The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Milan Games are Underway ft. Cassie Campbell-Pascall & Tyler Yaremchuk

Episode Date: February 9, 2026

Today on The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined live from Milan by Cassie Campbell-Pascall as the 2026 Winter Olympics officially get underway on the ice. Cassie breaks down the opening day of the women’s hockey tournament, including how Canada women's national ice hockey team looked in its tournament opener against the Switzerland women's national ice hockey team, the early impressions from the United States women's national ice hockey team, and what to watch for as the medal race begins to take shape. Jeff and Cassie also look ahead at the key storylines, matchups, and pressure points that will define the women’s tournament moving forward. Plus, Jeff shifts the focus to the men’s side with puck drop set for Wednesday, digging into projected line combinations, potential dark horses, tournament favorites, and how the Olympic field could unfold once the men hit the ice. Make sure to subscribe, leave a rating, and join us throughout the Games for daily Olympic hockey coverage.Leave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/caReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!#TheSheet #JeffMarek #CassieCampbellPascall #TylerYaremchuk #MilanCortina2026 #OlympicHockey #WomensHockey #MensHockey #TeamCanada #TeamUSA #HockeyOlympics #DailyFaceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, here we go. We've been waiting for this one for a long time. Many of you have been waiting for this week since Sochi. Many of you have been waiting for this one, newer fans, for a lifetime. NHL best on best. At the Olympics, very much looking forward to the men's getting underway this week. The women are already underway. And by the end of today's program, by the end of today's program,

you're going to know why the name Saskia Maur should be one that's in your Milan Games vocabulary. That's coming up here in a couple of moments. In the meantime, we have games this afternoon to let you know about if you are watching or listening live right now. The women's side of the hockey tournaments, Germany and France deadlocked at ones. Switzerland faces off against the United States in an hour and a half. the Canadian women take on Chequia at 310, so two hours from now, and then tonight it is Japan and Sweden as well. So that's what's happening today later on this week. The men's get underway and surprise, surprise to some, perhaps surprise surprise to many.

Tom Wilson finds himself on a line with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. Now, first of all, I think that if the NHLers went last time, that's a lot, that's Tom Wilson was going to be on this team. And if you've watched Tom Wilson at all in the last however many years, and if you kind of get the Tom Wilson blinders or get rid of your perhaps Tom Wilson prejudice, you have to admit that this guy has turned himself into a really high-level hockey player. And someone who's able to skate, maybe not as fast as Connor McDavid, but nonetheless is able to keep up.

and if this line works and stays consistent, Tom Wilson will be a big member of it. But as we've seen in these tournaments before, don't get married to what you see early, whether it's a starting netminder, whether it's a defensive pair, or whether it is a line combination. The way it ends generally is not the way it starts. And that is true of every team in a tournament like this. Okay, glad to have you aboard today. Let's get started.

The blueprint is powered by Fanduel. download the app today and play your game on Fanduel. In a couple of moments, we're headed to Italy and we'll be joined by the great Cassie Campbell Pascall. Gold medalist herself, we should point out as well, covering the games, live from Milan. We'll talk about the women that we saw on the weekend. And again, Saskia Mauer is a name you should all know. The Canadian women know her name now.

And we'll talk about Sarah Filié and the next generation of superstar players coming up here that we'll see in this tournament. Tyler, Uremtruck will stop by a little bit later on. still as much as we're going to be hyper-focused on the Milan games, we are going to also have a peak at what is happening around the NHL by way of conversations and speculation of what you should expect when the NHL returns later on this month and some listener questions as well. Coming in a little bit later on,

in the meantime, we default to Milan, where we find international superstar Cassie Campbell Pascoe standing by hockey analysts covering the games. Hey, Cass, how are? Oh, look at you. Getting the feathers done, eh? I'm going to give it to me. No, this is good. This is the timing we're at.

And I, as you know, I am not glam girl, but I'm being glanced. I just love this for you, Cass. So hang on. Give us a walking, walking the runways of Milan and Paris and, well, you know, Jeff, last time I was in Nice. Give us the scene set right now, Cass. Come on. What are you doing? Well, the scene said is what you see is what you get.

I mean, you know, things are going downhill for me, so I need all the help I can get to get prepared if we're on air. But, yeah, just so much fun. I don't know if you heard I got stuck in a washroom yesterday, too, and it was about 20 minutes before we were supposed to go out to air. And Claire Hanna helped me out. And seven Italian people were there as well with no tools to, you know, fix the door or anything. But I managed to, you know, McGiver myself and get out of the bathroom. and, you know, as you know, this is such a grind and so much fun. It is.

It's the best time. I mean, I've had the on-site Olympic experience only once in 2008 in China, which was fantastic. And I'll be telling those stories until I, you know, make my way to the crematorium. But give us the story of getting locked in the bathroom. Before we get to the women's and men's side of the hockey tournament, what happened, Cass? I just went to the bathroom, you know, like we all do. I went to unlock the bathroom and you could tell the lock just lost its connection. And it just was turning and turning and turning.

And I stayed patient. I stayed patient, Jeff. I called Claire Anna. She had help on the way. And then I just simply was sort of, you know, jigging the lock and moving it. And next thing, you know, it made its connection again. And about 15 minutes later it was out. The only good thing was it was freezing in the arena, but it was really warm in the

washroom. So I actually had a little moment where I got some heat. And yeah, you know, and it's a good time. It's so fun here. I'm working with Haley Salvean and Claire Hannah and Cheryl Pounder and Kenzie Lalonde and it's just been such a blast to be back

again on this side of things and working with my old friends, as you know, at CBC, the original Hockey Night in Canada and all the producers and the great people behind the scenes. I just love it. One thing I want to get out of the way right away, I sort of mentioned out the top of the program before you joined us,

why everybody should know the name Saskia Maur. Now, early on in this tournament, she has become, for many of us, the story. Switzerland outshot 55 to 6. Now the final score is Canada 4, Switzerland, no score. But she came out of it, the star, and this is afterwards ushered into duty. After the starting netminder for Switzerland had the neurovirus.

and so couldn't go. So she gets ushered in back-to-back games. And listen, I know it didn't work out great for Switzerland against Canada, but what a story she was in that game for Switzerland. Well, yeah, you get your opportunity, right? And you better take advantage of it. And she definitely did that and kept Switzerland, you know, somewhat in the game. I mean, the three chances that they did get were high quality, high danger chances.

But incredible. And that's what the Olympics is about. And you know that can happen on the men's side, too, where a goalie stands on their head and, you know, has an upset of a higher-ranked team. And, you know, it was good for Canada with it. And so they really... For that second line, if you call them,

with NERBOTts and filiates, you know, we're going to really have to be big in this Olympic Games for Canada to be successful. Nice to see them. Fent for five. Okay, Cass, we're going to reconnect. We're going to reconnect with Cassie there. she's having some issues in Milan right now, getting your feathers taken care of.

And we'll get back to Cassie here in a couple of moments. A couple of things on the women's side too, specifically for Canada. Maybe to some extent as well, and I want to get into this with Cassie as well. It feels like on the Canadian side, this may be, at least it feels like it, a transition tournament. As much as they're certainly competing for gold, and that's the expectation from hockey. Kentucky Canada always. It feels like this is the tournament where, for lack of a better term, the Marie-Filippe-Poulin group transfers over to the Sarah Filet group and that next generation of athletes.

No one knows what happens after this tournament with Marie-Philippe Poulin. No one really knows what happens with Renata Fas, who was, I thought, the best player on the ice against Switzerland as well. Natalie Spooner, et cetera. I don't know how many more Olympic cycles. Some of these athletes still have in them, or whether it's by desire or by way of just getting forced out. But it does very much feel like this might end up being a transition tournament

where we start to see the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. And listen, you see that on the American side too. Now, Hillary Knight is still playing out of her mind and still playing elite-level hockey. And she was great on the weekend as well. But we'll be curious to see what Cassie's thoughts are on the. that when we get her back. You know, it's interesting talking about the Olympic experience. And as I mentioned, I've only had, I only worked, I mean, I worked studio for a bunch of

them, but only on site for one. And one of my favorite stories to tell is about one of my favorite Canadian athletes of all time, and that's Clara Hughes. And when I was in Beijing in Media Village, her room was next to mine. And like, the walls are paper thin. So a couple of things. We were told, Cassie, I was just in the middle of. telling a Clara Hughes story.

