The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Nick Alberga

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Jeff Marek is joined by Nick Alberga of Leafs Morning Take to discuss the Auston Matthews injury, John Tavares' consistency, and Mitch Marner's playoff woes.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.

Okay, we mentioned Matthews a couple of seconds ago. The issues continue. And on Leafs Morning Take, one of the issues was JT Miller and Jay Rosehill's comments. We'll play that in a couple of seconds as we welcome aboard the host of Leafs Morning Take, the one and only, my longtime friend, Nick Alberga. Nick, how are you, pal? Oh, look at that. Sean Michaels.

WrestleMania 10, Merrick. Here we go. Wow, look at that shirt. Were you there? No i just i bought it on wwe.com i love it man how are you well that's a that's a good look um you continue to be the man fashion forgot and i don't care i don't care a bit okay really really quickly because we always play these guessing games right so i want to go back to something off the leaf page but on the jt miller page as it relates to the leafs page zach i'm not sure if you have this clip queued up but if you do can we play j rose hill's comments on leafs

morning take discussing jt miller and how he reminded him of a former maple leafs captain let's have a listen to this reminds me of dion Dion Phaneuf. When he got to Toronto, he'd be hard on guys, and he'd chirp, and he'd always talking, and he'd get under guys' skin, and sometimes he'd pick a guy that didn't like that and would shy away from it, and he'd smell blood, and he'd go after that guy all the time. Not to the point where guys are in tears,

but damn close. Like, you know, you can go too far. You can push too far. And instead of motivating and challenging, you get to be putting down. And I'm not saying Dion was doing that, but some guys just don't respond to that. And more than ever nowadays, these younger players don't respond to it. I remember when I was, you know, leaving North American hockey going hockey going these 20 year olds if you if you say one thing about them that might be like

you know a little bit of a challenge or a little bit of a do you agree with that does that motivate you and they're just like how dare how dare like no one's ever said that to me my mom's always said i'm incredible my agents as i'm incredible my dad's as i'm incredible my coaches I'm incredible. My dad says I'm incredible. My coach says I'm incredible. And they just shut down, flabbergasted, just very mentally weak. And I'm not saying that's with Elias Pettersson necessarily, but there's definitely an element to an old school guy like Miller and maybe a new school kid like Pettersson and is not jiving well, which is obviously unfortunate for the Canucks. Okay, so one of the first things I thought of there was blake wheeler and

patrick line a with the winnipeg jets like this is a well-told story and listen we know that i know i know that dion for enough ran the room a little bit hot too i wondered how that rubbed a young defenseman like luke shen for example um but before we get on the austin matthews john tavara's maple leaves page leaves and islanders tonight and i can get your thoughts on the Austin Matthews, John Tavares, Maple Leafs page, Leafs and Islanders tonight, and I can get your thoughts on the team and what may be next. How do you read this JT Miller, Elias Pedersen situation? Irfan Ghaffar is going to come on a little bit later on, but it's one of those things that it's impossible not to have a take on.

What's yours? It is very 2025, Merrick. Whereas like, I wonder where accountability has gone. I wonder where intensity has gone. wonder where intensity is gone I'm just going to be blunt about it I'm in favor of JT Miller here I think if you were to ask me who I want in a playoff game JT Miller Elias Patterson I laugh you out of the room it's JT Miller but the unfortunate part about this is they're going to have to trade JT Miller which which is frightening it would be frightening for me as somebody who covers the Vancouver Canucks

or never mind is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks. But I think it's very 2025 in the fact that you can't handle situations like you could maybe 10 years ago. And JT Miller, I think, is another example of that. I think Rosie hit the nail on the head with his breakdown where it's like back in the day, maybe you can get away with that and somebody would respond. Now the guy just completely shuts down. I think that's what we've seen here in Vancouver the last little while. You know, the best example that I can think of, I brought this up a couple of different times,

