The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Legacy Game ft. Greg Wyshynski & Jonny Lazarus

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

On this episode of The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Greg Wyshynski and Jonny Lazarus to tee up a massive Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, where the Florida Panthers have a shot at lifting the Cup. The crew breaks down what the Oilers need to do to force Game 7, the Conn Smythe Trophy, who the blame would fall on in Edmonton, and what the next steps would be. Plus, they take a look ahead to NHL free agency and what moves could shake up the league in the weeks to come.#StanleyCupFinal #NHLPlayoffs #FloridaPanthers #EdmontonOilers #Game6 #MitchMarner #NHLFreeAgency #TorontoMapleLeafs #JeffMarek #GregWyshynski #JonnyLazarus #TheSheet #HockeyTalk #NHLRumors #StanleyCup #NHLNews #HockeyTwitter #NHLTradeRumors #FreeAgency2025 #HockeyContentShout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Ninja Kitchen Canada: https://www.ninjakitchen.ca/products/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system-zidFN101CGY?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=olv&utm_campaign=25Q2-Crispi&utm_content=en👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_enReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's see if we make it through a whole show today. There's something you may or may not have been aware of yesterday on the program, which I probably should have admitted at the time that it was happening, but I just wanted to get through the show. So I don't know if you noticed on yesterday's program, oh by the way welcome to the Sheik. I'm gonna get to our update here in a couple of seconds. We had a couple of big guests on the show today. Well one mainstay and one guest. Right before I came on air yesterday, this is after having like a million technological problems, I took

like two spoonfuls full of rice and it ended up getting stuck in my throat so I couldn't speak for more than, what do you say, Zach? Like a minute at a time at the most. And so Zach, in like true Superman fashion, totally saves me. Every time Pierre was on, he just cut to the one shot as I would like try to spit up rice into a jar that I had next to my seat.

So thanks. I was trying to time it for you. I wanted to thank you publicly for that. I wanted to thank you publicly for that, Zach. We're a team. We're a team. No, I ain't team, but two I's in invoice. Come on, let's go.

We all love that one. All right, let's get right to the business because it is a big day. We might see that big mug today and the guy with the gloves, the Phil Pritchard on the broadcast tonight. In the meantime, wanna remind you, this program presented as always by FanDuel. Daily Outline presented by FanDuel, make every moment more with North America's

number one sports book, FanDuel. And coming up on the program today, a few things to go over. It is Tuesday after all. Although last week, every day was Tuesday with Greg Wyshinski aboard from ESPN. Johnny Lazarus from Morning Cup of Hockey joins us at the bottom of the hour.

Mind games between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. Well, Carter Verhage and a Florida Panthers assistant. And again, we'll talk about free agency, why not? And we'll talk about game six as well. And as we welcome aboard our co-host today, as we do each and every Tuesday, we will remind you that Greg Wyshinski, and this segment, our presentation of Bud Wiser. When you think Clydesdales, you think Greg Wyshinski. Bud Wiser is encouraging buds to make time for the playoffs, not excuses. And that might end tonight.

Every goal, every check, every win is better enjoyed with your buds. Phone a bud, text a bud, ping a bud, and call out their excuses for bailing on the playoffs. After all, the playoffs are the most wonderful time of the year. Make them count. When it's springtime, it's go time.

With that, we go to our friend from ESPN, the one and only formerly known as Pock Daddy. He is Greg Wys our friend from ESPN, the one and only, formerly known as Puck Daddy. He is Greg Wyshinski from ESPN. Do people still come up to you by the way? I know that Ken Danico still calls you Puck, I believe. But do people still call you Puck Daddy every now and then? The old Yahoo days? Well on ESPN, on the wagering shows, it's my betting persona, the Puck Daddy.

It's like a real Minnesota Fats type vibe. But I get people that come up, whenever we're on the road for the playoffs, I get people that come up that not only reference MBSW, but also the glory that was Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. And so really a more innocent time when you could Photoshop a picture of the commissioner on a photo of Marilyn Monroe.

You know, back in the salad days of internet rascaldom, we used to get away with a lot more than we can now. But, no, it's always cool when people come up and say hey, and a good number of people do. So I appreciate that. I told you the numerous times I'd walk through the atrium at CBC when I was working at Hockey Night in Canada, and people were like, hey, look, i iDesk not like Jeff Merrick from the iDesk. It's like when Colby Armstrong first started working with us at Ed Rogers and he was telling Crosby that he was working and doing TV now and doing Hockey Central.

And Crosby said oh who do you mainly work with? And he goes, I work with Merrick a lot. And he goes, the iDesk guy? I'm just glad to know that somewhere in the back of Sidney Crosby's been down. The iDesk guy. Here's what I'm glad about. I'm glad about that you, with the spoonful of rice

for lunch, had the right guest to cover for you yesterday. What did you do? Would you ask Pierre two questions? And then you just off you went and you were able to go, oh, oh, oh, for the next 10 minutes. I'm surprised that it didn't pick up on Mike. I am totally surprised it didn't pick up on Mike. Because I was like, I was muting you this far.

Oh, were you muting me? Oh, Zach. Zach, I kept checking the chat, right? I'm like, all right, someone's going to bust me on this one. Like, Merrick asks a question or make some pithy comment And then tries to hack hack up a two little pieces of rice I don't know what it is like the last like couple of years every now and then like whenever I have rice I get like I don't know what I was doing like I haven't eaten yet today

Two pieces dentures dentures get in the way and there I go gonna pop me out of pop those out I was telling that story the other day um they would tell you the the story of Ulf Störner and the dentures. Jesus Christ of course you haven't told me the story of Ulf Störner please tell me Merrick and all the people listening who were like oh no not the story of Ulf Störner again please go ahead. So he was going to be like the first, you know, Swedish hockey player in the NHL. Turned out to be a Boria Salming, but Ulf Störner, who was a Boston Bruins camp,

really had a hard time mixing in with the guys. And, but notice that the guys love to play, you know, jokes on one another, you know, white shaving, shaving cream in the white towels, baby powder in the blow dryers, like the standard stuff, right? All the, ha ha ha, gotcha again. So what he thought it would, and this is the era where like beside every guy's locker, there was like a glass half full of water

that the guys would put their dentures in before they went out to skate, and then they'd come back and pop them back in. And he thought it would be the greatest rib in the world if he was the last guy out on the ice for practice, if he moved all the dentures on the ice for practice if he moved all the dentures around and put people's dentures in different cups and if you know anything about dentures the only way to check whether they're your dentures

or everybody and Ulfsternr the guys didn't see the humor in it Ulfsternr thought it was the funniest thing in the world and that scuttled the idea of Ulfsternr being the first Swede in the NHL. What a great prank though. What a just dynamite prank. It's, I mean, on the trolling scale, it is probably Florida Panthers worthy as far as ribs and tops and such.

But I saw a report, I think it was Duffy who wrote that this is the, he's heard this is the most foul mouthed and anything goes trash talking series of all time. Yeah, Zach has it up there. Multiple people, this is Duffy's tweet from yesterday, who are involved or close enough to hear it all say this is the nastiest trash-talking Stanley Cup final they've ever seen.

