The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Kyle Dubas’ Midas Touch, Sabres on Fire & Nylander Drama ft. Matthew Barnaby

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

A new week on The Sheet begins with Jeff Marek welcoming Matthew Barnaby for a wide-ranging, no-nonsense look at everything happening across the NHL. The spotlight starts in Pittsburgh, where Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is drawing major praise for rebuilding on the fly while keeping the Pens competitive, sparking real GM of the Year chatter. The guys debate what Dubas should do at the trade deadline, how Evgeni Malkin’s future factors in, and why second-chance players are thriving in Pittsburgh.The conversation shifts to Buffalo, where the Buffalo Sabres are no longer a “cute streak” story but a legitimate contender pushing toward ending their long playoff drought. Barnaby explains why players always know when change is coming, how coaching and management shifts unlocked this roster, and why the Alex Tuch contract situation could define Buffalo’s deadline strategy.Plus, thoughts on the Anaheim Ducks riding another heater, Evan Bouchard’s massive weekend, Team Canada blue-line debates, Evander Kane trade speculation fueled by social media breadcrumbs, and the overblown reaction to William Nylander’s viral moment in Toronto. All that, listener questions, and classic Sheet humor—don’t miss it.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#TheSheet #NHL #JeffMarek #MattBarnaby #Hockey #NHLNews #NHLAnalysis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All right, start of a new week. Glad to have you aboard today. Welcome once again to the sheet, albeit two minutes late. Some camera issues here. Nick Carolley, first start of the week, solving those in record time. Thank you, Nick. We'll put a little extra something in your envelope at the end of the week. So I want to start off the show today.

Welcome to it, by the way. If you're watching live or listening on podcast, or listening and watching in archive on YouTube, we appreciate it. I want to start off, Zach, by reading you something that came out over the week. weekend. And I want you to fill in the blank. Okay? We'll play that game. Zach's going to fill in the blank. Who we're talking about here, okay? It's a piece from the weekend. Not going to buy us or give you any hints. Say who this is. Blank is on his way toward winning general manager of the year. Everything he touches is turning to gold. The trade

deadline is less than two months away. If I were another NHL general manager, I'd be a afraid to trade with him. If I were blank, I'd be tempted to stand pat and ride the stellar work already done over the past year to bolster the blanks, present, and future. Who is this person talking about? Yarmelkeleinen. Kyle Dubus. Play long, Jeff. Josh.

Josh Joey's piece in the athletic act. I think that one came out on Saturday. Pence are hot, man. And like this is really, we've talked about, you know, ways to do the rebuild on the fly. And even if you go back to, uh, to 20, 23 when Dubus was hired, like there were a number of people that, uh, that interviewed and got right to the end for this, uh, position. Eric Tulski, now general manager, of course, of the Carolina Hurricanes was one of them. And the mandate from that ownership, Fenway Sports, the idea was the stars stay, you know, they're all going to

retire as Pittsburgh Penguins. You're going to remain competitive as much as you can. Every now and then you might make the playoffs and that's great. We're not going to go all the way down to the bottom. And in the process, you're going to rebuild the farm system. You're going to rebuild the farm team. You're going to rebuild the prospect pipeline all

at the same time above water where everybody can see. This is still going to be a team that's competitive. Dubis has filled that mandate perfectly. And we've talked on this program a lot about the idea of not just getting picks, picks, picks, picks,

picks, picks, young kids, young kids, but they've taken chances on a lot of people that were looking for second chances, the most recent being Stuart Skinner, who right now, based on his last eight games, probably the best goaltender in the NHL. He's been nothing short of outstanding. Another win last night, four games in a row. It was like 6-101 in their last eight. They've been fantastic so far. And the penguins find themselves tucked nicely into a playoff spot.

The question becomes, you're Caldubis, what do you do come trade deadline time? And what do you do now that Malkin has said he wants to play one more season? This is one of the topics we're going to talk to our future guest about here on the program. In the meantime, the blueprint is powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on Fanduel. In a couple of moments, Matthew Barnaby is going to stop by. Always look forward to talking to Barney. We should park some time and talk about the Buffalo Sabers.

That is another team that, as I mentioned last week, we just have to get settled now finally by saying, this isn't a cute little 10-game win streak. We've seen them do that before, but the Buffalo Sabres are, quote, actually good. We'll talk about the swords, we'll talk about the pens, we'll talk about the ducks, we'll talk about Brian Rust, and what could happen here.

We're awaiting news about some type of hearing. I would imagine it's a phone hearing. We'll talk about the finger heard and scene around Toronto, And if it happens in Toronto and it's hockey, it goes international. We'll talk about William Nealander. We'll talk about Evander Cain tipping his cap maybe or tipping his hand here on what he might think is on the horizon for him. This is how we sort of speculate on trades now. We'll get to that in a couple of moments.

And we'll take some listener questions as well, either from the sheet line or from our email as well. So that's the program. Today, glad to have you aboard and glad to welcome the program once again. we haven't spoken to him since Kevin Adams was fired. And ever since then, even though they were on a three-game win streak, they've just carried on. And now Matthew Barnaby, I'm at the point now where I'm saying, and I'll be honest with you, after 14 seasons, it's a little uncomfortable.

You know, the one thing that I think everyone needs to know, this is why some accents stick and some don't, your tongue develops when you're 12 years old. And how you speak at the age of 12, that is how you speak for the rest of your life. That's when your tongue muscles develop, okay? My tongue's not used to saying, hang on, the buffalo sabers are good. How is your tongue doing with that statement?

Try it again, the buffalo sabers are good. Wow, that feels weird, but here we are. Yeah, first of all, I didn't think we were going to start off the show on a Monday talking about development of tongues. So let's start with that and thank you for enlightening me with this new knowledge that I never had. I only made it to grade 11 and a half, so probably why I didn't learn that in university. Having said that, yes, it doesn't sound right coming off anyone's tongue. And the last time we talked, I was in Vail, I was in Aston, I should say, saying that we expected this to drop and that he was going to be fired at some point,

and Yarmel would be the guy to take over. We knew what was going to happen. What I never foresaw coming was this kind of domination by the Buffalo Sabres and doing what they're doing. And it makes me, everyone said for years, oh, you're just jealous because you're not there. Listen, there's nothing I want more than the Buffalo Sabres to be relevant again. And you know what? The Buffalo Sabres are relevant again. And it makes me very, very happy.

Yeah, and it's how they're doing it too. We're once upon a time we are wondering about, okay, so which goalie are they going to let go of? You know, which defender is going to be shown the door? Is that it for Owen Powers? Is Jack Quinn going to get punted? Like all those sort of usual suspects that we thought might be out the door. Quite the opposite. Like right now, if you're Yarmokikelan, I mean, I guess your big concern is what are you doing with Alex Tuck?

And it sounds as if the Tuck camp is looking for something along the lines of the Adrian Kempai contract, which I understand and come the open market on July 1st, you're probably going to get that from someone somewhere. But you're Yarmal Kekeleinen right now. You're the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. You find yourself as you wake up this morning in third place in the Atlantic 7, 2 and 1 in your last 10, and you're on a three-game winning street coming off a 5-0 blanking of the New York Islanders.