Do you mind if I, I want to get your thoughts on Claire if you know her as well. So, okay, so in Beijing, so she was right beside me and in media village, the walls are paper thin.

And so I remember I would get up early to go have breakfast at like 5.30 in the morning, maybe 5 o'clock in the morning. And all I would hear from her room is zzz.

I'm like, okay. And so I'd go work out or go eat breakfast and come back, have a shower, make notes and all this. And honestly, for four hours, every single morning, all I could hear from a room was like this, this buzzing, this humming. And eventually one day we're just at the IBC, the International Broadcast Center. I said, Claire, this is none of my business, but like, what are you doing from five to nine every single morning with this buzzing? And she said, oh, I brought my bike. And it's the only time I can ride. So from like five o'clock

to nine o'clock, there's like the dead, and she's brought, she's working for CBC too, right? Broadcat, Braddo, uh, working the games. But for like four hours every morning, there's Clara Hughes and her enormous quads, uh, on, on the bike. Uh, apropos of nothing. Just one of my favorite stories about one of my favorite athletes the country's ever produced. You have a thought on Clara Hughes.

Yeah, just, you know, a remarkable athlete teammate, if you will, because we went to a few games. we overlap together and just a remarkable person. And I just love how grounded she is. You know, she's often a person. I'll go to her Instagram just to get grounded sometimes. You know, remarkable, obviously, summer and winter Olympian. And yeah, she's just one of my favorite Olympians of all time.

One of my favorite people, hands down, that I've ever met in sports. So as we tried to reconnect, one of the things that I was wondering about, which I think we all have, you know, legitimate curiosity about, is this a for Team Canada and maybe to an extent the United States as well, kind of a transitional games in that I'm not sure how many more Olympic cycles, Marie-Philippe Palin, Renata Fass,

Natalie Spooner, still have in them by way of either what they want to do with their lives or by way of the competition coming up next is super elite. And I still remember, I was telling this, story a couple of days ago. I remember talking to you before the 2010 games in Vancouver. I was at orientation camp in Calgary. I think you and I were out to dinner. And I said, like, who should I be watching for of the young players? And the first name out of your

mouth is Marie Philippe Palin. Like this one's going to be, this one's going to be a star. She's special. All of it. I remember watching her skate and the guys were coming in. Vinnie La Cavillier came over and said, like, who's that over there? I don't think she was wearing 29. So we didn't say he was 29. Might have been 15. Who's that one over there? And I said, oh, it's Marie Philippe Blan. I gave her the, I gave him the rap sheet that you gave me. This is all her story. And he watched about 10 minutes and he goes, that's an effing player. And then left. And I always remember that. Like, game recognizes game. Great players. Recognize other great players. Does it feel like, I don't know, I don't want to, I don't ever want to bet against Marie

Philippe Palin, but does it feel like this is a transition from the the Poulans to the filiers? Yeah, I think to some degree, I mean, listen, Mary Philippe Palin is still on the top line. She's still a great player. That's it. She hasn't relinquished that position. And, you know, I don't know if she's going to play another Olympics. I think that's to be determined, to be honest with you, as she sorts through what her and her partner want to do and family and life.

But I think the big thing about this Olympics is she's still very capable of being the MVP of these Olympic games. But I think for Canada to be successful, they're going to need some depth scoring. She's going to need some help this time. You know, she can't be, it can't be just her and her line mates that are the ones that are the force down the stretch. And she's just a remarkable person, a remarkable leader, you know, the first captain Canadian male or female to captain three Olympic game team Canada's. And, you know, what this generation has been through, the resiliency they've shown, the adversity that they've been through over the last, you know, going through an Olympics with COVID, the disappointing world championships results at times against the United States. States and she's remained consistent and this group has continued to get better and better and really getting better at dealing with adversity and she's a big part of that I mean she's a great

leader I think personally the greatest leader the greatest player that this country has ever seen male or female so 100% you know she's going to get it done there's no question about it but I think she's going to need some help in order for Canada to be successful there has never been male or female a more clutch player in the history of the game period. Then Marie-Philippe Poulin. I'm curious your thoughts on on the pools and specifically the power pool. The power pool that Canada and the United States are in alongside Finland, Czechia and Switzerland, the B-pool, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and France. Now, the philosophy behind it is the B-pool are still, countries that are in the B-Pole still very much

lagging behind the others. But in order for I suppose the double IHF here to create more of a hot house effect. The teams that have taken that next step are in with Canada and the United States, and that is Finland, Czechia, and Switzerland. I'm not sure if they continue with the idea of the power pool, but what did you think of it when you first saw it and what do you think of it now? Yeah, I mean, I think it's been great for our game. It's kept the lopsided scores that we used to see in the past.

You know, I remember in 2006, we beat Italy 16-0-0, and we got criticized for it. Obviously, it was their first Olympics in women's ice hockey, but I will tell you, after that game, that crowd gave them a standing ovation. They were crying in the handshake line as they shook our hands. They were so proud of that moment. And now to watch 20 years later, and they potentially could be in a quarterfinal game here. I'm not 100% sure of all the results at this time, but there is potential for that. and that's what the growth of the women's game has done in, you know, what, 20, 25, 30 years. And, you know, Sweden, I think if you're Sweden, you're starting to think, hey, how do we continue to get better if we're still playing in that B pool?

We want to play against the best. And so we're starting to see the gap close, which is really important, I think, for the future potential of changing, you know, the pool system and the way it goes. but it's done a great job of eliminating some of those difficult scores and those you know high-end 16-0-0-7-0 scores it's made i think the parity stronger i think you're seeing the other countries get stronger for me it has to change at the federations jeff you know i talk to some of the federations as i'm you know preparing for these olympics and they're saying yeah you know this is what we need to do to win bronze and i'm like what do you need to do to win gold and that has to be the mindset that these federations start to have rather than And let's see how we can win bronze. Why not go for gold? And once that change happens, I think we're going to see a better game overall. Which other federations do have this? What do we do to win gold mentality about them?

I mean, look like Finland's a really good program now. You know, I can still remember, I can still remember Kim Martinez, almost, you know, Kim Martinez sticking at the countries too. who has that mentality of, yeah, sure, Canada and the United States are favorites, but that's our goal, is to beat them. Hey, I think Czechia can upset if they get to the semifinals. There's no question about it the way that they've played and they continue to get better. And even though Sweden's coming out of the pool B, I watched that game yesterday,

and I got to tell you, they're big, their defense are really good, they're fast, they can shoot, they have some high-end offensive talent Hilda Svensson, the youngster from 19 that goes to Ohio State. I know Tessa Bonum would be really proud. I mentioned that. Listen, I think they can potentially do some damage too. So I honestly believe

this is going to be the best talented Olympic games we've ever seen in women's hockey, the most parody. And I give a lot of credit, Jeff, and I know I work for the league, but I give a lot of credit to the PWHL and the fact that a lot of these players have the ability to come over, train with the best, practice with the best.

And I think it's only going to get better. But this has been a big raise in the level of the game. I honestly, K, regardless of your position with the PWHL, it's one of the places that I wanted to get to, which essentially is the presence of the PWHL and players from all over the world playing in it. And I think we're still waiting for more of an exodus from a country like Finland, for example, can only help

the international game and I think we're going to see the byproduct of that at these first Olympic games. Of all the countries that are out there now, which country do you think got the most, how do we call it this way,

which country got the PWHL bump the most? I think check, yeah. You know, you look 11 players total that, you know, play in the PWHL, their coach is there, you know, in Carla McLeod, the great Carla McLeod, good friend, former teammates. And, you know, I do. They play a physical game.