Usually some subjects are off limits, not here, everything on the table, quote, pure verbal hate. Now I'm not between the benches so I can't say whether or not and I've never worked between the benches but what I have heard is, and I firmly believe this especially when you see like the cast of characters were, the 2010 Philadelphia Chicago one and I'll tell you why. In that series I think there were five maybe six players who were going through divorces and if you know anything about hockey players and how they get on someone who's going through a divorce, it is not pretty. I think there were five.

And I remember talking to Glenn Healy, who was doing Between the Benches for that series, and he was like, I had my finger locked on the mute button. He said it was just the worst stuff you ever heard from anybody ever. Let's see here. I mean, let's just do the math real quick okay so the main provocateur on behalf of the Edmunds and Eulers this series is the

main provocateur a Vander Cane a Vander Cane yeah okay on the other side of the equation you have Mathi Kachuk and Brad Marsh and probably keep on the Sam Benet probably good too Sam and I'm sure is pretty good but Aaron I'm glad you're gifted now too yeah I would imagine yeah so they're all gifted trash talkers and the main provocateur for the Edmonton Oilers is Evander Cain now if we're talking about things that are off limits I don't know Merrick maybe three or four or ten thousand things that a band of possible fodder for the trash talkers of the Florida Panthers.

I do wonder if this is, this is specific to maybe their feelings on one player in this series because I imagine he has gotten with all barrels from the Panthers bench. And by the way, has more penalty minutes in the first five games of the series than he has in this previous 15 games in the playoffs for the record. Look, dude, like game three, he was just sharking before the anthems. games of the series that he has in his previous 15 games in the playoffs for the record. Look dude, like game three he was just sharking before the anthems, like everybody's on the line with their helmets off or it had to be respectful and he's just like, he's Jaws man, just like back and forth. Anyhow, we may see Phil Pritchard tonight, the keeper of the cup, the man with the gloves who, now I don't know, have you, you you spoken to Phil Pritchard before? I'm guessing.

Many times. I've written about him. I've interviewed him. Yeah, he's one of the most fascinating men in the world for the vocation that he has and also for just being Phil. Phil is an interesting cat. He's a totally interesting cat. Has, you know, one of the coolest jobs in the world. Now, like, there are other people at the Hall of Fame that share touring. Mike Bolt is another great one at the Hall of Fame that end up touring the cup around and going from player to player and party to party. I can only imagine what that job would do to your liver, just going from one...

Think about your summer if you're the guy carrying the cup around going from one... Because everyone's having a blowout and you just got to you know, squire the trophy around the entire time. But the thing about Phil Pritchard too is, he's one of the great hockey historians too. He's not just someone that shines up the cup and polishes the cup. Like I'll be honest, you like pull the curtain back a little bit. A lot of times when I have questions that involve people in and around the hall or special events or certain things, one of them,

I've got a couple of like quick phone calls that I make, like Paul Patscu to me is the greatest hockey researcher who has ever lived and Paul is huge, my first call, but right up there too is Phil Pritchard. I'll always call, I remember the last time I talked to Phil, you'll love love this one and I know the answer is gonna be no and you're gonna insult me when I say it but what you can't predict my reaction to everything this is why we do a podcast. How long have I known you? I've known you forever I know exactly what you're gonna say okay all

right watch watch watch watch. Give me it give me it. The last time I talked to Phil was because I was wondering why, as I'm sure you have as well, there's a beaver on top of the Vezna Trophy. Jeff, that's a fascinating observation. And I'm happy that you've decided to explore it. Yes, yes, yes. Sure, you've thought about that. Do you ever point at the Vezina trophy and say, nice beaver?

You've never done it once in your life? You've never not once done it? All of us have. That's for some for some of us. That's that's that's the magnet to the hockey. That's why you win it. That's why that's why that's why Hasek wanted so many times. You just wanted to be able to point to the Vezina and say, nice beaver.

Exactly. Connor Halliburke over to you. Connor Hallibuch, over to you. Connor Hallibuch, over to you, over to you. Well, at this point of a series with so much media and so much, I always feel weird saying so much ink spilled in a series where nobody uses ink or pens or pencils. What still interests you right now in advance of game six? Like there's obviously there's

always the consmythe question, there's always the Connor McDavid question. Oh have a look at that. Oh my god, he's petting it. Is that Linus Almark petting the beaver? Zach! Zach just won the Conceiwise Trophy! Zach just won the MVP! The playoffs! Listen, in all honesty, we kind of just moved past it for some reason. Like, I did not know there was a beaver on top of the Vezna trophy. It's on top of a puck on the Vezina.

What's that? You know what? Why is it there? For Canada? I will, it does go back. Hang on. So there is someone. Hang on. Now grab the book. So he's got a book, folks. There's a beaver on top of the Vezina trophy. So this, so what does that mean for us?

Steven Smith. Now it's not in this book, but he did write something on it, cause I mentioned it on another podcast. Steven Smith has a, Stephen Smith has an entire like huge blog that he wrote all about it, doing all the research for it. I had just thought because it was like the national animal of Canada that it was on there but it is it is a lot oh here it is let me hang on hang on a second and you'll have this it is the

the the article is the article is called or the blog is called the article is called with a beaver on top with the be beaver on top. With a beaver on top and, hang on a second here. Before you get to it, Zach, do you like the fact that Merrick tried to quickly transition to being like a real sportscaster for a second and move past his obsession with the beaver on top of the Vezina.

He's like, who do you think's gonna win the con tonight? What am I, in his brain, all he's thinking about is the beaver on top of the Vezina trophy. That's all he wants to talk about right now. He wanted to talk the Vezina Trophy. That's all he wants to talk about right now. He wanted to talk about the Beaver so bad. He tried to transition to like, why people might be tuned in. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, cup in the building, who's it going to be, Beto or Marchand? And then in the back of his mind, he's just like, all I want to do is talk about that goddamn Beaver. He got

back to it though. He got back, yeah. All roads lead to, and here we are. Once again, we find ourselves talking about the part that is. So wait, so tell me, so did you find the blog post? Yeah, I got her. It, it, it, it's a lot longer and no one wants me to read the entire thing. So how about this? How about if I, how about if I report back next Tuesday after I read this whole thing?

Please. I'll get, I want to give a theory. Okay. What do goalies do? Right? Yeah, I think that's part of it. It's building a dam. Yeah, no, I know. I think that's part of it. They build a dam, exactly! Their job is to not allow the dam to break offensively.

That is part of it. You think that's what it is? Yeah, no, because I read this when it came out. I just can't remember because I spent a lot of years in my 20s killing brain cells But that is part of it. There is there is that sort of element of the beaver dam in there absolutely, and and also probably because they're Obsessive compulsive psychopaths who probably have collections of sticks and twine in their house in little piles Probably the other part of it It's probably part of it. Okay

So are we all done with the Vezin trophy in the puck in the beaver? We're done now We can we can we can stop being 12 fun. We can we can move along. Okay, here we go What is interesting to you still at this point in advance of game six tonight? ESPN's what Wichinski. What's interesting for me is that I am a ConSmith voter, as we've talked about before. I was bestowed a vote, pardon me, for the first time in quite a while.