I know this sort of all, like this run started under Kevin Adams' watch technically, and we just saw the Josh Don't deal and that is a Kevin Adams trade and I think for a lot of these players that are here you know managers always sit on the shoulders of those that came before. I think you do have to tip your cap

as much as he was a pinata in Buffalo. A lot of Kevin Adams' work is in this lineup. But you were right. It had gone stale. It seemed as if the players knew something was coming and were just waiting for it to happen. And that's a conversation I like to have with you actually. The one thing that I've learned

in this industry, since I started is, again, I've only learned one thing, Barney. You can't lie to players. Players know when something's going to happen. Players know who's good. Players know who's bad. Players know who belongs. Players know who stinks.

Players know who's sneaky good. Players know who's excellent, et cetera. You can't lie to players. Do you think this was a feeling that the Buffalo Sabres as a team, we're just waiting for this to happen? We're just waiting for something to happen because that's the way, as someone who never played in the NHL, that's the way it feels from this little chair. Jeff, I couldn't have put it more eloquently and truthfully because, yes, players know who the crappy players are on the team or the guys that don't go that extra beyond who aren't going to block a shot at a pivotal point in the game.

That aren't going to get into the wait room and do the things to be a pro. And you can't lie. You can't lie to players. No. I can bring you back to when I was in Pittsburgh. And we had Kevin Constantine. And we were struggling a little bit. No one on our team like Kevin Constantine,

maybe a couple of our players that probably play a little bit more than they should. Maybe those three people like Kevin Constantine, but 95% of the team were just waiting for the shoe to drop for Kevin Constantine to get fired. We'd sit at the back of the bus. And I'm never going to say, no one goes into a game, even though we didn't like Kevin,

and we were waiting for him to get fired. We still tried when we went on to the ice. There's no player, I don't care if it was myself, or Martin Straker, or Yermer Yager, that didn't give 100%. But I think subconsciously, you aren't the same player when you're waiting for a shoe to drop. And then when that shoe does drop, whether it's a GM or a coach, for us, it was a coach, it's like, okay, we have a fresh start. Everything else is forgotten, time to play hockey.

And I think that's what we're seeing in Buffalo. And we have to give some credit to Kevin Adams, even though he's never going to see the ramifications of what he's done. But he can sit back at home and he has to be saying, listen, I put this team together. This is the team that I put on the ice, and this is what I expected. So it has to hurt equally as much living in Buffalo, seeing what they're doing, but also he has some, listen, this Josh Stone trade was great. You know, trades that I have made are now working. Goaltending we're getting now is stuff that I put into place.

So I think we have to acknowledge it, but it has to be a heartbreaking for him to know that this is a team that put together. I want to bracket the conversation about the Sabres here for a couple of moments because a lot of places I want to jump around to you. You just mentioned the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that story is one of the best ones going in the NHL. But I do want to swing back and get your thoughts on a couple of players specifically. And I know he's only played four games, but Consta Hellaneous looks fantastic for the Buffalo Sabres already.

And I want to swing back there in a couple of seconds. But what do you make of the pens? I mentioned I read a couple of lines from Josh Joey's piece on the weekend about Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dubus is on his way towards winning general manager of the year. Everything he's touching is turning to gold. Trade deadline a couple of months away. If I were another general manager, I'd be afraid to trade with him. If I were Dubus, I'd stand pat and ride the stellar work that's already been done,

etc, etc, etc. Like this is, and Dubus has the detractors. And he has a lot of detractors in media as well who will never give him a break. For some, it's because he won't be a source. For others, they just think he was too young. and oh, here comes the kid. But there is zero disputing the work that going back to 2023 when Kyle Dubus was hired.

Like this was the job. The job was keep the Pittsburgh Penguins competitive. We're not going to the basement. At the same time, we're building up the pipeline, bringing in prospects, you know, redoing the AHL, redoing the ECHL, like the entire system has been changed here by Kyle Dubus. Do you have a thought on the, the former Maple Leafs?

the general manager, who in his second kick at the can seems to have the Midas touch right now. I've always had a great relationship with Kyle Dubus, and I think he's a very, very smart hockey guy. Listen, things sometimes don't work out, and maybe he took over a little too young, and it just didn't work out. And that happens, whether you're a player or a GM, a broadcaster, I don't care. And you learn from your mistakes. Listen, he is doing exactly what they need to do in Pittsburgh and don't sell the firm at the trade deadline. I don't think this is a Stanley Cup contender team. You don't sell the farm when your guys are older,

and he's doing exactly what he needs to do, and they've put themselves in a position when they come to the trade deadline, maybe they add without giving up the farm. And they have some decisions to make, but we're not having that conversation anymore that Sidney Crosy's going to be traded. He's not going anywhere. And the last time we talked, I said,

he's going to end up a penguin forever, I believe. Unless he decides, I just want to go win another Stanley Concey. somewhere else at some point. That won't be this year. But look at Stuart Skinner. You can't make up the crap that's going on in the NFL this year. The streaks and the good, the bad, the teams we've expected, the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs,

out. You just can't make this stuff up. You show me one person that thought Stuart Skinner was going to go to the Pittsburgh Penguins to become Dominic Hasn. Like, you show me that person. It certainly wasn't me. So all those professionals out there, listen, sometimes you need a second chance. Sometimes it's the right fit.

Sometimes it's less pressure. Sometimes it's more pressure. So Kyle Dubus is doing a great job, deservedly so. And if you're a detractor and you faulted him in the past, you have to give him as kudos right now. Like you said, everything he's touches turning the goal. Again, too, you know, we've talked about, you know, with Dubus and, you know, picking up, you know, second chance. Like, now that I really think about it, and I go back to his time, even with the Sue St. Marie Greyhounds, okay, of the O.HL.

And, like, when he brought in Sheldon Keefe, when he brought Sheldon Keefe back, and you know this, Barney, if you know junior hockey, like that raised a lot of eyebrows. Nobody thought that Sheldon Keefe was going to be back in the O HL. Dave Branch took a lot of heat from a lot of owners and managers for green lighting that. But Sheldon was a second-chance guy. You know, Stuart Skinner is a second-chance guy. Kyle Dubis now with the Pittsburgh Penguins you can make. the argument is a second chance guy.

This is his second shot at running an NHL team here. See, this seems to be the theme that I'm sort of working on here with the Pittsburgh Penguins. There were those established veterans that were there and they continued to be there. And I want to have the conversation about Malkin with you in a couple of seconds. And this isn't exclusive to Dubus. Like you look like Carolina does this too. A lot of teams, go look for teams and look for inefficiencies.

And this team isn't getting the maximum. at value out of this player, get him in our system, and he can work. That's what Dubus is doing constantly. It doesn't always hit, but he tries. He's always trying to find those second chance guys in their early 20s, Tomasino and Glass and et cetera, et cetera, to see if it can hit. And I can't help but thinking that goes all the way back to Junior in his philosophy of giving guys second chances and probably the biggest one in the first one was Sheldon Keefe.

