The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: John-Michael Liles

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

Former Avalanche defenceman John-Michael Liles joins the show to discuss Colorado’s blistering start, the full-time return of captain Gabriel Landeskog, and his thoughts on the controversial offside call that wiped out Landy’s first goal back. Jeff and Liles also preview the Nordiques vs. Whalers throwback game, share stories about Patrice Bergeron and Joe Sakic, and debate what makes certain players so easy to play with.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Bauer: https://www.bauer.com/👍🏼Shark Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system/FN101CGY.html?utm_source=Better+Collective&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=H2+Air+Fryer&utm_content=EN👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/ca👍🏼Prime Video: https://primevideo-row.pxf.io/c/5560083/3303015/20020Reach 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.

With that, and I hope this opening part goes well, I want to bring John Michael Lyos to the broadcast, former NHL defenseman, now analyst for the Colorado Avalanche, and there's lots to get to from yesterday's game. First of all, thanks so much for stopping by. Love the hats. Another juggernaut season coming up for an already is with Michigan City with Porter Martone, et cetera, et cetera, okay, I want to play, before we get into the avalanche, and I want to your thoughts on Brad Marchand because you played against him

and you played with him and what we saw yesterday was real special. So I want to play a game called Who Said This About You? So I was texting with someone. I said, what can you tell me about John Michael Lyles? And this is what came back and I want you to tell me who

you think said this. A supreme guy who was the best D I ever played with. He was just so easy to play with, calming influence, always available positive guy. I played a of preseason games and all three regular season games with the abs were with him and off the ice just a great veteran never a dick to young guys who said this about you oh he might not say this

about me now i think it's colby cohen and i was i was giving him i was given him flack this weekend because michigan state took it to be you yes they did they had it was a really good game on saturday it was crazy ending but i'm guessing it's colby cohen Bingo, you pass. Okay, we can now proceed with the interview. Pass, go, collect 200. Yeah, that was Colby Cohen. He's like, man, this guy was just like so easy.

Like, the way that he described you, how about this? The way that Colby just described you, do you have, did you have someone like that in your career who are just like, oh, this guy is just so easy to play with? Oh, this guy's simple, great vet. Oh, man. Yeah. Like, did you have your own version of you?

Um, You know, I was fortunate to play with a lot of really great players. I don't know about, like, I'm not going to go on it, like, D-partner, per se, but there was a couple, like Joe Sackick was, he was so easy to play with. But then later in my career, when I'm, you know, a little bit older and playing in Boston, like Patrice Bergeron was so easy. He made a D-Man's life so easy. And if you made a mistake, he,

he he was there to cover it up he was always in the right position like it just you you wanted to be on the ice with burghie at all times because he was just that guy and joe was the same way and i told bergie that when when i was retired that you know i said you're the one of the closest players to joe sackick that i've ever seen and and i i know that you appreciate that because i'm pretty sure you grew up watching joe and um yeah i i just i love playing with joe i love playing with joe i love playing with Bergey I made a ton of great that I got to play with. Rob Blake was one of those guys

of Deep partner mine for my first few years and he was awesome with the young guys as well same thing with Joe like Joe's still one of my closest buddies and yeah so I mean I could have I could have picked you know quite a few but those those are ones that definitely stand out for sure and yeah you're bang on

Bergeron grew up a massive Quebec Nordiques fan as a matter of fact I asked him once I said because he's like Boston is the only team I could see myself playing for and I remember I said well what if the what if the Nordiques came back to the NHL and he's oh that that might be the only other one that I could I could think about that one which is yeah that's yeah I mean Berge was he was one of those guys I loved playing with him I mean my time in Boston was you know a little you know year plus or

whatever and um had some injuries and whatnot but I love my time there with those guys and you mentioned mentioned and he was absolutely one of those guys as well just you hated playing against him. You knew when he was on the ice all the time, but you'd love playing with them. And there's a reason why those teams with Bergey and Chara and Marsh, you were so successful because they didn't, you know, they didn't take practices off. Practice was, it was like, it was always a way to get better. They were trying to win every battle and make sure that you knew it if you lost it. And they genuinely cared about each other and the guys on the team. And I firmly believe that there was that that amount of success was due to those guys