And I've been struggling to figure out where my vote's going. Because I think the beauty of hockey is that we give our MVP for the entirety of the playoffs. When you look at the entirety of the playoffs, 15 goals from Sam Bennett, a couple of goalies knocked out of games, the play that he's had on the road, his role in them being the best road playoff team we've ever seen. These are all things that add up to a pretty strong MVP case. But there is a part of me, and there's always been a part of me,

that values the last series of the playoffs more than the other ones, rightly or wrongly. That's how I view the playoff MVP. It doesn't mean it's a finals MVP, but I do think that having your best series is the most important part of the playoffs is important. Now that does track back to 2003, when J.S. Jaguer had his worst series in the most important part of the playoffs is important. Now that does track back to 2003 when JS Jagger had his worst series in the Stanley Cup final and yet still won the Con Smythe.

Maybe that plays into my thinking a little bit. Marchand's had the best series of his entire life in the Stanley Cup final at 37 years old. And what he's done is nothing short of spectacular in this series against Edmonton. When it's all said and done, he could be the reason, the single individual reason that they win. His third line with Lundell and the Sirinan have been fantastic throughout the entirety of the playoffs. They've given the Panthers adept advantage no one else has. And the other stat that I find really

compelling about Marchand that's almost tipping me in this direction. Seven points in games after losses, including Marek, two overtime game winning goals in games after losses. That is, it's a pretty compelling MVP case, but it's really hard to overlook 15 goals from Sam Bennett. Ever feel like car shopping is designed to make you second guess yourself? Well, Sam Bennett. It's no wonder CarGurus is the number one rated car shopping app in Canada on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store CarGurus has hundreds of thousands of cars from top rated dealers to choose from so you can find the best deal CarGurus gives you the control to shop how you want to shop with the tools Information and data driven deal ratings you need

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happiness team for easy returns, exchanges or replacements. So to feel good and do good go to bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet at checkout. I look at it that right now, this is Sam Bennett's to lose. And let's say Bobrovsky stands on his head tonight and Edmondson fires 50 pucks at him and Bobrovsky shuts out the Edmondson Oilers. No, I'm not saying Bobrovsky is going to win. I'm saying that's Marcian out from winning because he needs like one more whopper here. Because to me right now, if it's over right now, it's Sam Bennett's. But if Marchand has like a two plus two plus two tonight,

it's gonna be really tough not to go with Brad Marchand. And for those who don't know, the voting continues until the 10 minute mark of the third period. We've got to get our votes in the 10 minute mark of the third period. So there is some time for things to develop in this game. There will be some people that have already voted. And so that's one factor of it. But the votes continue throughout the game.

But you can still, can you not send an email or have a contingency on your ballot? Like, okay, yeah, right now it's Bennett, but if Marshand scores, this thing gets the overtime of Marshand scores, I change my vote. Right. If Marshand has two points and Bennett doesn't have any, then it's Marshand. You could do a lot of that too. I don't know how many people will caveat it like that. Maybe I think most people will just wait to see how things develop in the first period,

but it's one of those two. And look, on the other side, if the Oilers extend the series tonight and if they win in seven, I think it's Dry Cytle. Unless McDavid goes berserk in the final two games of the series and it's like his cup, I think Dry Cytle would win the con if the Oilers win. Because of game winners? Yeah, because of game winners, two-way play, the fact that it's not gonna be Skinner,

because he's lost his job twice. Like even if ultimately he's the reason they win the cup, he's never gonna be the Con Smythe winner this year. Not a chance. And I'm glad you got us Edmondson Goaltenders. So just a quick little breeze this morning. The last time, the last time a team won the Stanley Cup where the goaltender had a sub 900 save percentage

was 1988. Wow. Grant Feuer, Edmonton Oilers. Now let's all pause for a second here. And maybe some of us weren't even born then, but let's all think about what we were doing in 1988. I was 18 watching hockey games. Now I'm double nickels watching hockey games, but Grant Feuer was the last one.

He was like an 888 save percentage. Pretty good. Back then, back then it was good. Back then, back then that was a good save percentage. Pretty good team in front of them. But back then it was good. Out of the 888. Yeah. But back then that was a good save percentage for gold centers before we got to dead park. All right, so the interesting thing this morning with Skinner was that he came perilously close

to criticizing his coach. If you go back and look at his press conference this morning, someone asked Skinner about how hard it is to be in and out of the lineup. How do you explain to a normie that this is just what the job is? And he said, you know, he was massively disappointed to be on the bench. He hated watching the game from the bench. And he said, it's above my pay grade to make these decisions. But when they go in, they tell me to go in, I do my job. When they tell me

to go in, I'll never say no. He came as close as you can get to criticizing Chris Knobloch for taking him out of the series. And you know what, honestly, he's got a grape. Ultimately, all of these guys, Knobloch included, said that the first period of game four was not his fault. That he faced 17 shots, Dry Cytl left him off the hook this morning,

and then Knobloch goes back to Pickard. So the question then becomes, why does he go to Pickard? Like what is the rationalization? Is it because in the back of his mind he always figures, well, I'm gonna run it back with Stu in game six anyway and we all know that when Stu gets a reset, he's pretty good. Or is it a case of him being like,

Stu got pulled in consecutive games and I gotta see if maybe Pickard can win us a game and get us over the line. This goaltending conundrum for the Oilers is an embarrassment. We're in game six of the Stanley Cup final and we're like, which one of these entirely average guys can we throw in there with the hopes that they might be able to put together

one good game to extend the series? That is no way for a championship team to operate. Absolutely no way for a championship team to operate. We've talked about it before and their goaltending has lived on borrowed time, but this is, this is an embarrassment. Don't you think it's an embarrassment, Merrick, to be in this position with the Oilers? This goes back years. You know,

there was that one moment before he chose Calgary at the, at the last minute, where Oilers thought they had Jacob Markstrom. Like that was it. And then I think Calgary offered the one extra year on free agent day and Markstrom called Edmonton and said, I'm out. I'm going to Calgary. But everything was built around, like the others were supposed to have Jacob Markstrom.

I know ifs and buts, candies and nuts, all have a Merry Christmas, I get it. But you're right. Like they've, like there, and there have been times, I'll give you another one. There have been times where it's not just the manager that's trying to do something about it, but like this goes up to like ownership level.

And Daryl Cates, like we need to fix the goaltending here. Like there have been times where he's been, you know, sort of, I don't know about petulant, but like he's been like really upset and vocal internally about we need to solve our go-tending issue. I mean it's got to be the most frustrating thing in the world. And by the way, I was talking to someone last week about Conor McDavid in these playoffs and said like he's frustrated, he's not producing, he's like hold on a second

here. He is like one of the most unlucky players in the history of the playoffs and this is someone who you know Who does analytics for a living? He said like if you look at like whether scoring chances high danger chances everything underneath the surface here Connor McDavid should be like Oscar like 25 or 30 goals. Okay. It's like it's he said like it's insane. He is the unluckiest He's getting a position. Everything's working except putting that round black thing over the red line.

But as far as goaltending goes, it must be horribly offensive, not offensive, upsetting to see all of your work just circle the drain because he can't get a save. And I think the Skinner decision is really just this simple. He's the better one, he's the better of the two. He's the better of the two. The other guys, journeymen. The thing about Picker two is like, how many times, how many times have you watched him?

You're like, I don't know how he's making that save, but he made that save. And it's because it's like, with all, with all due respect to him, like he's kind of a ball hockey goaltender sometimes. He's a ball hockey goalie that I, if you've watched game four, there was no moment in game four where you're like, this guy can steal games. Like he played all right. He kept the puck out. He, he had got extremely lucky on the Bennett shot in overtime that should have probably ended the game.

