be, could it, could it get legal? Like, I don't know. I'm just thinking, like, all three CHL leagues are losing players to NCAA.

If anything, they need to. allow more high-end players into the leagues earlier, as you mentioned. And this ruling could stand in the way of that. I just wondering, like, what could the OHL do here? Well, I mean, like, you know, part of the argument overall in this with respect to him being born in Texas, I mean, there's been plenty of talk of expansion around the CHL, specifically the OHL. Can expand Austin?

additional U.S. markets. No, not going that far. There's a road trip. Hey, North Bay. Yeah, good luck. Yeah, it's going to take you four days to get there, play two games and then go back. But this is going to be like if you're expanding it to the U.S. and trying to have a bigger footprint there.

Yes. Like this, it, you're almost contradicting yourself to not allow this type of thing to happen based on the type of player that he is. Again, consensus across the board, clear cut number one draft pick for the OHL. if he's able to have that status. I mean, Oswald may say, if this is prolonged, Oswald may just say, you know, with the act with this, we're taking him anyway, and then we'll deal with this afterwards.

Might be a little extreme, but like they value this kid. Hang on. Tri-City took Jonathan Dave. Now, did he tell him that he was going to No-Dak at that time instead of Tri-City? That's a conversation with him and Olaf Colzing, but we have seen number ones before. Yes. Do something else. Anyhow, I digress.

Yeah. This, again, I think, I think, think this is going in the direction of which he'll be granted exceptional status. But it has not been, as you alluded to right out of the gate. Like this has not been as smooth as I think everyone involved in this has wanted. And yes, Hockey Canada will have a, and does have a bit of a say or a pretty big say in this. But it looks like it's going to go in this direction. We'll see kind of how this folds out.

But the primary argument, as we've been discussing, if all these kids are leaving the CHL to go to the NCAA route. but why can't this be allowed to happen for a kid who's by all accounts absolutely deserving of the status? It's fine. I really do think that, you know, at the end of all this, and again, we've talked about this all year long, you and I about, you know, various players in situations. This is the first year of it. So this is the year where all the speed bumps, you know, all the speed bumps get sorted out and all the, you know, all the angles get rounded off. And it becomes a little bit smooth. I kind of chalked this one up to, well, here's an experience that we haven't had before, you know,

and an American kid applying, even though he's lived in Toronto. He's not a Canadian citizen. And listen, maybe that's the way around it. Just get your Canadian citizenship. And then college a day in hockey Canada, in hockey Canada. I say that like it's like breaking sticks. Oh, just go get your Canadian citizenship. Like it's no big deal.

Yeah. There are a few hurdles there too, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if he approaches that route. as well. Because what is it? Four years, I think? He's done four years that he's been in the GTA. Yeah. Yeah.

So, I mean, there's some footprint here. So it's a possibility if the hurdles become a little bit larger than instead of being smoothed out. If they grow a little bit more, well, okay, let's see. Let's see if this is the route to take. Interesting time. You're the best man. Thanks so much for popping on today instead of Friday.

Much appreciated. Oh, you, buddy. There is. Thank you. On a couple of different things here, the Islander's situation. with Pete DeBoer and then Nkato work and exceptional status for a player born in Texas. And what are the issues around that?

Well, we'll park that for a couple of moments here because one of the good news stories coming out of the weekend was the 14-year drought is over. The Buffalo Sabres officially qualifying for the postseason. It is, folks, the best story in hockey this season, period. And tonight they'll face off against a Tampa Bay Lightning. Can't think of any stories there. Here to break down all of this long-time NHL netminder

and Buffalo Sabres analyst, the one and only Martan Buren who joins me here on the sheet. Martan, first of all, thanks so much for stopping by. And boy, you want to talk about like an entire city, an entire organization finally exhaling. Okay, we're in. We don't have to hear the number 14 anymore. A wonderful weekend for the Buffalo Sabres,

even though things have been mixed right now, but a great weekend for the swords. Yeah, a great weekend for, the fans, the organization. Look, we've gotten videos from, you know, young fans that are so excited to see the Sabres in the playoffs. And I'm thinking, you're only seven years old. Like, how about the fans that were 10 when the drought started

and now are 25, right? And you're like all these teenage years where you're supposed to watch games with your buddies and enjoy it. They didn't get to see it. So there is a generation of fans that are going to be just so excited for that first playoff game. And then the fans,

that were there when I was playing in Buffalo, that experienced the drury, the pre-years, the back-to-back conference finals, the Dominic Aschak years, like now it's going to pull back those emotions. The Sabres put a great video out when the Sabres clenched. It was called Dear Greatly. Dare Greatly, basically, it was a regenerate voiceover from a few years before he passed that they did, just hoping that the Sabres were going to get in the playoffs. If you haven't seen it, go and watch it.

