The Sheet with Jeff Marek - New York Nightmare ft. Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Jeff Marek is joined by Greg Wyshynski to discuss everything happening in the NHL. Board of Governors meetings, panic setting in in New York, Sabres fans bringing palm trees and Hawaiian shirts, Laine being happy, and Andlauer's commentsSHOW INDEX00:00 INTRO04:00 New York Rangers18:40 Buffalo Sabres35:29 Ottawa Senators43:31 Patrik Laine48:30 Calder Trophy52:42 Questions from the Chat--------------------------------------------Connect with us on ⬇️Daily FaceoffX: https://x.com/DailyFaceoffInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailyfaceoff/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoff/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailyfaceoff?lang=en Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/The SheetX: https://x.com/thesheethockey Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesheethockey/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesheethockey Daily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it.

Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at one you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. You know, it's days like this you get right into it. Welcome to the sheet for this, what day is it? All these days run together. Tuesday, December the 10th. Glad to have you aboard today.

The chat is lively. I see you, SJ Sharks fan. I see you, John Evans. I see you, Olivia. I see you, Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Hey, remember Karen Douglas? Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas.

Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas.

Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas.

Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. Karen Douglas. I do. I do know Karen Douglas. I remember her. I think we reconnected on Blue Sky, if memory serves, after I've cut my Twitter output a little bit. I just realized I think I'm wearing a hoodie that matches the color motif of your show.

I did not mean for that to happen. It's not available as a giveaway. You can't get a Jeff Merrick sheet, the sheet hoodie. No, I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't get much promo around here. Can I ask you a question? Because I don't know don't i don't i don't i don't get much promo around here can i ask you a question because i don't know if i've asked you yet yeah go so the name of the the name of the show is is is the it's the shit but like you're saying it differently right that's

no no it's like the sheet like like game sheet like score sheet or i guess you could use like sheet of ice although you know everyone in the chat's calling themselves sheet heads which i didn't like at first but now i'm like i can't control it i can't control it just take it and go it like we're the sheet head when i heard that i love the show by the way by the way um laz laz and colby are accusing me of of tampering with their chat because essentially i go in the chat on that show because i love it so much and essentially i try to be as active as i can now people have migrated over to this one. And they've accused me of tampering with their chat.

So a lot of people you'll see on the morning cup of hockey chat on the one for the sheet. But I love it, man. Great people. It says something about me that I immediately went to the double entendre of it all. Like I really thought that like the sheet was Jeff Merritt. No. Shooting the sheet. Not that cool. No. She sheet with Jeff Merritt. No. The sheet. Not that.

Sheet heads. No. Sheet heads. You know. That wasn't mine either. I can't. Just bullshit. Bullshit.

You know. Bullshit. I know. Listen. I really thought it was. There's a lot of. Yeah. There's a lot of.

But do join us for our next giveaway. We'll be giving away a giant pile of sheet. There's a million ways to take it. Make your argument that that's, you know, Monday to Friday, three to four here on The Nation Network. Okay, so you're in Bristol. I want to get like, listen, first of all, hockey fans in New York State,

we see you, we're going to get to you, we're going to talk about you and we're going to talk about your teams. But really quickly, other than perhaps the obvious, why are you in Bristol? Well, yeah. So ESPN headquarters is in Bristol. I just realized it kind of looks like I'm in a police lineup, which is very interesting. But the point being is this.

I am in Bristol to accomplish something I've always wanted to accomplish. A bucket list goal, if you will, Jeff Merrick. And it's the first time in my life that I was invited to do this thing. I am going to judge a food competition here on the campus of ESPN. After we get done with the sheet, it is the Great Bristol Bake Off, hosted by the audio department that handles the podcast. And I was invited to be a, again, giant air quotes, like the wings of the Kaiju Rodan creating a wind gust. That's how big the air quotes are.

I am the celebrity that will help judge the competition. Again, I have watched Top Chefs in season one. Oh, I know that, yeah. Bobby Flay acolyte. To be invited to be a food contest judge is a lifetime dream of mine. So thank you, Disney Corporation, for once again making dreams come true for this little boy. Well, the two things that I've known about you for a long time is you love movie trivia and you love cooking shows. Oh, boy, do I.

I do. So this one's a sweet spot of the bat for you. Okay, well, listen, best of luck. I hope you have your taste buds warmed up. But enough of us, you know, we spent four minutes not talking about the news of the day and the topics of the day. And listen, I think things continue to get worse,

specifically in Sabre land. I mentioned some of the thoughts with Johnny and Colby this morning, and I'll expand a little bit more this afternoon. But last night, MSG, Chicago over New York. We heard the boos. We know the situation. We'll get to the swords and the wings here in a couple of seconds. But give us a time and temp from where you sit on the New York Rangers. As I said this morning with the guys, it's somewhere Gerard Gallant is smiling, saying, I told you it wasn't the coaching. Does he have a point? He probably does have a point.

So hastily was the beginning of a series of hasty decisions made by this organization that have made this locker room feel, oh, not as motivated as usual insofar as playing for the current coach and the current management. The temperature is very chilly. The time is growing short for the New York Rangers. You know, last night's game was not one in which they outshot the Blackhawks like 80 to 20. Last night's game against the Blackhawks is one in which you start to wonder, where is the effort? And when you start to wonder, where is the effort? And the team has already made a big trade to shake up the locker room. Well, then it goes immediately to the coach, doesn't it?

Do you think the issue is coaching? I know that there's always the Peter LaViolette, that the first season is always supercharged and it's, whoa, look at this. And we're never going to go back. I get like that is that is the history. As Peter LaViolette, by the way, continues his tour through every team in the Metropolitan Division. By the time his career is done, he will have coached all of them. But I don't know that I see this as a question of coaching as much as I see this as composition of the team. Agree, disagree.

Because look, they've tried the coach. They've tried the coach. They've now made the true move. If I'm Chris Drury, I'm still looking at more moves before I'm making a decision on the coach here. So I think the ultimate answer to your question is that the problems with the team track back to management. But the current problem with the team is in fact effort. It is in fact execution. And I don't think that I'm the first one to say that when you have a couple of extremely important veteran leaders in your team that aren't playing up to standards, that perhaps that may lead to maybe an indication of some unhappiness with the current coach. that may lead to maybe an indication of some unhappiness with the current coach.