They're not intimidated. You know, you think of Colton Cova and leading the league and goals scored. You know, I watch the New York Sirens and I watch her be, you know, they're up one-nothing late in the game or up 2-1, and there she is. She's out there and best on best. And, you know, I think for them, it's about the belief that they can win. And, you know, even I heard Alina Mueller prior to the Olympics for Switzerland saying, you know, I play with these guys. And I'm paraphrasing a little bit.

I play with everyone. But I now know we can compete and we can potentially beat them. And that's the attitude. I think these organizations have to have, you know, federations have to have, players have to have to have in order to take the next jump. Okay. Let me ask about one thing. I was talking to Aaron Ambrose about this before she went to Italy here on the show. And actually, I think she might have brought it up.

I don't even think I even considered it, but she brought up the idea that once upon a time, like I'll focus on your era. Like when you played, we all knew how much you hated the United States and we all know how much the United States hated you. That was obvious. It was like the old school NHL

where teams wouldn't travel together. They would take separate trains. They stayed away from each other. They were fined if they were caught fraternizing. Oh, you'd play with the New York. rangers, you were caught having a beer with somewhere from the Boston Bruins. That's a $50 fine. Like, that's how much everybody was separated. So on the one hand, there's this flourishing of other countries and the development of their players, Canada and the United States as well. We have to

mention that as well. But at the same time, does it diminish the hatred that has existed between the United States and Canada? I mean, essentially what I'm asking is, does it, still burn as powerfully as it did with your group cast because anyone that watch you guys play, like, dude, it was nasty. It was nasty between you guys. Yeah, I mean, hatred's a strong word, obviously, and I've become really good friends with so many of those American players. But, yeah, knowing there really was a dislike. And, you know, I think it still exists.

Off the ice, maybe not so much. But on the ice, as soon as you put the jersey on, you go and you start the game, the hatred is there. dislike is there that's probably a better word but off the ice there's just more camaraderie the players know each other from different countries they go to ncAA together use for it or now they play in the bw hl so um it's yeah it's it's still a great rivalry i honestly believe and i'll say this time and time again without the u.s canada rivalry women's hockey would not be where it is today i think it's it's given us a platform it's it's the best rivalry in sports as far as what it was what it did for its particular sport.

But yeah, I'm friends with them now, so that's good. I got over it. But I love to count the amount of golds that, you know, we were able to win. And that was one of the reasons why I went back to the program four years ago, five years ago, was, you know, when Canada went to the bronze medal game, I was like, this doesn't sit well with me. You know, what's the problem here? And the expectation sitting at home watching was gold. And so why are we now winning a bronze medal at the football?

World Championship. And that ate at me. And I think it ate at a lot of the former players. And so it was great to go back and have a small, small, small, small role in changing that. And then, you know, watching this group now. But the dislike is still there as soon as the jersey comes on. As soon as the game starts, there's no question about it. Okay.

We're going to be checking in with you regularly throughout the games and very much looking forward to that. Let me ask you a couple of thoughts on what you think. this tournament's going to look like from the men's side. You know, Greg Wischinskin, we're talking about this the other day. You know, it seems laughable that the whole world is now, oh, you know what, the best international rivalry is Canada versus the United States, and this is a great new rivalry. Meanwhile, this has been, you know, the rivalry on the women's side for a number of years. But what do you think it looks like on the men's side this time around?

Sweden's banged up, we know that. Finland doesn't have Barkoff, we get it. But outside of Canada, U.S., what do you look for on the? men's side of the tournament. Your feathers look great, by the way. Yeah, thanks. Sorry about this. You guys, the time change just got to me here. But, and I, you know, Jeffrey, I'm the least glamorous person there is. I don't know what that cast. Yeah, no, I, like, you hear some of the management from the Swedish men's team. And they're like, yeah, we're hearing all about this Canada U.S. final.

And we're just going to sit back and listen to the narrative. But you know, that's motivating them. You know, I, and, you know, I think Canada has a tough star playing against Cheki. never know what can happen there. And the Melka's been playing really good for Utah, or Dostal. I just saw him last week. And in Anaheim, he's been great. And again, anything can happen.

And, you know, the focus of that American commercial is Canada. And then Canada comes back and they have their commercial against the USA. But I think if any one of those two teams take any game for granted, thinking ahead, there could be an upset on both sides. It's highly unlikely. I mean, I predict a Canada-U.S. But you just never know what can happen, especially in the quarterfinals, whereas one game takes all.

What do you, first of all, any surprises on the Canadian side by way of roster selection? I think a lot of eyebrows raised. Not just that Tom Wilson is there. Like Tom Wilson leads the Washington Capitals and scoring. Tom Wilson's been a really good player for the Washington Capitals. I know everyone still has the Wilson blinders about suspensions and hits and all that, but this guy's turned himself into a high-level player. But initially playing here on a line with Conner,

McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. Any surprises for you on the men's side of the Canadian roster? Listen, you know what? I'll tell you why Tom Wilson's on that line. Do you remember the first Canada U.S. game at the Four Nations when Charlie McEvoy was in the lineup? Remember, he missed the final, but he was in that initial game. And the huge hit that he laid on Connor McDavid along the coming down the right side,

I personally think that's why Tom Wilson is there. You know, Charlie McAvoy and Quinn Hughes, Quinn Hughes, obviously. obviously not the physical side, but those were two defenses in the U.S. didn't have in the final game. And they have them now. And I think Tom Wilson's on that line to sort of combat that physicality that McEvoy can bring. You know, for me, Jeffrey, I think that that fourth line for Canada seems a little strange for me. You know, obviously they're going to miss Sorrelli on that line. They have Horvatt, Reinhardt, and Hegel penciled in.

But I don't understand, yeah, I don't understand the identity of that line. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see Sam Bennett come in and bring that physical dimension on that line. And I'm so glad that he was brought back onto the team. And obviously, you never want to see someone get hurt. But I was really shocked that he was left on the team. And then it'll be interesting to watch Celebrini and McDavid. You know, everyone's thinking Celebrini and Crosby because they played together at the worlds and they're similar players. But he has such a high hockey IQ.

His two-way game, I think, will help McDavid as well. And I'm looking forward to see how that line fares going up against the top physical pairing that the U.S. will provide and, you know, other teams. And, yeah, I'm looking forward to just seeing how physical they allow this game to, you know, this game at the Olympics to be compared to the NHL. There's just so many factors in that regard that sometimes things can be called a little bit differently. Yeah. But look at the roster. Like, look at the roster. How can you go wrong?

Like, you have so much talent. I think so much versatility on the roster, too. That's why Seth Jarvis is there. He brings a versatile element, so to Sam Bennett. And, yeah, it's going to be really fun to watch. I'm so excited for best-on-best. It's fantastic. There's nothing like it, and you're a big part of it for a number of years

and picked up gold medals to the process. Cassie, thanks so much. I know you've got business to take care of. Games coming up this afternoon. You'll be well. We'll check back soon and regularly. All right. Right, I'll try not to be in the makeup chair next time.

All right. Or locked in the bathroom cast. What a trip so far. It would be quieter. It'd be quieter. It'd be quieter. It's a good point. Fair enough.

All right. Well, we'll figure out where you are next time. In our new Where's Cassie segment. You'd be good. Say hi to Haley and the whole crew for me. All right. Thanks, my friend. See ya.

There she is. The great Cassie Campbell, Pascal. Who always gave me great advice. Hey, Zach. Before you bring Tyler on here, to talk more about the men's side of the equation and talk about the Oilers too. Cassie gave me some great advice once. When I first started at Hockey Night in Canada, 2008, so Cassie was already an established sideline reporter, Rinkside host with Hockey Night. And I remember, I think we were at dinner and I was asking just picking her brain for advice for doing Rinkside.

And she said, you're not going to get this advice from anybody other than an accident. athlete. And I said, what's that? She said, wherever you go, bring gum or mince. And I said, why? She says, as an athlete, I can't tell you how many times I would get off the ice through a walk-off interview. And the person that I was talking to just had like the worst coffee breath or the worst like whatever breath. She said, I always remember. Like if I ever, if wherever rolls are reversed and if I'm ever holding the microphone, mints or gum. wherever you go, she's only going to hear that advice from an ex-athlet.