Yeah, listen, he's given them the chance. I'll give you a couple other examples of second chances. And sometimes a player or a GM doesn't like a player. I don't care what sport you're in. But I go to Marty St. Louis. I mean, Marty St. Louis was on chance number four, and he finally found a coach in John Tortorello that absolutely loved his work ethic,

and his skill is undeniable. And he went from being an NHL cast-off and not an NHL player to a Hall of Famer and the hardest working Hall of Famer I've ever seen in Superstores. that I've ever played with. We can go to football. Look at yesterday. Sam Darnold.

I'm a Jets fan. He's on chance number four. He's going to the Super Bowl over Josh Allen. There's so many of these guys. Baker Mayfield, number one overall. He's having a terrific career. So it happens in all sports. It happens in all walks of life.

You need someone to believe in you. And then you need to take advantage when you get that second chance. And some guys do and some guys don't. And that's just the reality of professional sports. but Dubus has been really good at that at bringing guys in, giving them a chance, surrounding them, and the main thing is, especially in sports, is confidence.

And once you get confidence, it's amazing what you can do, and when you lose confidence, it's amazing how poorly it can go the other way. Okay, so now here's one of the big questions. Malkin's played really well. Malkin's been excellent for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And Malkin doesn't want to wrap it up, right?

It's not like the actor who's still on stage, but the audience has stopped clapping and he's still bowing. Like he's still performing, right? And the audience is clapping. He wants to play at least one more year. Now, I know if you're Caldubis, you're concerned about blocking other players, you know, is it Macquarie's time? Is it quite even his time?

You want to start getting some of these younger guys up to the, to the, to their next level. You're dubus and Malkin says he wants to stay another year. What do you do? I just say no. How do you say no? I don't think you can say no for everything he's done for the organization. I think you have to be honest in your conversation, and it has to be a very good number for everyone involved.

I don't think he's not chasing money. He's made a boatload of money. He's won Stanley Cups, but I don't think it's one of those predicaments that you can say no to a guy like that, even though you have hard decisions to make, and you need to make way for the next wave of young stars or young players coming up to develop more, and have more responsibility in minutes that they're going to play.

So I think that's a conversation you have to have and be very honest with Malkin and just say, hey, we want you back as well. We want you to help these next guys, which I'm sure he is doing. But it has to be the right fit for both of us. I just out of curiosity, because I know players follow the money. How much you think, this is according to Puckpedia, how much money do you think Malkin's made in his career? I just did a quick search on it right now. I'm going to say $80 million.

$144 million. Okay. To your point about... $80 million after taxes, I meant. That's right. It is Pennsylvania. We're not talking about Florida or Tennessee here. You're right.

So after taxes, he's got 80, 84, 85 sheets. But you're right. It can't be about chasing the last nickel and the last time. But at the same time, but at the same time, too it does have to be a salary I mean we're dealing with a veteran here that you don't want it you don't and you don't want to and you can't insult and he's still productive still playing great yeah and I mean I don't think he's going to drive a hard bargain anyways look look look what sit has done his whole career right like you're not you're you're you're you're not going to walk into

do this and say I want this this this it's going to be a pretty easy negotiation I believe if they decide to bring them back. Hey, Crosby's fascinating, right? I mean, the $8.7 million contracts, it seems like his evergreen number is 8.8.7. A lot of guys will have, like,

looked at a couple of places in their career and said, like, this is my cash out time. Not cash out, but cash in time. And he never did it. Like, he's kind of a freak. And I think a lot of us are looking at and saying, like, okay, so what is the end game for someone like,

Sydney Crosby. Like at the end of all of it, what does he get? We know he's going to the Hall of Fame, obviously, in position in hockey history. It's obvious. But like, what's the end game for Crosby? In which way? In the sense that, you know, at the, at the end of all of this, like, at the end of, like, all of this generosity towards his team, like the ultimate leader, helping all these players. I can't help but thinking, I'll give an example, Barney. Like, I look at Ben Kindle, okay? and Ben Kindle was drafted 11th overall, maybe a little bit high a lot of people said by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the draft.

And I don't know that if Sidney Crosby, if he doesn't get drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Sidney Crosby on this team, in the room, on the bus, on the plane, in the hotel, like all in the gym, like all of it, for Ben Kindle to be around. If he gets drafted by another team, he's probably, with all due respect to the player,

still playing for the Calgary Hitman. of the Western Hockey League. Like, I can't help but think for one second, like the rub of being around Crosby has kept this guy in the NHL. Oh, that's how we do things in the NHL. Oh, that's how we do. This is how we do our activation. This is like right down, right down the line.

Okay. Like all of this that he's done. Maybe my point is we're just not used to this. We're seeing someone say, like, I've got X amount of years to make the most money I can ever make in my career and I'm going to maximize that. Crosby didn't. Maybe the better question is, why? Maybe he's just wired that way.

I don't know. He's a better person than I. I can tell you that. I never had the opportunity to make 8.7 sheets a year. He's an enigma in every facet of the word. He's generous. He wants to win. He puts people before himself.

He works harder than anyone else. Anyone that's ever met Sidney Crosby, he's the classiest, nicest, most humble person you could ever meet. And then you couple that with being one of the most talented players to ever play the game. I mean, you talk about how, you know, fortunate you are as a young player to be in a room and on a bus with a guy like that every day. I mean, it's unbelievable. It really is unbelievable. So, you know, in the end, he has enough money.

He's never going to want for more. I mean, he's going to have hundreds of millions of dollars. I don't think he's ever going to look at his empower account for the 401k that the NHL gives you when you turn 59 and a half. I don't think he's ever going to have to look at that. You know, and I don't think he ever leaves the game. Listen, he's not on social media. He's never, he's just, just everything's perfect. Hold on.

Yeah. We don't know. There's always been that rumor. I mean, remember like 10 years ago we all chased that? Which one was Crosby's burner? I forgot about that. I just don't. I forgot about it.

that they're like crosbie murder chase listen getting into know like getting to know on because I go to I go to Mario's fantasy camp every year for his foundation and I just don't see it this guy you know nothing about

this guy now maybe he has a secret little bird that's what I'm saying that's what he's not but I don't think he's tweeting it out or or tweeting out from his burner or no I don't think so but it would not surprise because he's like again like I just look at people that are so dialed into to their

careers and obviously Crosby's the ultimate example. And I just can't think for one second, like the guy that knows everything that's going on around him at all times doesn't at least have a burner. Just to see what the conversation is. He does nothing with it, but it's just like tucked away in the back pocket.

156, by the way, for him, according to Puckporetti. Yeah. Yeah. And that's being so nice. You know what? And I never fault a guy like Caprizo for going to get in 17 million. and listen, this is an enigma. This is a different dude.