it is a tearjerker and it's awesome. It really is. For me, I grew up in southwestern Ontario. So, you know, Wednesday nights and Saturday nights, I'd watch the Toronto Maple Leafs. And then the other nights,

I would watch the Buffalo Sabres. And this was the French connection. And I grew up with all respect to Rick Jenneret, whom I love. And Dan Levy is such a good job of the call to, I grew up with Ted Darling. Like, I still hear that name,

that name still resonates with me. And listen, Marty, I was there a couple of weeks ago for the San Jose game. And, you know, getting out of my Uber and walking to Keybank and seeing, you know, there's the Tage Thompson jerseys obviously and, you know, a lot of that lean. But like the old ones like Perrault and Gare. And there's like some corabs mixed in. I'm just like, I mean, I'm not there every night, but it must feel really cool, loose. Like there must be some like really cool vibe right now where all the older.

Sabres fans are starting to come back to that it's not just to your point like the young kids that are in love, hey, this team's awesome let's go. I'm like some of the older Sabres fans, Marty. Well, obviously, Gilbert made a couple of appearances this year and it's funny because it's a

parole that clinch the Sabres getting in like Gay Proo with the Rangers scoring a hat trick, so it's a G. Perot that got the Sabers back in the playoffs, but Jill Bear's been back. And now, you know, Lindy Ruff mentioned river hockey and pawn hockey and, you know, basically watching the games outside on Canal's side and the playoffs.

And so the last couple of wins at home, they've played a Gilbert Perot clip of him on the ice singing, Proud Mary, and it's so good. And Danny Gare dancing. And so tickets has obviously been at the games a lot and a lot of alumni. So you mentioned the connection, you know, that is what is so fun because everybody now is digging into the history of the games. the connections between, you know, the Perot-French connection to the Peca Hasheck, to the Drury-Briere to now. Like, yes, we skipped over many years, but that connection is all back now. And obviously, for the Pagolas to be able to say, hey, you know what?

You know, they waited a long time for the bills to get back in the playoffs. And now they're one of those great NFL franchise. Hopefully the Sabres can follow lead because it's been a lot of fun. I want to get to the Tampa game here, but I want to bring up one point. that I've been talking about as we've seen the Buffalo Sabres rise this year. I've always looked at Buffalo and said to myself,

this is the quintessential NHL team for one very specific reason. This is a league that has teams from United States of America and Canada. And Buffalo is the one city. Well, first of all, I love it when I go to a Buffalo Sabres game like I mentioned. Like I was there for sharks and sabers.

And not that I'm a huge anthem guy, but they play the Canadian National Anthem. because this is the, this market is the coming together of American fans and Canadian fans from that Hamilton, St. Catherine's corridor, buying season tickets, not just one-offs. Like to me, Buffalo is the NHL team that has fans from both sides of the border. Not equal. The majority are American fans, but there's a sizable amount of Canadian fans that have adopted the Buffalo Sabres as their team. Do you have a thought on that? Well, I do feel that playing here in Buffalo for all these years, it did feel like playing in Canada, right?

And I think that Buffalo people find a sense of pride of saying, like, we're almost Canadian in that sense of we love hockey, our youth hockey, minor hockey, is strong in Buffalo. Everybody loves to flood the backyard and have that outdoor rink experience. So that is a big part of it. Yes, I mean, it's an American city. Football is huge. Baseball is big.

lacrosse, there's a lot of different sports, but hockey is number one. Joe Andreessen from the Buffalo Bills was on our set earlier this year, and he grew up in Buffalo. And yes, the bills have been the number one sports team in Buffalo, but he said, with something funny, he says, Buffalo is a hockey town. Yes, they've been supporting the bills. But when the Sabres are good, neighbors are number one. Yeah, the NFL is a big business. But the amount of fans that are going to be on.

you know, the party in the plaza, the canal side viewing in the playoffs, that, you know, it's springtime, the sun's out. It feels like it's a new year. When the Sabres are good late in the season, it's a hockey town. And even the Bill's players, the Jim Kelly and the Thurman Thomas and the Steve Tasker, they come to the games because they're like Buffalo is a hockey town. So, yeah, there's that Canadian connection in Buffalo. Tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

technically this is game 78. Marty, this does not feel like game 78 tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yeah, and obviously the last time they played on March 8, it was an 8-7 Sabres win where there was tons of fight. It was the game of the year. They opened Hagle, and Hagle is the villain. And he went after Dahlene and he's not going to play tonight.