So you get a glove on that shot and have it go off the crossbar instead of behind him. Here's why I, but here there is logic to putting Skinner in the game. And the logic is that as, it's beyond that though. Like as Knoblock pointed out, Skinner has gotten better as series have gone longer. Like that is an absolute fact. Game four was game four. I mean, that was more the Panthers than Skinner.

You had played pretty well in the first period of mod. I wouldn't pin that on him. So as the series gets longer, he gets better. Also, when they've shut him down and he's come back, he's played really well. That's also a Skinner thing. Skinner thing number three, the man had a shutout in game six last year.

I mean, you can't, they put a bunch of goals on the board too against the Panthers, but you can't ignore the fact that when the last time they needed this guy to extend a series to seven games against Florida Panthers, he pitched the shutout or played well, I think. I don't think it was a shutout or not. And that kind of brings us to the Panthers part of this, which is that they are playing a team tonight, Edmonton,

that has a legit systemic problem with closing out series. They couldn't close it out in game four against Carolina. They got shut out. They couldn't close it out in game six against Toronto. They got shut out. They couldn't close it out in three games against Edmonton last year in the final They had to win in game seven So I mean like until proven up proven otherwise

There is a absolute lane for the Oilers to win this game tonight Oh, of course and putting in the spinner obviously gives them their best shot Randy work when the chat says Jeff Can you ask Greg if the Oilers don't win the cup if the Oilers don't win the cup will the ad will he address the? goalie issue in the off season Randy I don't I don't I for asking this question. I don't think it's for lack of trying I Don't I just think I just think that everybody knows that Edmonton has these issues and no one's gonna give him a break No one's getting give him a break on a deal

Randy workman Here's the thing that's gonna happen if they lose tonight. There's gonna be a lot of digital ink spilled about what went wrong. There's gonna be a lot of digital ink spilled about McDavid and not having enough goals in the final. And he's got two kicks at the Canada Championship and he hasn't won one. But here's something for the MVSW fans on the old pod right now. Uncle Greg's going to give you a little insight. Here's why the Oilers won't have one, the championship.

Here's what you have to fix for next season. Number one, have a healthy Zach Hyman. There you go. There's one thing that could be different. Have your top line winger who plays the kind of game you need to beat the Panthers who could disturb Sergei Bobrovsky in ways no one else in this team can. It was a dependable offensive option that allows them to have actual depth when they move dry side of the left to McDavid's line. Have him healthy. Point two. It takes your goals ending. As Merrick said, easier said than done. But you're

going to have to find a way to get someone in here that you can play in the playoffs and feel confident that they're going to give you a way to get someone in here that you can play in the playoffs and feel confident that they're gonna give you a consistent effort time and time again, so you don't have to do this malarkey for another season and waste another year of Connors life. Point three, and here's the most important one, and this is the tricky one,

because it's not in their hands. Don't play the Florida Panthers. There, we've said it. The Florida Panthers are the Edmonton Oilers as the Edmonton Oilers are the Los Angeles Kings. Certain teams can't get through them. Josh Mahomes, I'm sorry, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, you know, it happens. It happens that there are just some teams you can't get through.

And I'm sorry, but like I said before the playoffs, and I may be proven correct if they win tonight and close out the series, the Florida Panthers are a counter measure to everything the Oilers do. So, including, for example, having Connor McDavid have to face two guys, two guys, two guys on the same line that were nominated for the Selkie Trophy. Who else has ever had to do that in the history of the National Hockey League? Oh, if you get through them, you go against Seth Jones or Aaron Eklat and Gus Forrestling. Oh, if you get through them, you go against Seth Jones or Aaron Eklat and Gus Forsling. Oh, if you get through them, you got to beat Sergei Barovsky. So just like hope and pray and sacrifice, go to do whatever the hell you have to do

to have somebody in the Eastern Conference beat these guys so you don't have to see them in the final because you can't beat the Panthers. To the Selkie Trophy issue, the only one that pops to mind right away, and I'm sure there's others, when Anaheim had Ryan Kessler, Andrew Cogliano, and Jacob Sulferberg all on the same line. And Cogliano was certainly, Kessler was, and he won it. And I always thought that Sulferberg was like a sneaky undercover candidate for the Selkie trophy. But here's a great one. I've mentioned this on the show before. TageFans7272, who we met at the Combine in Buffalo. Great dude. When the Sabres unsuccessfully,

I'm glad it didn't happen in brackets, tried the trade UPL, was Edmondson or Carolina in the mix? I don't know that they've tried to move him specifically, but I know that, first of all, he didn't have the best of all possible seasons, but that's the guy that I wonder about in Edmondson. Uka Pekalukonin. That is the guy. If they're going to change things up in Buffalo and bring in a veteran netminder and have Devin Levi, because I think he needs waivers next year, play as his understudy.

If I'm the Edmonton Oilers, that's the guy I'm going after. Uka Pekalukinen. That's the guy that I'm wondering about. You're gonna have to figure out something because this is not sustainable. And unfortunately, again, like you mentioned, it's a barren landscape outside of Jake Allen on the UFA market.

So who even knows? But again, there's going to be so many hot takes about the Oilers if they lose tonight. And to me, those are the three boxes you need to check. They miss Hyman terribly in the series. They do. Their goaltending has let them down. And you can make the argument their depth has let them down too, but I also think that that's a tough look when you're going up against one of the deepest teams that we've had in a really long time,

at least in the cap era in the Florida Panthers. I mean, like Brad Marchand on the third line is kind of an unfair advantage against anybody. But it's the goal setting, it's Hyman, and it's just whatever you got. Ask Betman to realign. I don't know. Do whatever you gotta do.

Florida goes to the West. They should not have to play the Panthers. They just gotta get the Panthers out of here They should just get the Panthers out of here. You gotta get the Panthers out of here. You can't beat them. You can't beat them. They're just built to beat the Oilers. All right, let's see what our guest says about all of this.

You love him on the mornings with Colby Cohen. He is one half of the impact players that is morning cup of hockey. He is Johnny Lazarus and he joins us here on the sheet. You know, Laz, first of all, thanks so much for hopping on today. We're just trying to figure out, okay, so if you do triage, okay, let's say you're working

at the hospital here, and the Edmonton Oilers come in and say, we've got problems here with this patient, and this patient has a lot of issues. There's a, as Greg says, there's a Florida issue, there's a death issue, there's a gold-tending issue. If you're doing triage for the Edmonton Oilers, which are you addressing first? This is assuming that they're not going to get past the Florida Panthers. Maybe we shouldn't even start there, but if they're not going to get past the Florida Panthers and you do triage, what issue are you addressing first?

I hate to be basic, but it's got to be the goaltending, right? Yeah. It has to be. Because you look at most goalies that win the Stanley Cup, and for the most part, all of them can at least steal a game. And I don't know if you look at Skinner or Pickard and say, this guy can steal a game. You can maybe say that Calvin stole game four with the comeback, but I don't know if I really give Pickard the full credit or if the Oilers just played much better in front of him. Zach is telling me my microphone might not be connected. So let me just try to fix that quick.