But imagine how much he could have made if you really forced the bucket there. It's just insane. So there are two players. I'm glad you got us down this path, Barney. I'm curious how you feel about this. There are two players in this generation who I think were wildly undercompensated

and has no fault of their team because that was just a parameter of the CBA. But given how much they increased the value of their franchise, like hundreds of millions of dollars. one is Krosby and one is Ovechkin. I mean, you remember how bad Washington was, right? You remember those years where Yager wouldn't even do line rushes with the guys

and warm up, just sour and just awful like it did. It was so bad there, right? And Ovechkin changed all of it. How much did he add to the bottom line for Ted Leoneses? How much did Sidney Crosby add to the bottom line for Lemieux and Burkle? Like go right down the list. I still maintain that maybe in the history of hockey, capital H, they may be the two most

and no fault of the team because you can't you can't compensate more than CBA allows. They may be the two players that were the most underpaid players based on what they meant for their franchise financially in the history of the game. Agree or disagree. Listen, I totally agree.

I mean, you look at Pittsburgh. They were in bankruptcy before Mario took over and what a deal that was for the magnificent one on that one he made out like a bandit on that preferred money. but yes those two Washington was terrible Pittsburgh was losing their team and and they've really like

we're going to talk about Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals until that record ever gets broke if it ever gets broke so he's changed I don't think so either so you've put Washington Capitals on the map where we never talked about Washington go to other sports again I watch a lot of other sports everyone said showy O'Tani

$700 million you know how much the L.A. Dodgers are going to make off a guy like Shoah Otani. Well, Ovechkin and Crosby are in the same boat, just different boats financially. So your point about it, actually, to me, there's Glenn Hall's record of 502 consecutive. Like, that's not getting touched.

Like, sorry, not going to. I discovered another one last week after the goalie fight. I went and I tried to. That's because you're a hockey nerd. No, well, 100, dude, trust me, kept me single for a lot of years. So I went up and tried to find which goaltenders had the most career fights. And the answer, probably no surprise to you, was Billy Smith. The number might be, and it's 21.

But that's because he fought players. Like he fought like Dave Semenko and Steve Durbano and Lindy Ruff and Lanny McDonnell. He fought a couple of goals. That record is never getting touched. There's never going to be a goal that fight has 21 fights. Billy Smith, that one is yours. And wherever Ovechkin settles, I can't see anyone touch. watching it mainly because I can't see someone else staying healthy that long to be that productive.

You know what I mean? Like bossy probably would have been the best of all time, but his back just disintegrated. And he couldn't play anymore. That's why I think like those, those three specifically, I can't see ever getting touched. Yeah, I don't see. I mean, you play for that many years in a physical sport and be that productive for that long. Man, it's hard. but then further to your point on 21 fights by Billy Smith

if you've ever met Billy Smith and I love the guy you can understand how he has 21 fights because he's a little off center put it this way if Billy Smith pisses you off don't feel special exactly Dominic Haschick has pissed you off

don't feel special don't don't don't don't let's not go down that road today I know it. It's like it's a Monday afternoon. I'm not going down the hash ago. He's just, he's just the one that jumps to mind right, right, right away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so a couple, a couple of more things here. Thoughts on Evan Bouchard this weekend.

Three goals, three assists. As much as Bill Guerin is getting just roasted about Jackson Lecombe, and I understand why they went Jackson Lecombe, okay, especially for the penalty killing, from the penalty killing point of view. I get it. Great athlete, good player. You don't want skill or redundant. I understand it, no Seth Jones. The more you look at how, and this isn't just about offense either,

because Kyle McCar is getting the full two minutes of every power play for Team Canada, we know it. But when you look at Evan Bouchard and his ability to transition pucks, his ability to get the puck to forwards quickly and efficiently. And I know how hockey Canada loves pairs and loves trios, is kind of a nod back to like, you know, Russian five-man units. And there's already, you know, McCar Thaves and Nathan McKinnon. You know, the team Canada might be missing out here on having McDavid, Hyman, and we'll see about Braden Point, McDavid, Hyman, and Evan Bouchard.

Like, to me, Evan Bouchard is someone who probably should be on that blue line, with all due respect to Colton Perrako and Drew Doughty, I would put Evan Bouchard above both those two on the right side. Your thoughts? Oh, wow. You know what? Watching Evanton a lot of nights, just offensively sometimes, it's just, it's atrocious, some nights. And like you said, with Kail McCar, going to be that number one guy,

Pareko hasn't been great this year, and if Doug Armstrong wasn't the GM, it might be Evan Bouchard, but listen, they won the four nations, obviously a few, changes as they go through. I don't have a problem with Bouchard not being on, only because I watch Evanton a lot, and defensively some nights it is atrocious. And I think when you look at Drew Dowdy,

even though he struggled since being named there, Frank was struggled this year at times. Speed could be one of those things. At least it's not an Olympic ice. That is a big, not even an NHL size ice, but certainly not an Olympic ice helps a guy

like Drew Dowdy and a guy that's been on that stage before. So I think looking at those guys being on that stage before is why they're there and just the lack of defensive accountability and now you're going on a bigger stage. So I don't have a problem with him not being there only because he's an offensively talented guy and that's why he would be there. And there's so many guys that are going to be there and the best in the world is Kyle McCar. Hands down. That's that's that's the he's the closest thing on a on a blue line that we have to Connor McDavid. Anaheim Ducks won again last night.

It took overtime back at Seneca, but the Anaheim Ducks won again last night. They started out the season, gangbusters, and we thought, wow, it's a 2007 Ducks all over again, and then the pendulum swang as hard as it did. One way, it swang hard, the other way, and now all of a sudden the Anaheim Ducks are on another rip. They've won seven games in a row.

And we should mention, too, this is all without Leo Carlson. right mason mctavish gets thinged as well like you have grandland uh you know mckel grandland is as your number one center here um is this there was a great 47 or 40 save performance against the avalanche too would in this streak which was great for dostile the question ultimately is how are they doing this and maybe i'll just narrow it even more is this goaltending or coaching for anaheim listen i i i think it's a little bit of everything and they spread their offense around they play evanston tonight Connor macdavid has 90 points dry saddle has 70 points their top scorer has 46 points

they have 46 i think 44 42 41 something like that all all young kids obviously mason mctavish is sitting at 30 they score by committee but i think it's a little bit of everything and with a young team like this you're going to get great goaltending nights that save you and you're going to get subpar and we've seen that with this team And you're going to have to deal with some of the good and some of the bad of some of these young kids and dealing with them correctly. They're a fun team to watch, but, you know, they can win 10 in a row. This team can lose 10 in a row. And we've seen that this year where they have those highs and those lows.

Are they a playoff team? I still don't know because I still wait for the shoe to drop and them lose seven in a row going the other way. And listen, they've won seven in a row. And my best bet of the night tonight would be Evanton if it wasn't minus two. but I think Evanton beats them and listen, Evanton's minus 250 against a team that's red hot

seven in a row. That's what Vegas thinks of Anaheim against Evanston tonight. It could all end the next puck drop. Here's the thing that I find really interesting. You know Pat Furbeek.

You know how Pat for beak played hockey, a combination of skill and toughness and just like just a nasty bit of bit, like little ball of hate, right? Pain in the ass. Pain in the ass. That's how he's built this team, right? There are skill players, and there are the Ross Johnson, even though Ross was already there by the time he got there.

And I think he was there already got there. Or did he make the deal from with the islanders? I can't recall. But Jeffrey Vial comes in as well, who's just like a, oh, just miserable player to play against and two goals in his first two games with the Anaheim Ducks. Like when I look at this team, I say, if Pat Verbeek were making a team, it would be the Ducks. That doesn't always happen.

