The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Cory Lavalette on the Hurricanes Dominant Start, Logan Stankoven, and more

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

Cory Lavalette joins the show to analyze the Carolina Hurricanes’ dominant start to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, what’s driving their early success, and whether they’ve established themselves as a true contender.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach 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.

You know why? I love Corey Lavalette. I mentioned once that our second child is loosely based off a couple of my favorite characters from the movie Jaws. Brody, Brody Quint. I wanted Brody Quint, but, you know, I wasn't getting both. And something shows up in the mail from Corey. Let me get this in there. Quintz shark fishing Amity Island, Massachusetts, USA since 1975 when the movie came out. And Corey Lavalette, if you think you can bribe your way back onto this show, you are 100% right, sir.

Great, I absolutely love this hat and the story that goes along with it. You are as talented as you are kind and your heart is huge. First of all, I opened the show, and Corey, thanks so much for stopping by on this Friday afternoon. I open the show by saying, I'll be honest with, I'm kind of getting like Los Angeles Kings 2012 vibes off this Carolina team, like the goaltenders on fire, and that was like Jonathan Quicks, that was his command performance.

He was the best goaltender in the world in 2012, specifically in the playoffs. But just like how clinical those Los Angeles kings were. And A, they're the analytics darling. Stop me if that sounds familiar. And two, they had an old school coach that isn't shy about playing straight line aggressive hockey. I know they're different situations because Carolina was, you know, top of the table and the L.A. Kings just snuck into the playoffs.

But I really do see a lot of similarities between these two teams. I don't know if you have a thought on that or just a thought in general what we're seeing from this machine that is the Carolina Hurricanes. We got the Justin Williams link too, right? There you go. L.A. and Carolina with Justin Williams, Mr. Game 7. Even think about that. That's why you're smarter than me, of course. And he's around.

He's at practice and sticking his head around and he still lives. in the in in in Raleigh so in the Raleigh area anyway um yeah i mean i think that's a great comparison i mean this team is is pretty pretty dialed in right now and um rhod's made the point several times they haven't really gotten much out of their top line yet and they're seven and oh and really i mean i think we could argue they haven't been in trouble yet you know obviously a couple overtime games but uh they really haven't been in trouble and um it's uh they're playing the way that they want to play. And it is, uh, these two series have been almost identical. I mean, the, the, the, the, the scores have been almost identical, but just the way it's gone and the,

the discourse coming into it. And, um, what the, what the other team's fan base and, and, and media tend to think about the hurricanes. And I think, I think the hurricanes are showing a lot of people that there's more to them than, uh, you know, we're going to, we're going to win the coursey cup and, uh, and flame out, uh, After two rounds, this team, they look, this is the most legit they've looked under Rod Brindamore. If I can bring up another Jaws analogy here, it's like the conversation about the shark, it's nature's perfect creature, it swims and it kills, it swims and it kills. And that's the same vibe you get from these hurricanes. Now, the interesting thing too, and on Morning Cup of hockey, they're talking about, like, how do you beat the hurricanes and Colby Coleman and say, like, you have to have a superstar make a play, right?

Like the way that they play, like they strangle you. Like it's like an anaconda. Every time you take a breath, it gets tighter. And then you take another breath and it gets tighter. And you take another breath. And it gets like that's, ugh. And that's why you see like tempers boil over with the Ottawa senators. That's why you saw, you know, Rustylane and yesterday going at Logan Stancove

and the dying seconds of the game. Like they frustrate you to no end. Now the Florida Panthers last year, just to be blunt, they bullied the Carolina Hurricanes out of the building. Like they just, I remember Matthew Kuchak watching him like Bark at Aho. Like, we're going to do whatever we want to you and you can do nothing about it. Watch. And they just bullied them out of the ring.

So what's different this year about the hurricanes to you? You've covered this team for a long time. You know, it's funny. I think the biggest difference might be is, and I mentioned what other fan bases and media have thought coming into the series, the biggest difference might be is people think you can go and push around Logan Stankhoven and Jackson Blake. And that you can take advantage of the small guys. And those might be the two feistyest guys on the entire roster. And they don't back down.

You know, we saw Stankovin obviously tangled up with Ristolin. And then Gostis Bear, not the biggest guy in the world, jumps in and throws Ristolian into the ice. Yeah. Um, they got the guy, by the guy that took a spot in Philadelphia. Let's not lose sight of that too. Yeah. Right. Right.

