The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Brian Burke on the Olympics, Hellebuyck, Crosby's Injury, and more

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke for a wide-ranging breakdown of the conclusion of both the men’s and women’s Olympic hockey tournaments, what the results mean for the global game, and how the fallout carries into the NHL stretch run. They dive into the news that Sidney Crosby is out four weeks and what that means for the Pittsburgh Penguins, plus analyze the Brett Kulak for Samuel Girard deal between the Penguins and the Colorado Avalanche and how it reshapes both blue lines.Leave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/caReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the meantime, here for comments on a number of things. A Wednesday staple. We love him around these parts. He's the great Brian Burke and he joins me on the sheet. Berkey, a sad day, as I mentioned off the top. And I knew that you listened to Boomer on NHL radio. Whenever we would talk and your name would come up, there'd be a big smile and he'd always have a kind word.

You were like one of his kinds of guys. Do you have a thought on the life and the career of Jim Boomer Gordon? Well, I agree with everything you said, Jeff. I'd add one thing. Boomer was knowledgeable about every sport. Like, I know a lot about hockey, a little bit about football. After that, I'm guessing. Boomer knew something about every sport.

You talk knowledgeably about every sport. Good guy. I texted with him off and spoke to him. I really love the guy. He'll be missed. He will. A nice man and a giant in hockey broadcasting. The news of the day.

day is Sidney Crosby and I want to get there. But this is an injury suffered at the Milan Games with Radku-Gutus and then the Natchez Goudis sandwich. But double gold is one of the headline stories, both on the men's and the women's side. The women have done their part in the last few years, you know, picking up gold medals here and there. The men finally win one. We have to go all the way back to 1980 and before that 1960 to find U.S. gold.

I know that there's a lot of sidebar issues. to all of it. I really don't, I'll be honest with you, Brian, I really don't know where I want to jump in here with you. So I'm just going to surrender the floor. Double gold, men, women, where do you want to begin? What's most important to you here? Well, first off, congratulations to both teams. They both played extremely well. The women had it more, in my mind, had more of a chance of winning and were more entitled to it. And I think that it was the right result. The U.S. men ends was wide open who was going to win. But I think without SIV made it 50-50.

Here's the problem. The problem is this a great rivalry. It's not exacerbated by the activities on the U.S. side. So people are, our sovereignty has been questioned, different economic issues. Yeah. So it's been way more at stake for Canadians in this game. And that's what I feel.

I feel a lot of resentment. triggered a trigger by this win by the U.S. The most intense that I think hockey ever was was the World Championships in 1969. And there's been some, well, actually, there's a great book right behind me, Freedom to Win. That's all about it.

It's one of my favorite hockey books. And it's about Czechoslovakia versus the Soviet Union in 1969. The Games were played in Stockholm. And this is after the Soviet tanks rolled through, rolled through Czechoslovakia, rolled through the cobblestone streets of Prague, and all of those players and Bobby Holik's dad was one of them.

The feeling was very much, we would rather die than lose these games. What we're going through right now between Canada and the United States is not that. But you're right. The tension is more than just sports tension. It's deeper.

It's way deeper. And I don't know how we pull out of this as a sport. I don't know how we pull out of this as citizens on both sides of the border. But nonetheless, there is something palpable here. And here's my question to you as a manager. If you're the manager of the Ottawa senators where there is a pocket of people that really aren't feeling it with Brady Kachuk right now. Or back to like you're managing the Maple Leafs again. And there's Austin Matthews. And I will say the similar thing about Austin Matthews that I said about Brady Chuck. How do you handle these two players coming back?

Like Ottawa takes on Detroit on Thursday in Ottawa. Maple Leafs are on the road. They got Tampa and then they got Florida. How do you say anything to these players? What do you do in this situation as a manager, Berkey? You have to believe this is going to pass. This is a very temporary situation. These are two of the best allies in the history of the world. Longest on the defendant border in the history of the world, this will pass.

to get past us. I just be patient. What do you think it'll be like for Brady Kachukh back in Ottawa? What do you think it'll be like for Austin Matthews back in Toronto? I think people first and foremost are hockey fans. I think they'll appreciate what

Brady Kichukh brought to his team. Our countries have always put down their skates, gone away the Olympics and played. No one's ever blamed anyone. No one's ever said, how dare you? And it shouldn't hear. There shouldn't be no. no feedback against Brady Kachuk or any U.S.

skater. And they're just doing their job representing their countries. The backdrop has got nothing to do with hockey players. And it will pass. We will get back to normal at some point. Fingers crossed that that is sooner than later. Listen, this is a real bright spot for USA hockey. I mean, this is what USA hockey has dreamed about for decades.