It's going to be a different feel. Now, for me, yes, you have to have the emotions of that last game, but you have to be able to manage them because you don't want to be consumed by, oh, we're going to have fight nights in Buffalo again. Like, that shouldn't be the number one priority. But if Dave Thompson gets it from behind like he did in the last game, well, all hell is going to break loose and that's normal. But even more important than that, like my two biggest fear for the Buffalo Sabres is the fact that they could play either the lightning or the Canadians in the world. the first round. And I think both of those teams would be really, really tough opponent for the Sabres. So if you can finish first in the Atlantic, and this game tonight is going to have a long way to go for the Sabers to get first, if they can beat Tampa, Tampa's got Ottawa tomorrow,

Tampa has got Montreal on Thursday. This is a tough week for the Tampa Bay Lightning. You could finish first in the Atlantic. And then all of a sudden, maybe you play Ottawa, maybe you play Boston, and maybe you play a wildcard team. Like, that is the number one thing on my mind anyway as an analyst for tonight's game. The fans, they've been buying their tickets to this game since early, like that game in March. My brother-in-law was like, I want to get a sweet,

I want to get 15. It's Dingus Day in Buffalo. And if you don't know what Dingus Day is, it's a Polish celebration. A lot of Polish people here. It's the day after Easter. People are going to be drunk all afternoon coming up to that game tonight.

So the atmosphere is going to be crazy. So, yeah, it's going to, but I think that it's going to be a hockey game first and foremost because there's so much at stakes. But let me rewind really quickly here because I know, you're right, like the 8-7 game, this is ripped right out of the pages of 1987 and all the fights. But the thing about the game itself, and I've, remember the day after, the Monday after here on the show, the one thing that I was talking about is something that Anthony Stewart, former NHLer, his father would always talk about. And his dad would always say, are you a team or are you a club? Are you a team or are you a club? And I look at that game against Tampa.

And it's like a year before that, everybody was cutting their skate laces when Tage Thompson got hit by Steph Nason. And then a year later, I'm looking how, you know, the first person, you know, rushing at Hegel is the goaltender. And like every, every everybody's like as a Pacman. mentality. And I'm like, and I don't know if it was that one game specifically, but man, it sure felt like it like that was the day that the Sabres officially went from being a club to being a team. Did it feel that way? Oh, it felt that way. Most fans that remember 20 years ago, the Ottawa brawl were comparing the Ottawa brawl and this game with Ottawa. And you felt like the team was a team, a together group when Chris Drury got hit by Chris Neal and

Obviously, I was foolish enough to want to fight Ray Amory in that game, but it felt like that, right? And Lukainen going after Hague, and Lindy Ruff after the game was like, he didn't stay in his net, right? He came right out after Hagle. And it was the newcomers. It was Logan Stanley, and it was like, he was actually, he wasn't even playing. We had him on the broadcast with Dan Dunlevy in the press box, and everything was happening. And Logan said, I want to be on the ice. get me in the uniform.

And it was like right after the trade deadline, because the trade deadline was on Friday, it was just a team that was coming together. And you're right. Like, I go back to when Dahlene got drafted in his first couple of years, you know, other teams were taking liberties on Dahlene and Tampa and Eric Cernak

definitely took liberties on Dahlene. Brett Marchand was taking liberties on rest of Dahlane. And all of a sudden, now you don't have those teams taken liberty. And that's important because you have to be a club that moves into a team and a family. And Dahlene and Thompson and Tuck. And those guys have talked about how they are tight this year. And it showed on the ice.

Okay, a couple of things that we'll let you get on with your day. It's a busy one facing off against Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. How did this happen? Like I know the winning streak started before there was the general manager swap. And Yarmel brought in, as you mentioned, Logan Stanley, Luke Shen, Sam Carrey. comes in as well. But I think a lot of us are sort of scratching our heads all season long. Like, where did this come from?