And it's true. The player coming off the ice, sucking air, just dying, drenched in sweat and all these air, medium, y'all. So, what happened with that goal? Oh, gee.

Great advice. They don't teach you that to broadcast college kids. They don't teach you that where you're learning how to be a broadcaster. You only got to learn that from athletes that have had to put up. with it. Yes. Keep your mitts and gum.

Keep your gum handy. You don't learn that at Broadcast College. Okay, let's get on the men's side of things here and also we should park some time to talk about the Oilers because when you have Tyler Yremchuk aboard, host of DFO Live and Oilers Nation every day, you use it as much as you can

and you pick his brain about the Edmonton Oilers. But before we get there, anything jumping out at you from line combos that you've seen so far? you know, replacement players. Let's just sort of go like reverse pyramid.

Big picture and then we'll narrow it down. Any big surprises for Tyler U. Remchuk so far? Again, like with the injury thing, and I'm trying not to be an oil or homer and all this, but I really thought there would be a path to Zach Hyman. Again, I know that's kind of old news. It's out of the news cycle now,

but Canada very clearly valued bringing, or the continuity from four nations, right? Same eight blue liners. We've obviously known that for the two. replacement guys being Bennett and Jarvis. So I mean, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that they did that, considering again, the blue liners and the fact that the first injury guy was Sam Bennett, Jarvis being the next man up. I suppose it makes sense and it's consistent with their other decision making. I still think it should have been Zach Hyman. But for me, the big surprise is the fact

that McLeodan's on that top line with Connor McDavid. I obviously heard you talking with Cassie there for a little bit. I really thought that they would maybe try to like insulate Celebrity. Sidney Crosby. And like, it's so funny when you have to wrap your head around talking about best on best hockey. Because it's like insulate Celebrini on a line with Sidney Crosby. But that lines your third line. But like, no, no, that actually does check out.

But the fact Celibriini is on that top line, like, that legitimately kind of caused me to go like, oh, wow, like they're throwing them right to the fire. Well, you know, the thing about the thing about Celebrini not playing with Crosby. And Cassie mentioned it too. I mean, they worked so well together at the World Championships last year. And we all thought, okay, so maybe that's a wink to the future, didn't know it's going to be as quickly as this Olympics, but here we are.

But one thing about a tournament like this, and this is true of every team, not just Canada, obviously. You need instant chemistry. Like, you can't wait to see if something is going to work. It either works or it doesn't. You know, you go back to, you know, the last time we saw Best on Best.

You know, who's Crosby playing with? Well, it's Chris Cunits. And why is it Chris Cunits? Because they work so well together. Because Chris Cunits, like this is the point that I've always made. If you're going to play with Sidney Crosby, you have to be really comfortable on the wing with someone who plays on his backhand a lot.

So specifically, if you're playing left wing, you've got to be ready for things where if you're playing with someone that's not Crosby, who's playing a lot on his forehand, you're not getting the puck. But Crosby's giving you the puck at all kinds of different places. And nobody read Crosby's backhand better than Chris Cunitz. It was that one skill. But the fact that Celebrating Crosby works so well at the World Championships, I wondered if Cooper would be like, you know what?

We don't have time to try things, especially not against Chequia. Who can upset you? I thought for sure that they would put Celebrini together with Sidney Crosby, just because they have that instant chemistry and they don't have to test it. You know what I mean? Yeah, I get what you're saying. And I guess to turn it into like playing with Connor McDavid, those comments, Corey Perry made some really interesting comments a couple of months ago when he was talking

about how he was able to adapt to playing with Connor and Leon so well. And he kind of said like those guys are three, four steps ahead at all point. Like if you're going to be on their line, you need to be at least two steps ahead to even have a hope of keeping up with them. You probably need to be right on their level of thinking how they think. So in that sense, maybe it does make sense to put Celebrini, a guy who does think the game so well with Connor McDavid. Because another big part of it, and I've seen it obviously in Edmonton. And it's a little bit of an apples to Orange's comparison to sit there and go, okay, let's compare like Edmonton Oilers, regular season hockey to Connor McDavid at a best on best tournament.

But we saw Connor McDavid this year is early on in the season. There was a month where they were throwing them with Mangiopani and Frederick and all these guys. And I think Connor McDavid took a bit of onus on like, oh, I need to get these guys going a little bit. And his shot numbers were way down. He wasn't shooting the puck because I think he felt pressure to try to distribute a lot and get everybody involved.

So I wonder with putting a guy like Celebrini there who should be comfortable, who won't feel like, you know, Connor McLeod. David's looking them off or anything like that. I wonder if Connor McDavid will be comfortable with Breeney in the same way that when they put him with Nugent Hyman, two players who are really skilled, who Connor McDavid can trust. You can look at the numbers. When they put him back together in December, Connor McDavid shoots the puck almost more than

any player in the NHL when he's on the line, well, on a line with those two. So I think, again, putting him with players who I think he can trust a little bit, maybe brings the best out of Connor McDavid and makes Connor McDavid comfortable. You know, Cassie is sticking with McDavid here. Cassie brought up a really interesting point, and I don't think this is the sole reason, specifically because I think last time around, if the NHLers went, I still think Tom Wilson is on the team.

Just understanding, you know, understanding Doug Armstrong and hearing how he always talked about Tom Wilson and valuing that type of play. I think Tom Wilson would have been on the last Olympic team as well. But Cassie brought up an interesting point. She said, you know, think back to Charlie McAvoy on Connor McDavid at Four Nations and how that probably doesn't happen if Tom Wilson is on his line. Like that was big.

Like that was, that was that was really big. And not that it's the sole reason, but having Tom Wilson play with Connor McDavid with, again, eyes to the United States game, which you all think is going to be a gold medal game. Could that be a contributing factor here? Just because the last thing you want to do is someone take a run at, change momentum with a big hit on Connor McDavid. Yeah, I think even just in general to turn that into a bigger conversation, like the mobility and ability to move the puck on that U.S. blue line.

Like you throw Connor McDavid up there and again, tie it back to something Zach Hyman does well, he gets in on the forecheck, he pushes the D-Men back and he forces them into the other team's defensemen into uncomfortable situations. So if you're looking at this American roster and it's like, whoa, Werenski and he's, and go down the list, McAvoy and all these guys who are so talented at getting the puck out of their own end and moving it up ice, well, throw someone up there next to 97 who can maybe get in a little bit quicker and make a good check on, or make a good play on the forecheck, and that can turn into zone time.

Like, again, Connor McDavid, for as much as the highlight reels of him are breakaways and these, you know, ripping up the ice with speed and all that, he does so much of his damage off the cycle in the offensive zone when he can get moving in, wear down the other team and find that little seam that no one else can find. Like that's where Connor McDavid actually does a lot of his damage. So have someone who, when you're dumping the puck into the corner, can turn that little chip in to blow the goal line into extended zone time and then allow Connor McDavid to really get to work.

You know, one of the things that's got a lot of attention around Canada, obviously is the goal attending. And bluntly, Jordan Bennington's been hard to hit all season long. He's had a tough year with the St. Louis Blues. Now, he's not playing behind the team. Team Canada defense, the St. Louis Blues defense has been abjectly awful all season

long. But parking that, is Canada a team that needs elite level goaltending by way of making saves or do they need a goaltender like Jordan

Bennington who can handle the puck? You know, one of the conversations we had of Four Nations last year was Canada's really efficient in their own zone because they have a goal tender who's really comfortable with the puck here. You know what I'm getting at? Like, there's an old carnival saying, what you gain on the roundabout? You lose on the swings?

You know, okay, I'm making more money on the roundabout, but we're not making as much money on the swings. So do you give up a few opportunities knowing that the bonus of it is you got a goalie that can handle the puck? It's, I don't know. I keep going back and forth on it. What do you think? Roundabout or swings? I still like I don't think that's enough for me to want to lean on Jordan Biddington in this tournament. Like I agree with you that it's a positive.