But I'll pick up what you're putting down. Let which is that I think I think I think the last one we saw that maybe can't steal a game was Kemper Like I don't know if he could steal a game Kemper when when the avalanche won but the team in front of him But that he didn't need was so good that didn't matter But the thing is we have seen Darcy Kemper steal games before we saw Kemper steal games in Arizona We've seen we see we've seen We've seen Stuart's we have steal games too But like we I don't think you I think you just need, this is where I kind of disagree with Laz

and maybe he can address it when he fixes his mic, but I think for me it's about competence. It's about consistency. So Gabriel Brodsky's not stealing games left and right in this series, but you know what you're getting from him night after night. And they know that in the first 10 minutes of a game, he's not gonna have a biscuit fly by him

or all of a sudden it's a one-nothing lead changes the entire complexion of the game. He made a save on Connor Brown in the first like 10 minutes of game five that all of the Panthers like pointed to and said, if that doesn't happen, who the hell even knows how that game goes? So, um, I think it's more about consistency and don't lose us a series versus needing a guy that can steal a game. Last back. We got him.

Do I sound better? Oh, Michael Raffone. Michael Raffone. You sound great now, Michael Raffone. But with all that said too, I think you guys were talking about it before I got on here. I asked Colby before the series started, which goalie are you taking? Answer was Bob. Which D-Core are you taking? Answer was Florida. Which bottom six are you taking? Answer was Bob. Which decor are you taking? Answer was Florida. Which bottom six you taking? Answer was Florida. Like all those extra things that you need or our team needs to win the Stanley Cup, Florida has. And look at which team has made the adjustments every game versus which team hasn't changed a thing throughout the five games. We keep talking about the Oilers lineup, who they're going to put in, who they're going to take out. We haven't talked about the Florida's lineup at all,

not once in this series. There's been no panic on the Florida side. No, haven't had to. They haven't had to whatsoever. They had a little Jesper Boquist do-si-do, and that was about it. Do you, I mean, Laz, what percentage chance do you give the Oilers extending the series to Game 7? I don't even care about winning Game 7. Yeah. That's a whole different conversation because how good the Panthers are on the road,

but what percentage chance do you give the Oilers extending the series and winning Game 6? I don't even care about winning game seven. That's a whole different conversation because how good the Panthers are on the road, but what percentage chance do you give the Oilers extending the series and winning game six? Listen, I think it's, you gotta look at it as one game. So I'm saying it's 50-50. I really do think it's that way. I know the odds makers might tell you otherwise, but it's one hockey game, you know?

And that's how the Oilers have to look at it because obviously we all know anything can happen in the game seven. You know, that said, I'm surprised. I'm surprised you guys haven't asked me about my jacket. This is my jacket. It's pretty sweet. This is my Stanley Cup is being handed out tonight. Jacket. Just so you guys know, I wear it every year.

Oh, no. Is this that that's that's like the when when Phil Pritchard puts on the gloves. Exactly. Last puts on this ladies and gentlemen, fresh off the runways of Manhattan, Johnny Lazarus, ladies and gentlemen, right this way. It started in 2023, the first Stanley Cup final, the only Stanley Cup final actually covered, but I wore this jacket to game five in Vegas because I was like, it's flashy, I might be on the ice tonight,

and I want people to notice me and see me on TV. And I've worn it the past two years when I think the cup's coming out. So you think it's coming out then? Is it like a Mariano Rivera thing? Is it your closer or did you have to wear it multiple times last year in the final? Last year, I mean, last year I literally got

every single game wrong. I was wrong on the money line. I was like, there's no way the Oilers go down to nothing. Then I was like, okay, they're not gonna go down three nothing. And then I was like, oh, Florida's got this thing. There's no way that Edmonton has any life. And I got every single, all seven games wrong on the money line, I got wrong.

So here be here, a lot of questions here. So I'm of the belief that this is Sam Bennett's Con Smythe trophy to lose. Yeah, I agree. That Brad Marshann is close, but he needs at least one and maybe even two big performances if we get to game seven like if If this is like a command performance by Aaron Ekblad tonight Sam Bennett's getting it because this is the exam. Sam Bennett has it right now It's up to Brad Marsh and to take it away from him

Do you agree with that that this is Bennett's to lose or is it 50-50 neck and neck with Brad Marchand? No, I agree. Also, as everyone knows, it's an entire playoff award, right? You go back to the first round series, Sam Bennett was incredibly impactful that entire time against Tampa Bay. Brad Marchand obviously has a pretty loud series

against Toronto. Both guys I thought were really good in the conference final and this series, they've been neck and neck as well. But I think the first round on top of what Bennett has done here in the final, like Sam Bennett also has five goals in this series. Like he hasn't done nothing. You know, it's pretty crazy. Yeah. In the cup final alone. I know Brad has six, but it's not like Brad Marsh and has been that much better than Sam Bennett in

the final. It just feels like the goals Marsh and has scored maybe have been a little bit louder than the goals Bennett has scored in the series. I think it's a really important point because I think there's a lot of people that are praising Marshand and rightfully so, but it's kind of ignorant to how good Bennett's been in the final too. It's not like he's gone five games without a goal. He's been extremely important as well in the final. By the way, just in case you needed a reminder that the cup is in the building in back of me, they're doing the production rehearsal

for giving out the cup tonight. Oh! McDavid, by the way, had a really funny line the other day where he was referencing the fact. He's like, yeah, the cup's gonna be in the building. He's like, well, not for us, but it'll be in the building. It's like, oh, goner, you stinker. Hey, Johnny, I was curious, you know,

I always like to talk to you about, like, sort of the player's perspective on things. And obviously, if the Panthers win tonight, this is gonna be back-to-back Cubs, but back-to-back Cubs for a team that plays a very specific style, and a style that I think has even been enhanced more by the addition of Brad Marchand.

Like, when you look at the Panthersthers and you look at their ability to embarrass you through their antics and also embarrass you through their offense and defense, has there ever been a team that you can recall that can do this to their opponents? Not in hockey, and I wasn't alive during it. So I don't know if it counts. But, you know, watching the last dance documentary featuring Michael Jordan, obviously everyone is. I've seen the comments and I've watched it again, actually. And this seems very familiar to the Pistons team of the late 80s that went against Michael Jordan, I think in like four straight Eastern Conference playoff matchups. And Michael Jordan was never able to beat those guys

And that's what this kind of feels like with you know Obviously Connor Mcdavid being the best player in the sport Michael Jordan was the best player in the NBA in those I mean ever In those years too, but you know, there's something about being physically intimidated And I don't know if I don't know if that's the right way to put it that Edmonton's physically intimidated because they've tried You know, they've tried. You know, they've put up a fight, but they're not intimidating the Panthers. And that's the difference. The Panthers will not be intimidated by anybody. So the Pistons, I think only maybe one one championship in those years.

Yes. Yes. OK, so only one. So it's not exactly the same. But every time Michael Jordan was stopped, it was by the same team. And that's what it feels like is what's happening right now with Connor McDavid and the Florida Panthers. And that's a, first of all, it makes you wonder which one of these Panthers is going to end up on the oilers. Who's going to be the Rodman that defects from the bad boy distance to the Bulls and so forth? I think it's going to be one of the winners. Is it X-Lad as a Bennett? But Johnny, to your point though, like, when you watch, hold on, when you watch the Dallas Stars,

Edmonton series. I've never heard anyone tell Jeff to hold on, that's crazy. Oh dude, go check out the old pod, tap it on the regular. I think what you said is really salient, dude, which is that when you watch the Oilers against the Stars, when they get cracking offensively, the Stars fell apart, like they get intimidated.