Um, and, you know, I, there are guys who are, who are big and tough. Svechnikov's a tough kid. Will Carrier is like right out of the movie 300. I mean, you could like literally put him on the poster. Um, those guys are, are rugged and tough. Kianre Miller's a big boy. But it's those, it's, it's those little guys. They're feisty.

Seth Jarvis. is feisty, Ahos feisty, but I feel like that those two, and, you know, I'll be honest, I think Jackson Blake wilted a little bit in last year's playoffs. He was a rookie, so, you know, you, it's not a surprise, right, to see a young guy not realizing the step that it takes when you go up around and you go against a team like the Panthers. But Stancove, even last year, I mean, he went at it with Tom Wilson. He is, he is not scared of the. anything. He's like, you know, the Mike Tyson version of a heavyweight, a little guy that just gets inside and he doesn't mind mixing it up. And then Blake, uh, you like that he stands up for himself.

He's not, he's not going to go and throw anybody around, but he doesn't back away either. And I think that's the big thing to me is you've got two guys that, um, everyone thinks you can push around. And as soon as you do, those guys are in the fight more than anyone. Um, I want to focus on Stancoven for a second. And just so all of our viewers and listeners have a sense of like how many. massive a deal. This was from both sides, from Carolina and Dallas as well. So Tom Galardi is the owner of the Dallas Stars. Tom Galardi also owns the Camloops plays with the Western Hockey League. No surprise. That's where Logan Stancovin went and here's why. Growing up, Logan

Stancovin and Tom Galardi's son, best friends played hockey all the way up. I think Tom might have actually been on the bench as an assistant, not a head coach for some of the seasons. You can check with Logan about this for some of the seasons growing up. Like that's like these families are super close. Like there were times, I'll tell you, there were times where I heard in Dallas around trade deadline time, like they'll have conversations about anybody,

but Logan Stancoven's off the table. Like that one is very personal to the owner. Dallas had to get him at the draft. It had him in camloops, obviously. Like that was no fly zone. No fly zone. And I'm of the belief that that's why that trade on deadline two years ago

took so long. Because Dallas did whatever they could. Extra picks here, this type of this player. I heard all kinds of names from the Dallas Stars prospect list. But Eric Tulski was like, no, it's Logan Stankhoven or we're going somewhere else with the Rantanan deal. I can only imagine how difficult that was for Jim Nill to go to his owner and say, if we want Rantan, it's got to be Stankhoven. and boy, has that ever paid off large for the Carolina Hurricanes?

And I'll be honest, like, my hand is up. I didn't think he was going to be this good as a center. I thought, wang, yeah, sure, for sure. Man, he's been incredible. There's only been a couple of times where I've been like, oh, there was a Tom Wilson hit where I'm like, oh, you really got to protect with your shoulder coming around the net more, especially when Tom Wilson is out there.

But he's been fantastic. And now it's like a different level for Logan's Dancoven. a totally different level. Yeah. Well, we're, you know, we're old guys. You remember the old, like, inflatable toys that were, like, weighted with sand at the bottom and you punched him. Yeah, of course, yeah.

Pop right back up. That's Logan Stankhoven. I've never seen a guy that pops up. I mean, it doesn't have a long way to go to get back up. But he pops up from everything. I've never seen him even as much as grimace. But, yeah, I mean, for sure, you're right. I mean, the hurricanes were like, if we're doing this deal, it's for Logan Stang.

And I think about the move to center. And I remember when Rod took over, he was skeptical about moving Aho to center because of his size. And Aho's, I think he's listed at six feet. I think that might be a little generous. But, you know, Aho's not the biggest guy. But Aho, you know, his two-way play convinced Rod. And I think, you know, they had a decision to make this summer. The Kokea-Mi thing just, you know, hasn't worked out, obviously.

And they gave the kid a shot. And I'm telling you, he is, he's a pit. bowl and he scores from that you know between the circles endlessly i mean he's it's not like he's taken shots from the the outsides of the circles and picking corners he is in the middle of it at all times and he's relentless and blake's the same way those guys i mean they terrorize the other team you know i talked to jordan marknook the other day uh after rod made the quick little switch and switched martinook and jarvis and it leads to the the jarvis goal that that ties the game i said, I was just talking to him about, you know, when Rod does those things, what's it like,

et cetera. And he's like, we have one line that you can't touch right now. And it's that line. I mean, it's, it's Stankov and Blake and Hall. And Stancovin's just such a huge part of it. And, you know, he had a tough time this season, I think, dealing with the puck just not going in. But it never, it never showed, you know, he never, it never showed in his play in, you know, his effort, anything. I think he was feeling it, but he didn't show it. And then the puck started