And again, if we're doing like a linear comparison to can't from Canada's blue line to team USA's blue line, like there's one that can move the puck a lot better. So Bittington's going to help Canada's blue line overcome that deficiency a little bit that I can see how there's a case for that. I just I just think in a one in when we're going to get to a point in the tournament where it's one. game determines if you're moving on or not, what has a chance? Like, is the positive side of some puck moving in a short one game against USA? Like, does that outweigh the possibility of one or two goals going in that shouldn't? Like, no, it doesn't. Like, for me, this should be Logan Thompson's crease from the jump. And again, he should have every opportunity to run with this thing through

the whole tournament. But again, the familiarity combo to go back to that. Like, do they sit there and go, no, no, the guys on this blue line have now played with Jordan Binnington before. they're more comfortable with him back there and with his style of play and his puck moving. And does that maybe, do they lean to bidding in it? I don't know. It seems so obvious that it should be Thompson. But again, the familiarity thing maybe throws you off a little bit. Okay.

So hang on. I'm going to write this down here. So Tyler says, important to stop puck. Okay. This is good. This is, okay,

I'm learning. Okay. I'm new to this. I'm stopping the puck important to goaltenders. Got it. I know, I listen, I know I'm saying it's all tongue in cheek.

I know exactly what you mean when it comes to that. To the point about Logan Thompson, let me just scare Canadians a little bit here. So you sat down and done a number of different interviews with Olympians. The Rick Nash one was excellent, by the way. I sat down with Chris Pronger a couple of weeks ago, and we had this conversation about goaltenders, and I brought up Logan Thompson. Right catch goaltender, okay?

Not a left catch traditional. And he said, that could be a tough adjustment. And I'm like, for Chris Pronger, one of the best to ever play to say that's a tough adjustment, there's probably something there. So like, what do you mean? And he said, well, let me give an example. He said, players lining up for the one time we're in the OV spot. Okay, that's why a lot of power play shots come from.

He said, as a defenseman, his job is to take away short side. But that's with a left catch goaltender. He said with a right catch goalie, he wants to use his glove in that spot, which I would normally be taking away because with a traditional goalie, that's short side. He said, it's a slight difference and a slight adjustment, but in a tournament like this, if you hesitate for half a second, that could be the difference. He said, and pucks go to different areas, two different places, rebounds, coming off a right catch goaltender.

So like, I'm with you that I think ultimately this is going to be Logan Thompson's net. I just don't know that it's as simple as, well, you know what, give Bennington the first game And then after that, we'll get to the quote unquote real goalie here. Because unless you played in front of a right catch goalie, you don't really know. And for Pronger to say that, I was like, ooh, this isn't like a third pairing defenseman on a 28th place team saying it's a hard adjustment. This is Chris Pronger. What do you think about that?

I mean, it is hard to argue with Chris Pronger when it comes to playing defense. So I like, I get it. And maybe another part of this too is like you have three round robbing games, right? The Czechia game, like, again, there are no slouches. They have a really good roster. And Lucas Dostle between the pipes could be a problem. And Switzerland's got NHLers too. Like, how do you divvy up?

Because you can give this team a couple of games now to get to get used to playing in front of Logan Thompson if you wanted to, but do you give him the Chekia game right out of the gates with all of that in mind? Or is the safer play to go with Jordan Bittington, who everyone's comfortable with? and you kind of say like, hey, as long as we kind of bring our B plus level game, A minus game, like we should win this one regardless of who's behind us in that. Or do you view that Chequia game as maybe your best test? And you say, you know what, this is a really good chance to throw Logan Thompson in there. Because if he's going to be our guy in the metal round,

we maybe don't want his only two games to be against Switzerland and France when he could face how many combined shots in those two games? 25 maybe in the two games combined. like how they divvy all this up and how even they value the results of a game against Chequia compared to the results of a game against Switzerland. Even when it comes to like the chemistry and the forward lines to bring it back to our first topic, like if Connor McDavid and Macklin-Cellibrini don't look great against Chekia and you go, okay, is this something we want to keep rolling with?

But then they go out against Switzerland and they have four points. And it's like, okay, but you didn't do great against Chequia. So how do we value that? Like the way you go through this round robin and how you sort of value and judge those results based on the opponent, that's really interesting too. Because again, we are going to blink and it's going to be metal round time. And those games, no margin for air. You know, we have a show coming out here a little bit later on today, preview show for the Olympics. And Pete Blackburn was playing the role of the American analyst on this one.

Your partner with DFO Live, Carter Hutton, taking Canada. the great Ufebodeen handling Switzerland. And I asked Pete about Group C and whether it's a blessing or a curse. No offense, Leon. No offense, Tim. But it's Germany, Latvia, and Denmark and the United States. If anybody has a layup here, it's the U.S. in pool play. I said blessing or curse and he said curse.

Because you're not really getting tested. Canada's going to get tested, right? Czechia is going to get tested. Finland's going to get tested. Sweden is going to get tested. United States probably won't. And if they're getting tested in this pool, there's problems. I look at this one, I go, I think Pete's right.

This ain't a blessing. This is a curse. Because A, if you struggle, you got real problems. And B, if you don't struggle, you're not supposed to struggle against these teams, but you haven't learned anything about your team. And then to your point, Tyler, next thing you know, here come games to count where you could be going home. at every one of these tournaments there's usually something that just throws a total wrench into what we think

and we think that there's a path to it being Canada, USA in the gold medal game. I mean, you go back to 2010 and it wasn't supposed to be Canada, Russia in the quarterfinal. That was supposed to be a matchup way later on, but Canada goes one, one and one, and it's shocking and stunning. And I'm saying all this because when our DFO big predictions article goes out on the site later, Jeff, you're going to call me crazy. I'm going to say something crazy. What do you got?

And I have my own money on it on a betting account. I have Germany winning the group just because I think the value is really good. I'm sitting there and I'm, okay, I love the high-end talent that they have. And I'm, this is now just me kind of talking as like a gambler. I'm curious about this. You have a team with Philip Grubauer, who's actually been one of the boys in the NHL this year. This is not Philip Grubauer of the last couple of seasons. Leon Drysiddle, last year, I think he should.

should have won the Hart Trophy, but he was a heart trophy finalist. Moritz cider probably deserves to be more in the Norris Conversation. True. Norris Trophy conversation this year than he has been. Tim Stutzla, like you kind of have a few guys there. And I just think USA might have their foot off the gas a little bit here. They'll smoke Latvia. They will smoke Denmark.

I think Germany will also smoke Latvia and Denmark. And I'm looking, Germany's almost 1 to win this group. I'm saying they're going, you're giving me 10 to 1 odds on what will basically come down to one game between these two teams. I think USA might be thinking the same way that you kind of are and P. kind of are where they're sitting there going, oh God, is this going to be too easy for us? No, no, no, like you're going to have to play a German team that has some pretty good players. It's my, listen, I might look like a dumbass if USA wins that game 8-1.

And I'm used to looking like a dumbass, so I'm comfortable saying things like this. But I think Germany at plus 950 to win Group C, I think they might be the disruptor in this tournament. and I'm not alone because Marken has them going pretty deep in this tournament. I'll tell you what, it would be a lot of fun. And you know who would, you know who the biggest I told you so would come from? Brian Burke. Oh? Brian Burke has been talking about, I remember when he, when he ran the Maple Leafs,

I remember being at Rico Coliseum, now Coca-Cola Coliseum and talking to Berkey. And they had, he had a development agreement done and signed between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mannheim of the DEL. And I'm like, you know, Bricky, this kind of came out of nowhere. And he goes, I've been, I've been thinking about this for the longest time.

It's, it's a country that has probably, that needs to do something with their import rules to develop more. But it's an athletic country with an athletic culture. It's a, it's a, a winter country that has developed elite level athletes.

And he said, it's the next big country to pop. Like this is, This is before dry sidlemania and all of it. He goes, this is, he said, watch the future of hockey in Germany.