Nick. I'm glad you mentioned that because I've always been of the firm belief that at the end of the day, whether it's a hockey team or an office, you don't have to like someone to do business with them. Flat out, you don't. Right. And to me, the true mark of a professional is being able to work with someone who you really don't like. Some people can do it. Others get boo boo face and, you know, take their ball and go home. But I think of like glory teams, right? Like heavyweight win a number of cups in a row teams. And one of the best ones early in my life

for that Montreal Canadiens team that won four in a row before the Islanders went and ripped off four in a row themselves. And on that team, on a scale of how much Bob Ganey and Serge Savard hated each other, on a scale of 1 to 10, it was about a 13, maybe a 14. And that carried on when they were managers and almost came to blows during a manager's meeting. Actually, it was Gary Bettman's first meeting in the NHL. Brian Burke was with him. And Gary said, what's happening here is people are clearing away tables, Nick, and Ganey and Savard are rolling up their sleeves uh Batman says what are we seeing and

Burke he goes well you're gonna see a fight Gary and he's like wow I've come a long way here from the NBA this is a this is a different breed of cat but those guys got rings like those guys were able to park that and it never became a thing and they won Stanley Cups so the big topic of conversation on the show as you played the clip there, but you buried the lead. We talked about JT Miller for Morgan Raleigh. We're not going to talk about that. The one thing I sat up list,

just thinking last night, about guys who hate to lose. You talk about Nathan McKinnon. He would be number one on my list of hating to lose. When I look at the Vancouver Canucks, JT Miller hates to lose. It's nothing against Elias Patterson. I think he's a tremendous player.

I think there's a lot of players with that skill in this league who don't hate to lose. Like when I watch JT Miller, I know he's not golfing the day after being eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs if you catch my drift.

Yeah, I get it. But at the same time, though, the one thing that I always point out is it takes a lot of different personalities and a lot of different types of players that are going to win that help you win Stanley help you win Stanley cups. Like I know it may sound weird, but I don't think you win Stanley cups with 23 JT Millers. I think you need other players. They're going to have different points of view and different ways to play in different

skill sets. Like that's the thing about like, if you look at all the great teams, one of the common denominators in all of it is so many different players all do different things with different personalities. It's a matter of who's professional enough to make it work. And that's what I keep coming back to with this. And I'll talk to Irv about this in a couple of minutes. I keep coming back to what the Vancouver situation is. Does anyone want to be a pro here? Does anyone want to be professional enough to say, I don't like this guy.

He doesn't like me. But you know what? We're trying to win a Stanley Cup here. And, you know, Miller and Pedersen probably aren't going to have their names. They might be close beside each other on the Stanley Cup if they win. But at the same time, we're both going to get our names on the Stanley cup if they win. But at the same time,

we're both going to get our names on the Stanley cup for successful. And we can park this thing because what Vancouver is building here is, is winking towards being one of the elite teams in the Western conference. I think your breakdown is, is bang on, especially when you look at sort of the comparable there where you can't have all the same player on the same roster. Like it's put the pro and professional.

Like I'm so tired of hearing this story. I'm trying to figure out who's at fault. Is it the leadership core? Is it the GM? Is it the president? Is it the head coach? Is it the players? At the end of the day,

you are paid a lot of money to play hockey and produce. So just start with the whining, shut up and start playing. I'll give you another example. Yeah. Tampa, Tampa Bay lightning. Okay.

Tampa Bay lightning, John Tortorella and Vincent LeCavalier openly hated each other. Couldn't stand each other. John wanted Jay Feaster to trade Vincent LeCavalier. Vincent LeCavalier wanted Jay Feaster to fire John Tortorella. And you know what ended it? Jay Feaster sat them both down and said,

I'm not trading that guy and I'm not firing that guy. You two guys figure it out. And what did they do in 2003? Yeah, they did pretty well. Yeah, yeah. I would say, I mean, moral moral of the story figure it out or move on i think the bigger question here for me is yeah you're right sorry same thing um but but

the the difference for me is like sit these guys down and figure it out or it's like who like the question of like how did you extend elias patterson to that type of money when you weren't like like this is ridiculous to me that we're even talking about this, but it is like the biggest story in the NHL right now. You gave this guy 11 and a half sheets a year, America long-term and he can't play in the same sandbox as his teammate. Like it's, it's ridiculous to me, but it's very, very 25 and these guys are very soft. I'll just say it.