How did all of this happen? Beginning the year, it was like, holy smokes. And here we go again with the Buffalo Sabres. And now they're the best story in the NHL. It came with health. And what's going to pass. Yeah. It came with health.

Josh Norris gets hurt the first game in the year against the New York Rangers sticking a face. This is pretty much. games back in December and that team now at death when Josh Norris came back. So that friends, you've got Zach Benson who was injured as well. He plays a big role on this team. I mean, he doesn't have the numbers that you would say, hey, he's got to be a big time player, but he plays a big emotional part of the team.

He was banged up a lot too. Matthias Samuelson, he was healthy this year. The last few years, Matthias Samuelson's always banged up. How good has Samuelson been this year? with Rasmus Dahlane. It makes a big difference. So those are the reason. I think health was a big fan in all of this.

And then, well, because you were banged up, you got to call up no Osloon. While Osloon has looked good. You got to call up Constell-Helenus. He's looked good. He's in Rochester now. But you've seen also what this team could be in the next few years. So I think health was a big reasoning behind all of this.

Okay. And last one for you. The other player that I keep coming back to all season long, I know he's not Rasmus Dalyne. he's not Tage Thompson, he's not Alex talk, but Josh Donne. Yeah. Every single game that goes by,

and listen, like Buffalo gave up a really good player, and I'm happy for Utah, and they got J.J. Petrka and 25 goals, 25 goals. But Josh Donne, to me, has been one of the big stories for me with the Buffalo Sabres this year. And what a revelation, and they've got them already under a contract that people are looking at and saying,

what a bargain for the swords. Do you have a thought on Josh Done? consistent for Josh Don, right? And he's found a good partner in Josh Norris and the Joshes are playing together. It's been great. So the biggest thing for me when I look at Josh Donne is when he goes to the front of the net, he's a big body.

He doesn't play, well, he has part of the game that's like his dad, Shane, and a very thick guy on the wall winning one-on-one battles. But when he goes to the front of net, he's very, very effective. And he slowed down a little, bit of late here.

And obviously, you know, he's still a young guy, but everybody loves number 91. And I think Michael Kesselring was a big part of the trade for J.J. Peturka. Kestering's not been healthy this year. And when he's had a chance to play, he hasn't gotten to top form.

People are forgetting about Peturco really quickly because of Josh Don't. He's been amazing. You're right to point him out because he is added to the depth of the sabers now. they've got top, you know, their three lines are great because of guys like Josh Don't factoring into the lineup. Are we? Listen, thank you so much for this.

Always. Have a, listen, have a wonderful afternoon. Should be a fascinating game tonight. Thanks so much for doing this. Merci, mon chum. Merci, mon chum. I have a great end to the season and great playoffs as well. You as well.

There is. Martin Burenne, on that mind, now analyst with the Buffalo Sabres. We got through a little bit of technical, difficult. he's there with Martin and glad we stuck with it because a lot of value in talking with him about like bluntly and I know right now what are there like 3, 3

and 2 or something like that and the last little stretch I know it hasn't been exactly great. They weren't going to win every game folks. The Buffalo Sabres the best story of the season around the NHL. Going from you know everybody wants to leave to

everybody's going to stay and they're going to not just get to the playoffs but hopefully for their sake and for fans' sake as well, do some damage in the playoffs. And speaking of damage, I know both sides will downplay it. And Marty downplayed it. It's Tampa and Buffalo tonight.

In Buffalo. We all remember what happened on March 8th. We all circled the calendars right away. Will it be the same thing? Will the game take three and a half, four hours? No. But will there be something? some type of message sending for the postseason,

even without Brandon Hegel and Scott Sabrin, a game time decision. I kind of smile at that one a little bit, considering who Scott Sabrin is. Game time decision, okay, I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night. We think there should probably be something. Luke Shen, by the way, in the lineup over Zach Metza.

And that should tell you all you need to know about tonight's matchup. the swords and the bolts. All right. This segment, and thanks to Marty for stopping by. This segment, a presentation of the Ninja Crispy Pro countertop glass air fryer. Shark Ninja is elevating the air fryer experience. The Ninja Crispy Pro is a family-sized cooking system that comes with a six-quart and two-and-a-half-court glassware,

storage lids, crisper plates, and modular base for any occasion. The clean, crisp glassware is designed for non-toxic cooking and store. go from frozen to crispy with the thermal shock resistant clean crisp glassware. The Ninja Krispy Pro is powerful. It's an 18100 watt air fryer that can cook 7.5 pounds of chicken feeding up to 10 people. It's customizable with 6 and 1 functions, max crisp, air fry, bake, roast, re-chrisp, and dehydrate. For more information on the Ninja Krispy Pro, visit the link in our description or go to shark ninja.ca. Hello, Zach.