It is going to be massive. They have to fix their import rules, right? Because it's just like four Germans and, you know, 18 Canadians, right? He goes, once they,

once they fix that, you watch how German hockey takes off. And it's taken a while, but you watch tournament, tournament after tournament. Like, Germany is, is that team that's,

that's turning heads. Now, on the U.S. side of things, here, Tyler, I'm going to be mindful of your time. I need to get stuff to do. One last question. On the U.S. side of things. Last year at the Four Nations, I thought the best player in the whole tournament was Jacob Slavin. Incredible. I thought the second best player might have been Dylan Larkin.

Every time he touched the puck, something happened. Larkin was amazing. I wonder if this tournament's version of those players, the player that pops, where all of a sudden understand how great this guy is, Matt Boldy. If you're a Minnesota wild fan, you know it. If you're in Minnesota wild, you know how great Matt Boldy is.

But outside of Minnesota, who knows how great Matt Boldy is? Well, you might be able to find out of you. I'm with you 1,000%. I've been kind of saying it now for the better part of a year that I think he is in that conversation that like, you know, kind of like,

maybe it was seven, eight years ago when everyone kind of went like, oh, Alexander Barkoff, most underrated player. in the sport. And then it kind of got to a point where it was like, okay, we've said it enough that like he's no longer underrated. I think we're right at the end of that window here with Boldie where like, he everyone knows he's good and like he's probably,

or he is, I think still grossly underrated. But I think a year from now it's going to be like, this guy is a bona fide superstar. And I'm so excited for him to play with centermen who can also like get him the puck better and keep plays alive a little bit better. And that's no knock on really anyone they have. Like Joel Erickson X great and all that. But like we are going to see this guy play.

with some superstar high-end centermen and defense. Like, I can't wait to see what Matt Boldie does. I love it. The only other name, like, we know Tage Thompson is great because he scores 50 goals and all of that. But that third line, that Team USA was running at their practice the other day of Kyle Connor, Dylan Larkin, and Tage Thompson, I was sitting there looking at that and kind of going, like,

who, as a Canadian, that is a line that strikes a lot of fear in me being as low on their depth chart as it kind of is. Yeah, there's a few reasons to fear the United States. I do wonder, just like Canada, like who gets to start? Like the default, I guess, would be hellabuck, but hasn't had the best of all possible seasons. Do you go right to Jeremy Swamen? And that Ottinger guy in Dallas,

who at last check is pretty good too, that's really going to be intriguing. All right, you got stuff to do. Always appreciate the contributions. You be good. DFO Live back tomorrow. You guys are back hot. We are back tomorrow.

Loved it. Missed it today. So get back on the air. It's my noon stop, Eastern. You be good. We'll check in soon. Sounds good. Thanks, Jeff. There is Tyler, Your Amtrak, host of DFO Live, also Oilers Nation every day as well.

And I'll tell you what, one thing. Hey, Zach, did you listen to Tri-State Hockey Pod with Mike Rupp? Jack Hughes? I saw some of the clips of him talking about it. Yeah. First of all, that is an elite pod. And I've mentioned this before. I'm so glad here at Daily Faceoff that we're starting to do cluster pods,

which is, for those who don't know, tri-state hockey pod, as a podcast that mainly covers the Rangers, the Islanders, and the New Jersey Devils. It's a high-end pod. And hearing someone who played in the NHL for as long as Mike Rupp did and had the success that Mike Rupp did, score a Stanley Cup winning goal, one Stanley Cup. Hearing him talk about Jack Hughes and not playing in that last game before the Olympics and then saying that he's good to go and he's playing in the Olympics was a really, real eye-opener. And the idea of a player when he's day-to-day really means it's his decision

whether he wants to play or not and taking it to Brad Marchand of the Florida Panthers, who at that point too was day-to-day, but said, I am going to play today because this is an important game. And we all know where the New Jersey Devils are in the standings and what the season means. And I found it fascinating hearing Ruppert talk about. about not being cleared and essentially saying poppycock, that's the player's decision. That's weighty. If you get a chance,

anyone watching a listing, go back to listen to or watch the tri-state hockey pod. If for no other reason, and the rest of the pot is great too, to hear Rupper talk about Jack Hughes and how Devils fan. And you understand the frustration of New Jersey Devils fans going like, dude, we're done.

And all I could think about was like Ottawa Senators fans coming off the Olympics when Dominic Aschuk tore his like angel hair past the groin and like wouldn't even get on, would not even practice, it wouldn't even step on the ice as everybody begged him to try. Devils fans, Ottawa Senators fans from that era, feel you. And to compare them to Brad Marchand too, like, oh, dagger, dagger. I think there's also like some fatigue, Hughes fatigue, just in general, with everything that's taken place in New Jersey this year.

Injuries, the Quinn Hughes saga, what it did to everybody else, Palat, Hamilton, all that kind of stuff that it stirred up, the Fitzgerald stuff. Like, it just was this big storm of things that all centered around and involved the Hughes brothers and family, whether that's their fault or not. that's up for other people to decide how they want to view it. But, you know, it started the season with Luke Hughes in the contract and then carried over to Quinn and the trade and Jack and the injury and now Luke in the injury and then what it meant for Fitzgerald. And then was just like, we're about to get a break. We can get away from this.

We can all take a breather. And Jack's not playing. You know, it's like, what the fuck? Like Leaves fans got to walk away from it being like, we want to. three straight let's just like we're sitting high oh we'll sell we'll not sell who the hell cares we we won three in a row we get a break the devil's fans had to sit there and watch him not play in what was like kind of a must win or at least must go balls to the wall i'll take it like a notch below must win even if you didn't win you had to show you know like hey we're here we're giving it everything and

he didn't play and now that's the taste they've been left with for three weeks where they're going to watch him go to the olympics and play with his brother and Just remember, he didn't play at the end of your NHL freeze. Yeah. I just hope he doesn't get hurt because I don't want to know how hot. It gets hot enough in New Jersey right now. If he just, and he didn't play in those last couple of games for the Devils as they continue to spiral. And then plays with the U.S. at the Olympics and then gets banged up again.

I don't want to be around a Devils fan. I don't want to be a Dron Devil's fan if that happens. They really, really don't. Hey, why do you, something I was mentioning, something I was talking about on DFO rundown, came out a couple hours. It came out this morning around six or seven Eastern. With Gregor was,

I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week on this program. Was J.T. Miller, Philippeal, the worst trade of all time? Yes. I was watching the clip that came out. No, you didn't. But I was watching the clip that came out. of you talking about it,

I agree with you 100%. You expand on it for people here. So the basic theory is like when you think about, and again, let me phrase it this way. When you say the worst trade of all time, usually it's judged on one team fleecing the other team. One team just like,

you know, Brian Burke would always talk about, the way we judge trades is if the guy he made the deal with got fired, then it was a good trade. Like that's what these guys were all freaking pirates, as Brian, I always say, you know, just trying to get everybody around them fired, trying to steal players.

You know, the old saying about Cliff Fletcher, if you shake hands with Fletcher, you got to count your fingers after. Ha, ha, look what he did, the rise brow with the Gilmore deal. Like all of these things about all of these guys. Pirates, pirates, right? It doesn't really exist anymore. But there are plenty of trades that we look at and we say, wow, that's lopsided. What a bad trade. And when we say bad trade, we usually mean like one team got scotched.

both teams got scotched. One team's in 30th. The other is in 32nd after this. Like neither team got better. Both teams got worse. Both are headed to the lottery. And why? Now it's not only because of this trade.

But this is the main part, isn't it? This is the main piece. Like Miller didn't make the Rangers better. And they doubled down with the letter. it didn't free up Elias Pedersen to flourish once again. And the Vancouver Canox are stuck looking at themselves and saying, how did we go from Elias Pedersen, Boeravat, J.T. Miller, Jason Dickinson down the middle to this. Where both managers are saying, White Flagg rebuild.

Like there have been tiny small deals. And I'll go over them. I got a couple of tweets about it. We'll go over some of them. on a later show this week, smaller deals that didn't work out. Like, this was a massive trade to help crush both teams.