A lot of these players are very, very soft. They're coddled. And I 1000% agree with what Rosie said earlier today today uh okay on the tronomy police page uh we don't know what the austin matthews injury is we're all throwing darts oh it's his neck no it must be his back he's not taking one timers that must be a upper slash lower back we flat out don't know but if you're a maple leafs fan you're not feeling very good about your team right now or your team's prospects right now one of the questions we'll get to this a second uh has to be the four nations question for for austin matthews if he's battling this but where are you nick alberga on the austin matthews injury today simple question what are we doing here like what like last time i checked it's 2025 it is january 2nd 2025 you're first in the atlantic division you're nine and five without your captain you've

been fine hell your power play is better without the guy what is this like rush to get him back in the lineup like he's taking these morning skates with a non-contact jersey but then like very perplexed and puzzled by sort of the wording of his little scrum the other day. Why not just shut this guy down for a couple of weeks and see how his body reacts? You know, part of me just wonders, and I hope not. I hope this is not the case. I wonder about what's happening in early February and if this is part of the equation and the conversation.

I don't know if you agree with that. Well, here, let me follow one thing up there really quickly. When you look at the record without Austin Matthews, what does that tell you about this team? And I'm not suggesting for one second that they're a better team without Austin Matthews. That would be folly. I mean, yeah, we're going to take almost 70 goals out of the lineup

and somehow we're going to be better. But isn't this a statement on the rest of that team? Like if I told you the beginning of the season, Nick, you know what? Let's take 70 goals out of the lineup. Let's take the new captain out of the lineup. Where do you think this Maple Leafs team is going to be? This Maple Leafs team is just fine. Thank you very much.

You're obviously going to be a better team without him, but I think that this does show something. I don't know what it is, but here I go again. Carter Hutton was talking about this a couple of weeks ago, saying like every year we say, well, this Leafs team is different. This Leafs team is different. It does feel like this Leafs team is different. All I would say to Matthews, pack your bags,

head off to Robida Island. We'll see you in the playoffs, buddy. Very Kucherov, very Mark Stone. It's not going to happen, but you're so right. I think it's an indictment on the plan, the improved blue line. Craig Bruby has done a great job. Lane Lambert has done an excellent job. We went over our New Year's resolutions today.

Majorly concerned with Mark Savard and the power play right now. Ultimately, it's cost them playoffs in the past. If this continues, then I think this time around, it's going to cost them. The crease is solidified with Anthony Stolarz. When healthy, him and Waller are a really, really good tandem. I think it has to be an indictment on the team on pulling their weight. We've seen

it with a different variation, whether it's Tavares, Nylander, Marner, Matthews. Whenever one of these guys or a couple of these guys leaves the lineup for some reason, Merrick, they really, really pick up their weight and do their thing. This is going to become a bigger, bigger story over the next couple of weeks if we don't

have any clarity on it, right? John Tavares, facing off against the Islanders this evening. It's always fun going back there if you're John Tavares. Sometimes you're successful, sometimes you're not. We all know what happened the last time these two teams met. Thank you very much. We'll see what happens. Islanders have their own issues right now.

How do you, how do you read this season? Is this a, cause I know you're big on, you know, revenge game and revenge tour. Has he already started his revenge tour? It's a really good question.