What's up, Jeff? Good stuff today. A couple of things. Some interesting stuff, hey. I mean, Dave's always full of value, and it's been a while since we've talked to Marty, so that was great talking about the swords. Anything you want to pick out of any of those conversations

before I gush about Porter Martone? No, I listened to Morning Cup of Hockey, and I was listening to what Colby was saying, and you guys kind of touched on it here as well. But I think that's the biggest takeaway for me in all of this is the move that was made is not necessarily, a statement about Patrick Waugh as much as it is an indicator that the islanders and Matthew Darsh are willing to take big swings, get creative, and be bold, be aggressive.

You have to now. You have to. Yeah. And I think that's a positive sign if you're an Islanders fan because I feel like for a while it probably felt like I don't know about status quo being as much the right way to describe it as it was some more comfortableness, comfortability in terms of. of the moves that were made and then they start all the sudden taking some swings now and it's like all right here we go like let's do this i think it's a fun time to be an islanders fan when you have

someone like matthew shaffer i think you have to be aggressive and fill out the roster around him aggressively like right away you know darsch realizes a i think he knows how good he is when he drafted him but i don't think anybody knew he would dominate like this as a rookie and jump in and play big minutes like there's something like he's playing 30 minutes like i don't think anybody I know. He's like 11th. He's playing 30 minutes in the NHL. Matthew Schaeferly.

He's a gentleman right this way. But when you have something like that, like what's the rule of the NHL? Things, you think, can turn around really quickly and they can end really quickly. So, and especially if you believe that you, if you're the Islanders, one, you love having Matthew Darsh, obviously. And you love what he's bringing. And the flip side of that is he's going to come out of his entry. level deal one day. And then you're going to have to pay him. And I got news for you. That ain't

going to be cheap. So if you're the Islanders, you need to aggressively fill out around him. ASAP. So not surprised by the coaching move. I mean, I was a little bit shocked to see it yesterday, but in further hindsight, you look at it and you say, all this is in service of building around Matthew Schaefer. All this is the service of building around Matthew Schaefer. They know what they have. And when you have a franchise defenseman like that, you don't take your time.

You don't take your time. I was stealing your homework a little bit when I was thinking about this and getting ready to talk about what was happening today and thinking about I did homework. Move is. It's the first. Copying off of you and your notes.

You know what? The next move that needs to happen here now is we saw Torts get, take the job with eight games. left in Vegas and kick out Bruce Cassidy. We now see Patrick Wall with four games left for the Islanders, and in comes Pete DeBore. There's probably another team out there who might be potentially looking for a coaching change this summer. They're going to be in the playoffs.

Their star player just extended for two more years. Maybe they need to shake things up. Maybe there's a Western Conference coach who's now available. Maybe the Oilers take an opportunity here. I'm like, come on, everyone else is doing it. Why don't you get involved? The coach's new deal hasn't even kicked in yet, I don't think. But you know what?

But here's the thing. Like, this is the reality. And this is why I brought up that idea with Dave. You know, the idea, you know, all the Vancouver Canucks won't want to get rid of Adam Foote because they don't want to pay someone, not the coach. If that's a consideration for one second, put the for sale sign out.

Yeah. Seriously. Like that's, that's, that's not like, what's your message to fans? I want to save some nickels and dimes here. And send out more notes of season ticket holders about how the,

we have kids that are poised to turn this thing around quickly. Stop. Stop. Now, I don't know that. Like, again, like to the Vancouver point, I have not been told that.

People have said, oh, there is a feeling that they won't do this. If, I'm saying, if that's true, fold the tent. fold it, fold it, fold it.

If you're ever looking to get money back quickly as a franchise, you could sell the jersey autographed by a former player on your team from their new team in your lower concourse during their return game to your city, if you want to do that. You could also host dinners in the team locker room for $1,000 a person. That's also another option that you could do. So there's ways to get around it, Jeff. There's ways you can get your money back.