to go in, and all of a sudden, it just keeps going in. And Taylor Hall's been great for those two. I think we're up to about, you know, 10% of the NHL fan base hating Taylor Hall right now between, I think we're up to Boston, Ottawa, and Philly now. But yeah, I mean, just an amazing transformation. Well, I don't even say transformation. That line was good from the second. and they put it together. But now that the hucks are going in, they've been lights out. I want to get to Taylor Hall here in a second

because I've been making this point. Like, what a second act this guy is having in his career. This is the best we've seen Taylor Hall play since he won MVP. But before we get there, one of the things that I really admire about this, I love teams that sort of show you how they can fly in the face of common wisdom. Like, we look at the New Jersey Devils, and I'm talking about centers here. So you look at the New Jersey Devils,

and for the longest time now, the conversation has been, you cannot succeed with small centers. You can't have Jack Hughes and Nico Hescher. You can have one or the other, but you can't have both. And then we see Aho and we see Stankhoven, one, two for the Carolina Hurricanes. And the only place where I can draw a historical link towards an elite team with small centers is that Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 70s, where Jacques Lamar is like 510. And Doug Jarvis is what, like 58, 59?

but other than that, the prevailing wisdom has always been you need size down the middle. And here's Eric Tolstke-Rodbindemore saying, no, that's wrong. No, that's wrong. That's wrong. We got Abo and Stan.

You got, I, if you average it out on the top three centers, you're probably all right, because Jordan Stahl is a horse. He makes up for all of them. But yeah, I mean, you know, they, you know, they believe in what they're doing.

You know, they know that intensity and relentlessness is more, you know, want is more important than, you know, what you're, how you're built, right? It helps. I mean, I've always, I've always said, if Sebastian Aho and Alexander Barkoff were the same size, they're probably the same player. Like, Barkoff is an elite shutdown, dominant, dominant player. Because he's all of those things, and he's big. And Sebastian, Iho's just not blessed with size. So, yeah, there's an advantage to being big. There's no doubt about it, but it doesn't have to limit what you are. And those two guys, and they're both, they're both so ultra competitive. This roster is just loaded with competitive guys.

And you mentioned, you know, Taylor Hall, too. And I mean, that's a guy who's just bought in. You got these guys who, it reminds me the 2006 team. You know, Rod Brindamore talked about how, you know, they brought in Doug Wade. They had Glenn Wesley. They had Brett Hedekin. You had all these guys who had played long, long careers and, you know, hadn't won. And there was a feeling in the room of this is our chance. And if we want to do it, and Brenda Moore obviously at the top of that list. And I, you know, I know there's young guys here and stuff, but there's a lot of veterans here, too. And you get that feeling.

And it's early. Let's, you know, I don't want to say, let's put a crown on them yet. But you get that feeling that there are enough guys here who have seen enough throughout their career and have one last box to check. Taylor Hall's certainly one of them. And you get that vibe, things that Freddie Anderson's one of them. I mean, the postseason

he's put together is ridiculous. So, yeah, you know, I think, you know, the size of the centers, it's something. It's not everything. No, not at all. Quick thought on Freddie Anderson here. The one thing that we're all sort of like, okay,

it's great, it's awesome. Look at this, what a performance. Are we going to see the emergence of the hospital bracelet, though. Like, I think, like, that's, like, the only thing that you wonder about Freddie Anderson. You just don't know, like, any crease crash, you cross your fingers, and you hold your breath. And you hope that he's okay. So one of the ways I think you judge great teams is when they have a chance to end a series, they end it.

Up three Cobb right now against the Philadelphia Flyers game four again in Philadelphia. I don't think it would surprise anybody if this is back-to-back sweeps. This team just seems to have that mentality. We are not going to squander games. We are here for business and business alone. Like that thing could have got stupid last night. Like really, really dumb. But Carolina is like, no, we're not going to.

We're not, we're not, we're not, we're not, we're not, we're not, we're not, we're not, we're not going to let, we're here to do business. And we're going to sleep. And then we're going to come back and do business in game four. Like, this is a really mature team that way. Yeah, and, you know, Tockeet said it before game three. It's like, well, is it a must win? No, because we get four losses, but he's like, it's pretty hard to come back from 3-0.

And you could see the frustration boiling over with the Flyers for sure. I mean, Zegris, obviously, has lost his cool a bit. Tockeet lost his cool with Zegris. Yeah. And the hurricanes are just, you know, we saw Kandre Miller just kind of laughing at Travis Kineckney last night. Like, okay, kid, like, you know, we got one more of these and we'll see where it goes. But I was joking today with some of the other Carolina media guys that maybe it's the best thing to do is just to lose tomorrow, just to get that out of the way.

Because all anyone's going to talk about is how they haven't lost. But I think you're right. I think, you know, they want to step on a neck here and kind of finish this off. And we're looking at another really long break, which I don't mind so much. But, you know, those are tough. But those are tough, but you mentioned, you know, Frederick Anderson is going to benefit from, you know, bonus. Having a little downtime, you know, and, you know, we've got a couple guys that aren't 100%.

That's every team in the in the playoffs. But the rest versus Rust thing is always a thing. But we saw the way they came out in this series and they didn't seem to have any problem jumping right back into fifth gear. So, you know, we'll see what happens tomorrow. But Philly's got a tall order here just to get just to get one. forget about getting four. Yeah. You know, the hurricane, you know, they miss Noa Cates a lot.

He's a really good player. DeVorex not right. Sanheim, I think, is banged up. He got hit hard a couple times in this series. And then Tip, it hasn't been around at all. You take a team that's struggling to score, and then you take away their best goal score. The Flyers have a bright future.

I like Porter Marchmont, I thought was great last night. May have been their best forward. Yep. But, you know, this is a lesson. This is a, you know, a little bit of a lesson, the senior in high school telling the freshman, like, you got a couple more steps before you're ready to come up and be a senior with us. Put a leash on that puppy.

Put a leash on that puppy. Okay, let me close on this. I think there still needs to be a couple of more awards in the NHL. I like a comeback player of the year award. I also like We have the Rock of Richard for most goals I do like the idea of having Call it the Gretzky, whatever you want to call the Adam Oates

for assists And there's another one That I would like to present to you For your consideration, Corey LaVleette Best Social Media Feed I would submit Storm I would submit Storm I would submit Stormy the Pig Now does Stormy the Pig Is Stormy the pig the same person that does the Carolina

Hurricanes feed or do they split it or do you even know? I don't know. This could be an off day story, by the way, if you guys, if they're killing her. Yeah, yeah, right. Here's an off day story for you. I'm not sure Stormy has thumbs, so at least the drawn version. So someone's got to be doing it.

Right, of course. Yeah, yeah. Pretty awesome, eh? I thought you were going to go to, I thought you were going the Jacob's Slaven defensive defensemen are out here for a second. I do think, much like they named the Selkie for Bob Ganey, like they, We've got to create an award for Bob. I think there needs to be some way to recognize the greatness it is Jacob's

leaving that can't be captured with the boxcar numbers. I do think that too. Yeah. But anyway, getting back to throwing me. Getting back to throwing the pig. Yeah, let's get back to the pig. It's going to distort me the pig here. Like, let's not forget.

Who had the Hurricanes mascot being the one being talked about in this series, right? Just going like, like, welcome to hell to Greg. This is like. this is really impressive here. There's a sort of element of like Ali going at Foreman in Zaire. Like, what are you doing? Like, Foreman's a killer. And, you know, Ali had been through a ton of fights already.

I was like, what are you doing? Like, this guy's destroying. You see what he did that Joe Lewis? Or Joe Frazier, like, what are you doing here, Mohammed? There is that sort of element of like, screw it. I'm going after like the Top Dog mascot. I love it. Yeah.

I mean, their social media does a great job all around. McKenzie does an amazing job running. the regular feed and, you know, being... It's awesome. Being tough and being fun and, you know, it's entertainment, right? So let's be entertained, I guess. The library tweet yesterday was... Oh, yeah, like...

To Philly. Yeah, they, yeah, right, right. You know, I... This was such a weird series for me and it was weird going into last night. and I talked to a few people about it, about Rod is still just beloved there, just absolutely adored by the Philly fans. They still just love him.

What a weird, there are not too many people who can walk in to Philadelphia as an opposing player or coach and be revered. The player thing's a little easier. How do you go this long? You know, we're talking, we're 25 years removed from him being a flyer almost, and they still just love Rod.

And, you know, they would, I, I think it's a fun dynamic, the social media stuff. And the hurricanes are obviously feeling, feeling pretty good about it. They, ever since the bunch of jerks done cherry stuff, they've always loved to jump at an opportunity. They've stepped it up. Like, it's really great. It's so much fun. It's a nice sidebar to all the action, which might just come to an end in game four here. Corey, two things.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And this hat is the first star. Don't know where you got it. Don't know where you found it, but bless you for it. You're the best. Corey, thank you, pal. We'll talk soon. Take care, buddy.