I'm probably subscribing to the fact that john tavarez is the same john tavarez but i think people get caught in the hoopla of like the minutiae of the player and what's happening per game i will say like game to game he has been more consistent this year but every time i look the production is right there i think it's it's maybe a added weight of not having the captaincy not even having to talk to the media every day i think that's playing an impact and i genuinely think like he's just feeling good about life and just doing his thing and it's a contract year like i'm big in revenge i'm big at contract years but yeah this has been a uh an epic story but i i was i wasn't quick to sound the alarm bells in the

off season when people were like oh this guy's finished he's our third line center he uh he has defied the odds i think since he was like 15 when people said he couldn't skate, right? Yep. With the Oshawa Generals. Brad Selwood, I believe. The one thing about Tavares, still great in front of the net, still great in tight, really good along the boards.

As far as being a board player he's always been elite he's always been one of the best ones the problem is for Tavares and I'll take you back again to that to the OHL days even before that in the GTHL, open ice has never been his friend

open ice has never been John Tavares' friend but that's okay when you're as creative as John Tavares is and again but that's okay when you're as creative as John Tavares is. And again, like in tight, this guy's real good. Do you subscribe to, like I'm a big fan of Adam Oates. Like usually, I love Adam. I think he's like a crazy hockey scientist. Like I'd love to see his basement basement which must be like this hockey lab and he has like

the coat and the beakers and and all that where he you know manufactures a lot of his theories which generally are are all correct and it's like you listen to you talk to the people that he trains and it's it's a cult but like a lot of it makes sense but one of the things because he loves Marner Oates loves Marner and Adam Oates's point about Marner has always been how come it's always Marner that has to help everybody else out and there's never any support for Marner it's got to be Marner helps Matthews Marner helps this guy where's the this guy is going to come in to help Marner and his game. Where are you at on Mitch Marner this year, contract year? If he's so great, why hasn't he played center? Why did they never pick him to play center?

Didn't he play center in junior? He played center when he played with Don Mills and Vaughn before that. He did play the wing because the line was Marner on the wing, Matthew Kachuk, and Christian Dvorak. Dvorak was the center with the London Knights. But, I mean, I understand. The guy's an exceptional player. I think what gets lost in the

conversation in this market is more so the postseason. I call them empty calorie points, Merrick, where it's like you look to the postseason, and he might lead the team in points, but he picks up like four apples in a 6-3 blowout win in game three i'm talking about like big moments i mean we can correlate it to john tavarez you know i think there's this misconception out there that john tavarez can't contribute hasn't

produced in the stanley cup playoffs i think that's so inaccurate i think you look at some of the biggest moments for this franchise the last couple years jtf scores of course scoring that goal that propels him to round two for the first time in 20 years. Like, his DNA is all over the big-time moments. And I think that's all these fans are asking for, for Marner. Like, show up in game seven. Show up in a potentially clinching game six. Like, I think you see a lot of his action happen when the team's down

or sort of out of things, as opposed to, like, being that marquee guy as a Nylander's done. Matthews has done it before. Tavares has done it. But I understand where Oates is coming from. I think it's such a polarizing conversation in this market. I think a lot of people are contentious about it because of what he's done or lack thereof in the Stanley Cup playoffs

where he goes missing for games on end. And you could say the same thing. To dovetail this conversation, Elias Petterssontersson same thing guy gets paid lots of money gets to the playoffs I know he had that great bubble showing but last year the guy was nowhere to be found so it's not just a Marner issue it's around the league I think a lot of top stars struggle when it matters most you know I I always wouldn't and I he could be seduced by the skill and Marner's one of the most skilled players in the NHL. My worry is always, because listen,

I've heard the same conversations that you have. Yeah, these are empty calorie points. Yeah, potato chip points, all of it. They really count when the puck gets heavier in the postseason. And I think we all understand that. Man, this is the same thing they used to say about Pavel Datsyuk. And then when Datsyuk figured it out, it was, he just completely forgot the conversation.