They're not here to sell a jersey. No, no, just ones of former players with autographs on them. But monetize every other rung of the ladder. Every step up of rug of the ladder, there's monetization. Nonetheless. Someone called into my show the other day and said they were tired of all the money stuff. And he goes, you wouldn't believe it. I went to the game and they charged me an extra $10 just to look at the ice.

That's a good one. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Porter Martone. His first NHL goal is a power play, 5 on 3, game winner for the Philadelphia Flyers who now find themselves in a playoff spot. This was a real nice goal by Martone.

I get used to it, Philadelphia. seeing Porter Martone banging goals around the net. Big body, I know there are some that want him to play more like a big body player. We'll see how he develops at the NHL level. Looks like a Philadelphia flyer. They already love him in Philadelphia. That's going to go a long way to building the sort of initial myth of Porter Martone in orange, big game winner against the Boston Bruins.

The third in the Metropolitan Division as we do this podcast here today. That's good on him. I mean, I've been hearing his name, not to be that guy, but I've been hearing his name in and around the OMHA and GTHL since he was 13 years old. And it's always nice when you see someone have that type of instant success. And look at that pass to Dvorak who comes in and snipes it. Like it's just a, it's a full confidence play, first of all, from Martone. Like, who has that kind of confidence?

And they're barely old enough to piss straight. He's so young. What a plane. He's in the H. It's so good. Porter Martone. What a game against the Boston Bruins. And as I mentioned last week,

was I talking to Dave? When you go look at their draft last year, holy smokes, everybody's massive. Like they went for a side. Like the big Philadelphia flyers are coming back. Like if you go back to the Montreal draft, the two teams drafting side by each, parallel.

The two teams drafting beside each other, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals, kind of took players like they belonged on the other team. The Philadelphia Flyers

took Matvei Michikov and the Washington Capitals took Ryan Leonard. If I told you before the draft that Mitchcoff and Leonard were going to get drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals,

who would you have put on which team? Yeah. You put Mitchcoff on the caps and would have put Ryan Leonard on the Philadelphia Flyers, but make no mistake about it, like big Phillies coming back. They are going for size. Speaking of size and the Washington Capitals and how much of fall of the American League, Ilya Proto.

Alexei Prortis's younger brother, 100 points last year in the OHL, put up six points on Hartford. He leads the HAL and rookie scoring. Now, I don't know if they, like Ray Ferraro yesterday. yesterday was talking about this on the, the Rangers Washington broadcast. Like, do they bring him up for a cup of coffee? Like, just to give him a taste, give him the experience. I don't know, but this guy, like the Protis brothers,

are going to be a problem for a long time. For a long time in the... Listen, I was talking to one OHL coach last week, and he said, like, full stop, like last year in the OHL, not this year, but last year. Best player in the OHL, Ilya Proto, without a doubt. Just big mutants who can play hockey. Oh, I know.

Big Belarusian mutants. Simplest way to put it, but that's kind of what it is. That's a compliment, right? Yes, that's a compliment. In hockey, that's a complo. Yeah. Make sure that we all are on the same page about that. That's like I called Easton Cowan on Saturday.

I called him a piece of POS and put it on an Instagram story. And Dr. Alicia Nasser replied and was like, ha ha ha like piece of shit and i was like well he is like in the best way possible that's the best way the highest compliment i could give him at this point based on the way he's playing he's a p o s yeah yeah absolutely true um we gotta get her back on the show by the way yeah big mutants we got to get uh dr nasser back on the program here all right she's not a big mutant no she's got a big brain i don't know how we're gonna fit it all into the split screen you're gonna have to like get me on to like she'll take three quarters and it'll

be her brain and I'll have like one little sliver just like bobbleheading in the corner as Alicia talks. How smart she is, man. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fanduel. It's the NHL season and Fandul is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Batslip, we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings and more features to let you play your game.

If you miss Puck Drop, no sweat with a live same game parley, you can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fandual Sportsbook today and play your game. Please play responsibly. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling of the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600

to speak to an advisor free of charge. You've had all weekend to think about this Monday parley. What do you got, Zach? I don't know if you were familiar with the space launch that took place the other day. Did you see the 80s style video that they did for the 80s TV show. Oh, so good.

I'm loving it. Absolutely. Beautiful pictures, too. Cool, cool event that took place, but the entire time that I was watching it and tracking it and seeing all the pictures and videos and everything coming out, all I could think was, you know, it just, it makes me laugh that we can be perfectly streaming a space launch. But sometimes I can't even get cell service in my apartment.