McDavid and Dreiseldoe can do that toDavid and Tri-Solid can do that to you and the Oilers depth can do that to you. And my point before the series is like, you can't do that to Florida. They don't give a shit. Like they're just gonna take a punch and we're gonna laugh about it. And they're gonna do their thing until they can find

the chance to take a lead or to score a goal. And then they're gonna score like three of them. But please, Jeff Merrick on your own show. Okay, let me give you, okay, so as as we're having this conversation about like who else behaves like this, who else plays like this. In the history of hockey there's one team that jumps out and it shouldn't be a surprise that both these organizations featured Bill Torrey and that's the Islanders. The New York Islanders in their dynasty, they could play any way you wanted and they were tough.

They had maybe, with all due respect, and we've all heard the arguments, is Ovechkin chased the Gretzky record, maybe the best goal scorer of all time, and Mike Bossy, one of the most underrated sentiment and creative sentiment the game's ever seen, and Brian Trache, one of the toughest players the game has ever seen in Clark Gillies and that was their first line and then you get to Bob Bourne and then you get to Bob Nystrom and then you get to Dennis Potfan and then you get to Stefan Pierson and then in the goal you have Billy Smith who may have been the toughest out of all of them and the Islanders would do this thing where they'd say okay how do you want to play you want to play a six five game we'll beat

you you want to play a two to one game we'll beat. You want a game that we're going to pick up the gloves and sticks all game long, we're going to beat you there too. And we'll throw a little Gary Howard at you who maybe pound for pound might be the toughest player that ever played in the NHL outside of George McPhee. That was the Islanders. Like honestly guys, like when I watched the Panthers, I keep saying, I'm watching the Islanders

from like 79 to 83. That's the team that jumps out at me. Greg, you know what I'm talking about, right? That era of Islanders. I mean, I definitely do. I mean, the only thing missing is that I don't think, I don't think Bob is necessarily Billy Smith. No. Billy Smith was an active participant in all of that. And Bob is just like a dude. He's just there. He's just the cutest thing. But like, Johnny, you can go you too. Like Billy Smith would fight players. Like he would fight Lanny McDonnell, he fought Lindy Ralph. Like he would fight players. That's how tough a goalie he was. I think Bob Stauffer also made the comment, I think it was him on Chicklets the other

day, saying that the Islanders of the 80s, you know, that dynasty team, is the only other team in NHL history to have nine players with 15 or more points in a playoff series, which is insane. Like you look at this part of Panthers team, and they got a lot of guys producing, but there is also one more team that I thought of. And this is, see, this is why my brain, I think,

compliments your guys' brains. Maybe you disagree with this team, but- Let's see. Team Iceland and D2 Mighty Ducks, I think they played like the same. Clearly! Those guys were pricks! Those guys were pricks! Exactly! Beat you on the scoreboard, beat you on the ice. That's just how they were. Top of my mint. Tage fan in the chat, Billy Smith took Lindy's IO. Yeah, one of the great butt-ends of all time.

Lost art! They lost art of the butt-end. all time. Law start, they law started the butt ends. Put the visors on and no one could butt end it. ["The New York Times"] Here's where I am on the series, Johnny. Let me see if you agree. Yeah. The Florida Panthers have led in this series for 200 minutes. The Edmonton Oilers have led in this series for 200 minutes.

The Edmonton Oilers have led in this series for 33 minutes. Every time the Oilers have won a game in this series, I feel like it is because the Panthers have taken their foot off the gas. And in game five, they just went pedal down the entire time and didn't even give them an inch. And I feel like that was an indication and kind of like a test of my theory, which is that it really doesn't matter what the Oilers do. It is contingent on the Panthers to allow them back into a game or allow them back into the series, true or false? into the series, true or false?

Um, there's a lot to that. I think, you know, even in game one, right? Edmonton comes back from down three to one as game one, the only game where the Oilers scored the first goal. I think it might be right. It has to be. I need someone to correct me. I think it has to be right. Yeah.

I think you might be right. I know they had, they've gotten out, scored like seven, nothing in the last three games in the first period. Yeah. So I think game one is the only game where they score first. But then they fall back three to one. And you have to credit Edmonton for having the ability to find a way to claw their way back into these games

that they did win. But again, the better team in the series, the better team, I think, in three of the five games. I still think the Oilers played a really good game too. And I do think they were the better team in the series, the better team I think in three of the five games. I still think the Oilers played a really good game too. And I do think they were the better team in game one, despite falling down three to one. But the series right now, the results match up to how the teams have played. Like I do think the Panthers have been the better team for three games. And I do think the Oilers were the better team. So let me, let me, let me close on this because yeah, look at, look at the jacket Johnny's guy. He's, he got. He's got to share this with the world, baby.

Yeah. Yeah. Let me close on this one, Laz. So we're talking about either Brad Marchand or Sam Bennett winning the conspite here, and we're looking at goals, goals, goals, baby. It's all about goals, scoring goals. What was that stat you just gave out about who's led for how long, Wish? Like the Florida Panthers-

200 minutes. Yeah. 200 minutes for the how long, Wish? Like the Florida Panthers have sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Florida is smothering the Oilers. How come there's no talk about Gustav Forsling? Oh, it's funny you said that. Or Sergei Bobrovsky? Like if the story is what they're doing defensively to the Oilers, how come all we're talking about is Brad Marshand and Sam Bennett? You ever thought on that one? No, it's true. It's a good point.

It's a good point. I actually, who are we talking to? It was last week, but I said there was one play in, I want to say game four in the first period where Connor McDavid got the puck in his own zone, full head of steam. And you know, McDavid gets the puck below the top of his own circles. He's going to do something magical, right? So he's flying through the neutral zone. He sees Gustav Forsling angling him and closing him off. He makes a pass to the middle instead of trying to beat Gustav Forsling wide or make a move on him. Like I said,

do you think McDavid is partially intimidated by Gustav Forsling? Because, you know, in a situation like that, you really see McDavid try to make the pass. Like he's going to beat the guy wide with speed and maybe cut back at the goal line and set up the offense in the offensive zone. He didn't do that. Maybe that's me just like picking one spot where McDavid maybe didn't have the room or the time and space he wanted to make a play. But to me that said a lot about who Gustav Forzling is as a defenseman that McDavid looked to make that pass. Again, that's

just like me nitpicking. But you know, I think Forzling deserves a lot of credit. He really does. He's unbelievable. And Seth Jones has been really good too, defensively. Oh boy, yeah. Oh yeah. So it's a good point. And if you're speaking Con Smythe though, like it's still hard to put those guys ahead of, you know, Marsha and Bennett. I just find it weird that that's the story. Okay, you've got to escape. Be careful. When you leave your apartment with that jacket. That thing can get women pregnant on its own. Just be careful where you take that jacket. It's a beautiful thing. Johnny, Johnny, 30 seconds. Did they trade Keandre?

I mean, it sounds like it, right? Everything I've heard, it seems that way. I think he'd be signed by now if they wanted to keep him. So, um, Oh, I like that response. I think that's probably pretty accurate. Yeah. I'm more nervous about cool. We'll see. He's not signed. So cool. Coolies. They're going to cool. Coolie is the JT Miller. As a player, they're going to build around that. Don't worry about cool. He's fine. He's a Ranger for he's a Ranger until Drew. We get sick of him and then he'll, you know, threaten waivers. Yeah.