And it's finally arrived here. Can you describe from a USA hockey point of view because you've been part of it, what these games have meant to USA hockey? And do you feel more specifically on the men's side, because the women have been back and forth, USA and Canada, do you feel that on the men's side this is a passing of a torch or this is still just another chapter in this rivalry? It could be both.

But for now, I'd say it's just an, another great day in the rivalry. Keep in mind, Canada played well enough to win that game twice. I mean, if they played twice, they could have won it both times. Canada, I'll play the U.S. in that game. Now, both teams trust the goaltender. You can't say they deserve better. But the fact of the matter is, it's just another hockey game.

Let's move on. Let's accept that we're going to get back to the relationship we once had, even two years ago, which was excellent. No boycotts, no people not crossing the board. Let's get back to what we had. And no booing anthems as well. Like let's hope that that doesn't re-enter the NHL here as the league gets back going tonight. Real quick, last thing on the Milan games, were there any players,

I mean, outside of like, look, Connor McDavid was fantastic. Jack Hughes is a star for the United States, as is Connor Hallibuck. Were there any other players that really caught your eye? Because let's face it, like the Olympics can do this, where players can go and shine and can really give their careers a lift. Was there anyone that popped for you? You can't talk about these Olympics without talking about Connor Hallibut. He single-handly exercised all of his demons in my mind.

He was a great performer. And a badly outplayed team, huge the difference in that game, and he's getting a lot of praise and he deserves it all. Okay. The NHL returns tonight with eight games on the schedule.

I know, right? Here we go again. Finally, we can do... I'll tell you what, like, what did you... By the way, just one final thing on the Olympics. It was fun watching games in the afternoon. It was fun watching games in the morning.

It was great. I found that I watched a lot of documentaries in the evening. I caught up on watching some movies. some long, you know, drama serials, et cetera. What did you do with your evenings in the last few weeks, Perky? Netflix, Paramount, Hulu, a lot of catching up. There's too many sports that I don't follow.

I'm not interested in and way too many events. I remember watching the biathlon one day, the 20-kilometer biathlon, they launched 70 biathletes, 30 seconds apart. 70. Are there 70 by athletes in the world that are the winner? No. Why do we have 70 there?

Do you have a second favorite sport, by the way, at the Winter Games? No. All right, then we'll move along. The Sydney Crosby injury, minimum four weeks. And look, like Crosby today, of course, gracious. You've talked about Crosby plenty of times.

So, like, look, the Goudis, Goodus playing the puck hard. Gudis plays the game hard. Like, that's Radco Gutus. Your thoughts on the Pittsburgh Penguins now is Sidney Crosby on the shelf for four weeks? Well, they've played without Sydney a bunch of times. Number one thing is, Evgeny Malacchon is usually stepped up when Sid goes down. Yeah.

And I don't think it was a cheap shot at one bit. I don't think Sid was just being gracious. I don't think it was a cheap shot by Radco Good. I don't like what Radco Gooden's said more than I don't like the hit. Yeah. I don't like what he said, which I think he should get discipline for. But he's a competitor. It was a clean hit, I thought, not dirty anyway.

But without Sid, other people have to step up. I like to trade Pittsburgh, right? It's a real nice bit of business, too. And in the process, like the, and of course, we're talking about the Kulak deal with Samuel Gerard going the other way and a second round pick. So now the Penguins have a second round, two second rounders this year, two second rounders next year. And in 2028, they have three. second round picks.

They did Colorado a solid in all of this too, and I'm guessing that's where the second rounder came from because of freed up cap space for Colorado. And I think everybody's looking at Calgary with Nazim Khadry. I think Dallas is interested. I'm pretty sure Dallas is interested. Colorado could make some sense here as well. They haven't won a series since he left.

Do you have a thought on both teams here in that trade that we saw yesterday? Pittsburgh and Colorado. I'm a big player, a big fan of the player that they got back. I like him a lot. But Qalak played for me in Calgary. He's big. He can skate. He moves the puck well. He's physical. He can play anywhere

from three to six on your debt chart and kill penalties. I think it's a good solid pickup plus the second round pick. Good piece of business. Yeah, it is nice. How frisky do you think things get here? Trade deadlines on the horizon. Friday.

Managers would have been speaking while the Olympics were on. There may have been a trade freeze, but not a conversation freeze. Maybe do we wait for the next few days to see which teams drop out of it? I think we wonder about Columbus. They've got a tough couple of games here coming up between the Bruins and the New York Islanders, but they're on a seven-game heater before the break. How frisky do you think managers will get now that they're allowed to trade again? I think they'll be friscy because you've got to keep in mind, Jeff.

There are three categories of trades. One is the guy that's trying to win it. We'll blow his brains out and be stupid. And the road is littered with those people. But there's other people just trying to get in the playoffs or win around. They will make deals that cost less, don't have the same impact, but are useful anyway. So I think you're going to see lots of activity, as you always do. And I'll say it right now.