Managers don't always make teams in their image. But Pat Verbeek has made this Anaheim Ducks team into that, you know, 400 goals, 2,500 penalty minutes, Pat Verbeek style player. Are you picking that one up? Yeah. And you know what? I would do the exact same way if I was GM or being a coach of a hockey club, how I would want my GM to act.

I want my teams to have an identity. Because I go back to New York Rangers when I played there. Listen, we had Yager and Messier and Nedvid, Theo Flurry. We had a plethora of guy, but they were all the same. And in the end, we didn't have an identity as a team. We were just a really good pond hockey team if there was no checking. And we could just play with skills. So we never made the playoffs with the highest payroll.

Our payroll was like $92 million back in 01. and 02 and 03 and we don't make the playoffs because we didn't have an identity. So I'm a firm believer in your top two lines are skilled, your third lines, you know, a great checking line can play against the other team's top lines. And you have to bring some emotion on that fourth line sometimes when you're playing Tuesday night in Anaheim or Carolina.

Like I'm a firm believer in that. Same thing. Building your D pairs completely different because you don't need an offensive D man on your, on your third unit. That's not what they're there for. So those identities, I think, are huge. And I think when you look at teams that don't have success,

a lot of times look at their slotting. Where do they slot players? And what's their identity of their third and fourth lines? Because they're equally as important, especially when you get into playoffs. So I undersold Pat Furby. Just looking up your 522 goals, 1,063 points, 2,900 PIMs.

Yeah, it's, no, no, no. Unbelievable. It's like, you know, I'm sure, like, people in your family always say, like, no matter what you do, just get on the game sheet, just get on the game sheet. 500 goals, thousand points, almost 3,000 pims. Patford beat got on the game. I had 2,600 or 2,500 penalty minutes. Yeah.

For beat, I didn't have the 500 goals, trust me. Why even including practices? Or a warm-up before the game. Let me swing back and let me... Self-deprecation's okay, but you can't rip me. Okay, let's swing back to the beginning here and wrap up back with the Buffalo Sabres. As I mentioned, you know, Consta Heleneas,

who looks like, man, he's played like a season and a half in Rochester and he looks like the real deal for the Buffalo Sabres. Tage Thompson is at a different level right now. Like no one now is talking about, oh, Tage Thompson and Erasmus Mestalien are going to ask out at the end of the season if they don't make playoffs. Like that conversation doesn't exist right now. You mentioned Josh Dohn

and how much of a great fine he's been in that trade for J.J. But Alex Tuck. You're Yarmoukicelaine and what do you do with Alex Tuck here? Like if you don't want to pay the Adrian Kempbe prices, which it feels like Tuck's Camp, you know, Bartlett wants here for his client. What do you, like, how do you go to the fan base at deadline? when you're this close to erasing the number 14 seasons without playoffs and say this is right for the organization, we can't let him quote unquote walk away for nothing.

Mitch Marner, the situation, you just can't. But can this team afford to let someone like Alex Tuck do that? You know, Yarmou, remember whenever I would talk to Yarmone when he was in Columbus, the one thing he would, is one saying he would always come back. to. Barney, and you've heard it a million times. In any negotiation, sometimes the team has the hammer, and sometimes the player has the hammer.

And this one, the player has the hammer. How do you see this one? This is one of the most interesting stories in the NHL right now to me, especially considering Buffalo is a good team now. What do you do? This isn't only about Alex Tuck. This isn't about hockey in life.

it's about leverage yeah i don't care if it's whatever you're doing in life yes life is about leverage and sometimes like you said sometimes you got the hammer sometimes you don't got the hammer and that's just the reality of life and right now Alex tuck has has a very big hammer and is ready to swing it i love bartlett i think a great agent great person they know that they know that buffalo has just turn this thing around. They know that there's energy in Buffalo and listen, my daughter lives in Buffalo, my friends live in Buffalo, so I talk

Buffalo Sabres with them every day and they're excited. There's an energy now, especially with the bills being knocked out. There's an energy around Buffalo where people are excited to go to games again. And that's an amazing thing. But when it's in negotiations and he is going to get

Adrian Kempi money, even though I think Kempai is a little better player, but it's about leverage and time and where they are. Yeah. I'm just going to go back. I can remember when Jay Beaumister was an unrestricted free agent, and they held on to them at the deadline.

I had been the firm believer. If they can't get a deal at the deadline, you do its best for your organization long term. And I know that's hard to hear for Buffalo Savers fans because they want to get playoffs, and I get that. But you can't let a guy like Alex Tuck walk for free. Now, I would over probably pay a little bit to keep them because of the position that they're in. But if Yarmu decides, listen, we're not going to go to that number, whatever that number is,

I as a general manager, if I was him, I would be moving them. As hard as that is for Sabres fans and the excitement, it's just something I would have to do when I try to make a side deal to bring someone else in. You're not going to find an Alex tuck that isn't going to want that kind of money anyways, but I'd be moving Alex Tucker because I would never let a guy of his stature walk for free. You know, there's the old,

I think everybody has the wrong idea of what the golden rule is. You know, they do want to others. The real golden rule is this. He who has the gold makes the rules. And there's Jarmo Kekeleinen and then there's Terri Pagula. Terry Pagula wants a good news story here in Buffalo

with his hockey team. That's why I wonder here, where Yarmot may say, you know what, long-term, Barney, you're 100% right. You can't afford to do this. Here's Terry Pagula saying, you want to talk about long-term? Let's talk about 14 years. And that's why this one is fast. Unless one side, like, unless talk totally says, screw it, I'm coming in for eight.

Which I can't see happening. Not happening. This, this one, this one, this one is going to be a really difficult one. You're, you're 100%. You asked what I would do as a general manager or what I think he should do. If Terry Pagula, listen, he's been under fire for a good part of eight years, nine years. Like, this hasn't been two years. 14 years, no playoffs.

And an owner at some point might be like, listen, we got it. We have to keep them. And long term, it might not be great, but I've been getting killed in the media and by fans for 10 straight years. We have to make the playoffs. and then we'll deal with whatever comes later. He's the one that writes the checks. In the end, he has a last decision. That's, it's his game.

And I just wonder, too, with every Buffalo Sabres winner, they're coming off the big shoutout against the New York Islanders, five Cobb, like, holy smokes, great game by the Sabres. Again, I just wonder if Tux Camp keeps saying, no, Yarmo, that was yesterday's price. Yeah. Absolutely. That was yesterday's price.

That was yesterday's price. his price. Bernie, you're the best. Always good to see your face again. Always good to catch up with you. And listen, you'd be well. And we'll touch base again soon, pal. All right.

Love you, buddy. There is. Remember, your tongue develops a 12. Your tongue develops. Did you know that, Zach, by the way. Your tongue develops at 12 years old. That's when the muscles in your tongue actually develop, which is why you see someone, you know, move from one country to another country.