But then how many times, because look at, you know how this works in the NHL. When you're a coach, okay, so here's the old belief. As a coach, you have to assume that 40% of the players are going to like you, 40% of the players are going to like you. 40% of the players are going to hate you. And it's your job to make sure that remaining 20% don't fall on the side that is against you. Like no dressing room is all on the same page about the head coach ever. Right. And specifically, not that I think that it means anything towards winning,

because we used to all look at Scotty Bowman, whether it was Montreal, whether it was Detroit, and everyone would say, well, everybody hates Scotty for 364 days of the year. And then on day 365, they got the rings. So I don't necessarily know you need to like your coach to win, but if you're Peter Laviolette or any coach in the NHL, you have to assume that at minimum, 30% of the room doesn't like you at any given time right uh the team can't play defense i think that's a systems thing um and that's been a problem for multiple seasons uh i i think though the construction point is an important one because he mentioned galant right we went from one of the ultimate players coaches in this league and galant who was fired not after missing the playoffs but for having a lack of playoff success and then they bring in laviolette who is the antithesis of that uh what management did to barkley goudre, while I don't think it rises to the level that some people see it as of

who will ever sign with the Rangers again, I think the Rangers are a lot like Vegas in the sense of- Everybody will sign with the Rangers. Everybody will sign with the Rangers. Yeah, everybody is treated like a complete, you're the Prince of New York on the New York Rangers until you aren't,

much like you're the Prince of Summerlin in Vegas until you aren't. But the way that they did good draw a player who was pretty well liked in that locker room i think did not set well i think uh having truba twist in the wind through the summer come back basically be a lame duck captain which obviously impacted him on and off the ice, was a problem for that room. I think the way they just did Trouba in the same manner in which they did Goudreau is a problem for that room. I think that Chris Drury has made a series of decisions that have not set right for that locker room. Oh, and by the way, the cost savings from Goudreau

and other moves that this team has made did not end up in acquisitions that made them all that much better. I mean, due respect to Riley Smith, but when I talked to Mika Zibanejad after last season about the kind of right wing he and Chris Kreider were looking for, he did not describe Riley Smith.

Okay? And so there's a lot of decisions made by management that all lead to one place, which is a lot of diminishing returns with the roster and some really terrible vibes pervading through your locker room. But I come back to this. I come back to a couple of things here. Go ahead.

One, Chris Drury didn't do anything that contravened the CBA. didn't do anything that contravened the CBA. He may not have liked it, but Barkley Goudreau knows what the rules are and what's possible. Jacob Truba knows what the rules are and what's possible. There's a lot of loaded language, more so specifically around Truba than Goudreau.

This idea that they threatened him with waivers. Well, I would say- Those are his words. They didn't threaten him with waivers. Well, I would say it didn't threaten him with waivers. They said, this is an option. You know what this is. Would it have been better if they didn't go to Trouba and say that we might do this if we don't get you to waive and just put them on waivers? Because then the communication from the Trouba camp would have been, they didn't even tell us they were going to do this. So like either way, New York is screwed in this one. Like there's such emotionally charged language around this one. Like he didn't have waiver protection and they could have used waivers. Jacob Trouba knew that. He had some

no trade protection. He used that and that's fine. That's within his rights. He had trade protection. So he protected himself from a trade, much like the Rangers had, you know, were able to put him on waivers. Could have put him on waivers last Friday. Didn't have to because ultimately he chose to waive. So he would have some modicum of control over where he went. of control over where he went. I swear to God. Let's say the mafia is shaking down a shop owner. You're the only one rooting against the shop owners. Yeah, they didn't. You could say that they were within the CBA, but there's absolutely no question they threatened him with waivers. They threatened to take the control that he had, the modicum of control that he had away

from him. And that's the threat that forced him. Forive his no-take clause. He didn't have that control because he was still over 15 teams. Right. But they could still place him on waivers. There was still an option that the New York Rangers had. He did not have total control over this situation. Welcome to 95% of the other, welcome to 95% of the NHL who doesn't have control either. But hold on. But we're talking about two separate things here, which is the contractual obligations under the CBA, which I agree the Rangers followed to a T, and what it ends up doing to your locker room when you keep doing this. That's what I'm talking about.

when you keep doing this. That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the fact that, yeah, they were able to find a way around his no trade clause by threatening waivers, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a threat. As Shruba said, as those boys in the back know it is, because now they've done it twice to two players that were pretty well liked in that locker room.

I can't believe you're poo-pooing this. It's a threat. They were going to carry through with it, and he had to waive, was forced to waive his no trade clause, or else he's going to end up someplace he doesn't want to be. Right. And Jacob Truba didn't join the NHL last week. He understands how this game is played.

He understands how the CBA works, and he understands how waivers work. He's watched it happen to, well, as you just mentioned, Barclay Goodrell and that entire saga. But hang on. Go back one second, though. Go ahead. The thing that I want to get to is if you're the New York Rangers, because a lot of this, like, I can understand. Like, emotionally, we put ourselves in the player's position. What if this were us?

Okay. What if this were a family member? Like, I understand that because we know Jacob Truba. We don't see a whole lot of or know other than when he played Chris Drury a lot, okay? So here's my thought. If you're the New York Rangers and you see that Jacob Truba isn't performing to the level that you need to compete for a Stanley Cup

and you want to do something with him, my question is how else should the Rangers have approached this? Because everything that I've read seems to indicate that a lot of people just wanted the New York Rangers just to leave it, just to be nice so the room wouldn't be upset. Like, what are the Rangers supposed to do here? It's not working out with Trouba and this team. They can't afford an $8 million guy who occasionally finds himself on the third pair. What else are they supposed to do here? They're trying to make their team better to compete for a Stanley Cup. And here we are talking about vibes and making sure that Kreider and Zibanejad are happy that nobody's Fifi's got

hurt. Well, I think the vibes are important. And I think that making sure that your locker room is happy is important. I think that making sure that your locker room feels like management has their back is important. And that is the downside of doing all of this is I think that in many ways, the Rangers did not like the way the business was done.

But I think if you ask a player, and I have asked a player, they also know it's a business. So not to completely suck the verses out of Merrick versus Wyshynski once again, but I do agree with you that ultimately it's Jacob Truba who signed the contract. And what I was going to say is the real MVP of this whole thing is Jeff Gorton. Jeff Gorton signed Jacob Truba to that contract, an eight-year deal, which at the time, we both remember, he took a lot of grief for. He took a lot of grief for it because they said that they overpaid Truba.

Well, guess what overpayment gets you? It gets you two years at the end of the contract in which Jacob Truba no longer has a full no-movement clause, but now has a limited no-trade clause. And if he doesn't sign him to that contract, if he doesn't overcompensate him to buy that leverage for the Rangers, we're not even having this conversation. So Truba knew he was getting into. He knew what the end of that contract would look like. He knew the wiggle room he was giving the Rangers. I completely agree with you. It doesn't change the fact that doing this twice in the span of, what, six months is not going to set well with the veterans on your team, especially when it's two players they were rather fond of. Is that then more of a reflection on those players in that room? Because like I was mentioning this on the show yesterday, there's one person in Vegas who hates it when I referred to them as ruthless, even though I, when I say ruthless, I mean it as a compliment, not a pejorative. Like that is how they pursue the Stanleyley cup like i'm i'm envious of how they do it right like that but that team goes to like conference finals that team wins the stanley

cup like it doesn't seem to affect that group as much as it seems to be affecting the new york rangers is that not more of a comment on that room that they can't put someone else's business and their own business and feelings about their team and their performance separate. Because that's how I feel about it. That's how I feel about it. First of all, when Kelly says that, do you just start reminiscing about junior hockey to throw him off the scent? Just distract him? It's funny, by the way, I got a note back from someone on Friday about Trouba, and it wasn't Kelly McCrimmon. It was someone else in Vegas who just sent me a note saying, ooh, Rangers are pretty ruthless here with the smiley face. I'm like, okay, ruthless, when they make these decisions, when it's Fleury or Nate Schmidt or Marcius So or whomever, it's in the service of the next thing. It was in the service of Pietrangelo. It was in the service of resigning some of the guys they wanted to resign or going out and getting eichel i think part of the problem here is that the yeah as i mentioned um the problem i think part of the problem here with

chris drury is that he hasn't earned that benefit of the doubt like he he's found a way to get gajero off the off the books that ended up being i think extension money this season for some guys and now truba's gone basically a sell-off and so if you're in that room, you just see people being forced to leave with no net benefit for you insofar as what the roster looks like. So you know who the hero of the week is? Who's that? Steve Hatzepetros. So for those that don't know, Steve Hatzepetros is the gentleman who puts together the schedule for the NHL. And I know we all go sort of day by day and know, okay, who's playing tonight? And today on the NHL, there's 11 games. Yesterday, there were three.

Wednesday, there are two games. Do you know what one of them is? What's that? Rangers versus Buffalo Sabres. Oh my God. That's right. It is. It's in Buffalo, no less.

In Buffalo, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres. I don't care who does what. I don't care who does what in the NHL this week. If the NHL doesn't make Steve Hatropestros the first star of the week, they don't understand the assignment. Because even albeit for all the wrong reasons, that is a game to ducks are playing the sins as well and we can talk about um new york ranger brady kachuk here in a couple of seconds but the rangers are playing the buffalo sabers tomorrow only two games so all eyes on this one yeah and so i was going to ask you is that a

tipping point for laviolette is it a tipping point for laviolette is it a tipping point for LaViolette? Is it a tipping point for LaViolette? Is it a tipping point for Kevin Adams? I want to say something about Kevin Adams. Now, I know that the we don't have palm trees in Buffalo thing has rightfully gotten most of the attention. And I give all the credit in the world to our friends in Buffalo. I feel a kinship with Sabres fans as a New York Jets fan. The two longest playoff droughts in existence right now. And Buffalo considers themselves the New York team. The Jets are all, of course, a New York team, although strangely do not play in New York. Point being though,

I understand feeling such despair that it can only be expressed in abject humor. And so kudos to all the buffalo sabers fans that wore hawaiian shirts oh the palm trees on the logo in the bag it was incredible it was awesome it's the best thing about fandom but i want to say this about kevin adams does this guy know he can make other trades like the middle stat trade because there was a lot of talk about attracting free agents to buffalo and how difficult that was. And we don't have low taxes and we don't have palm trees, but he made the kind of trade he should be making. When you have a young team that underachieves in the manner in which the Buffalo Sabres have, you are going to be a little trigger shy about making a trade because it could come

back to haunt you as it's come back to haunt the Sabres 10 ways the Sunday with some of the deals that they've made, including Reinhardt. But you could also make smart moves that acquire other teams, young players that have control before unrestricted free agency and give yourself a nice four to five year window in which you can have that player on your roster. There's a lot of talk about how the struggle of free agency for the Buffalo Sabres, there was not a lot of talk of, oh, by the way, we can make the Middlestad trade three or four more times and try to turn this franchise around. I get the feeling. Well, first of all, the situation right now, like right now is the worst time for Kevin. It's the worst time and the best time for Kevin Adams to make a trade because he needs to do something right now, but right now he's not going to get anywhere close to value for making a

trade for any of these players. Take your pick. You're not going to get the value you need slash want. Like if I always try to meet, you're probably the same way you try to put yourself in every person's shoes here. And it's okay. How would I react? What would I do? And I probably the same way. You try to put yourself in every person's shoes here and say, okay, how would I react?

What would I do? And I get the feeling right now, if I'm Kevin Adams, I'm feeling frozen. To your point, you look at all the players who have been traded from the Buffalo Sabres. I mean, how many Stanley Cup winners last year on the Florida Panthers were from the Buffalo Sabres? Right? Like five or six. To go along with the Stanley Cup winner that was on the St. Louis Blues, to five or six stanley cup winner that was on the st louis blues to go along with stanley cup winner that's on the vegas vegas yes right can you

continue yeah um like if you just would have like george costanza undone everything and not and not done it or done done the reverse yeah i would have stayed like up in buffalo here so if i'm kevin adams i kind of feel right now like I'm frozen, like I can't do this. The other thing that's become quite apparent is, and I know that every team does this, and you and I have talked about this on the old pod everywhere we've gone, that teams always overvalue their players. It's one of the problems in the NHL, and that's why there's not a whole lot of trades. But do you not get the sense that more so than any other team in the NHL hours, it sounds to me very much, it sounds very much like,

Lindy Ruff has had it. Yeah. And is going to start doing things differently. Like when you hear Lindy Ruff saying things like, after 20 games, you know what you have. When you hear coaches say that, that to me is like boiling point. And okay, I know what I have here. Now we're going to do things differently. Does it feel that way to you? I mean, I hope it does. I hope that's what he means because something's going to have to you? I mean, I hope it does.

I hope that's what he means because something's going to have to change. I really had more faith in Buffalo than I probably should have. I thought they were going to break the playoff drought this year. And I thought that because when I saw Lindy Ruff coach the Devils, I saw him take a team that was young and didn't defend well and get it to play a high tempo bit of offense and then also be more responsible in their own end. And I thought at the end of the day, if nothing else, the Sabres could probably score their way out of their problems. And that hasn't really manifested and they're still a mess defensively. So I don't know what the solution is. I looked at the roster and I said, I convinced myself there was enough there. And it turns out there was not. Yeah.

I, I think that again, like I mentioned this on morning cup of hockey today, like it seems as if at every single level of this organization, and I do want to bracket, um, I want to bracket Carmanos out of this because there's a lot of experience there with Carmano. So let me bracket him specifically. But at every single level, like on the ice, the story is players that were rushed to the NHL. That there's a belief that, and I don't know where Kevin Adams gets this from, but there's a belief that you can develop players in the NHL. I think some you can. I think, you know,

like a Macklin Celebrini you can do that with. I think with like a Patrick Kane, you could have done that with, I think like there are some players who, you know what, get right into the NHL. You've done a lot of your learning already. Now the, now you're going to do like the, the finishing school here in the NHL, but you have to be at a certain standard to do that. And it seems as if like,

you look at all the guys that never spent time in the American League or only spent a little bit of time in the American League or someone like Quinn, who's had, you know, was AHL rookie of the year, but then the playoffs started and it got really hard

and Quinn wasn't there yet, indicating that he should probably spend some more time in the American League, but now he's up with the big team. And now he's scratched a lot. And now we're wondering if he gets sent to the AHL or if Sam Lafferty gets sent to the AHL or if Nicholas Obey-Kubel gets sent to the American Hockey League here. Like at every single level, everyone that they brought in front office, again, outside of Carmanos, has been inexperienced and everyone on the ice seems rushed into the league.

And they almost did it with Devin Levi. They almost did it. But thankfully for his development, he's in the American League in Rochester. He was so bad that he bucked the trend. Like that was the thing about Levi. It's like he was so bad. They're like, we can't do the usual nonsense we usually do. No, you know what I really think it is?

I think they've, even though they scratched him for eight games to start the season last year, I think they finally realized that they have a really good goalie in Ukapeka Lukanen. They do. And when he's healthy,

he's like a top 10 goaltender in the NHL. I really believe that about Lukanen. I think this guy's fantastic. I don't know if I'll go that far, but... Dude, when he's on, he's fantastic. It's two things.

But Kevin Adams tried to like speed ramp this guy into the levi into the nhl again with the rest of these players but don't you think but don't you think the speed ramp happens when you have a you know more than dozen year play like a dozen year playoff drought like like isn't that part those two things are are are completely linked i mean when you have this culture of losing and this and this pressure on you to succeed you can't sit around and wait for guys to develop in the ahl you have to put them in the nhl roster you have to show some level of hope some level of progress something for the fans and ownership to to latch on to i've heard that argument and my counter to it is yeah for for one maybe two do you have to do it for all of them?

Do they all have to be in the lineup? Like, look now. They do. Look at Dylan Cousins. Who else is there? Look at Jack Quinn. Like, it's, look at, I mean, Owen Power's strike,

first overall pick. Look at Owen Power. And now everyone's getting on Owen Power. You heard like, you know, Mike Harrington and Lance Lasowski at the presser last week sure like it's and and it's all about there's but there's another side of the coin if you're going to keep these guys in the minor league which is who's on the roster one one year uh contract veterans who by the way don't want to go to buffalo to begin with according to kevin adams like if you're keeping those kids down i know

you're doing something with with the roster on the nhl now you could have a pile of trash and tank in perpetuity until these kids are ready or you're going to sign a bunch of placeholder veterans like you know the taylor hall disaster and and and then what do you have you have a team that everyone knows is just there waiting around an empty vessel of of you of a wristwatch until the kids are ready. And who's going to pay to watch that? You become the team for a short term that takes the bad contracts to get picks and prospects to ice some type of lineup that you know

is not going to be anywhere near the playoffs and is going to give you even better picks. And eventually you start using those picks as assets. It's painful and it's awful. But the thing I keep coming back to is, is this any better? It's not, but you don't know what's going to be what it is when you're making that decision. At least the placeholder way, you're not ruining guys. It can be part of your future, like a large part of your future, because they're spending

their time in the American Hockey League. In case nobody's told you, weight loss goes beyond the old just eat less and move more narrative, and that's where Felix comes in. Felix is redefining weight loss for Canadians with a smarter, more personalized approach to help you crush your health goals this year. Losing weight is about more than diet and exercise. It can also be about our genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix connects you with online licensed healthcare practitioners who understand that everybody is different and can pair your healthy lifestyle with the right support to reach your goals.

Start your visit today at Felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X.ca. But you're, again, you're making this decision based on what we know now versus what they know then, which is that maybe if we put the kids together, maybe they grow together, maybe they become a competitive team. Like that's their thought. They didn't know it was going to turn out this way. And again, when you haven't made the, when you haven't made the playoffs since the Obama administration, you start making these kinds of decisions. Then it never gets better. But I'll'll ask again and there is some symmetry between the two how is it different than the edmonton oilers in the eberly hall nugent hopkins era where where

by the way and you and i used to talk about this there used to be that sign in the dressing room in the oilers room it said earned not. And we kind of looked around and said, are these contracts earned? I'm so happy you brought that up because I was going to bring that up myself. Not in the sense of like the kids are running the asylum kind of thing, which I think is a whole other issue. But in the sense of like the culture of losing of it all. Like before Connor showed up, the problem with that team was every young player that came into the lineup was coming into this misery, this constant change and churn of coaches and executives, and they're always out of the playoffs. And here's another first round, first overall pick that may or may not pan out. It was

just this culture of misery that these guys were involved in. And I think the same thing happens in Buffalo. Like what is, what are the Buffalo Sabres? The Buffalo Sabres are three weeks of good hockey every single year. You can, you don't know when it's going to happen, but it'll happen. And then you get hopeful about it. And then they suck for four months. And that's what players are coming into and it's really hard to kind of like find your footing and be positive and and feel good about

your game and feel good about the direction of the team when every single year it's the same story where hope dissipates within a blink of an eye and then you're right back in the basement of the division. So anything, by the way, who would a loss be worse for tomorrow? I'm going to spend a lot of time talking about the Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres games. I want to sort of put a ribbon on this one and move on to other gentle things like soft tampering. Who would this be worse for? Who would a loss be worse for tomorrow? Rangers or the Buffalo Sabres?

The Rangers a billion percent. It's not even a conversation. The expectations are so much higher for that team. They're coming off a loss to what at the time was statistically the worst team in the NHL to then lose to a team that is circling the drain. That's disaster. That's coach firing material.

Okay. So on that happy note, anything more on Rangers, Sabres, or should we move out of that state and into the province of Ontario? I will say this about Kevin Adams. First of all, I think we were all very unfair to him when he was hired and just calling him a puppet for ownership. I mean, like, I think he could be an okay executive in different circumstances, but I do, I do want to say that I understand why there's stasis. And it's for this very reason that we talked about, which is that you become, you become

trick or shy when you've, when the franchise has seen so much talent leave, not gotten so many transactions, correct. Even if you have something on the table, you're probably just staring at it and being like, I don't know, like we're the sabers. Is there a chance this works? So, you know, that that's, cause I've thought about that one a lot. And this is why I keep coming back to this idea of like, there needs to be some sort of like senior consultants or senior people around Kevin. And I know this may be from a different era, but you'll recall this

one well, because it involved your New Jersey Devils. I remember asking Brian Burke about his first big trade. And he said, it was the Hartford, New Jersey Devils trade. It was the Bobby Hole leak deal. It was Sean Burke and Eric Weinrich. You're the New Jersey guy. Do I have that one right? So it was that deal. So I said, what was it like? And he said, I was awful. He said, what was it like? And he said, he said, I was, I was awful. He said, I looked at my phone and I picked it up and I called. And before it started to ring, I hung up the phone and I stood up and I went for a walk and then I came back and I picked up the phone again. And I started to call New Jersey and I put the phone down. I looked around the room and I had no one to talk to about this. No one to bounce ideas off of.

And I went for another walk and I came back to my office and I picked up the phone again. And he said, like, I had no one to talk to. I've never made a big trade before. And I can't help but thinking, like, you're Kevin Adams. Like, I know he's made deals and he made that, you know, the good deal, the Middlestad-Bone-Byram deal. And so I know it's not exactly the same. This is chalk and cheese. But at the same time, I understand, you know,

being a little bit gun-shy and not having anyone around you with any experience to rely on. And right now, if there's an organization that's dying for some experience around, it's the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah. Plus Berkey's like, you guys in the media are going to kill me

for this trade, trading away a guy like Haleek for Weinrich. Let's get ready to grumble. That's what I've been saying about Berkey. Oh, by the way. I saw that you're going to have,

you have Berk on every Friday in your show. That's amazing. Every Friday, Berkey's going to be aboard. And I had, I think we have this, I thought of you when Patrick said this.

We had Patrick Berk on yesterday from the department of player safety. And he said one thing we were talking about, let's see if Zach has this one queued up. I'll throw it away. So we were talking about a character reference, which you wouldn't believe the amazing amount of charity work, all of our NHL players. When a suspension hearing comes up, they are constantly saving kittens and they're all on each other's weddings, which I wasn't expecting. Every time there's a hearing, the guy was in the victim's wedding or they golf together all the time. It's very tight knit league when suspensions come up. So that was Patrick yesterday talking about what the what the DOPS hearings are all about.

When you start talking about saving kittens and we're all in each other's weddings and we're all getting along. But this is why we can't have rivalries. We've said this for years. Like the NHL used to be able to sell itself based on rivalries. Now there's no rivalries because all these guys love each other.

They're all playing Call of Duty on their off days. Like the days of being able to sell blood feuds. Remember Chicago, Vancouver from like 15 years ago? Oh my goodness. They hated each other. Duncan Keith, elbows in the face. Yeah. And that was like three years of every time those two teams met,

we could sell it and it was great. And now rivalries outside of geography, maybe. These guys all love each other. I know. Old man yells at cloud. I understand. I understand. We do rivalries with offer sheets.

Ooh, the bad blood between Edmonton and St. Louis over the years. Oh, my God. The cocky Miami bowl between Montreal and Carolina. Be there. The Bergevin bowl between Carolina and Montreal. The dueling offer sheets. Aho and cocky Miami. Let me ask you about Ottawa.

Let me ask you about Michael and Lauer. And first of all, when you talk about someone who very much feels like they're at wit's end as far as frustration goes, like I understand Eisenman, I understand Steos, I understand Adams. These three teams, we're all waiting for one of them to pull away from the pack, but they're determined to stay together. The team's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're comfy here. These are all our boys.

Like, we're hanging here together. Like, we're all going to end with the same amount of points. Yeah. And the accusations of soft tampering. Gentle, gentle tampering. Gentle, gentle tampering. Yeah. 500 thread count tampering. Goose feather tampering., gentle tampering. Gentle, gentle tampering. couple of times. And then LeBron and Darren Drager and CJ, Chris Johnston are all at the

board of governors meeting and they're giving this like news report about the soft tampering that Larry Brooks did by reporting, you know, the Rangers alleged interest in Brady Kachuk. And all I can think about is like, you guys soft tamper every single day. It's your job to soft tamper. You're the biggest soft tamper. But three of us are all just soft tampering all the time. Here's the thing that gets me about all of it. You know who wants Brady Kachuk? Everybody wants Brady Kachuk. Like the idea that, you know, the Rangers have designs on Brady Kachuk and that's soft tampering.

I remember Kelly Rudy once told it. So this Kachuk and that's soft tampering. I remember Kelly Rudy once told it. So this is Arthur Staple's tweet from today. So if the owner says no one's called on Brady Kachuk and the only evidence out there is people saying the Rangers would love a guy like Brady Kachuk, not sure you can call that tampering. If it is, every executive in the league is tampering right now.

He's right. Like, look, the Ottawa Senators have one of the most valuable players in the NHL. Everybody, like, trust me, if the Montreal Canadiens could redo the Dallas draft, do you not think that they would take Brady Kachuk over Yusperi Kutkenyemi? Do you not think the Carolina Hurricanes at two would take Brady Kachuk? Do you not think the Buffalo Sabres at number one that year instead of Rasmus Darlene would take Brady Kachuk? Although I'm a Devils fan, I don't speak for the organization. I will say,

if he became available, if the Devils would have a lot of interest in a player like Connor McDavid. Now, that may be soft tampering. I may have just gotten, I may get an angry phone call from Jeff Jackson

after we get off the podcast, but I do believe they would have a modicum of interest in acquiring Connor McDavid should he become available. Look, the thing that kills me about this, besides the irony of the insiders all giving any oxygen to this ridiculous notion of soft tampering, is that, first of all, it's a Larry Brooks report. We've been talking about Larry Brooks since we've met, you and I. Larry Brooks has put through his column all manner and sort of everything he hears from everywhere. It's not necessarily a conduit from James Dolan, okay,

when he's putting something in his column. It could be anything. It could be anything. It's always there. It's his business. The thing that kills me, though, is that a Larry Brooks report that says the Rangers would probably be interested in Brady Kachuk

or may have some interest in Brady K kachuk um it does two things one it forces the ottawa senators to have another uncomfortable conversation with brady kachuk which by the way they wouldn't have to have if they were successful no one is trying to poach your captain if your captain has a reason to stay so be better the second thing is this nonsense with soft tampering. Okay. He ran and talked and asked to speak to the manager. He ran to talk to Bettman and Daly about a report in the New York Post about Brady Kachuk. These guys are working on CBAs. They're trying to keep this thing afloat. They're thinking about where the outdoor games are going to be. And they got to listen to some newbie owner from the Ottawa Senators complaining that Larry Brooks is making side eyes at his captain. I think this is still the fumes of the Donoff punishment.

That still sticks in the craw of Michael Andlauer. He didn't own the team then. That was the late Eugene Melnick. Steve Stahos wasn't the GM. That was Pierre Dorian. Yet he's stuck with the punishments. I think that, and listen, there is some, as we mentioned at the time, like we all,

you and I always, I always joke you about this one, about the Ilya Kovalchuk situation and the first round draft pick that was never paid, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It was New Jersey Devils and it's Lewin. We're going to look the other way. It made a lot of sense at the time. It's fine.

That's fine. Oh, well, you know what? There was the threat of the first round draft pick. We never actually executed, but New Jersey Devils got to keep it. And that was, you know, they learned their lesson. They got to keep it, but there was a threat. You know, there was a threat.

And threats can influence action. Just ask Jacob Truba. Yeah, just ask Jacob. But yeah, listen, I don't I don't disagree with you. I think that was the situation. He clearly was. I mean, even from his first press conference, he was bent out of shape about that situation playing out when he took over the team. one's just so petty this one's just so petty it makes it makes it makes ottawa seem so small and so thin skin and aggrieved you know what be happy you have a player that people want you know be happy you have a guy that that other teams covet you know when the time comes you know what that'll probably play to your benefit but isn't isn't part of this too the history of players exiting Ottawa. Like that, that is part of like, there has been, I don't want to say it's like, it's not a conga line of players that have tried to get out of Ottawa,

but you know, there is a history there. I think that that's something that and Lauer and Steyos are trying to end that, you know, they're, they're, they're trying to finish. Like I'll give it to someone like Kevin Shevelday off, who may, of all the general managers in the NHL, have the toughest gig. He's managed to keep, what do we say when Atlanta went to Winnipeg? It's going to be tough to keep players there. It's going to be tough for Sheveldayoff

and the Winnipeg Jets to hold it, but good on Sheveldayoff because he's been able to keep people in Winnipeg. But we've seen, oh man, did you see this Liam McHugh tweet today? Kevin Paul, Zach Phillips, our producer, throws this one. Let me describe it for the podcast audience. If you're listening to this podcast, you know the tweet. Kevin Paul DuPont, game day Winnipeg, and it's snowy, and it's, you know, it's Winnipeg in December, and Liam McHugh fires back.

They have the most points in the league. Where are the palm trees? That's right. And as we know from our friend Ilya Brzgalov, they don't even have parks. You can't even go to a park in Winnipeg. They're all underground chud creatures walking around with no parks. Second show and you've already got a Brzgalov impression out of you. I'm impressed.

Got to do impressions somewhere. You've got to get them in. show when you've already got a brisgolov impression out of you this is i'm impressed gotta do impressions somewhere the thing about it like like again i i just it makes me what you just said though is so indicative of how how much self-confidence they lack in ottawa they're like the guy who lands the girl she says she loves him and he's still like but maybe she doesn't like my car like you brady kachuk committed to stay there. You got the guy. He says he, he put pen to paper on a long-term contract that shows commitment. And you're still sitting there being like, well, everybody else, he's going to want to leave too. this better than i do if your mother says if your mother says she loves you get confirmation i know how all you guys work i know how all you guys work right two source rule dad dad does mom love me go to dad right away i don't go to your brother have you ever heard mom say that she she loves me because she said it but i'm just looking for a second source on this one here. She must want something. Clearly.

I want to ask you about Patrick Laine. And we got a clip here. We're going to play it now. Zach, cue this up. This is Patrick Laine of the Montreal Canadiens. Let's get to this one. Patrick, another big night for you. You get the shootout winner, a big power play goal.

Just take me through the feeling of what it's like playing at the Bell Centre, having these fans that really adore you. Yeah, I mean, I can't really complain. I think it's pretty cool, you know, how the first four games have gone so far. Obviously, there's a lot of work to do personally, you know, 5-on-5 game and all that. But I think we're trending towards the right direction. But, yeah, it's just awesome to play in this building, i think it's the most most fun i've had in years for sure

the most fun i've had in years for sure we all know you know i just funny i just mentioned shovel day off in the winnipeg jets a second ago and here comes a blasting although it has nothing to do with shovel day off listen the time in winnipeg for patrick linea was awful like that room ran hot right like the blake wheeler run room ran hot and that's not how patrick linea runs like putting a team together like you have a whole bunch of different personalities and i know that wheeler may have wanted one standard um for that team to run by and that wasn't linea's vibe and i don't want to say that that ran him out of town but greg that ran him out i don't want to say that that ran him out of town but greg that ran him out of town let's just be blunt he ran him out of town yeah i'm i'm so happy

like i am so happy to see patrick line in montreal i'm so happy to see those fans embrace patrick line i know there hasn't been a lot to cheer for for in montreal this season i mean late hudson sure is one of those things uh every time Caulfield scores, it's beautiful. But like the adulation that the Montreal Canadiens fans have for Patrick Laine to me is beautiful. Like that one scene, when I first saw the trade, I'm like, hmm, curious to see how that works out. The fans have made this one work

for how they've completely embraced Patrick Laine. To me, this is like one of the perfect fits in the NHL. Nice interview by Thomas Hickey, by the way, on Amazon Prime the other day. So, I mean, listen,

I think there's a lot of guys in the league you can root for. I think Laine is near the top of that list for me just because of what he's been through. And, you know, I think whenever you have somebody come up

that looks like he's going to be i mean like a top five goal scorer for for his generation like line i looked like at some times that you want to see people actualize with that talent and it looks like he's getting there now um he's also a perfect guy for me and you because he's a weirdo i mean he likes to dress quirk he likes to dress quirkily i mean he's always a big video game and you because he's a weirdo. I mean, he likes to dress quirkily. I mean, he's always a big video game guy. I mean, he's clearly someone who is offbeat and not your typical hockey player. And you combine that with the talent, you combine that with the overcoming adversity in his own life, and he just becomes somebody that you obviously have an affinity and hope the best for. And it's great to see him killing it.

I'm glad you mentioned video games. One of the stories that I heard about Line A, I heard he was like, he used to be, I don't know if he is anymore. I heard he's a huge Fortnite guy, okay, when he first started. And the story that I heard was when he was on the road, because, you know, after games, he would, you know, go back to the hotel room, guys would go out and he would just go back to the hotel room. I think you know where I'm going with this one.

And wherever he was, he decided that the hotel TVs were too small. So he would, I guess, get the team services person to go buy like a large screen TV so he could game that night, thousands of dollars on a monitor, large screen TV, and then just leave them in the hotel room. Like wherever the Winnipeg Jets went all through the NHL. It's like, you want to get a deal on a TV? Follow Line A because the hotel just got one. They probably don't know what to do with it.

This is true source confirmation. I've heard that tale of Line A as well. And it's great, man. Like, it's great. Hell, I mean, like, if I'm in a hotel and there's like, I don't know, like a NFL game I want to watch, if I had that kind of scratch. Yeah, that's it. I'd do the same. I love the battery and all of his goals have been assisted by Lane Hudson. And you're right. Like lining is a bit of a freak. You remember the, the pre-draft interview he did with Darren Millard when he was lying on his

floor at like three o'clock in the morning, like he wouldn't even sit up for the interview. Like he did the, the end of like, this is like Patrick line is intro. Yeah. Lying back like that is introduction to North America. Here we go. Like he may go first overall. We shall see. Here's Patrick line. Just lying there. to North America. Here we go. He may go first overall. We shall see. Here's Patrick Laine, finished sniper. Just lying there like, oh yeah, okay, yeah.

I like hockey. Give me that guy all day. It was great. I want it to work. I just love the visual, by the way, outside of the play itself, of Lane Hudson beside Patrick Laine.

To me, that has the makings of like a great TV show, the Laine and Hudson show. Anyhow, your thoughts. I wanted to ask you about Hudson. I wanted to ask about Hudson. So we did the NHL Awards Watch on ESPN.com today.

Yeah. What's your top three for the Calder right now? Macklin Celebrini. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations.

What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. That's one.

Lane Hudson. Dustin Wolf. That's two? Yep. Now, I noticed that Mitchkoff's name is not in your top three. That's the one that I wrestle with. That's the one that I fight with because I's the one that, that's the one that I fight with. Cause I can't like, I want to say,

cause the beginning of the season I had, I thought Mitchkov was going to be better than Celebrini. And the more I watched Celebrini, I say to myself, like they're just, it's, it's not going to be close. Like Celebrini is just going to be that much.

Again, it sounds like I'm taking shots at Mitchkov. I'm not. Kid's a wonderful player. Outstanding. You know, dots down, puck goes in the net. Got it. I just think that Celebrini is a more impactful player in more areas on the ice.

I think that Lane Hudson is performing at a high level in the most difficult position to play as a rookie. And that is defenseman. And Dustin Wolfe has, you know, single-handedly, you know, for the, for the start of the season, kept the Calgary Flames in a playoff position or in and around the playoff picture. But then Mitch Koff is so good. Like, whenever I see Mitch Koff with the puck on a stick in the offensive zone, I go, how am I not putting Mitch Koff in that conversation conversation but then i look at my own rationale for those three and i say yeah right now mitch koff isn't there sorry flyers fans ducks behind microphone what do you i'll go mitch koff i i'll go i'll go mitch koff first for now uh you know celebrini still has the game's deficit. I think when push comes to shove,

he's probably the most impressive rookie Celebrini, but I think Mitch coughs done it for longer. Yeah. And then I I'd have to put Wolf third Hudson's great. And, and I, and I think, I hope that he makes the top three.

I was a priest. His in prediction of mine is that he'd be in the top three, but what Wolf has done behind a team that, you know, had for a while out kicked its coverage. And so it's really hit a skid recently. I think it's been great. He might come back down to earth. Now that, you know, had for a while outkicked its coverage. And so it's really hit a skid recently. I think it's been great. He might come back down to earth

now that the Flames have, but he's been great. But I still have to put Mitch Koff. Mitch Koff's leading all rookies in scoring. I mean, that's not for nothing. That's pretty good. Pretty good. But do you not, again,

I want to go back to Lane Hudson here. Do you know how hard it is to be a young defenseman in the NHL? I agree. To me, that is the hardest position for a rookie to play. And watching what Lane Hudson's doing to me is nothing short of incredible. I just hope that he does get that. And he's not getting, I don't think he's getting cratered defensively either from what I've seen.

You know, which is, I think, the biggest concern when you have a young defenseman, and especially when you have a young defenseman who's all go, go, go offensively. But I would go Mitch Koff, Celebrini, Wolf with the acknowledgement that at the end of the day, it's probably... And this is what the voters told me too. The gimmick of the NHL Awards Watch

is that the actual voters give us their ballots. I think at the end of the day, most of them said, Mitch Koff for me now, Celebrini for me in a few months. So from the chat, JD, Celebrini and Hudson will also get a lot more leash to learn and show creativity. Michkoff will have to deal with some of torts' lessons, which may diminish the torts factor here. Wish, do you think that mitigates things? I mean, he already was a healthy scratch once to get his attention i i think the the the torts of it all has been overstated i mean you look at the guy's

stats he's still getting his points he's still getting his offense despite playing in a tort system and you know i i listen he's he's a guy who's notorious for tough love for young offensive players. Look at his time in Columbus and other places. But I think so far, at so far, Danny Breer, the GM of the Flyers, and John Tortorella have kept their word, which is to let Mitch Koff's freak flag fly and let him be the player he wants to be.

And Tort said before the season, I'm not going to coach the offense out of him. All right, that's great. That remains to be seen. But so far, he's kept his word mitch koff has been able to just be mitch koff in the offensive zone he's his own player in the defensive zone he's mine uh phil coker our good buddy halloween halloween 2025 falls on a friday uh can we just make it that mbsw friday so wish can join dressed as brisgal You know, I haven't talked to him in a year.

I used to talk to him like almost every day when we worked together at the old shop. I have no idea. I have not talked. I think his kid's playing in New Jersey. I want to say I'm not sure how old he is now, but I mean, what does he have to do? Like sit around and count his money?

The last time I talked to Ilya, I think might've been the all-star game in nashville does that make sense i think he was there he's wearing a cowboy hat he was hitting the uh the car out front with the sledgehammer so it's been a minute been a minute for me john scott all-star game sir that you're referring to i don't know what's that about no i i to answer phil's question it you've halloween comes but once a year but you don't have to twist my arm to get dressed up. I was going to wear an ugly Christmas sweater on the show this week ahead of this holiday party that I'm going to where I got to judge the cakes. But I don't have one and I had a time to order one.

Do you have an outfit for tonight for judging the cakes and the cupcakes? Yeah, this dumb ass thing. That's what you're going to wear? I don't even have a Santa hat. Like, I'm really, I'm bad at the holiday dress up part of it. Okay. Steph, the phobia slayer. Great handle on our chat.

Okay. Now MVSW is back for real. Wishes nine impressions have returned. Just waiting for the return of Game Show Friday now. I'm warmer to that now i was too much of a dick before oh my god i am very exciting i was i was i i i realized that i was being too much of a dick about it and i should have just said you know what if that's what the audience wants i should have done it it's one of my regrets from mbsw that i wasn't

that i wasn't better with that for the new or listeners, we used to do a game show every Friday, hence Game Show Friday. We would, you know, it did be different games. I would write up the game and Merrick was always a big grump about it. I was. I don't think he really liked and enjoyed the games. But the great part about it is that we would play these games.

We'd talk to wonderful, insightful people. We'd have a lot of laughs along the way. And then we would literally never give out a prize. We would just forget about it. There'd be somebody at Sportsnet that had to send it. They wouldn't send it. Then I'd have to send it. I'm not going to the post office or anything.

So congratulations to everybody who did win Game Show Friday. And sorry, you never actually received the prize. One quick plug for our good friends on Morning Cup of Hockey tomorrow. Kevin Shattenkirk just retired and Shattenkirk will be on the show tomorrow morning. Deuce Shatz. I know. Shat Deuce is on Twitter X. Kevin Shattenkirk

on with Johnny Lazarus and Colby Cohen tomorrow. I'm a little bummed. A little bummed that he couldn't hook on someplace. I know he was looking for some opportunities out there. I thought maybe he could end up maybe like an Edmonton or something like that. Did you think he was going to sort of finish the career, um, and be one of those like power play specialist guys? Oh, absolutely. And he could have, and he could have, um,

he's an interesting one. Like I, I, first of all, incredible personality. I think he'll probably end up in media at some point because he's, he's a great, he's great to talk to, but isn't he one of those cautionary tales, Merrick of like, maybe you can't go home. I mean, he signed that deal with the Rangers, remember? And that was like a big homecoming.

And then it didn't work out for him with the, with the Rangers. NHL history is littered with that. The one that I always cite was Sheldon Suray from Sherwood park going and signing with the Edmonton Oilers. Right? Like we all think that it's the one thing that, was Sheldon Suray from Sherwood Park going and signing with the Edmonton Oilers, right? Like we all think that it's, the one thing that I think we don't consider enough

is when a player goes home, we think it's, oh, it's going to be great. He's near his family and friends and all that. But you know what NHLers don't want to be surrounded by? Family and friends that are asking for tickets every day. Tickets. They're bugging for autographs and pictures and want to show up. Like these are professional athletes.

Like their days are very, very structured. They don't want to be interrupted every single day. I don't care if it's a game day or an off day. It's almost like really unique when it, when it does, when it does work out. I'm actually more impressed when it does. Cause generally the story is like, I, I love my hometown, my hometown team and all that. But like, yeah, I go home. I'm just, I'm just going to be bought. I can like, I, I love my hometown, my hometown team and all that, but like, I go home, I'm just, I'm just going to be bought. I can't, I can't go to

a restaurant. I can't walk down the street. I can't go to the mall, like everywhere I go. Like how many times have you heard? Um, like I remember talking to Eric Lindros when he went and played in Dallas. He's like in Dallas, like when I go to the rink, I'm like a star, like I'm Eric Lindros. This is awesome. And then I leave the rink and I'm just like, hey, look, there's a big guy. What football team does he play on? Yeah. Yeah. No, no, it's like that.

But also it's like that if you go home again, I feel like now you're not. Now, when you see somebody at the corner store, it's somebody you went to high school with. Yeah. This is just a random. And now you're letting the high school friend down. Now you know he's part of the community that you're representing. And you're letting – he was two seats away from you in English class and now you're letting him down versus some rando.

And, and, and you got to stand there and hear all of their stories about you because you don't want to be like a jerk because like, okay, this guy's going to go tell a million people that he ran into me at the corner store and I better be nice or else he's going to just tell everybody how I've changed, man. And he's a different guy than that guy from grade 10. You know, it's not, it's not easy. It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure.

A lot of pressure. All right. Listen, enjoy judging cakes, man. I'm very excited for you. I know how much this means to you. I know that this is a big day for you. So enjoy it. Thanks as always for stopping by on Tuesdays.

It is a delightful day here at Daily Faceoff when you stop by. Thank you so much for gracing us with a full hour today. I'm like, you know what? Just get Greg on right away. We got too much to get to and all the teams are in Greg's backyard. Once again, BSW Tuesday is the highlight of my week. Most of the baked goods I believe are made in people's homes. So I will ingest probably about 40 to 50 grams of cat hair.

But I think they'll also be very tasty. Do you remember the old feature? We used to do things Greg puts in his mouth. Do you remember that? Yeah. Do you remember the old feature we used to do things Greg puts in his mouth? Do you remember that? Yeah.

When I go on the road, I often try to imbibe as much as I can of various treats. Have no problem bringing that back once we start traveling a bit more. But yeah. Enjoy putting strange things in your mouth tonight, Greg. We will talk in seven days. I often do. Okay. There he is.

Greg Wyszynski from MVSW. Greg Wyszynski, of course, from ESPN joins us every Tuesday here on the program. It is the hour that flies by. It's one of those, you can barely make any notes. Like you just have Greg on and we just kind of go. Anyway, thanks to Greg as always for stopping by. Thanks so much for the lively chat. The chat room is always top drawer. We encourage everybody who's not already part of the chat to go to Morning Cup of Hockey here at a daily face-off YouTube channel Monday to Thursday, 9 o'clock Eastern. As I mentioned, Kevin Shattenkirk is going to join Colby and Laz tomorrow. Very much looking forward to that. And then Patrick Maroon at some point this week as well. Okay? Got it? There's your assignments.

This audience, go to the boys in the morning. I got to spend a whole hour with the guys today. It's my favorite show. So it's like podcast fantasy camp for me. Anyway, on behalf of Zach Phillips, everybody here at Daily Faceoff and The Sheet, thanks so much for joining me. We're back tomorrow where we're going to talk about a very, very interesting game for all the wrong reasons. Tomorrow, the Rangers are playing the Buffalo Sabres. Oh my God, the sky is falling. Enjoy the 11 games around the NHL this evening. We'll talk to you tomorrow right here on The Sheep. I can't get out my head. Lost all ambitions day to day. Guess you can call it a run. 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 that's going to be fixed in my mind. I turned on the radio. I turned on the music. I do want to back it up. I turned on the music.

It's enough, enough, I don't think you're sometimes losing. I've been on the dance the way I roll. In the dead dark night. New year, new me. Season is here and honestly, we're already over it. Enter Felix, the healthcare company helping Canadians take a different approach to weight loss this year. Weight loss is more than just diet and exercise. It can be about tackling genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix gets it. They connect you with licensed healthcare practitioners online who'll create a personalized treatment plan that pairs your healthy lifestyle with a little help

and a little extra support. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A.