Be prepared for a lot of stupidity. You've always maintained trade. Was it trade deadline and July 1st is where managers lose their minds, correct? The math doesn't work. I check with the league again. They're only awarding one Stanley Cup. I check.

They're only going to award one. So only one team can win. But 16 or 18 teams will make deals. Now, some are in the categories that I talked about, just trying to get better. But some are hoping to win it. They will overpay and they will crash and burn. and you'll watch the records from far away and say,

what were they thinking? Yeah. You know, one of the things, and I'll always think, and I always use the example, Berkey, of your 2007 Anaheim Ducks, where you got to, like, Joe DePenta and Kent Haskins and Rick Jackman pretty fast,

if you think you're going to win the cup, you're going to need blue liners. Once again, I would expect, and listen, Colorado picked up Kulak yesterday, I would expect that there'll be a lot of teams looking to add a lot of depth D. like nobody loves depth defensemen in the

NHL right now, maybe more than Jim Nell. He'll take 20 number six and seven defensemen if he could at trade deadline. This is again, it may not be the sexiest of trades, but chum the waters for us here. Again, depth defensemen very much in demand. Yeah, especially right shot depth

defense. And people are looking for them. They're valuable. We went through 10 defensemen from the trade deadline until we won the Stanley Cup. 10. Not eight, not nine. 10. Joe DePenta, you mentioned Rick Jackman. Ken Huskins.

Ken Huskins. Husky. All guys played important roles for us, you need depth. It's a war of attrition. And you have people getting banged up. You need debt. You know, indeed. Depenta was a fascinating guy, too,

because I think the family made this great spaghetti sauce as well. Like the family, like, had this incredible. spaghetti sauce and was the story you told me about pulling him out of the poker game was that Joe de Penta yeah I yanked him out of the card game because he was a rookie he was making league minimum I walked through the I used to go back on every flight and check see what guys were doing yeah and so they came back I see Joe de Penta I said Joe I'm yanking out of the card game the stakes are way too high for I'm making what you made he said burkey I'm making more money in the card game and playing hockey please don't take me out

I love him, I love him So he made more money than you were paying him? Yeah, he claims, I believe him. Chodor Penter played at BU, really good, solid defense. He was? Great kid. Yeah, listen, I loved all your depth. I love those three guys and how crucial.

I know that like Pronger and Niedermeyer and Bochman are going to get all the headlines, but I loved your depth guys in that 2007 run. Okay, we've got a couple of questions. Don't forget Sean O'Donnell. No one ever mentioned. Oh, to me. Husky. Husky was the most underrated fighter I've ever had.

He could really fight. More underrated than Bochema? Because I always thought that you thought that Bochema was like the most underrated guy. Like that fight with a gila was legendary. Boch was underrated until he started fighting in the NHL. People figured out right away as the left and he was good at. He didn't mind it. But Husky was a quiet guy, quiet player, quiet teammate.

But he could go to. He was great. We've got a couple of voicemail questions here for you, queued up. And to get in, to get your voicemails heard, speakpipe.com slash the sheet. It's the sheet line. Speakpipe.com slash the sheet. Zach, what do you got queued up for us first here for Berkey? This one is from Ryan. Hey, guys, this is Ryan and Victoria, and I have a question for Brian Burke.

Burkey, heated rivalry is a sensation. And while I'm not personally a fan of romance shows, I'm a big fan of queering this great game of hockey. Berkey, there have been thousands of NHL players over the years. The odds of them all being 100% straight seem infinitesimally small. So my question is this, what will it take for a current or former NHL player to come out of the closet? And do you think it'll happen anytime soon? I'll hang up and listen.

Love the show, thanks. Well, we've got a current guy right now. Luke Procop has come out. He's playing in the American League. Great kid, great young man, has not cracked the NHL yet, but I thought he would be our first out NHL player. We have an NHL quality player who's out who's playing. And you're right, whatever the question was,

we have had thousands of players. Experts will tell you anywhere from 7% and 10% of players in the NHL are gay. So we've had hundreds, if not thousands of gay players. And no one yet has come out. comfortable coming out. So we wait for that day. He arrived where he's helping in that regard. I'm not a fan of all of it, but I watched episode six. When his parents acknowledged as a kid, I was really impressed with the way they treated a very difficult topic. And I did it with grace and charm like I did when my son came out. Did you ever have a player that came to you

with that question that, you know, and I don't feel comfortable coming out yet. Should I? Can I? Where's my support? All of that. Did any of that ever happen under your watch with any of your teams, Berkey? No, I wish it had.

I wish I would have been able to help a player get through that. What had been in my proudest moment? I said this a long time ago. I wish the first player that came out in the NHL was one of my players. That's not going to happen now, obviously. But I wish it had. So I wish I had been when that guy that called the player and said, hey, you and me am with this?