I will say also, Greg, if the Oilers do win tonight, I will be making my way to Edmonton. So if that is the case, I will see you at game seven. Yes. That makes two of us. We'll probably get there around the same time because I've got 17 fights tomorrow. All right.

Enjoy the game tonight. Laz, thanks for hopping on today. Great. By the way, everyone's got to check out, I mean, you should watch and listen every day, but today's morning cup of hockey with Brandon Montour was. Thank you. Oh, nice. You're really good.

Final words before I go. Yeah, man. Please admit that I was right. Better to be down three one at home than tie two two. See you guys. No, it's just the worst take of all time. Yeah, beat it. He's like if I was the Oilers I'd rather be down 3-1 than tied 2-2. Wow. Hey listen

man, in Johnny's defense, like Chris Noblock said this morning that for whatever reason these guys play their best hockey when their backs are against the wall and your backs can't go further against the wall than when the other team in the series is three wins. So we'll see what happens. I am saying the Panthers are and I want Edmonton to win. They got a little bit of a health problem too. I don't think, I don't think, I don't think, I don't think Echolme's healthy. I don't think New Jets and Hopkins is healthy. I think they're also kind of falling apart at the wrong time too. It's all kind of pointing in Florida's right. But again, like they've pissed away elimination games as a hobby.

So I can't, I can't sit here and say it's not going to happen again in game six. I here's my thing. I just want a game seven. So I want Edmonton to win. I love all the pressure and anxiety that comes along with the game seven where every single shift you're just on the edge of your seat like just give me that please. You know we didn't talk about real quick Verhage. For those who don't know, Carter Verhage and one of the Panthers assistant coaches, while the Panthers were practicing on one ice sheet at their practice rink, on the other ice sheet

where the Oilers were preparing to come out, Verhege and his assistant coach were doing shot practice. Here's Rashad. You stand next to him. He was like right next to him. They're just working on the one timers. Look at the curling circles, by the way, on the ice and on that side of the rink.

10.52 of the notes here. The Oilers are supposed to be out on the ice around 11.30, but they want to come out a little bit early. Finally the pucks get packed up, Verhege and his coach leave the ice and as the assistant coach is leaving the ice, one of the Oilers popped on and so the Panthers' assistant coach goes, he's going to restart, he's going to clean the ice. Talking about the Zamboni guy. The Zamboni, yeah. And, did you hearoni guy. Yeah, and

Do you hear the story? Yeah, yeah, but share it because it's great story. Yeah Goes no, he's fucking not And here comes Edmonton Onto the the unrefused ice. Yeah, it was it was a bit of gamesmanship. Probably my favorite bit of silly gamesmanship since Matthew Kachuk bouncing the ball off the wall during the Carolina Hurricanes press conference. That was good. I'm here for all the petty, I'm here for all the pettiness

that comes along with playoff hockey. Every tiny little petty thing. I was on All Those Nations every day today and I was talking about how Scotty Bowman, his bit of pettiness, he would paint the visitor team every time a new team would come to Montreal for him. So they'd have to dress in paint fumes. Like I am here for all the,

shorten the, they're all soft standard now, but like shorten the benches so one team had their knees bent even more on the bench. I am here for all the gamesmanship and all the pettiness that you can have. Turning off the hot, Boston Garden, Boston Garden where they have no hot water in the visitors' rooms.

The pushing the bench too close to the boards definitely happened in the Northlands Coliseum once or twice, I know that for a fact. So yeah, any of that stuff I'm here for and the Verhage thing was just really fun this morning. Added a little spice to a Monday morning that was otherwise who's gonna start and goal being the big story. I know you like that. What do you think tonight? This is again like I've talked about this like my head says one thing but my heart feels another.

My head looks at this and says Panthers win, but my heart says no man. I want the Oilers to win and so like that's the fight. That's the fight between. That's always the fight in sports. What your head believes and your heart feels. And this one's really profound because I think the Florida Panthers win, but I really want Edmonton to win. I really want one more game. I really want a game seven.

But I say that every year, like I want my Stanley Cup final to go seven games. I don't care about the other series, sweeps, gentlemen sweeps, like all of it. I just want my cup final to go to seven. All I'm saying is if this goes seven and Connor doesn't win the cup, I'm gonna, I might punch him.

Like just, you're dragging me all the way back to Edmonton kid, you better win that damn cup. That's all I'm saying. All right, hang in there because now this is your favorite part of the show. You ready? Time now. Yeah.

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The four quart container fits four pounds of chicken or veggies. Cook a personal-sized meal in seven minutes in the six cup container. Max crisp, bake, air fry, and re-crisp with the Ninja Crispy. You can prep, cook, and store anything from crispy favorites to one dish meals. Zacharoo, my savior from yesterday's broadcast, you completely saved the show yesterday in a couple of different ways. What do you have for us today? A huge fan of the show lost 40 pounds on walks and it's the sheet that powers me through glad to hear that but then also throws in the dagger. Hawks fan in Florida looking forward to Marner joining Connor. Watching an old game from the late 70s

early 80s didn't see one defenseman pitchfork pucks. I thought Jeff will know who started doing this and when. Love the show, Mark. So when this email came in, Wish, I was texting with a good friend of the program and a good friend of mine, Troy Smith, former junior coach with the kid. You know Smitty, right? He does hockey IQ. And he's like, and I'm like, hey Smitty, do you have any idea? Because the first person that I was aware of, and I think by pitchforking he means popping pucks.

And I'm like, the first one that I think I, the first one I was aware of, because I'm not sure what the actual first is, was Boris Salming with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's a very, it's one of the things that the Europeans introduced to the game. That's my belief. And Salming was the first.

And just to give our viewers a sense of what we're talking about here, so I was texting with Smitty Backer, and he was like, why don't I make a video for you? You can see exactly what we're talking about here. So we can talk over the thing. This is what Troy Smith from Hockey IQ put together. This is Corey Perry. So all you're gonna do is you're gonna pop the puck or you're gonna essentially poke check the puck

into a safe area as Corey Perry does here against the Florida Panthers and it's gonna lead to a scoring chance. Mainly you see defenders do it. We're gonna watch Corey Perry do it again. Just one hand and one hand wraps around the other player and you take a stab at the puck And it leads to a scoring chance here. You take a stab at the puck and it leads. Now here's Essel and Dell Against the Edmonton Oilers going into the corner holds him off with one hand little arm control there Some might call that holding Greg Wyshinski and with his right arm in between the the dasher, that is the yellow area there of the boards, he will just pop the puck back up to a safe area and away from the Edmonton

Oilers four-checker. Now you can call it pitch forking, you can call it popping, we're going to watch Lindell do it again here, you can call it popping, you can call it pitch forking. I believe the first one, and maybe you have, oh this is a great great one look at Gustav Forsling. God is he good. Everything Forsling does is fantastic. Look at the body positioning, look at the control and watch him just nice simple. Oh Chris Kreider one of the strongest players in the game. I'm gonna get this puck to a safe area and it's an easy exit for the Florida Panthers. I don't know if there's someone that comes to mind for you when you think of like pitchforking or popping pucks.

But now that you're aware of it and now that people have seen this, you're probably gonna notice it everywhere. Do you have someone that comes to your mind when we're talking about popping or pitchforking pucks? Wish Cam Reconnect. Oh, Wish Cam Reconnect. Hang on, you know what I'll tell you? mind when we're talking about popping or pitchforking pucks. Wish cam reconnect. Oh, wish cam reconnect. Wish cam reconnect.