I just don't believe it. Wow, it makes me laugh, Alex LaFerierre that we can perfectly, Cole Perfetti, stream a space launch, but sometimes I can't even get self-service in my apartment. I just don't believe it. Josh Don't. $5 wins you $245 smackaroos and 96 cents that go jingle in your pocket. That's a good one.

Alex LaFerier, Cole Perfetti, and Josh Dundon. own, ladies and gentlemen. Well done, Zach Roo. How was your weekend, by the way. Thank you. How the Leafs are on? Pretty good. Picking up meaningless points.

So same shit as usual. That was a fun game. Hang on. That was a fun game just as a neutral viewer on Saturday. It was a fun game to watch. It was. It was. Honestly, like, that's the perfect game for me at this point because we're good

on heat. What's with Scott Lodon? What's going on there? That is the case of a man who placed for the logo on his chest more than anything. What's with Scott Laden? You could imagine. But, yeah, the Leafs picking up that meaningless point was unnecessary. But at the same time, the L.A. Kings win.

You help them out a little bit. Maybe you help yourself get a second round pick instead of the third round pick. I got to see a lot of goals. You did. That's all I could ask for. It's exciting hockey. So it's not good hockey. I'm not saying that, but it's exciting.

Never, never, never, never, never said that. Okay, good stuff. So Greg's back tomorrow, right? Wish is back from, uh, from Mousieerland. He's, he's back. I believe so. I'm like pretty certain. Yes. Okay. So, uh, Disneyland?

World. Land is California. Okay, Disney World Wish is back tomorrow. Yes. With Disney. Land. This is the distinction I would, was told because I'm going to Disneyland in the summer.

Not that anyone needs any of this information, but that's where I'm going. Are you going to your girlfriend to Disneyland? Yeah, we're taking our nieces and nephew. Okay. To Disneyland, yeah. But that is because it is a smaller property.

So it's just land. Florida is Disney World's because they've got all the properties. So that's the easy way to remember because I was forgot myself. So there you go. Take that with you. All right. Disney World Wish returns tomorrow. as an employee of Disney

enjoying his rich, rich, deep, deep, deep, discounts. Deep, deep discounts from Disney for that one. All right, so good stuff. So Greg Wischinsky from ESPN and ESPN.com will be aboard tomorrow. Thanks to Dave Panyoda for stopping by

and talked to him to us about both Peter DeBoer and Cato Work. We'll keep you up to date on what's happening with that story as the young man has applied for exceptional status, as we all know, paid his thousand bucks and applied a while ago. It's not always a two-foot putt that these things happen. Not everything is a, you know,

Connor McDavid, Aaron Eckblad, John Tavares type situation, Shane Wright. Players do get denied. I mentioned Jack Hughes. Graham Clark would have been one as well. Tag Bertuzzi, Todd Bertuzi's son. John McFarlane was also turned down for exceptional status back in the day. So it has happened before that players do get turned down.

And as much as you may look at Cato Rourke and say, yeah, all day long, this guy should be into the OHL draft in June. And Roger Hunt should be proud to get to the podium and say the Oshua General Select with their first overall pick, Cato Rourke, this thing isn't done yet. and it sounds like there are a little couple of bumps along the way and maybe, just maybe, a lot of it has to do with the fact that he was born in Texas. And are there some, this is what we wonder, are there some in Hockey Canada who believe that exceptional status should only be for Canadian-born players?

My personal thought, no, not at all. If you want to present yourself as, and we talk about junior hockey in Canada, we talk about all three leagues, the Q, the O, and the Western League, if you want to present yourself as the ultimate developmental league and the three ultimate developmental leagues, you open yourself up for the best possible players regardless of where they are born. And yes, that does include when a player applies for exceptional status. We'll see where this goes. Thanks today for shedding light on that. And also to Martine Miron, Buffalo Sabres analyst for stopping by the program today. Big one tonight for the playoff-bound Buffalo Sabres. They clinched over the weekend talking to us about tonight's big matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Spicy, Jr., spicy. If you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, we thank you for it. If you are watching on YouTube, we thank you as well. If you've already subscribed to the Daily Face Off YouTube channel and are watching the stream, or an archive. We thank you. If you have not subscribed to the channel, please consider doing so. We would very much appreciate it, and I think you would find our offerings just delightful. On that, we'll let you go. I wish tomorrow on the program, 1 o'clock Eastern for the sheet.