I think the worst deal makes you of the NHL. Both teams got caved in. Helped crush both teams. Let me just... Softly, hang on. Let me just walk you up the volcano before I push you in. It's kind of like, it's kind of like,

what happened here? here. Yeah. I agree with you for sure. I know people in the chat are pointing out the lopsided ones, as you would mention, where one team wins. That can be a worst trade ever from one team's perspective. Like the one that was brought up, J. D. Lin, here.

Worst trade ever remains ERAT for Forsberg. That's not the worst trade ever for the Nashville Predators. So therefore, it can't be the worst trade ever. You know, it's like in the office when Michael Scott says the lose, lose, lose, or the win, win, win, and now all of a sudden there's three parties. This is the rare lose, lose, lose, because the Rangers lost, the Canucks lost, and we all lost because we have to watch it. Like, it's a lose, lose, lose to have this happen.

Therefore, worst trade ever. We have to watch it. It's like, it's like clockwork orange with eyeballs propped up with toothpacks, forcing him to watch, poor Alex to watch ultraviolence. Anyway, I just, we're at the pause now. So it's like, okay, so what have we, Gregor and I talked about this on Rundown. Like, what have we learned about the NHL so far this season?

I'm pretty convinced I've just seen the worst trade in the history of the game. I agree with you. Worst trade in the history of the game. I've watched a little bit of hockey before. And I can't think of a trade that's worse than this one. No. Wow. These two teams might be one, two, in the draft.

They might be. And what was the, I didn't, the comment too about from J.T. Miller before they left, they asked what to do and he said, I genuinely don't know or I literally don't know. Take a break and come back. Okay, thanks. Thanks for the inspirational quote, Captain. Aye, I. Like, what the fuck was that?

What a way to leave? And then did you see Vinny Trocheck, the tweet Russo put out? Oh, God. did today the USA pictures. Minnesota. And they did a, they did, um, team. Then they did college teammates. They did NHL teammates, the brothers and Vinnie Trocheck joke that he should be in the

Minnesota picture. Everybody knows. Do you classify that as soft tampering? Soft tampering. Soft tampering. Soft tampering. Soft tampering. Oh, geez.

That is interesting about this time of year at these international teams too. Like how much quarter, would, if it would just happen in the NHL would be. tampering. But... Yeah. But now it ain't. Now it ain't. I remember, like, I've had so many managers say, like, the way that they would do it is, oh, I would never, like, talk about a player on a contract.

But I'd be talking to an agent. And I'd say things like, ah, you know, July's coming around. I'd be looking for, like, a, I don't know, like a right shot, defenseman, six foot two, two, two hundred and seven pounds, maybe play junior and swift current. I'd probably be willing to do five times five. Not naming any names. Never saying a player's name, but just,

I just wondering, maybe played a couple years at B. U he's a little smaller on it. Maybe a six foot, maybe five, 11, you know, but put up like 30 goals. Scored 61 to 63 points last year,

somewhere in that range. I don't know. Maybe it falls on 62. I don't know. I'd be willing to go, you know, four times five on a contract like that. Not tampering.

Never said the player's name. the sheet at the nation network.com. I know, right. The sheet at the nation network. Dot com is the email. We got a couple of 40. We should, with more time on our hands the next few weeks, we should do more of these.

And we will. A couple of emails before we get to the shine spot for our man, Zach. Yeah, let's go with Ryan from Chicago. I've been watching the start of the Women's Olympic tournament and noticed that nearly every player on the ice wears a full cage. On the other hand, notice that if a men's player

has to wear full face protection, an example after injury, they seem to always opt for a fishbow. Have you heard from any of the women's players as to why they prefer the cage and have given the choice, would they switch to allowing visors? Thanks for all you do, and go USA.

He also adds in a note. Lane Hudson's dad used to be his high school hockey coach and based on the practices, he put them through, it's no surprise. His boys are so successful. I want to email Ryan back and ask him if he made them skate without laces, like he did with his boys.

Like, like the, no, like his team. Like, you know how he trained his kids, right? Yeah,

yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, to me if he made them to the high school. Yeah. Yeah, loose laces are no laces. Like,

you wonder why the Hudson boys were so great on their edges? Like, yeah, dad had them skating without laces. And look at how great there. It's all preference.

Some like, some like the goldfish bowls, some like the cage. Again, And it's all personal preference. As for visors, we asked Ambrose that. Aaron Ambrose from Team Canada and the PWHL Montreal Victoire. And she said, no, we don't want to look,

something along is that, we don't want to look ugly like you guys. I think if you put it to a vote, the overwhelming majority on the women's side would be sanity. Maybe it would even be unanimous. And they don't even want to be presented with the option of wearing a visor. Um, Burke also said you don't, he told the girls, you don't want to look like me. Yeah. That was one of the things that Burkey said. Keep the cages on.

You don't want to look like me. Have you or have your boys ever worn the fishbowl? Uh, no. No. Never. No, it's always, it's always been cage for them. Okay. And again, like, they're, their choice.

Yeah. Um, when I was in midget, we were going to like, I'll be the max tournament. You, you 16, sir. Please. Oh. My dad. Is it U-16? Yeah.

No, U-16 is minor midget and then 17, you're probably playing U-18. You-18 at that point. So that year... Please say it correctly, not to offend. Okay. My bad. Yes.

No squirts. Sorry. Tyke. U-18. Pee-wee. One of our coaches bought us them because he owned a pro shop. So he just got us them for a Christmas gift before the tournament. We had them.

I found it It was fun when the arena was cold Because there would be no problem As soon as it got warm It was a two problem issue The first one was that it just naturally got hot Because it's an enclosed area Obviously you get the mouth area

You can breathe out of But it still just gets hot in there And then the second piece is I felt moisture stuck to the inside of it Way worse Where you'd get a little bit of a fog If it was cold Where you'd see that

but it would get wet if it was hot in the arena, in which case then it gets all distorted. That was just my perspective, so it never really stuck for me. I wore for a little bit because he got them as a gift, but outside of that, I was like, I don't think this is for me. Like, it's, I need to see you down there

without having to, like, stare down there to see the puck because I don't want to get my head blown off. So that was the issue I found with a fishbowl. Yeah, I get it. But again, Nick, that's all personal personal. I think that one day, and probably not in my lifetime, but I think that one day the NHL will either be forced to

or will voluntarily go to full face protection. I think it'll probably take a grandfathering like we've seen with visors and helmets before it, but all it takes is a couple of superstar players losing their careers. Or maybe even just one until everybody has that conversation. Just when you think of how much money is invested in players, And your option is there. Now, the flip side of that coin is always players need to feel safe.

And safety comes in a couple of different ways. One, they're physically protected. And that would be elbow pads, shoulder pads, helmet, all those types of things. But two, they need to feel safe in that they need to be able to see and see quickly and move around. And if they feel like their vision is impaired. Like you mentioned, like looking at Pucks and your side, skates. Like one of the things, I remember I played men's league for a while without a visor.

You ever done that? No. I have the visor. Try it once. It is. You're not allowed in most leagues now to not play with one. You have to have something. Am I that old?

It feels recent. I was playing with guys who played without them, but. It feels amazing. You see, it's the, it's the coolest way to play hockey without any in front of your eyes. I know you get used to it, but then even when you take that off, like I'm telling you, Zach,

try it, man. It is the cool, you see so much. You see everything out there. I know why guys are hesitant, Ryan O'Reilly, hesitant to throw on the windshield. Jamie Bend,

even though he tried it. I get it. And then when you put that windshield on, even just psychologically, you don't feel as safe. You feel like you can't see everything, which is a dangerous way for a player to feel.

But these guys all grow up in cages. and bubbles. So that conversation goes nowhere. The sheet at the nationnetwork.com. We get time for one more email before. We put the spotlight on Zacharoo. This one comes in from Michael. Steady listener.

Yeah. As a former athlete whose career ended suddenly, I spent years seeking closure, albeit without knowing as much, quote, it'll take me 20 years to fix the last 15 or something like that. Anyways, my personal anecdote serves

says testament to the challenges anyone can face at the end of an athletic career, especially if it ends unexpectedly, to me, there be dragons perfectly encapsulates the unknowns that every athlete faces as they move into the rest of their lives. Thereby dragons would be an outlet for athletes to talk about the dragons they've faced as they've picked up the pieces. Regards Michael Radford, and that's in reference to you bringing up There Be Dragons, the Maps last week.