and the way that they cared about each other and cared about every guy that walked through that door. But before we get to last night against The Mammoth, and I want to ask you about the offside that wiped out Landisog's goal, which I'm still, I understand it, but like part of me is like, I just don't see it. But anyway, we'll get into that in a second. You mentioned Brad Marshan. I know you had the game last night, you know, Avs and Mammoth, but I'm sure you've seen the,

the highlights and the outpouring of emotion and and Brad was pretty emotional himself understandable um like listen you played against them you played with them uh what did any of that surprise you that not just from the fans but like the outpouring of emotion from from marchand himself and what was you like to play against him what was you like to play with like is he as miserable to play against as it seems yeah well yeah i mean he's he's hard to play against. And it's because he will not lose. It's just

he, you know, even if he's losing, he's going to find a way to win and it's probably going to be, you know, some sort of verbal abuse that you're going to take. And that'll be the win. But it's just playing against him he was just, he was hard, he was really

hard to play against, you know, physically, mentally. And for most of my career, not most of my career, but some of my career, I mean, I was in the west and so I didn't see him at times. But then coming to Toronto and playing against him when he was in Boston, like it was just, you know, those teams were tough and, you know, he was, he was right there in the mix all the time and just really, really hard to play against. And then playing with him and it was, it was awesome because you love having guys like that on your team. And, you know,

he drags guys into the fight. And you have a guy. Him and Matthew Chuk is, is a buddy of mine. And like you have him and you have kachuk and you have bennett and those guys drag guys into the fight and those are the you know there's a reason why they're you know they're able to to have success year in and year out it's because they just they refuse to accept anything less even if you're you know maybe not the guy that's going to go in there and crash and bang like they're going to pull you in and make you you know make you love doing that and that's that's that's the ultimate a compliment because you know it's just you just we all love playing the game of hockey but but there's definitely you know like certain guys are you know there's certain types of players and um you know i

think what they've done in florida and and you know this past year like it's it was fun to watch because those guys they just they just there's no there's there is no substitute for for what they they bring uh on a nightly basis and you can't help but be you know want to be a part of it when you're on a team with those guys Okay, to last night. Now, full disclosure, anybody who's watched or listen to this program, has heard me say this before. Full stop, my favorite player in the NHL, pretty much since he joined the NHL, and even before

when he played with the Kitchen Rangers, is Gabriel Landiscaug. I just love everything about Gabe Landiscaug. Like, it's embarrassing. But still, so watch the game last night, Gabe Glendoscog scores. I'm like, all right, this is awesome. Uh-oh, here we go. They're going to challenge offside. And I thought it was for the line change, and that McKinnon was, was, was,

still on the, it's still on the, it's like, all right, and we're watching the opposite side here. And so, Gunther and Nchuschkin are at the blue line. It looks to me like Gunther's about to bring the puck back into the zone, Nchuschen. And again, I still don't see it with my own eyes, but I guess the war, I'm saying, Nchuschen hit Gunther's stick, which brought the puck back into the zone, which means it was a Colorado carry and not a Utah carry. So that goal has to come back. Man, I can't tell you how many times I watched this over and over and over last

night, I don't see Natushkin stick hit either Gunther's stick or the puck. That that that, that, that, that, that, that, that propelling is from Gunther's stick. Like, I don't, my eyesight, like, is not as good as it used to be 10 years ago. I have to wear glasses now, but like, what did you see with this thing? I, I, I kind of saw what you saw. I think a lot. I think most people saw that. I think, as well i i was shocked frankly i didn't think that they were going to um i didn't think that they were going to uh call it back i just i thought that it was it was a classic case of hey he stick handled it now was there contacts with sticks i don't know okay yeah like i don't know i don't see i didn't think i didn't think it was enough to to overturn it in my mind i just and once again

Gunther was stick handling the puck back. He was bringing the puck back. And so does Nishchuskin stick cause him to bring the puck back? I don't think so. He was bringing it back. Now, does Nichushkin stick hit his? Maybe it does, but I don't think that's what caused it to go back over the blue line. And Jared Bednar was on the altitude radio show this morning

and just said that the explanation given was absolutely ridiculous, said he still thinks it's the wrong call. And the explanation did not give any sort of, sort of rationale that made sense. I understand, like, if the Chushkin stick hit Gunther's stick and brought it back, brought it back into the zone, then, yeah, I'm good. Then it was the right call. The problem is, and maybe just the problem is just my eyes, I just don't see it.