Or I said, yeah, let's get ready together. That's excellent. Okay, Zach, we got one more for Brian. What do we got? Yep, this one comes in from Jeffrey. Hey, Jeff and Zach. Jeffrey Morone here. With the NHL ramping back up tomorrow night and the trade freeze being lifted,

do you think there's going to be a flurry of trades by the weekend leading to a fairly boring and non-eventful trade deadline? Or do you think it will wind about being pretty much business as usual and everybody holding out for the last minute deal to get the best offer? Thanks. You know, it's interesting too. It's the last few years and last year kind of screwed it up a little bit with the Brad Marchand and Miko Ranton deals.

But trade deadline for a while there, Berkey, until last year was kind of like just tweak deadline. You know, I remember two years ago sitting on the set at Sportsnet and our big chase was, is Logan Stanley going to go to the Washington? Capitol, which was the big rumor that day. But then nothing else really happened. How do you see it playing out this year? I think it's a big name, but I think the big names, a lot of them have already gone.

Some of them have already moved in a bunch of will quickly. And Qalak falls into the big trade category for me. But big traits will all be done in advance like they usually are maybe, maybe one like Seth Jones that was late last year. Yep. In general, I think it'll be busy, but not big names. No, none of the stuff, stop the press stuff. No one where people in sports, that, and TSNF say, hey, hang on, we got breaking news.

Breaking news. We're talking yesterday, Zach and I, about Bob McKenzie making a rare appearance on the desk and, you know, drops the big bomb with Tomash Hurtle, which nobody saw coming from San Jose to the Vegas Golden Knights. You know, whether it was the one a few years ago, that no, Anthony Mantha for Jacob Verana. That was the one like right under the wire that no one saw coming. It's like, wow, it's like $259.

Boom. The caps and the red wings get together to do a deal. I always do wonder about that too. And when you're a manager, Berkey, you can talk to us about this on deadline. When you're a manager, do you have an idea of what everybody else is doing? Like obviously, you know what your team is doing and trying to do and the teams you're, you're dealing with, but like you're managing, let's say, you're managing the Pittsburgh Penguins. Do you know what Anaheim is doing? Do you know what St. Louis is doing? Do you know what

Winnipeg is doing? Do you know what L.A. is doing? You have five or six guys, GMs that you're very close with. You know what they're doing. You're guessing on all the rest. But like if I were still a GM, guys I was tied with, say, Ron Hextel is still around. I trusted Ron Hextel. Paul Homer. I trusted Paul Homer. I could call Paul and say, Look, you and I have nothing going. What do you have going? Let me know. I would find out what other teams we were doing,

but you're still guessing on a bunch of teams. Interesting. Is there a team as we sort of, you know, get the league ramped up back up here? I mentioned Columbus earlier, and their charge still continues under Rick Bonas, and they've got a tough weekend ahead here, but they had won seven games in a row.

The Buffalo Sabres still hanging on and, you know, still one of the top stories in the league. I think we wonder about Alex Tuck, and maybe the Buffalo Sabres just quote-unquote use them as their own rental if they can't get a deal done here. It sounds like he wants the Adrian Kempe contract. We'll see what Yarmu does there. Is there a team or a couple of teams, Brian?

We'll end with this. A couple of teams or a team that you're most curious about leading up to the deadline. I think Buffalo and Toronto, I think Toronto. I think Trias decide what to do in Toronto. I think the first two games may dictate that. I think Buffalo is the other one I'm fascinated by. is Kevin Adams put all those players together, even on it there. Coach is doing a great job.

It's fun to watch. I hope they get in. You know what's interesting? I'm glad you mentioned Kevin Adams because, look, the National Predators are looking for a new general manager. And I can't help but thinking. You know, they couldn't get Kevin Adams out of town quick enough, but with all due respect to Yarmu Kikikelanit,

this is Kevin Adams' team. Like, his resume is in Buffalo, and it's one of the best stories in the NHL, where once upon a time people thought Kevin Adams might have a tough time getting a second job. You look at the Buffalo Sabres, I don't think that anymore. Bricky, what do you think? Well, plus he's a really good guy and he's really smart.

Like all these acquisitions, he didn't manage to do it all together, but they're all quality players they acquired. Big pieces, not just, like number three defensemen, number one and number two defensemen. So I think he did a great job. I'm not surprised his name's been mentioned for a GM job. It should be again.

It's a good guy and smart. Good college hockey player. Good background as a player. Good guy. All right. On that, we'll wrap. Again, boy, it was a big game for USA hockey. Congratulations, both of the women and the men.

On double gold, that looks fantastic on the program. Brian, thanks as always for stopping by. I really appreciate the insight. Thanks, Jeff.