We don't know what's there, so we're going to write Derby Dragons. So I remember watching a video. You're a baseball guy, right? Yep. You know, drive line? Started out as a training facility. And now it's like heavy, obviously heavily data-based to improve baseball players, either velocity or swings.

It's essentially drive line. Kyle Bodie, I think was a guy's name who started it. And now he's like, I think he actually might work for an MLB team. I'm not 100% sure. But one of the videos they put out, I'll never forget this. And I've mentioned this public speaking. I've mentioned to athletes privately. One of the videos was with a pitcher that the Colorado Rockies drafted.

I want to say sixth or seventh overall in the MLB draft, had a great college career. He was going to be the next one. Now, it never worked out for him. But this is a guy who he was a proverbial 24-7 guy. Everything was all about the career. Every meal, every nap, every workout, all of it was all in service of his baseball career. And his point was a great one. He said on this video, and it's a short video, it's like five minutes long, but this really stayed with me.

And he said, hard work doesn't guarantee you anything except one thing. He said, hard work doesn't guarantee you a championship or a contract or a spot on a pro team. Hard work only guarantees you one thing. And that one thing is an answer to one question. How good am I? a lot of people won't put in the work to get that answer because it'll always be that unknown because if you don't go in like a penny for a pound

then you'll never really know the answer to how good am I because there might have been more work that you could do some things you cut corners on and this was a guy that never did it's a guy that again like I'm telling you like he was the all in guy from day one as like a 13 year old 12 year old 11 year old whatever

And he's like, I'm satisfied with my career because I got that answer. I knew there was nothing more that I could do. And I got the answer. And the answer was, I wasn't good enough. But I got the answer. How many people, and I would say it's the overwhelming majority, go through their athletic career and never get that answer? Because they never put in the work to really get the answer to that question. man I'll tell you that one like five minute clip has stuck with me for so long as far as like resonating with like that makes a lot of sense hard work gets you nothing but one answer to one question and it's the most important question how good am I and some guys just aren't going to make it right and it's just going to happen but at least you'll know and then you'll go and you'll live a life without regret because you know you know you know you'll go and you'll live a life without regret because you know.

know for your athletic pursuits, you game everything, you got your answer, and at the end of it was, you weren't good enough for that next level. And that's okay, because it's just life. Maternity warded crematorium, that's it, it's just life. And you got an answer to a question. I love that. Damn, you're going to have me thinking laying in bed tonight thinking about all the training and everything I did?

Wow, did I give it everything? Did you get a real answer? Did you really get the answer to that one question? How good am I? I got to find that video. It's a great. It's like a little five-minute video on Drive Lane from a million years ago. And it always stuck with me.

All that hard work does is give you an answer to one question. How good am I? Because everybody's asked that question. How good am I? Who gets a real answer? Very few. Anyhow, cheer up. It's good.

Cheer up. Kick it off the week here on the on the, on the, on the, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, the sheet. Okay, let's get to Shine Spot here for our man, Zach. Hang on, let me get this off my screen, and let me find this, and let me go here, and provide you with this. The sheet is powered by Fanduel.

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Connects Ontario at 1-866 531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge, comma, Zach, period. Well, we just had Cassie on obviously there. It's

It's nighttime for them, so a little bit different. But assuming the U.S. beat Switzerland tonight, which is technically now, Canada is going to need to correct their errant ways and fill the net to get back on track. There's an errand. Oh, you got Aaron. USA minus one and a half Hillary Knight, Aaron Ambrose and Sarah Filier. Oh, I love it. Taking place in like five minutes is when the U.S. game kicks off. So if you're watching live, perfect, if you're listening to this later.

I'm sorry, I got nothing for you today. But the U.S. to win by two or more minus one and a half, Hillary Knights, tonight. That's good. And then Aaron Ways, Aaron Ambrose, and Phil the net, Sarah Filier, who Sarah Filier is unreal. She's so good. She's sick. Like, again, like that to put too many expectations on this young athlete, like, she's going to carry Team Canada for a lot of years.

Yeah. Like that's from MPP Torch goes to her. Goes to Sarah Filier. She's sick player. Just a sick player. All right, that's a good one. I like it. I set the challenge for you to get Ambrose in one of these, and you did.

Now clip this and send it to Aaron in Milan, won't you? Yes, I will. That's fantastic. That's what she wants to deal with. She's focusing on the Olympics. She's like, oh, great. Nice, thanks, Zach. What is this?

What are I getting? this donkey like I'm trying to win a gold medal for your country asshole like stop sending me jarles of my name thanks thanks for the poem idiot thanks

thanks Aurora thanks so much for that thanks for that Aurora Zach I really appreciate it go YSE yeah alright so on the program tomorrow oh no actually no I want to remind you again New York Hockey Night

presented by Parasso our good friends Thursday, February 19th, joined daily face-off alongside special hockey guests at the atrium inside Ideal Glass Studios in New York City for a night of live podcasts, activations, and giveaways. In partnership with Parasso, Morning Cup of Hockey and Tri-State Hockey Pod will be on location for a night of candid conversations, big laughs and unapologetic hockey talk. Doors are opening at 6.30. Tri-State Hockey Pod gets going at 7.30. Thursday, February 19th, at the Atrium inside Ideal Glass Studios, 21 and 0.5.5. secure your spot, RSVP at nationgear.com. Make sure you check that out. If you're in the area, or maybe you just feel like traveling,

that one should be a fun night. And again, check out the most recent with some interesting comments from Rupper on Jack Hughes. Any parting thoughts here? How to you, Zacharoo? One thing. I know there's a lot about the arena in Milan. I've been watching the women's games that have been taking place.

I'm not going to say anything about the size of the arena, whatever, we've beat that thing to death. I hate that they didn't put the stands to the glass. That's the thing I don't like. There's no fan elements to watching it on TV anymore. It's blocked out. They're elevated up above the glass. You never see them.

And I think that that just takes it away a little bit. You don't get to see the fan reaction, the pop that goes off when the team scores a goal. I wish that that was included a little bit more. It's just a TV nitpicky thing, but there's just no element of fan involvement in the games. I don't like that. One bonus?

The sunny side of the mountain to your shady side of the mountain? Yeah. No glass bangers. True. Okay. I will agree with that. No glass bangers is a bonus. How many times if you said,

I don't care what we have to do, just get rid of glass bangers. Okay, well, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. But, I mean, I think about the imagery that we saw in the 2010 Olympics. I know.

No, you want fans all along the glass. But yes. I want them right there. Right up against the glass. I'm with you a million percent. But part of me is like, okay, we told you. Stop banging the glass and you didn't listen.

Yeah. It's really inconsequential, to be honest. But it was just the one thing that really stood out to me about the visual aspect of the games over the last couple of days. I was watching earlier. I can't remember who was commentating, goes, there's not an empty seat in the house. I'm like, I wouldn't know.

I'll have to take your word forward on that one. All right. Back to what. We got Wish tomorrow? Wish tomorrow. Yes. Greg. Tomorrow.

Yes. All right, Greg Wischinsky returns tomorrow on the program for more fun and frivolity and more discussion of the Milan games. So very much, We're looking forward to that. In the meantime, enjoy the women's hockey today. The men get going on later on this week. Greg Wischinski tomorrow.

And I think we're getting morning cup of tomorrow. Do we know if morning cup is coming back tomorrow? They're off today. Yeah, I believe they're back tomorrow. Okay, so full-scale. I think they're back tomorrow until Friday. And then they're doing a Friday show this week, I believe. Okay.

So, but we do get the cup of boys, the coffee boys coming up in the morning, right? Yep. I just need to know what I'm doing tomorrow on the bike, watching them. Okay, wanting to cup of hockey tomorrow. DFO Live returns as well, and then our little act. Hope you're aboard for all of it. Enjoy the rest of the day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

One o'clock Eastern. You know, we'll show.