I just don't see the Chushkin stick hitting Gunther's. I don't know. And the call on the answer is a different camera or with, with better, you know, with better technology. in the war room that what we were seeing, you know, on every replay last night. Yeah. I don't know. I didn't think it was enough to overturn it. I think it completely changed the complexion of the game instead of being up to nothing.

And, you know, playing pretty well at that point, all of a sudden, Utah gets energized. Now, the abs battle back for a point and still don't have a loss in regulation. Like, it's, you know, call it what it is. But yes, it definitely changed the complexion of the game. You're not the only one that loves Gabe Landiscag, I would say pretty much anybody is in that boat. my wife included um and it's uh i mean he's just a he's i just remember burkey um you like i saw you had burkey on before and i i i love burkey um brought me to toronto but i remember him interviewing landy uh i believe it was the the year after i got to toronto so i've been in

toronto for a year and i remember him telling me that um and he said it in the media too but he just said this guy will be an nch lgm one day uh he's 18 old and he's he's he should be doing these interviews at 18 years old. He's just that polished. He's that well respected. And you can see it. I mean, every, you know, regardless of the playoffs last year against Dallas or, you know, the games this year, like you can see the respect that, that is shown toward Landy for

what he went through to make it back, but also just the player in person that he is. I think it's better. The NHL is better having him in the league and playing on a nightly base. I'll just I'll just ask this bluntly how many other guys if they had the same injury that Landiscag had knowing what was ahead of them for rehab after just winning the Stanley Cup would have just packed it in because there's no guarantees there's no guarantees you're 90 95 percent of any hockey players that that knew what was ahead without knowing that you would come back but you'd say hey. you have three years of absolutely just grueling whether it's surgeries rehab uh setbacks you have three years and it's a coin flip that you you make it back i'm saying 95% of guys say i'm good yeah i just won the cup there's i'm good yeah i got my name on the cup i'm gonna yeah i'm gonna finish out my contract on i are and get paid and i've got young kids and you know i've got a life ahead and

I mean, I think that he just, I've golfed with him a couple times this summer here in Denver. And like he, the shape that he put himself in to get back. I mean, he's always been like just an absolute just beast. But like, like, you know, just hugging him or whatever. And you're like, dude, like you are redded right now. Like I couldn't believe it. And I'm like, I didn't think he could get in better shape. And he's like, he's, he's in better shape.

Now, you're also operating, you know, last year in the playoffs coming back from three years. You're pretty much running on adrenaline for the, you know, call it the last four games or, you know, whatever five games that he played. You're running on adrenaline. Now you're in the grind of the season. And, you know, now it's, okay, like he trained super hard this summer and he's ready. But it's also like, you know, you've been off for three years and you're not operating on that adrenaline from the playoffs. So, like, there's that kind of getting back up to speed, it feels like. And it would have been nice for the whole account last night.

Because you could see, like, that second line for the ads, like Nelson's starting to look really good. Nachushkin's really starting to get going. And Landy's kind of, it feels like he's right there, but it's kind of like working through that three-year layoff, minus the five games in the playoffs when you are just running on pure adrenaline in my mind. How is your organization, how are fans, your organization feeling right now about Martin Natchez?

and let me, let me, let me bias it this way. I know everybody in overtime goes crazy for the Oilers, and rightfully so. Like Leon and Connor out there is magical. To me, the best combination that I've seen the last few years for overtime was Aho, Natchez, and Slavin. It was a guarantee every single time. There is no replacing Miko Rantan.

I'm not saying that Natchez is Rantan. No. They're two profoundly different players. But what has this experience been like for Colorado? Well, yeah, you're spot on. They are two completely different players. And listen, there's, you know, there's some scar tissue for sure from game seven last year. But Marty Natchez, like what I think we're seeing right now, and you talk about Slaven, I played with Slaven, his rookie year in Carolina, great kid, unbelievable defender.