Hang on, you know what I'll tell you? You know who used to, and this is where I think Wish can be of service here. You know who used to always talk about pitchforking pucks? Doc Emrick. Former play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils. You remember Doc always talking about pitchforking pucks? Oh, Danico, pitchforks that puck. Was that like the first time you became-

The pitchfork did away. Yeah, right? That the first time you ever became sort of aware of that phenomenon? Because I do think it goes back to the first European invasion of the 70s. Yeah, I know. I was just thinking how sad it is that it wasn't Ulf Stirner who was the first pitchforking puck. No, he was busy with the teeth. Yeah, he was busy with the teeth.

Pitchforking teeth and then... I mean, and pitchforking... and honestly it's funny because like when Doc would do it, you didn't know if it was a real term or a doc-ism sometimes, you know? He's waffle-boarded. Yeah, but there's like... We say he's waffle-boarded was a doc-ism, I think, but also like, is that legit? I don't know. Listen, I love, I love play by play guys that made up their own terms. Danny Gallivan, cannonading shot is always his big one. Cannonading is somehow a word now be just because of one who cannons.

One who canons, I suppose he has a blistering shot. Gaston Gingra with a cannonading drive. Shot the puck hard. But anyway, thanks to our buddy Troy Smith at Hockey IQ for that video. Popping pucks or pitchforking pucks. All right, we got one more order of business here. And then you've got to get back to work.

You got to do up your tie or else Karen Douglas is gonna treat you like a war criminal. The sheet is powered by FanDuel, home of the same game Parlay. Make every moment more on FanDuel. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Enter Zach Phillips.

And what I hope isn't the last game of the season, but it might be. What are we looking at tonight, Zacharoo? I kept this one simple. Wish kind of stole my thunder earlier talking about the Kahn-Smith so I'll leave that to what you the experts talked about earlier but game lines for tonight Edmonton plus 125 here on the road Florida minus 150 with an opportunity to close it out on home ice and this number looked big but wish you'll remember when I brought it up in game four I said it went from minus 140 ish 135 in game three to minus 150 in game four you jumped in quickly and said Zach

that is the Stuart Skinner effect. Hmm. I'm actually surprised it's not bigger, but again, I think that goes to show you that there is a sense of the history of the Panthers and how hard it is for them to close out these series, and there's a sense of what happened last year. You can't forget what happened last year,

as much as the Panthers claim they have it have put it behind them. It's history. It's in the back of your heads. Cups in the building. If this is over tonight, the conversation we're gonna have tomorrow, let's close on this one, little preview. Which team has the best chance of getting back next year? We all know Marsand and Aaron Echblad and Sam Bennett all free agents and there's the idea it's harder to stay on top than to get on top and this is like two times in a row the Oilers get there. I have that really good think about this one my my instinct is Florida but just off the top of your head if it's over tonight

which team has the best chance of getting back here next year? I'll go Florida by default I mean I think the idea that the amount of hockey that these guys have played to go a fourth straight time is mind-boggling and then you throw in how many of those these guys are also gonna have the Olympic experience next year it's gonna really be draining as well. But I think ultimately I fall on, Merrick, the idea that the West is gonna be a tougher road than the East for the foreseeable future.

And I think that's probably my biggest concern for the oil. If Florida wins, does Corey Perry follow and go to Florida? Honestly, dude, you can see him playing on this team all day long. If Perry goes to Florida, then Marchand has to sign a one year contract because we need to understand what a team that has Matthew Kachuck, Corey Perry, Brad Marshad and Sam Bennett looks like. Oh just glorious. Can you even imagine?

Could you even imagine? I would just I would get the flu. I get the flu every time I have to play them. Like I would just be like sorry boys I'm feeling under the weather. I just love that you know you know if I told you like we'd be having this type of conversation but the Florida Panthers 10 years ago would be laughed out of, laughed away from these microphones. Um, all right. If you said that 10 years ago, I'd say, Oh, that's, that's awesome. I will take my driver's license to get my free ticket to watch the game,

which is the thing again, that the Florida Panthers had to do back when they were terrible to get people to come to the arena to watch the team. Do you want to be our backup goaltender too? How do you look at a baseball? Uh, all right. to the arena to watch the team. Do you want to be our backup goaltender too? How do you look at a baseball? Personal Usher night. Thanks to the great Johnny Lazarus for stopping by. Wish, enjoy the game tonight. I look forward to your coverage of it at espn.com and we'll catch up with you later. Thanks Wish. Yeah, real quick, shout out.

Me and Arda will do the drop after the show. It'll be our official post game show. Great. Well after, well deep into the night after I've got done writing and covering on the ice, but Arda and I will be there to wrap it up on the NHL and ESPN YouTube channel. Love it.

We'll check that one out for sure. Thanks bud. Say hi to Arda for me. All right, thanks everybody. There he is, the great Greg Wyshinski, and that's gonna wrap it up. Thanks to everybody in the chat. Thanks to everyone from Oilers Nation who popped by as well. Listen as I

was you know saying to Tyler and Jay and Liam this afternoon I know it's like anxiety ridden and you probably didn't have any good sleep last night and you're probably walking around today like you're an extra from the Walking Dead but this is the reason why we're sports fans right to get this close even to like be looking over the cliff right now, if you're an Edmonton Oilers fan and saying, oh, please don't let it end, please don't let it end.

You know how many other teams would love to be in this exact situation? You were probably in this exact situation where the Edmonton Oilers kept collecting up first overall draft picks and then just squandered everything. I get it. We're only sports fans to sort of test our blood pressure and to see how high we can get it. We're only sports fans to sort of test our blood pressure and to see how high we can get it and nobody's blood pressure is higher

tonight than an Edmonton Oilers fans blood pressure. But trust me there is something and plenty to be envious about. Please understand that you are envied by a lot of other markets right now because you are in the position right now to watch your team, if they can pull this off, do something spectacular. And I fully expect that we're going back to Edmondson for game seven. That might just be my heart saying,

just say it, Merrick, and it might happen. Because as I said earlier, I just wanna see game sevens in the Stanley Cup final. I don't care about game sevens in any other series at all ever. I just wanna see it in the Stanley Cup final. I don't care about Game 7s in any other series at all, ever. I just want to see it in the Stanley Cup final when everything is on the line. Give me that all day of the week,

every single day of the week. So best of luck to the Oilers tonight. And if the Florida Panthers win, man, you want to talk about modern dynasties. This one is spectacular. Anyhow, thanks for joining in the chat. Thanks for watching on YouTube. Thanks for listening here

at your favorite podcast platform. We will return tomorrow and Zach, well done putting the program together as we always like to say, there's nothing like a Well Produced show. Thanks to everyone for being part of this today, whether it's just in the chat or just lending us your ears or eyeballs. We appreciate it here on the sheet.

Morning Cup of hockey tomorrow, 9 a.m. Eastern, DFO Live, noon, and then our act at 3. Enjoy Game 6. I can't get out my head Lost all ambitions day to day Guess you can call it a ride I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, no, man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself, and how this gon' be fixed in my mind I still wanna break it I turned on the music

I still wanna break it I turned on the music It's turned up, down, out, and sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong You