The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Brian Burke on Crosby's Situation in Pittsburgh

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Brian Burke joined Jeff Marek to discuss the opening night of the 4 Nations Face-Off, what we can expect for intensity moving forward in the tournament, international play, if Crosby could leave the Penguins, and much more...Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Normally we do this on a Friday, but today we're doing it on a Thursday. Our gift to you joining me on the sheet is the one and only Brian Burke. Burke, how are you today? Hey Jess, how are you? I am very well, I will tell you. I was very skeptical going into last night's game. I wasn't sure whether it was going to be no touch football, it was going to be no touch hockey, whether this was going to be tag, but it wasn't.

The play was good. It wasn't the best international game I think we've ever seen, but it was good enough to keep everybody really entertained. What were your main takeaways from last night? I want to drill down on a couple of players and situations, but what was your main takeaway from last night? Well, I'm really surprised that people even debated whether this is going to be real hockey and the rather than shy away from it. So I thought it was a great game. I thought it was a great result for Canada. I thought the game was great.

The tension was great. I love overtime. I love the fact that overtime was a little longer. And then they saw the genius of Sid, so it was great. I want to get to Sid in a second. Let me ask you about Nathan McKinnon. Gorgeous goal to start it off, power play marker. And then in the overtime

specifically, it almost seems if Nathan McKinnon kind of just said, you know what, I'm just going to take as many chances here to try to end this game on my own as possible. Like when he started skating, he's a rhinoceros on ice. Like good luck, he gets a couple of steps and he's a Clydesdale. Give a thought of what we saw from Nathan McKinnon in overtime, where it was just grab the puck and go. I went and watched him in his draft year and he had that explosive capability even when he was 17.

You could see the power in his game. There are many players that could, there are players that can skate as fast like Hunter McDavid and he's every bit as fast as Nathan McKinnon. But he's not as powerful. This kid's powerful. Like you said, right now, whatever the big K-Puff or whatever analogy you want to use, he's a big man. He's a determined man on a straight line. I think the play that won the game for Canada was on a stop-up play. So I think that's what Nathan's got to do is use his speed, see if he can beat the outside. If it's not there, you know, trying to beat three guys.

If it's not there, stop up and make a play. You know, there was a lot of talk about Sidney Crosby during the game, a lot of talk about Sidney Crosby coming out of the game, oldest player in the tournament, 37 years old. He was the best player on the ice last night. And part of the conversation now is, I know that, listen, Crosby's going to the Hall of Fame. They have the plaque already. It's all set to go whenever he decides to retire

and they have the mandatory waiting period for him down there. He has nothing left to prove in hockey. But did not part of you last night look at that and say, man, wouldn't it be great to see this guy still competing for the Stanley Cup? Again, no slight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but we all know where Pittsburgh's at right now.

And when you look at Crosby, it's not part of you saying, man, I really wish that this guy was still going deep into the playoffs like he used to, because he's still got the fire. He's still got the skill. He's still one of the best players in the NHL period, but he's not going to be in the postseason again. Well, I think that's, you know, with the cap going up, there's a chance they could show

him a path to get back to the playoffs somehow. We have to make some changes and spend more cap money. But I would never, that conversation was it. If I were still running the team, I wouldn't have the guts or the, I wouldn't lack the class or lack the intellect to even raise that situation. This is a guy who, if he decides to go elsewhere,

he's gotta bring it up. He's gotta go to them. I can't see him doing that. I really can't. See, I was on Secarus and Price today making that exact same point. Like the one thing that we know about Crosby is outside of the skill. I mean, he's intensely loyal. Like he's loyal to the, I think it means a lot to Crosby to finish playing where he started.

Now there are some guys that, you know, look at their career on HockeyDB and see like 20 years Pittsburgh Penguins, one year Minnesota, one year Colorado, one year Philadelphia, and it's not very settling for them. But to me, I've always got the impression that Crosby wants to end his career as a Pittsburgh Penguin and that loyalty means something to him.

And I would even go one step further, Bricky, and say that part of the reason why Crosby has this level of excellence attached to him, part of that fuel is loyalty, and loyalty to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Agree or disagree? I agree, and loyalty to those two guys. He's played 18 years with the same two guys or 16 years with the same two guys

with Malcom and Tanner. I think he'd like to talk about finishing your career. They're setting new records and milestones about twice every every season or three times a season. They'll pass another benchmark. So Sid goes to 600 or 700 or whatever it is. LaTang goes to whatever, Malcom goes to whatever. These are all yardsticks and records being set in tandem, in trio. So really I think it's more, the legacy is

way more than the three cops. The legacy is three cops plus all the individual records that have been set on behalf of the three of them were playing together. No one's ever done it before. You know, one of the things I think that, I know I'd be curious about this because I don't think I've ever asked you about this. When Gretzky got traded, right? Like if Gretzky, the old saying, Gretzky gets traded, anybody can get traded. I would imagine that as a manager though, are there just some players that you don't even bother asking about when you're making your calls? Or when you're with the Penguins, would people actually call and say, are you thinking about

Sid? Or is that, does everyone just understand that that's a no-fly zone? It would be a real short and real angry call. We would be hanging up on a guy and going and telling everyone how stupid he was. I think you will, a certain player, you're talking about a very small group, a certain group of players deserves a level of respect that they get to call their own shots and since on that list, he's number one on that list. But if he wants to go somewhere else, people would understand it and they'd say, okay, where do you want to go?

And that might happen someday, but I can't see it. I think he's too loyal. I think these other accomplishments that are being logged all along, they're not the same as winning the Stanley Cup. They're memorable. They're writing history just about every two months. And so I think that's something that has value to Sid too. I've never asked Sid about it. I don't mean to speak for Sid. Sure, I think that's what I know what I would think. Having met him and spent time with him and played with him, he played for me obviously, is the respect level. I would never have the guts or the stupidity

to bring that up with the flair of that Calvary. Because it could be a short conversation, or it would be. Let me ask you about Mark Stone. There's, there's one play here, like on his goal, like again, it's a beautiful play by Crosby to get him the puck, but I want to show one thing specifically here for everyone watching this on YouTube.

There's one play and this is why coaches love Mark Stone. I want to get your thoughts on Stone. So the play starts in Canada's own zone. Zach, can we roll the, roll the place? The puck is going to come out high. Pareko has a hard time with it. And what Stone does instead of doing a big loop, he stops and gets the puck

over to Sid, beautiful 10 and two by Sid and over to Stone for the goal. But it's that play where instead of doing a big loop, he does all the things that coaches always talk to you about. We're watching it again here, watch 61. Has a hard time with it, he stops and goes back, gets the puck up to Sid and off to the races. You know, I was talking to Troy Smith about this last night from Hockey IQ, he's gonna do a video on this

later on tonight. And like that is what we talk about when we talk about kids about stops and why stops and starts are so important and basic fundamentals. That's Mark Stone right there. It's his goal. Sydney with the great pass and the great play. But to me, the whole thing was about Stone stopping in his own zone to strip

a puck off Nylander your thoughts on Mark Stone. So the same thing in real time. I said, you watch him stop on that puck. we wish all the kids learn to stop on a puck like that. What amazed me is Mark Stone is his brother played for me. Stoney's just an average skater. You watch him he labors to get to the get open to get the goal score the goal from Sid. He labors all the way up the ice he's not a great skater but he's got great speed because he works so hard. On and Watch him a puck, does the right thing, gets puck recovery, makes the outlaw pass, and watch him go. He's playing against the fastest guys in the world on his brakes.

Brakes dry, half way there. But to get to the blue line, he's got a motor. And he's not, you know, some guys weren't great skaters. Forrest, Forrest Lund is not a great skater. You know, there's, we could go sort of like player through player here on this, on this Canadian team after last night. But there are a lot of questions in the chat for you, Berkey, and it's the same question.

What's your favorite Sidney Crosby story? I have mine, what's yours? Well, right when I first got to Pittsburgh, I remember I just, I'd met Sid a couple of times, I didn't know him at all. And he's a man of few words. And he's not you can you're not going to have an easy conversation with Sid unless you want to talk to him about something specific. He's he is my spare, you know, loose talk for just to be how's it going type stuff. I watched him one day when I first got there. He missed the goal, a chance to score a goal in close. And it's a patented move where he goes down on one knee sometimes.

He's on the offside on the right side of the net. He's on back on his offside. And you get a chance to score and you missed it. The next day I went in for practice. He's out there at our before. He's got the strength goal or the skills coach passing him in the park, that exact spot. He worked on this move, worked on repeating that exact same goal for probably half an hour, maybe 35 minutes, but way longer, like 15 minutes is long enough to work on something. He was out there longer than that. And two games later, we got a chance that he scored that goal. Didn't say I told you say, didn't say I told you so. Didn't say, Oh, look at me. Just want about his business.

But in order to thank him, what a perfectionist he was. Here's a guy who's already the greatest player, one of the greatest players that ever played the game. He's working on one thing. Cause it didn't work for him one game before. I'll never forget that. You know, one of the interesting things about Crosby, and I want to use this as sort of transition to Mario Lemieux who we saw last night.

As he mentioned, he has, Sidney Crosby's a man of few words. We don't know a lot about Sidney Crosby the person. He keeps that separate from his professional life. And you know, Mario Lemieux was the same way. And that's why I think part of the surprise of seeing Mario Lemieux out there was, he's one of the greatest players of all time.

As far as one-on-one skill goes, he's probably the best player of all time. Yet we don't know a lot about him. He's not very accessible. He's not really around outside of when he owned the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's not around you know capital H hockey. Were you surprised to see Mario out there last night? Yeah I was. I thought it was great. Simon O'Rafael. What a great reception. Such a great player. Such a revered by that And he's a wonderful guy and I was so touched by his reception. They were saying to him you are still Revered in Montreal. You're still one of the greatest players ever. You're a class act to go with it

That was a great reception. You wouldn't see that for any more than maybe two or three other players Wayne Mario maybe table, but I don't think so You know, one of the things that I always maintain about maintained about Mario, um, was that he would intimidate you with his skill. Like I know there was some guys that would go at him, like I remember, you know,

Pittsburgh would play Boston at Hal Gill would be living all over an octopus, all over Mario. But the thing about Mario was when he had the puck, like, and you can count the amount of players who can do this on one hand, Berkey. People were afraid to defend Mario because of how stupid he'd make them look. Like when you think about one-on-one hockey players in the history

of the game, is Mario Lemieux not number one in your books? I'd say number one or number two. Only the only guy put up there with him is Jarre, same thing. books and a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a Never did before. He came down on his first shift at Boston Garden and scored on Pete. I said to myself, I will never talk to a player again before a game. Yeah, that was, I mean, listen, he's highlighted a lot of players throughout his career. Just a general thought here. This is a tournament that is, you know, as, as, as Michael Farber mentions, it's a tournament without a past and without a future. It's just a one-off. This is replacing All-Star weekend.

Um, yet the NHL now is announcing that they're going to have, you know, this World Cup slash Olympic schedule. This is something we've been looking forward to. I mean, jeez, Berkey, even going back to 0-4-0-5, coming out of the lockout, you know, this was one of, you know, Bill Daley's file, like international hockey, you need to put something significant together. Now the NHL has opened an office in Zurich, Switzerland as well. There's more, you know, teams heading over there for games and then scooting back. Like many of us, I'm waiting

for the NHL to really jump in to this potential gold mine that exists there in Europe. Do you think we're starting to see the beginning of that now finally? Yes. This goes back, it turned back the clock. When I worked at the NHL, we talked about a 12-year schedule with the Olympics and the World Cup going back. When I worked for Gary, I was there in 1998. I left the league after 1998. After the Olympics that summer, I went back to Vancouver.

But it was like a bargain. Prior to the first big lockout, we had openly discussed the 12 year schedule. We play Olympics, then the World Cup, then Olympics, then World Cup every other year, regardless of whether we had a CVA or not. We said that if we can only do a two or three year CVA, let's do a 12 year event CVA that will survive the CVA and will play those international competitions. Regardless, I fell apart. I'm not going to say who, I don't recall it directly,

but we talk about that as early as 1998, through the 12-year international calendar. So yeah, it's overdue. That we had an office in Europe, Gary stepped up an office before. This is a new thing going back again. But the league has groomed all that stuff, by having those games over there.

Playing pre-season games, starting in regular season games, bringing different teams over that have international players on, targeting the opponent with the right representation internationally. It's been done surgically and very intelligently. And yeah, we're set to grow this thing even more.

You know, there was a, I can remember being a kid and going to Maple Leaf Gardens to watch and you can see the game on YouTube, it's cool. Every now and then I'll go back and watch it because I'm like, oh man, I was a kid. I was there. I remember watching this game and it was the Toronto Maple Leafs versus Cladno and you know, this is like late 70s, early 80s where NHL teams would play exhibition games against European squads from Sweden, from Finland. You know, there'd be, you know, the, the, the Moscow Dynamo would come through. The wings would come through, Red Army would come through and they'd play exhibition games.

Now I know that a lot of the mystique is gone and that was always part of the lure because those players hadn't come over to play in the NHL. But I'm curious from, from your point of view, like you were there to see all of this. You were there to watch, you know, the NHL play exhibition games during the season against Red Army, to play against Gladnow, to play against all these teams. Do you have any memories of that? Like, did you find, like, was that interesting to you as a young hockey fan? Yeah, I remember we saw Red Army play at the Met Center and my dad took me to the game. We had North Star season tickets partial plan and my dad took me to the game.

I remember I couldn't believe how good the players were. I couldn't believe the North Star didn't touch the puck. I didn't think I remember walks down thinking man, they're so far ahead of us. Then when I played the American League, we played Moscow. I think it was phenomenal. We beat them one nothing. and So you could type that one, the other team could touch it a little bit. It was unbelievable. They were so far ahead of us in terms of their buck movement and attack. It was, it was awesome to watch. It was scary too. You know, I can, uh, I've talked to a couple of players who played in some of those games in the, in the, in the NHL when like, you know, red army would float

through or into those Soviet teams and those, and they, and they would say like, we were intimidated watching their practices. We had never seen anyone practice like that before. And that was, you know, our coach would finally say, guys, you don't don't watch the practice or you'll be too like mentally intimidated for the game that night. Yeah, and they were they were really well conditioned. Like they had a lot of the players smoked cigarettes and nonstop.

A lot of them drank a lot. They didn't have great training habits, a lot of them, but they had great stamina and they had great individual speed and skill. But the puck movement was what killed you. It reminds me of when I played games for the alumni. So the alumni, when I played for the Canucks or Flames alumni, we'd play a bunch of police teams. And all these police and firefighters, they're all 25, 26, 27, they can buzz around and move the puck. We beat them with puck moving. Just beat them by hanging on the puck. And that's what the Russians would do. You wouldn't touch the puck. You'd say like, for God's sake, can't we touch this once?

We were puck moving. They'd move, get open, get the puck back, move, get open, very, very choreographed approach. Well, you know, it's interesting because, I mean, when you, get the puck back, move, get open. Very choreographed approach. Well, you know, it's interesting because, I mean, when you played in the American League, you were playing in Maine, part of the Philadelphia Flyers organization. And, you know, this was still probably

the effects of Fred Shiro. I mean, Fred would go to Russia and, you know, he would learn from some of the great Russian coaches in the past. We saw that, as much as we talk about the Philadelphia Flyers of that era, being the Broad Street bullies and beat them in the alley and kick sand in their face and take the lunch money and steal their per diem and take two points and all that, that Flyers team was good.

That Philadelphia organization, like you're talking about moving the puck. That Flyers team moved the puck like they were a Soviet squad. Yeah, that wasn't, the Broad Street Bullies is really a misnomer because they were tough. Mr. Allen and Mr. Snyder watched the St. Louis Blues bowl lead the Flyer.

And that's when it all started. Back then, that's when Mr. Snyder said to Keith Allen, I don't ever want to push her out of that again. That was the origin of the whole thing, Broad Street Bullies, because of the way they got pushed around by St. Louis. So they said, we'll never get pushed around. It was a physical team and they liked to fight. They earned their pay that way. And the Philly flu was a real thing. But they've, I don't realize the fact, they had really good players. They had great leaders too. Bobby Clark, Rick McLeish, Billy Barber, Reggie Leach. They had great players, great individual players.

You know, one of the things that was interesting yesterday, um, Gary Bettman and Marty Walsh, commissioner of the NHL and executive director of the players association. Am I allowed to say acting chummy this close to a CBA negotiation? Like, Brian, I'm not used to this. a negotiation, like Brian, I'm not used to this. Like I, I go back to the, the, the first lockout 94, 95 and the acrimony and then the 204, 205 and

the, give me the salary cap and the head of Bob Goodenow and like acrimony all the way. Like I have, I have not seen the NHL and the players association be this chummy entering a CBA negotiation. Is this, do we look at this and say, this is going to be a peacetime CBA? This is going to be a CBA that's done relatively quietly and easily? Well, the last one was as well. So I think the answer is yes.

This goes back to, I was involved in all of this stuff, so I can speak about it very, very frankly and freely. This is what happened once they got new leadership at the union and got a salary cap at the end of 50-50. So at that point the players had the same stake in the game as the owners do. It wasn't the same fight. They moved the chairs around so the players were swinging at different targets but not

the league necessarily. I said, okay, we're going to guarantee your revenues or put salary minimums in. So one of the genius moves that Bob Goodenow said, if I'm going to agree to a cap, you got to agree to salary minimums and do revenue share. If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to pay less for their players, they got to share that money. So that was the genius of the system is, it's a salary cap, there's also salary limits, and there's revenue sharing. So the system should work over time, and there shouldn't be stuff, work stop, just lockout. So that's why they've evolved

as the unions and the other unions have as well. Remember the New England Patriots trying to start fistfights with scabs at Sullivan Stadium back in the day. So it's a very different model now where you get a hard cap, you get 50, 50, wherever the share is, I get revenue sharing. It's very different now. Do you think part of the, uh, fueling a lot of this is just the nature of there are, there are a lot of, there are a lot of people that want expansion teams right now that right now they're not fighting over nickels and dimes right now.

Like there's a lot of dollars that are out there and that is fueling a lot of the harmony. Like it gets the old Don King line. Like Don King, like the shadiest boxing promoter of all time with one of the most brilliant things ever said about sports when he said, where there's money, there's understanding. Berkey, there's money out there. Is that why we're seeing understanding? No, I don't think it's, I don't think they're linked.

I think that the expansion thing is, is a real threat. Uh, what you know, my view on that is the expansion. They all think they're linked. I think we evolved as a CBA with the union in the league. We evolved into a CBA where the players are making money. They're being treated fairly. We're not getting screwed like they used to. And that mistrust was a result of players getting started into the deal for a long time. Now it's 50-50. You built in revenue sharing, you built in league minimums. It makes sense for everyone to work

together to grow the game. They've got a very different model than how we started negotiating. I don't blame the players for their suspiciousness and they're a suspect of us at the time. I get it. A lot of water had to wander a bridge like that before this made sense, but this makes sense. So I don't think they're linked. I think expansion is coming. I'm opposed to it. I think it's coming, but not because that's not part of the piece is the players don't share an expansion rather than never have.

Am I allowed to say yet? Like I wonder about how this negotiation goes and I see how much money is out there for expansion and what franchises are worth right now. And I keep thinking to myself, Berkey, if I'm Marty Walsh, are we not at least having the discussion about players having access to that money? That's a lot. I think it's been, up till now,

it's been a very short discussion. I don't know if they've had discussions about that since then, but when I was involved, it was a very short discussion. The answer was, to some, and S are a proceeded by an exploitive and So the escalation and the, uh, the acceleration and price and doesn't make sense to me, but it makes sense to everyone else. And that's why I think they're going to come on and keep expanding. Even though I've said, do what I think of it. I think it's a bad idea. Let me ask you about the Vegas call the nights.

Uh, I don't think anybody is surprised that someone got hurt. Um, this is the nature of hockey. It's a physical sport. It's a physical sport. It's a competitive sport. And this wasn't a, no one had malicious intent in this one, but Shea Theodore will miss, uh, the remainder of the four nations, uh, with the arm slash wrist injury.

Uh, I guess this is just baked into the pie. If you're an NHL team, like you just sort of throw salt over your shoulder, cross your fingers and hope that none of your guys get hurt here. But Vegas, first player down, Shea Theodore. Yeah, I'm amazed at this. If it was an American player, no one would care. But if players get injured, well they wouldn't. This is a very Canadian thing. I love this. I love the way it said, oh, Theodore was hurt. What do you think was likely to happen here? A major player has been hurt in every major the fifth People are dying to play. If you ask Theodore, okay, now that you got hurt, would you still decide not to play? He'll break his arm raising his hand.

So the fact of the matter is they all want to play. They all love this. They know the risk of ball. We all know the risk of ball. Play hard. Next man up. Which would be Sandheim, I guess. Travis Sandheim. Travis Sandheim. From the Philadelphia Flyers.

Okay, Brookie, before I let you go, one of the things that I was, because Berkey, before I let you go, one of the things that I was, because international hockey's on everybody's mind right now. And one of the things that people like what I do here is just sort of recommend books, et cetera. And so I wanted to point out, one of my favorites is Ed Willis's Gratskéit l'Amur, the story of the 1987 Canada Cup.

And there's been a number of, obviously there's been a ton of books that were written about 72. I mean, Canadians still to this day, Berkey, you know this, can't stop reading about or talking about or watching videos on 1972. There's been some great writing around 1987 and that Canada Cup. What I've always wondered about because I will put 1996 World Cup as far as quality of play right up against 1987. The quality of play in 96 was phenomenal. What an incredible tournament that was. Why is

there not more fanfare about 96? Like where are the books? Where are the videos? Where's all of it? That was such a great tournament. Well I was working for the league at that time. I got blamed for reviewing the goal, or US. They ruled the high stick on the goal. Everyone turned to me and said, I was in the booth. Everyone turned to me and said, what do you think is going on? I'm like, I'm not the goal judge. He was Brian Lewis. He was in charge. But I wasn't the goal judge. I had to be the goal judge once the preseason game of Nantaheim. the But the Canada Cup was that's the best hockey I've ever seen in my life in 87 He's not say the World Cup in 96 right behind it. I would put them on par I loved it and I think I'm with you because if Canada wins that thing, we're probably talking more about it But it was the Americans that that won that tournament. But as far as quality of play goes like brickie like there's fights Like guys are throwing down like it's like like it it's and I again like I wonder what's gonna happen on Saturday

I'll be shocked if we don't get through this turn without a fight Really? Yeah, sad okay, so let's pick a show he coming in well Chuckie's coming in But see here's what here's what I'm wondering about even though they play on the same team like What would happen if Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachuk threw down at center ice to Florida Panthers? That might, it might happen, but I would take Sam Bennett and fight any time. Yeah. Love Chuckie and he'll fight anyone.

I don't think he can beat Sam. But I would tell him just make that one. We couldn't hang on to it. So that's what happened. tell them just make that one look good and hang on it. That's what happens. What it'd be like that, that like, that's like the litmus test for how serious guys are taking it, right? When you'll fight someone on your NHL team over this fabricated one and done,

replace the all-star game tournament. That's when you know, the players are really taking it seriously. Look, the all-star game is-Star game is a travesty. We all know it. Bebban knows it's done for the benefit of the sponsors. And as we have to do something, and Sudbury are best players. Kids Tears, it's a pillow fight. It's not even a pillow fight.

It's not even a fight. It's a love it. But everyone knows that. Gary's tried to increase the prize money. They changed the format last year Here's not everything you can they're not gonna play hard. Remember Gary Batman telling the player of good now telling the players Prior to one of the world all-star games that I was working with the league I met with the players and said don't be afraid to throw a body check here and there

I remember good now saying the players are not gonna check in this game. They're never gonna check in the speed I told them not to check in this game. They're never going to check in this game. I told them not to check in this game. That made sense. They don't want anyone to get hurt in that game. So it's never going to be better. It's no better in the NFL. It's no better in Major League Baseball. It's no better in the NDA. We're stuck with that. It's a good spectacle for fans and sponsors. That's it. Don't compare this to that. This is a real tournament. These is a real these are players that care deeply about their countries. They're going to do their best to win it and they're going to brag about it when they do so don't ever compare those two. I love it. Brian with that we'll

give you a good afternoon. Thanks for accommodating and changing your schedule for us. Much appreciated. I know everyone in the chat loves it and everyone listening and watching always appreciates it when you come on. Thanks as always, Berkey. You be good. Yeah, last thing. You see Sid Kroszak-Racquel, right? As planned in one play. They're teammates. I didn't cross that from in the back, right? As planned. That's approved too. There's two guys that get along. They're teammates. And Sid, first chance he got Kroszak the teammate. They're not playing games, folks. They're here to win. It's funny, you know, I was saying yesterday like,

oh, Crosby's not going to go after like Carlson or Raquel. Like they're teammates and I'm watching the game like, okay, well, maybe I should just, maybe I should just sit this one out and talk his back seat on this one. It's not pro wrestling, folks. It's hockey. There's no pretty blue mats around to soften the landings here. No foam in the chairs either. No, you be good, Brecky. We'll talk in the evening.

Thanks Jeff. I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day Guess I can call it a ride I went to the dark man, he tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, nah man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself and how this gon' be fixin' my mind I feel on the back end I turned on the music I feel on the back end

I turn on the music It's turned up, up, out of control Sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong Mmm, in the dead dark night The Daily Face Off Live crew is hitting the road and going live on location from both Montreal and Boston for the Four Nations Face Off, bringing you exclusive coverage straight from the tournament. From February 10th till 20th, we've got live shows every weekday breaking down the biggest stories, key matchups, and covering all the action as it unfolds,

and you won't wanna miss a second. So make sure you're subscribed to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel, and follow us on all our social media platforms to stay locked in. We'll be bringing you insider analysis on the ground coverage, and maybe even a little chaos, because it's international hockey, and can happen hit that subscribe button turn on

your notifications and we'll see you live from the four nations face-off