Generally, if they're under 12, they will lose whichever accent they have and adopt the new, quote-unquote accent. because the tongues develop a 12 years old, if you've ever wondered. I have not wondered, but okay, interesting. Didn't know that, learned something new every day. It's usually sayings or something that you teach me here on the show, but okay, tongue developing in muscles, I'll take it. Well, we talk for a living.

It's about time you learn something about that thing in your mouth. You know, this is going to be your career. You're going to be doing this for a long time here. So I figured you should probably learn something about it. Anything from that conversation with Barney that resonated? What you... Yeah, the dubus The dubus stuff in Pittsburgh is interesting.

The moves that he's made to get to this point, all the second chance opportunities. I mean, I saw one the other day. I was laughing about Stuart Skinner, and it was Stuart Skinner's record over the last X number of games. And then the quote tweet was, man, the Oilers could really use a guy like this. Shit.

Never fails. You know, you know, could use a goalie like that? Vegas. could use a goalie like that. That's a good use a goal like that. But nonetheless, I digress. Yeah, dude, like honestly, and by the way, we are waiting. I haven't checked the Department of Player Safety Twitter feed yet to see what's happening with Brian Russ.

But I would imagine there will be some type of hearing. So they put out that he will have one. He will have a hearing. But it will be time and location and date to be determined. It was TBD. TBD. But they will have one. Speaking of Skinner,

you see the Mark Andre, Florey and Closedrom Save yesterday against the Vancouver Canucks the abandon everything and just dive to your left on Brockport? Oh, man, it was so good. No, I didn't see that, actually. I was really good.

Did you see William? I was dealing with a lot last night. Did you see William Nealander flipping off people in the box yesterday? Can you, okay, first of all, I cannot think of a bigger nothing story right now than that one. No. It's so it's too But there's two stories in it

There's one that Toronto fans can have themselves Which I think is fair It's like read the room time in place You're getting smoked Maybe not the best time to be like Smiling and giggling and being like F you to the camera So he's got to do some sort of

Performative outrage that everybody needs No no no I'm not saying Performative outrage I'm just saying No no no I'm not saying that at all I'm just saying I get people being upset like they were losing. They've now lost six of their last seven.

They lost four in a row at home. People are not happy. And you're like smiling at the camera doing something. Okay, fair. But the bigger story of like, I can't believe that this guy is flipping off the camera. Who cares? Like Jonathan, I think it was Jonathan Marshall. So I don't want to like pin this on him if it wasn't.

But the hot mic in the Nashville game the other day. On the offside? Yeah. And the guy's screaming. fuck and everyone's like this is the funniest thing ever and then two days later William Neander flips the camera off and it's like get this off of my TV how could we let people's up see this

we're like what the hell fainting couch oh someone catch me how do we get here like the NHL is looking into it now and stuff like who cares move on corporate sponsor yeah whatever Is that where it's 2026?

Like, yeah, you want to talk 2026? You want to talk about people following each other or? Oh, God. There's following accounts on Instagram. You know what?

I no longer. Okay. I still want Dave Pan Yota on Fridays because Dave is an excellent insider. But can we have, can we just follow this one Twitter feed for all of our trade rumors? Yes. I love this nonsense. There's a new insider.

There's a new insider in town. is NHL follow tracker. And what this does is essentially it tracks, we've talked about it before on the program. It tracks what hockey players are, and who hockey players are following. And Van der Kaine, after rumors and reports about the Dallas Stars being interested in his service,

NHL Follow Tracker is proud to report that Evander Kane has now followed Bill. Build Texas Solutions. This is the new Best Insider going. Oh, and have a look at Build Texas Solutions right there. We design, build, and remodel beautiful homes. Women owned and operate. Where located?

Let's bring your dreams home. Dallas. This is the best inside. Sorry, Dave. Love you. You're great. But build Texas solutions and, yeah, as has been exposed as perhaps a new destination here for a Vanderigan. NHL follow tracker.

Really, really good stuff on that one. Quick to point that out. So gentlemen, start your rumors about Van der Kien. One day, by the way, one day I'll tell the story. And today is not that day. Probably not until I'm retired. Which may be soon. One day I'll tell the story of how we figured out the Pat Kane trade to the Rangers.

That is a good one. That is a really, really good one. But more on that at a future show. We've got an email that we want to get to here. As we mentioned before, you can use the, the sheet line to get your voice heard here on the program with a comment, a take, whatever, question, insult. I do like corrections.

That is speakpipe.com slash the sheet, and the email is the sheet at the nationnetwork.com. What are we got today? Yeah, just the one email here that I wanted to read for you is, hey, Jeff and the funny one. I like that. Wow, the funny one. And Joe Pesci, what I'm climbing? Regarding the Lane Hudson Phantom penalty the other day, if we want to get the call right and not slow down the game,

why not add a third referee in a video room above the ice? Not in Toronto, but in-house to get the feel of the game, give them just as much authority as the two on-ice referees to call penalties and blow plays dead. They would have radio contact with all officials and control all replay reviews. Perfect job for older officials to use their experience size and decision-making when they can't necessarily keep up with the skating, let's say you. Okay, so do we know who that came from

or is that one an anonymous account? Because I think the point at the end is the one that I want to pick up on. Like for the eyes in the sky, the game moves so quick and there are a lot of things you can see when you sit up high that you can't see when you're on the ice.

Like you could make the argument, and it's been made before by various people. The worst place to call a game, considering how fast things move and the object of play is not in the air but is on the ground, the worst place to be to call this game is on the ice because you have to look around so many bodies that are moving so fast and your body is moving at the same time. Maybe the worst place to call the game is actually on the ice. But can you fire that email back up again?

Because this person is from Rob Mason, by the way. Rob Mason. I love your point, Rob, here at the very end. perfect job for older officials to use their experienced eyes and decision making when they can't necessarily keep up with the skating. One of the things that we've seen from the NHL in the last 10 years, and everybody from Stephen Walken on down, we'll talk about this. Because the game is so fast right now that if you can't keep up as an official,

you can't call the game properly. And because of that, the NHL has lost over the last, I want to say 10 years, a lot of veteran officials whose experience you just can't replace. If they could still skate at that level, right, and the game continues to get faster and faster. But because they can't skate at that level anymore, there's no room for them on the ice. That's why I love this point by Rob,

because as those officials transition themselves, out of the game because they can't keep up, you're losing a lot. The game itself is losing a lot. So when you marry those two things together, the idea that being on the ice might not be the best possible place from a vantage point to call the game and the fact that veteran guys, by the time, like think about it this way, Zach, it takes a long time to become an experienced official. And it is different for everybody.

But by the time you hit a certain point in your career, once about a time when the game wasn't as fast. How many times if you watch old games and the referees got a barrel, right? And can't really skate. But he could still keep up and can still call the game competently because everybody was slow at that point. But now the game is so fast. We don't consider this.

And officials aren't leaving the ice to take a break. Like they're on for the whole game. By the time you get to a certain point of having that experience and expertise, guess what's happened to your feet? your feet and your hips and your knees are like, yeah, I'm done. And then you just continue yourself in this awful, awful cycle of a referee achieves a certain level of proficiency, but the body is saying, yeah, we can't do it anymore. So again, that official exits and it's back to younger officials that need to develop themselves,

feel for the game, the right calls, all these different types of things. I think Rob's point, that that last point that Rob makes, I think, for me, that's the biggest takeaway. I think that's a fantastic point by Rob. Would you agree with that one that, you know, referees, bodies are the ones that are acting against them. The brain has all this experience, by the time they're actually able to use it for a number of years to benefit the game, the body taps out. Yeah, I would agree 100%. And I think we're getting younger, newer, fresher referees into the NHL. And it's no fault of them.

I think it's a product of kind of the system and the pace that has to be kept up with. But you're just seeing, and this isn't to harp on referees in this particular instance, but you're just seeing more mistakes or more things go by. And I think to your point, some of it is just either older guys who are not keeping up to the same extent or younger guys who aren't as experienced, but they're in it because they can keep up. I also just think that having somebody who has been around for a long time, as he pointed out there, can understand the feel of the game. It's not just somebody...

It's not just somebody who, like, knows the rulebook. That's great, okay, if you know the rulebook. But I think we all agree that hockey is better if it's not just black and white. I think it's better if there's gray area and sometimes you've got to know because otherwise we'd probably just have 60 minutes of special teams if you called every single thing that happened.

And some guy with a rulebook up there was like, uh, infraction, tripping. And it's like, well, like, yeah. No, you know what it would be? Kind of did, but not really like hooking. No. It would be nonstop interference calls as everybody sets picks. It would be nonstop interference.

Like McKinnon losing it yesterday. I don't know if you caught that. McCabe stepped into his lane slightly. And McKinnon gave the biggest death stare of all time to the official that was in front of them. But yes, I 100% agree. Yeah. I think it would be better. And I also think it would help give younger guys more confidence.

Because they have a little bit of backup. I didn't see something, but somebody in real time with more experience than I can help me out and confirm or let me know that I miss something here. Jeff, also quickly here, by the way. Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry. I was going to say, like, at the same time, the dynamic of that, like, I'm pretty sure the guys on the ice don't want to hear from the eyes in the sky. Okay, yeah, thanks.

Yeah. Okay, yeah, great. Yeah, thanks. He becomes like the well, actually guy up in the stands. Well, actually, it should have been a call. Well, actually, you blew that one. You might want to take that back. Good.

Good. Fair point, actually. I kind of oversaw that. Here's a tweet that just came out from Vince Mercogliano. I just want to bring it to your attention so we don't have to go talking about this. I'm hearing the New York Rangers are on the verge of their first move of the retool. A trade that sends Carson Suu C to the aisles is brewing. No official announcement yet as he work out the particulars,

but expect him to be held out of the lineup tonight for roster management. Why is that interesting? Hey, I'm just letting you know. No, no, no, no, I'm not being cynical. I know it's good that you put it up there. I'm like legitimately saying like, why is that interesting? Well, it's New York and New York train. It's to the Islanders.

Like, who was it? I think it might have been Gregor, Jason Greger. I was talking about Artemi Panera and one of the teams that could really use him, are the New York Islanders. But the feeling is, I think it was Gregor. The feeling is like, ooh, Rangers really going to help out the New York Islanders? But if the Rangers are like capital O open for business, as this Carson Sousy trade,

according to Vince McCogliano, indicates, then yeah. Like if our Temi Panarin wants to stay in New York, I know it's not New York, it's not Manhattan, but Islanders? Yeah. It was Gregory brought that up. I did that show with you guys. Yeah. Yeah, like I, it was, it's a great point by Gregor.

And what this indicates is like, yeah, Chris Drew will do business with the Islanders, right? This is like Edmonton and Calgary, the Nordiques and the Habs back in the day. The other one, which was the Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres, who didn't make their first official deal. I know everyone was going to blah, blah, blah, blah, but Andre Savarra, but that was a free agent compensation. They didn't make their first trade until the Danny Pye deal. Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL 1970.

And the Pié deal was like what 2008? First deal between those two teams. There are just some teams that just

don't deal with one another. Now the Bruins and the Sabres are always in the same division, the Adams. But still, to that there's always some teams

that geographically and because of rivalry don't make moves with one another. But if the Rangers are open to deal with the Islanders, do we throw another

suitor in there for our Temi Panair? What is your opinion on teams trading with each other like that. Fine. Fine.

Fine. Fine. Fine with it. I mean, right now the Rangers and the Islanders are in different positions in their quote-unquote winning cycle. So I have zero problem with it at all.

Now, I could understand, and I liked when the Nordiques didn't make deals with the HABs. That was my favorite rivalry. That was my favorite rivalry of all time because that was a rivalry that was not just about hockey. but it was, you know, Anglophone, Francophone within Quebec.

It was brewery versus brewery. Like, it wasn't just about, like, the Habs and the Nordiques. It was about so much more. Like, it was cultural within the province. And it often spilled over into just, like, bluntly, violence. Highly skilled play, clearly Stasni Goulet and everyone else on Montreal, too. like high high level of play but it was the closest we've seen to a real rivalry built on a political slant than we've ever seen that was that was a rivalry and edmonton calgary because those games

took eight hours yeah yeah Islanders and Rangers used to be that way but anyway that's in that is we've gone a lot about this one but that's a that's an interesting one and so okay so Drew is open to the Islanders, so I don't know. Yeah. Go get your Russian. Go get your Russian. Go on. Go get your Russian winger.

Go on. Go on. Go and do it. Okay, so ways to get in. Email the sheet at the nationnetwork.com. Sheetline speakpipe.com slash the sheet. Oh, one thing that I do want to mention here, too, this is really good. I want to go to this, Zach.

You want to go together? You want to drive? New York Hockey Night. Yes. New York Hockey Night, presented by Parasso. Thursday, February 19th, joined daily face-off alongside special hockey guests at the atrium inside the Ideal Glass Studios in New York City

for a night of live podcasts, activations, and giveaway. In partnership with Parasso, Morning Cup of Hockey and Tri-State Hockey Pod, both excellent, will be on location. This is Johnny Lazarus Night. We'll be on location for a night of candid conversation, big laughs and unapologetic hockey talk. Doors open at 6.30. Tri-State Hockey Pod gets going with a live show at 7.30.

Thursday, February the 19th at the Atrium Inside Ideal Glass Studios, 21 and over, please. Secure Your Spot, RSVP at Nationgear.com. Can we go? I would love to go. If I weasel my way on as a guest, are you weasel your way on as a guest? Would they let us go? Well, I don't think that I'm in the tier of here for guests, but you could be the guest for sure, and I will be there. I think Vick's going there as well.

They're breaking him out of the jail cell, so he'll be in person. I would love to go. I would love to be there for that. I love this idea. I totally love. I want to go. That's it. My first phone call when the show is over is the Amel.

That's it. You know, I should be able to pull something here because I've been like a guest producer on both. shows that they've had. Exactly. So there's God, and I've guessed it on Morning Cup of Hockey. There's got to be a way

that I could get in here. Yeah, weasel in, man. Right? Yeah. Yeah. That's when I would want to be at. Both very, very good shows. Awesome shows.

February 19th. That's great. So Morning Cup of Hockey, Tri-State Hockey pot on location. Candy Conversation, big laugh. Stores open 630. Tris State Hockey Pod

gets going a live show at 730. Thursday, February 19th, the Atrium Inside Ideal Glass Studios. Please be 211. or over and please enjoy yourself responsibly and as Zach always likes to remind us

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Hit us, Zach. This one is inspired by, well, I mean, it was kind of coming up with all my own. I'd started, but I mean, the way Barnaby was talking there, I couldn't get it out of my head. You know, he was talking about the money Sid made and the goals scoring by Verbeek, and, you know, he never could score that even in practice. But all I could think is if Barney could tip it like Hyman, he'd be cashing a lot of checks. Owen Tippett, Zach Heimann, Vincent Trocheck. $5 wins $121.

Cool one to start your week off right on a Monday here. Oh, and Tippett, Zach Heiman, Vincent Trocheck. Was there a bigger smile all weekend than on Zach Hyman's face when he scored that goal against the Washington Capitals on Saturday? Holy geez, that was great. That was the game of the weekend, by the way. And that's a good one. Tip at Heimann, Trocheck, $5 wins $121.

That was a game of the weekend, which I really thought that the Capitol, deserved more than just the one point they came away from, but it's why you play the game. And when the Oilers start to cook, you can get that feeling. You got the vibe just by the crowd itself and how Connor was skating and they're firing the puck around the offense.

You've seen it a million times. We all have, you just get that feeling that they're going to score. They're going to score here. And it was Zach Heim and one of our favorite players in the NHL getting it done. So that was a really exciting game. and in true Edmonton fashion, the place went bananas.

Placement banana sandwich after McDavid scored in the overtime. So that was for me the game of the weekend. You had a couple of eyeballs. I've put off till the end of the show to ask you about Friday. Kind of left you alone this weekend just to digest it, maybe try to touch some grass, even though we had this massive snowstorm in the area. Just sort of get a little bit of a perspective on everything.

How were you after Friday? I know that was a tough one. That was a tough one. Questionable decision making. Intensity. I don't know. Questionable decision making by my dad to become a leaf spin and then force me into it. I don't know if that's where we want to trace this back to.

Wow. We're blaming parents now. Wow. Inherited wounds from the parents. Wow. Okay. It's time someone had to look at his shadow self, I think. You can go look up, Carl.

and Shadow Self after the program today and get to work on that for you. Look, in all honesty, that's who they are. Like, from the very beginning, stole our starting. They're a bad team this year. Yeah. To me, this weekend sunk them. I thought the score, the Avalent score, the score, the score,

watching the game yesterday, I'm like, even when it was like 2-0, I'm like, this feels like it should be 6-0, right? It's like the, the, The final score against Colorado was kind. You could see the Vegas thing coming a mile away. And for me, this was the weekend where it's like, okay, here we are late January. This is who this team is.

They're not there. They're not there. Just try to make sure you get that pick in the top five. Yeah, which I don't think that they're going to do. I don't think that they – I'm concerned with their interest in tanking a season. Well, it's good that this is happening now so Bradshaw Living doesn't get forced into doing something silly at deadline. The GM's got to know what the team is.

I know that there will be a lot of pressure from above. I get it. I know there'll be a lot of pressure to like, no, no, no, this team has to make the playoffs. And whether it's the broadcast partnerships or the sponsorship or season ticket, I get all that. But it's not there. This team's not that good.

Teams not that good. Yeah. Not only do we know it, they probably know it too. And that's okay. Yeah. I would think so. Bunny hop back. Bunny hop back.

It's just 10 years of mistakes that have accumulated it here. Oh, it's not 10, Zack. Children, children, children. It's not 10. They haven't won the cup in color TV yet, but like seriously. It's not just 10 years. Okay, okay, okay. We didn't need to do that.

That was unnecessary. I get, I get green up the hour saying they're a bad team. That was crossed the line. Like, I didn't need to hear 67 from you. I didn't hear of all. Yeah, it was in white. I just think there was a lot of mistakes that have been accelerated in the last year. They haven't been to the new city hall yet, which I believe was built in the 70s.

Anywho. What else? What else? What else you want to say? They haven't won more than two rounds ever. Nothing. They never played hockey in June. I know.

I never know. I know. You know what state. You want to know what state we're in. So for people who don't know on my show on AfterDark, I take calls. And on Friday, I had Mike and Buffalo on, our guy, Mike Cajello. He joined me for 45 minutes on the post game. And then I opened up callers.

And I took callers for two and a half hours, I think, after the 45 I did with Mike. There were callers calling in free. freaking out, they didn't even want to ask me questions. They just wanted to lose their mind and then hang up. I had people wanted to drop a point here and there. I had a caller. Call in, who goes? You know what they need to do?

Morgan Riley needs to play forward. Red Kelly played forward and won Stanley Cups and played D and won Stanley Cups. And I was like, we're in a bad spot. Thank you for the call. We're in a bad spot. Red's one of the best play. me, one of the best players ever played the game. He won four Stanley Cups with Detroit.

He won four Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Actually, Red Kelly is the answer to a great trivia question that you can use. Who's won the most Stanley Cups in history without ever having played for the Habs, the Oilers, or the Islanders? And the answer is Red Kelly with eight, four the Leafs and for the Red Wings. And yes, he did play defense and then he played centers, a really good two-way center. One of the best players. But, yeah, guys, like, that was late 50s, early 60s.

Okay, like, that's not. Alan Stanley used to take draws, too. No one's saying the Morgan Rally should be up there taking draws. Okay? Like, it was a totally different era. Like, they've never won a Stanley Cup with a goalie and a mask. How about that one? You want to throw that one in there?

Don't do that. Let's This is fun. They've never want a daily cup. You know, I'm going to, they've never want to steal a cup with a curve stick. See how quickly I do the kneelander on the show.

They've never want a cup with a curve stick in the lineup. I'm sure if we look back, someone did something somehow. There was some type of curve and we can eviscerate that stat from the record books. You keep bringing up stats and I'll be William kneelandering this broadcast. Once you got math.

I'll be releasing an apology later. I haven't thought about that one before. I'm proud of myself. Okay, well, my work here, between that and reminding everyone how our tongues develop at 12. Yes, the book ends of the show. I've done what I set out to do today, Zach. My work here is done. Everybody.

Great stuff. That's your boy signing off. All right. Thanks for joining me here today. Thanks to Matthew Barnaby for popping by the sheet. Always appreciate Barney popping by here and talking everything from the Sabres to the Penguins, to the Ducks, to Billy Smith, and then back to the Sabres again. Thanks to Zach for producing the show, as always.

Looking forward to a really good week. Greg Wischinsky is aboard tomorrow from ESPN. We will join you again tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern. You're listening on the podcast version of this program. Thank you. Watching on YouTube, please consider subscribing. Hope you can. Hope you do.

Hope we give you enough reason to subscribe as well. Thanks for the interaction, the emails, the voicemails, all of it. We appreciate it. We will be back again tomorrow at 1 for more jokes and lessons about your time. How about that? Deal? Deal. Talk to tomorrow.