There's just been so many conversations like that. Like, remember the, you can't win with Ovechkin conversation. It was true until it wasn't. And that's where your fear, if you're Brad Treleving

or if you're a Maple Leafs fan, you're like, don't be too easily to dismiss Mitch Marner because those players are really difficult to replace and again I go back to the Adam Oates point where's the support for him why is it always Marner has to

support everybody but there's no one there to support him okay last one for you I'm going to get to you know what I should do I should ask Irv about the Toronto Maple Leafs because I talked to you about the Vancouver Canucks Irv on to talk about Marner and Matthews and Morgan Riley and Anthony Stolarz, etc.

Between here and trade deadline, what do you think the Maple Leafs would, if they had their perfect scenario, if everything worked, if the Rubik's Cube just clicked perfectly for Bradshaw Living,

what does it look like between now and deadline? Other than half? I think you're looking, yeah, no, you're right. That's the most vital part. But I think you're looking for a top nine center. I think you're looking yeah no you're right that's exactly that's the most vital part but i think you're looking for a top nine center i think you're looking for at least one more defenseman uh we've been banging that luke shen drum for a couple months i don't think nashville is going to be in a good position to do something substantial this year if they make

the stanley cup playoffs they're way out of things as we know i would love luke shen back in the mix but i think like a prolific top six center, if not top nine, I think anywhere you can find depth up the middle, like even a Jake Evans is having an unbelievable year. He's a local product, of course, as you know, from Etobicoke. So maybe you look there. I think they'll be involved in some conversations, maybe to an extent on Brock Nelson.

I know the wording the last couple of days has been a center with term. I just think it's always difficult to make deals. And that's why a lot of this weighs on sort of Yarncroke's status and also like Matthews. I mean, we joke about it, but like what's his status moving forward here in the regular season? It really depends on the money and also like the assets. Like I love covering the Maple Leafs on a daily basis because people are like, hey, go get me this guy. Go get me Brock Nelson. But then you look and they barely have any first-round picks.

Nobody wants to trade Cowan. They don't want to trade Minton. They don't want to trade Hildeby. So, like, what are you giving up is the question. But I think in a perfect world, Merrick, a top-nine center and a defenseman, I'll be happy. Let me ask one final question because you mentioned his name. Your thoughts on Easton Cowan right now in advance of the quarterfinal game tonight, Canada versus Czechia.

Yeah, so we talked about that today, too. I haven't been a fan of all the hatred towards teenagers. Teens make mistakes. I'm sorry. There's a lot of pressure. Not me. A lot of projections. Not me.

You were perfect, Merrick. You were perfect. But you know what I mean? I think it's all part of the development and growth. Like sometimes we see guys at 18, they just figure it out really, really quickly. Sometimes they don't. Like, I think that's what makes the beauty of junior hockey what it is.

And I think obviously Cowan's having another difficult tournament. It's been a storyline early on in his young career, whether it be the Mem Cup, time, you know, big game moments with the London Knights, of course, last year's World Junior. Like nothing's linear. And especially when it comes to the development of prospects, he hasn't had his best tournament. Do I still think he's going to be a very serviceable player for the Maple Leafs? I do.

I just want them to have the long-term in mind and be careful with the way they develop him. That's why I really like what they're doing right now with Fraser Minton. I'd probably echo those steps. And I do, again, he's another example, Merrick, of a guy who I feel could be better suited to play in the American Hockey League as opposed to the OHL this year. Don't disagree.

I do wonder if we sort of took the NCAA ruling and took it back 12 months, whether Easton Cowan, close your ears, Hunter brothers, would be playing with the London Knights or he'd be like a gopher or a friar or a Wolverine or something like that right now for this season. But a conversation for another day. Keep it spicy, pal.

Doing great work. Keep it up, my friend. Holy sheet. It was fun. Take care, America. Haven't heard that pun before. That is the great Nick Alberga from Lee's Morning Take-Along with Jay Rosell.

A program you must tune into. Thank you.