And you put him out, Ajo and Natchez, like, that's just, they're so fun to watch. And you have Slaven, who's always the security blanket, but can still chip in offensively. Well, now you're getting, you know, McCar, McKinnon, and Natchez, which is very fun to watch as a broadcaster. What you're seeing now, I think, is kind of that McKinnon and Natchez, like, reading off each other a lot better. And not to say last year they didn't. Like, there's definitely chemistry,

but they're also both guys that love to handle the puck. And so now it's like, you know, if Natchez is coming in, like McKinnon almost trails the play like a defenseman sometimes and it and it takes a little bit off a Nate's plate like he still has that ability to to zip through the neutral zone if need be like when he gets the puck he's so explosive but Marty Nate just is he's so smooth he's so fluid and he has that ability to really like spin and kind of find Nate coming in late as a trailer it's happened you know two or three times in the first call it three four games where Nate's walked in and you know in Buffalo, he puts it behind his back after Natechis gives it to him and scores.

And I just, I think Marty Natchez with Nathan McKinnon. And then you add Arturie Lekin in there, who's kind of, we call him the Swiss Army knife, where he just kind of does everything. He talks. He goes to the front of the net. And the first guy to always credit Lekhinen is McKinnon, because Nate knows how valuable having Lekinen on their line is and what he does on a daily basis. It's just fun to see the chemistry that's being built between those three.

I think there's a lot of noise because of the Miko Rantinan situation and now Marty Natchez is, you know, the possibility of unrestricted, you know, there hasn't signed a contract yet. I don't know. In my mind, I just, I still think that there's something that gets done, but it's, okay, is it, you know, is it a $10 million for eight years? Is it $11 million for eight years? Like, there's just, there's so many question. Okay, what, you know, is Marty betting on himself kind of pushing, you know, hey, I'm playing with Nathan McKinnon, and we've got chemistry, and I know that I'm going to put up 90 points this year or 95 points.

But, yeah, he's a different player than Miko Rantan. But I will also say that the abs love that line of Natchez, McKinnon, and Lackinen. And then you back that up with a second line that, you know, as that chemistry grows, you know, we look at the underlying numbers in the playoffs of Nelson and Natchewskine and Landisog and how good they were. And that's only going to continue to, you know, to get better in my mind so now all of a sudden you have a top six for the first time and

since they won the cup you've got a second line center you've got you know landus gog back you know as healthy as he's been in a long time so um yeah it's it's it's super interesting to see kind of what's going to happen how it's going to play out um but yeah it's it's i think i think the the thing that's on everybody's mind is how the brantman situation played out and they're just looking like oh my gosh is this same thing going to happen with natius and i just i don't know i don't see that happening i could be wrong but i just i don't see that happening different situation different players don't get the ranton and PTSD like it's not the same situation avalanche fans by the least he's not in october no i guess everybody but the thing

is now it's like you know it's so fun this used to be just for a couple of teams but now it feels like there's no such thing as an 82 game season it's 82 one game seasons Like after every single game, it's just, it's just been so, like, so blown out of proportion. And I don't know when it started, but here we're at. Okay, give, I got 30 seconds left. Give me a hot 30 on the Nordiques versus the Whalers tomorrow. Oh, what do you mean? The jersey, just the jersey.

Yeah, the jersey. It's so awesome. I'm like, I mean, we kind of got word that, you know, like, it was, it was the, we'll call it the worst kept secret that it was going to be the Nordyce. I mean, like, because they were leaked over the summer and everybody's like, oh, they're doing throwbacks. And then, you know, of course, like, the guys have to break in the gear. And so, you know, you've got abs breaking in Nordic's gear. You've got the canes breaking in the whalers gear.

And I don't know that anybody knew that it was necessarily going to be this night. But the fact that they're doing it, I think it's awesome. The jerseys look unbelievable. On the broadcast tomorrow night, I think all of our broadcast team has Nordic's jerseys made for them. So, like, I'm pumped. I can't wait. Like I just, like a Liles for Jersey and Nordiques. Like, I mean, I'm hoping they don't take it back for me.

I hope I get to take it home is what I'll say. Get, throw that one in the gym bag real fast after the broadcast. It's going right in the bottom of my briefcase and I'll just say, I don't know what happened to it. Yeah, here's your hat. What's your hurry? Got to go. Listen, have fun with it tomorrow night. Oh, that's got to be so cool slipping into that jersey.

Thanks so much for spending time with me today. Really appreciate it. Absolutely. Absolutely a great story. John Michael. Well, thanks so much for something by it. They really appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Thank you. those men that's but new it's me myself and how this going to be fixing my mind I do on the back

I turned on the music I do on the music I turn on the music that's turned up up and I don't think you sometimes losing have been on the days that we're wrong

In the dead dark night